GU Holiday Product Giveaway

Before today’s post and giveaway, let’s wrap up the previous drawing: Oz Runner and mweston, e-mail me (info@runningandrambling.com) your address – you’ve won the CLIF sampler boxes! And for the rest of you, there's another chance to win some holiday goodies today.

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It’s hard to believe that GU has been around for almost 20 years.

When the Berkeley-based company’s original energy gels debuted at race expos in 1991, they were somewhat revolutionary: portable packets that provided the nutrients of an energy bar, with a texture that was almost as easily digested as fluids. They were a one-of-a-kind item, and once runners got past the initial “ick” factor of squeezing a mysterious gooey substance into their mouths, GU became a very hot commodity for all endurance athletes.

(Incidentally, isn't it an odd coincidence that GU and CLIF products are both based in Berkeley? I wonder if the rivalry is a friendly one like when two bands come out of the same city – Metallica and Green Day from the Bay Area, for example - or if they see each other as mortal enemies like Duke and UNC basketball fans. I need to get behind the scenes in Berkeley sometime – this is the kind of story I’d love to investigate.)

The products were successful for a simple reason: they work extremely well. GU’s energy gels proved to be highly effective at keeping athletes fueled during prolonged exercise, and it wasn’t very long before other companies moved to get a piece of the market. Today, most of us can probably name several different gel products out there, but the original company is still chugging along as the category’s prime mover.

Over the years, GU has improved and refined its original recipe based on ongoing nutritional research with various ingredients in its formula. They’ve also added a lot of new flavors and a few entirely new products, some of which are the primary focus of today’s post, and which will be awarded to a few people in a drawing afterward.


First up are the special holiday flavors of the original GU. This year, the company has added vanilla gingerbread to accompany its popular chocolate mint flavor that debuted a few years ago. The flavor is remarkably close to what you would guess gingerbread would taste like if it were ground into an energy gel. If you like gingerbread – I do, for sure – you’ll definitely love this flavor. The chocolate mint is the same as last year – which is to say, it’s still awesome. Think Thin Mint cookies in gel form, and you get the idea. The chocolate mint packets have caffeine, and the gingerbread are caffeine free. Another cool thing about the holiday flavors is that GU donates 10% of the proceeds from these items to the Challenged Athletes Foundation, so you’re helping a good cause when you load up on these seasonal favorites.

Last year, GU introduced its Roctane Ultra Endurance gel, which is specifically formulated for multi-hour training sessions or races (ultras, iron-distance triathlons, century rides, etc). The formula includes something called OKG (Ornithine Alpha-Ketoglutarate, for you science geeks), an amino acid complex that lessens damage to muscle tissue during races or hard training and speeds recovery afterward. It essentially slows the catabolic process (the body breaking down muscle tissue during extreme physical exertion) and therefore lessens muscle trauma. GU recently added a pineapple flavor to its Roctane lineup - but unlike the vanilla orange and blueberry pomegranate flavors, this one doesn’t include caffeine. The taste is fairly pleasant – a little bit tart, but without a real strong aftertaste.

Another new product this year is GU Chomps, which are chewy energy bites similar to CLIF Bloks or PowerBar Energy Gel blasts. Chomps contain all the benefits of regular GU gel in a chewable form. Each 90-calorie packet also contains 100% DV for Vitamins C and E, and two flavors (strawberry and cranberry apple) each have 20mg of caffeine. The other two Chomp flavors, blueberry pomegranate and orange, are caffeine free.

I really don’t need to promote GU too aggressively – they’re one of the most well-known commodities out there for endurance athletes. They work wonders during long-duration activity and most of their stuff generally tastes great. If you’d like to try some of the new items, drop a comment below this post by 5PM PST Sunday 12/20. I’ll pick three winners, each of whom will receive a 6-pack box of chocolate mint gels, a 6-pack of vanilla gingerbread gels, one pineapple Roctane, and one strawberry Chomps sample just in time for your ramped-up New Year’s workout routine. Good luck!

*Products supplied by GU Energy Labs
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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Comparison Review: Petzl MYO RXP and Black Diamond Icon

Before today’s post, a couple of reminders about recent posts: the sweet Black Diamond Icon sale at Wilderness Running Company – free rechargeable battery pack with discounted purchase of the lamp – expires on Friday 12/18. Also, you’ve got until 7PM Thursday 12/17 to comment on this post for a CLIF goodie box drawing. Get a move on, people.

