Saint minimus-good for running?

[pulstar]

Today i came home later than i planned, but i really wanted to run a few miles, just to release some energy, because i had a very