As for today’s review, it’s another Petzl-versus-Black Diamond comparison like the one I did for the Tikka XP2 and Spot headlamps – and it’s another incentive to check out FeedTheHabit.com. This time, the comparison is between two external battery pack headlamps, the Black Diamond Icon and the Petzl MYO RXP. I’ve already posted an Icon review here, and a MYO RXP review on Feed The Habit. So let’s follow the same procedure as last time:

1) Go read my Petzl MYO RXP headlamp review on FeedTheHabit.com, then…
2) Return here to read the comparison between the MYO RXP and the Icon.

See you when you get back.

**

Hello again! As was the case with the smaller headlamps, both Petzl and Black Diamond perform very well overall, and have areas of relative strength. Here’s how they measure up:

Weight (with batteries):
Icon: 187g/6.6oz
RXP: 175g/6.2oz
Advantage: RXP. Additionally, its external battery pack is more streamlined, and the whole unit just feels a bit less bulky than the Icon. I wouldn’t say the Icon is uncomfortable, just that the RXP has a better overall feel.

Bulb Type:
Icon: separate LEDs for spot and flood modes
RXP: single high-power LED
Advantage: RXP, but only if the Icon's “you have to power off when switching from spot to flood mode” issue annoys you like it does me. Petzl’s single bulb allows you to switch from flood to spot modes by flipping a diffuser lid up or down. The Black Diamond setup isn’t really a performance issue, just a pet peeve.

Brightness:
Icon: 100 lumens
RXP: 140 lumens
Advantage: RXP. Petzl clearly enjoys a huge advantage in overall candle power, and even has a boost mode that can briefly shine at 160 lumens. Overall brightness is one of the RXP’s strengths, as well as …

Brightness levels:
Icon: 6 (3 in spot mode, 3 in flood mode)
RXP: 10, plus boost mode
Advantage: RXP again, which can go both brighter and dimmer than the Icon – which really only has 3 functional degrees of brightness, despite what the specs say - or burn at several different levels in between. Throw in the fact that brightness levels are customizable, and this category isn’t much of a contest.

(And again, it seems like Petzl is kicking Black Diamond’s butt to this point. As you’d suspect, things get a bit more complicated as we continue …


Maximum beam distance (spot mode, high setting):
Icon: 100m
RXP: 77m
Advantage: Icon. I’ve joked with training partners that my Icon can double as a star pointer, because its spot beam penetrates so sharply and prominently over such a long distance. Black Diamond’s entry has lower candle power, but shoots its beam farther. However, since I typically use the flood setting for trail running, this is more of a cool trick than practical application for me.


Battery type and lifespan:
Icon: 3AA, 80 hour lifespan on high setting. Compatible with rechargeable batteries as well as the NRG rechargeable battery pack sold separately.
RXP: 3AA, 50 hour lifespan. Compatible with rechargeable batteries.
Advantage: Icon, and it’s a much bigger advantage than the numbers reflect at first glance; this is where the Icon starts making up a lot of ground in a hurry.

Remember how much brighter the Petzl burns? Well, all that candle power is a complete battery killer. The 2 highest settings are unregulated and only burn for about an hour at full strength. The highest regulated settings burn for 10 hours before shifting to a much dimmer reserve mode for the remainder of the battery life. So while the Icon can’t approach the top end brightness of the RXP, it can maintain a higher level for a much longer period of time.

While it’s great that both lamps use rechargeable batteries, Black Diamond scores a bonus point here for the NRG rechargeable battery pack, which can be recharged without removing the pack from the casing. It’s a separate cost, but the total cost of lamp plus battery pack is still less than the RXP. Speaking of which …


Price:
Icon: $65
RXP: $99
Advantage: Icon. Just as the Black Diamond’s Spot is the most affordable option for basic road and trail use, the Icon gives you the most bang for your buck in this category. Even if you shell out 30 bucks for the rechargeable pack, you’re still coming out ahead.

(This is even more reason to promote Wilderness Running Company’s extreme discount offer this week: Buy an Icon for $54 - $60 list price minus 10% with my R&R10 coupon code - and they throw in the NRG pack at no charge. Believe me, you’ll probably never see a better deal on this lamp.)

As usual, the final decision on which one is best will vary based on your preference. The Icon gives you very strong performance for a price that’s impossible to beat. If you'd like something more lightweight and versatile, with significantly more brightness and a wide range of customized settings for variable conditions, the RXP is an ideal choice.


*Petzl MYO RXP provided by Petzl America
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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CLIF Quench Drink Review; Roks and Bloks and Bars Giveaway

California probably has more endurance athletes and entrepreneurs per capita than anyplace else in America - and among both of these prolific groups, the story of CLIF Bar is legendary.


Most of the story is told right on every CLIF Bar package: founder Gary Erickson was an outdoor bum living in a garage, and decided during a 175-mile bike ride one day that all the energy bars he was using were disgusting. He spent two years experimenting in his mother’s kitchen before selling a finished product out of his Emeryville bakery in 1992. Shortly thereafter, he developed nationwide distribution of the bars he named after his father, who was his lifelong adventure companion.

The product line expanded (including the insanely popular Luna bars targeted at women) and diversified, and CLIF became one of America’s fastest-growing private companies in the late 1990s. In 2000, Erickson famously turned down a $120 million offer to buy the company, and he continues to run the business with his wife as his co-owner.

From the outset, CLIF – it’s another one of those companies who write their brand name (as well as products) in all caps, for reasons that remain mysterious to me - has had equivalent missions of not just providing sustenance for people, but also sustaining their community and the global environment along the way. They’re a forerunner in eco-friendly initiatives, and their employees volunteer major hours to various community improvement projects. Every CLIF product is made from organic and all-natural ingredients, which their website will tell you are better for the planet, the body, and the soul.

They’re also one of the most diversified energy food companies on the market, and that’s where today’s post really begins; it’s an overview of a few new products CLIF introduced this year, along with a giveaway for a couple of sampler boxes of your own.


First up is Clif Quench drink, whose very existence sort of confused me at first. I’m accustomed to drinking CLIF SHOT drink during ultras - it’s the product of choice for several popular races - and couldn’t understand why they’d tinker with a formula that I (as well as most other runners I know) really enjoy.

Fortunately, CLIF Quench doesn’t replace the SHOT drink, but features lower sodium and carbohydrate concentrations to provide another option for athletes to select based on their activity levels. I’ve already seen them in my local grocery store alongside drinks like Snapple and SoBe, so CLIF is clearly going for some of that market as well. Quench drink doesn’t contain any of the artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners (particularly high-fructose corn syrup), or preservatives that some of those more popular drinks use, and has a healthy ratio of electrolytes to calories for more effective hydration.

CLIF Quench comes in four flavors, although all of them are clear-colored, which might make for a fun shot glass game of “guess the flavor!” at your running club’s holiday party. It’s not currently available in powder form, which is kind of a bummer, because that’s my preferred method of use. Lime-Ade is my favorite, but the flavors are all nicely mild, neither too sweet nor salty. It’s not going to replace my Diet Pepsi as a “leisure-time” drink, but I’ve enjoyed using it on 1-2 hour trail runs.


The other new product is my favorite of the samples I received: CLIF SHOT ROKS, which are chewy little protein balls in a protective candy coating. There are about 9-10 gumball-sized pieces in each packet, combining for 20g of protein. The shell is slightly crunchy, and is supposed to be temperature-resistant in both extremes: they won’t freeze in the cold, and they won’t melt if they’ve been tucked in your pocket on a hot day. They’re designed as a portable protein source during activity, or as a snack to speed muscle recovery after a hard workout. To my knowledge, there really isn’t another product on the market quite like it. (*Updated: they're similar to Power Bar ProteinPlus Bites, but the textures are different, and only the CLIF products claim temperature resistance.)

CLIF ROKS come in three flavors; I’ve tasted the chocolate and peanut butter flavors and they’re both pretty yummy. The third flavor is chocolate chip cookie dough, which sounds delicious as well. Each pack typically retails for $3, so they’re more expensive than regular energy bars, but similar to a lot of high-protein bars on the market – and trust me, ROKS taste way better than most high-protein bars.

I also received samples of CLIF SHOT BLOKS, which are a known commodity among endurance athletes. If you’ve liked the previous versions of these chewy energy cubes, there’s nothing to worry about; the only changes to this product line were to add one flavor (mountain berry) and repackage the blocks in a linear fashion. CLIF calls the new wrapper a FastPak, which can be opened with one hand – I actually tested this, and was able to do it - and the overall amount of packaging is reduced, keeping with CLIF’s eco-mindedness.

The last item in the sample shipment are seasonal flavors of the original CLIF bar. I’ve previously tried the iced gingerbread and spiced pumpkin pie flavors that were available last winter, and they both tasted awesome. This year, CLIF has added cranberry orange nut bread to its holiday catalog, and all three flavors are available through the winter wherever you normally buy regular CLIF bars. They’d be great stocking stuffers for the runner or triathlete on your list.

So have I whetted your appetite yet? If so, I’m able to share the love with a couple of lucky readers. Leave a comment below this post by 6PM PST on Thursday 12/17, and I’ll select two winners to receive a sample pack of CLIF ROKS, BLOKS, and winter CLIF bar flavors. Good luck!

*Products provided by Clif Bar & Company
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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Black Diamond Icon Headlamp Review and Battery Pack Giveaway

The more I learn about all these outdoor companies, the more fascinating their stories become. They’re also becoming more and more interconnected.

Case in point: remember this summer, when I profiled the Patagonia company for a review of their Release running shoe, and went on to pretty much fall in love with both their performance standards and their commitment to social responsibility? As far as I’m concerned, Patagonia is the gold standard for the outstanding positive impact a dedicated company is capable of generating in all aspects of its reach.

Well, it turns out that the whole Patagonia thing was really just a side business for founder Yvon Chouinard; his primary enterprise was manufacturing equipment for rock climbing and skiing; a company that eventually (after a roundabout process - see here for the whole story) became Black Diamond.


During its 20 years of existence, Black Diamond has stuck to its guns in terms of the outdoor activities that inspire them – or, as the company’s own website will tell you, “It’s all about climbing and skiing.” It’s a testament to their product quality that Black Diamond’s prominence among trail runners exists not because of an aggressive marketing push to rebrand itself as a running company, but because athletes have actively sought out their lighting systems for reliable performance.

While the Spot lamp I reviewed last week is the company’s most affordable (as well as most popular) option for trail runners, I mentioned that its brightness is somewhat lacking for taking on highly technical trails in the dark. For those conditions, the Icon is Black Diamond’s recommended model. Like the Spot, it’s a tremendous value on its own, and like my previous review, Wilderness Running Company is helping to make it an even more attractive buy. But first, let’s get to the details.


Like the Spot, the Icon features separate bulbs for spot or flood, modes that are alternated by scrolling through the power off position (this inability to switch from spot to flood without turning the lamp off remains my biggest pet peeve about Black Diamond lamps – but it’s becoming less of an issue the more I use it). The spot bulb is a 3-watt LED that can shoot 100 meters, and the flood mode uses 4 high-powered LEDs that give off 100 lumens of brightness.

That’s the strength of the Icon, or any of the larger (non-compact) headlamp models out there – they throw plenty of light to see all the rocks, roots, lumps and bumps on the trail. The tradeoff is that the necessary battery power requires an external pack in addition to the lamp casing. The difference from one brand to another becomes one of efficiency: how long the batteries last, how much the overall unit weighs, and how comfortable the whole contraption feels on your head after the sun comes up, because they’re generally too large to tuck into a small pocket.

From a comfort standpoint, the Icon performs pretty well. At 6.6oz (187g), it’s not the lightest headlamp of this variety out there, but it’s on the low end of a category where lamps often weigh in at 8oz or more. If you’re really hammering the pace, you’ll certainly notice the weight difference between this lamp and the much lighter (85g) Spot – but if you’re logging your miles more casually, the weight doesn’t seem overbearing. Everything stays in place fairly well with the adjustable headband strap, but there’s an additional top strap if necessary for added stability.

The Icon casing features a single on/off button on the bottom that, like the Spot, is large enough to be used with gloved fingers. Both the lamp and battery pack have IPX4 water resistance for good protection against rain from any direction. The casing ratchets to project the beam downward and holds it in place at any angle within its range.

Where the Icon shines (pardon the pun) most prominently is the area of battery efficiency. It uses 3AA batteries, which can last up to 80 hours on the highest brightness setting, and is compatible with rechargeable batteries; an integrated circuit board recognizes the type of batteries used, and automatically calibrates the battery meter to regulate the charge accordingly. An indicator light tells you when you’re below 50% (yellow) or 20% (red) battery life, so you know when it’s time to replace or recharge.


Black Diamond also makes a rechargeable NRG battery pack that fits the Icon, so you’ll never have to buy batteries for this lamp again. This is an especially attractive feature to me; with all of the eco-awareness stuff I’ve been writing about lately, the thought of wasting piles of alkaline batteries year after year grows less and less defensible. The NRG battery pack is especially cool in that you don’t have to remove it from the case to recharge it – the Icon and NRG have an integrated charger port system that plugs directly to a wall outlet. The NRG pack is sold separately and retails for $30, but it makes you totally enviro-friendly, and you’ll still get the 10% discount applied to your total purchase price. It’s not exactly a giveaway, but probably as good a deal as you’ll ever see for this lamp. Click here to check it out. (***Admin note: see also footnote below post.)

Once you have your Icon, there isn’t a trail around that darkness will prevent you from conquering.

*product provided by Wilderness Running Company
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

***If you're debating whether to pick up the Icon this week and wondering how the upcoming lamps I'm reviewing compare, here's an EXTREMELY brief comparison:

1. Petzl MYO RXP: More brightness, regulated output levels, much shorter battery life, and much more expensive (typically $100)

2. Black Diamond Sprinter: Fully rechargeable, has rear blinking LED, lighter overall, more expensive ($80), less brightness (borderline for technical trails).

Full reviews of both are currently available on FeedTheHabit.com.

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The Battle of Carmel Valley Road

(Admin note: Jesse, send me an e-mail: you’ve won the $15 gift card to Wilderness Running Company. For the rest of you, there will be more giveaways this week, as well as some product reviews and an increasing focus on the upcoming Christmas holiday – which is partially the topic of today’s post.)

The former Carmel Valley Airport is a 25-acre open space which is now frequented more by joggers and dog walkers than by hangars and prop planes. Its runway fell into decay over a period of decades, and the landing strip was permanently closed to air traffic in 2002. (Its importance will never be forgotten, however; this airstrip was actually the driving force in Carmel Valley’s existence - but that’s a whole separate story.)


So you figure that for anyone to get clearance to land at the old airstrip, he must be someone pretty well connected. Someone who could pull a few strings. Someone highly influential.


Someone like Santa Claus.

Santa’s Fly-In is a beloved tradition in our little town, as is the annual Christmas parade that follows immediately afterward.


In typical small-town fashion, most years see more people in the parade than actually watching it from the sidewalks. And when the event happens to fall on a wet and windy weekend, the ratio of paraders to spectators is skewed even more dramatically.

However, since all the participants bring candy to throw, those kids who do brave the conditions are rewarded with a king’s ransom of candy. Sitting in the back of a pickup truck with a huge stash of candy, my 6-year-old daughter and I were throwing whole handfuls of the stuff to everybody we saw …


… including the truckload of junior high and high school kids immediately in front of us. The exchange possibly started as a few errant pieces of candy from one group coming close to the other, but quickly escalated into an all-out candy fight between the two adjacent vehicles. I quickly saw the writing on the wall when I considered:

1) The older kids were throwing from in front of us, so our truck was moving towards their attack, while their truck was constantly pulling away from ours, and …

2) They were throwing hard candy like Jolly Ranchers and Hershey’s kisses, while we were throwing “floaty” stuff like mini-Snickers and Starburst, and ..

3) My allies in battle against the pack of teenagers were a 6-year-old and an 11-year-old.

In other words, I was at a significant strategic and material disadvantage.

Fortunately, all of our skirmishes were conducted in fun, nobody lost an eye or was otherwise wounded, and when the parade was over, we all went our separate ways in good spirits. It’s another nice feature of life here in our little town: we like to enjoy ourselves, and we appreciate sharing these collective holiday traditions together.

But next year, I’m totally bringing some stronger ammunition.

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Muppet Jingle Bells; MoodBoost Winners

A short weekend post today, to announce a drawing winner and spread a bit of Christmas cheer ...

First things first: dziendobry and 21CM, e-mail me (info@runingandrambling.com) your address - you've won a sample box of the MoodBoost drink I reviewed earlier this week. And for anybody else who'd still like to try some, Monarch Nutrition is offering a discount code for 20% off your purchase; type coupon code BLOG20 at checkout for the reduced price. Link to the MoodBoost site is here.

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As for the Christmas cheer ... the follwing video has been my daughters' favorite new Christmas song so far this year: Andrea Bocelli's rendition of "Jingle Bells", accompanied by The Muppets. They debuted on a PBS special earlier this fall, and performed on the Jay Leno Show last week. Leno's version is on Hulu but not YouTube, so you have to suffer through a typically awkward 40-second PBS intro for the embedded video below - but that's what the scroll bar is for, right?

Additionally: The Muppets have pretty outstanding range, wouldn't you say? 2 weeks ago they were rocking out to Queen, and now they're alongside one of the most talented operatic singers in the world. It helps to prove what I've believed all along: there should be a little Muppet in all of us.

Andrea Bocelli with The Muppets, "Jingle Bells" (click to play):

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Comparison Review: Petzl Tikka XP2 and Black Diamond Spot; WRC Gift Card Giveaway

(Admin note: The Running and Rambling holiday giveaway train keeps on rolling! The MoodBoost drawing is still open for entry until 7PM Friday, and today begins another drawing for a Wilderness Running Company gift card. Oh, there’s also a product review today – but it’s a bit unorthodox compared to previous versions. Read on.)

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I appear to be outgrowing my website.

Over the past several months I’ve been incredibly fortunate to receive an overwhelming amount of gear to review – so much that it’s gradually crowding out the other content (read: random nonsense) I like to present here. And since I’m not inclined to turn this blog into a 100% product review site (although I hope it’s a reliable resource for that purpose), another outlet to post the reviews seemed like an outstanding proposition.

Luckily, that’s exactly what happened. This fall I began contributing product reviews to FeedTheHabit.com, a large outdoor gear review site based in Utah. Given their physical location, they test a lot of skiing and winter sports equipment, as well as gear for camping, hiking, and mountain biking. The owner of FTH also does a fair amount of trail running, and I’ll be contributing content in that area along with him. So if you don’t already know about the site, be sure to check it out – and today’s post is something of an incentive to go there.


My first post for FTH was back in October, with a review of the Petzl Tikka XP2 headlamp – it’s Petzl’s equivalent model to Black Diamond’s Spot, which I reviewed here earlier this week. Instead of reprinting the XP2 review, I’m just going to link to it, and ask you to come back here for the head-to-head comparison from both reviews. And to make sure you return, I’m making this post the entry point for my next $15 WRC gift card giveaway.

Is this getting confusing yet? Let me simplify:

1) Go read my Petzl Tikka XP2 headlamp review on FeedTheHabit.com, then…
2) Return here to read the comparison between the XP2 and the Spot, and …
3) Post a comment to enter the drawing for a WRC gift card. Easy as that. Now get going.

**

Are you back? I’ll take your word for it that you read the FTH review. So which compact headlamp is better – the Petzl Tikka XP2 or the Black Diamond Spot? They’re both very solid options, and each has its advantages over the other. Here’s the tale of the tape:


Bulb Type:
Spot: separate LEDs for spot and flood modes, no red LED
XP2: single LED, 1 red LED
Advantage: If you like red LEDs, advantage XP2. Otherwise, the type of bulb doesn’t really matter as much as …


Brightness:
Spot: 47 lumens
XP2: 60 lumens
Advantage: XP2. The difference is certainly noticeable.


Beam types:
Spot: spot (well, duh …), flood, and strobe
XP2: spot, flood, and strobe
Advantage: XP2, because you can switch from flood to spot modes by flipping a diffuser lid up or down, instead of cycling through the “power off” mode with the Spot.

(Boy, it doesn’t seem like much of a contest so far, huh? Keep reading ... )


Maximum beam distance:
Spot: 70m
XP2: 60m
Advantage: Spot. Black Diamond’s entry has lower candle power, but shoots its beam farther. If you tend to use the spot mode more than the flood mode, this is the lamp for you.


Weight (with batteries):
Spot: 85g
XP2: 88g
Advantage: Spot, but just barely – because I’d be surprised if you can actually feel the 3 grams difference.


Battery type and lifespan:
Spot: 3AAA, 100 hour lifespan on high setting. Rechargeable batteries not recommended.
XP2: 3AAA, 80 hour lifespan. Compatible with rechargeable batteries.
Advantage: XP2, mainly because of my bias towards using rechargeables. We should all make an effort to be greener this way, shouldn’t we?


Price:
Spot: $40
XP2: $55
Advantage: Spot, in a big way. When I said this was the most affordable option for trail runners, I wasn’t kidding around. Wilderness Running Company offers a 10% discount (coupon code R&R10) on both of these lamps, but doesn’t currently have the XP2 in stock. It’s coming soon, I’m told.


So which one’s right for you? If you want something basic, efficient, and very affordable with adequate brightness for roads and groomed trails, go with the Spot. If you’re willing to pay 37% more for 28% more candle power and a few more features (red LED, spot/flood diffuser and rechargeable battery capability), then the XP2 is your lamp.

**

Congratulations - you made it to part 3! Either that, or you just scrolled here after reading the first paragraph. Don’t worry, it doesn’t matter to me – just leave a comment below to be entered for a $15 Wilderness Running Company gift card. Good luck!


*Tikka XP2 headlamp provided by Petzl America
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you'd like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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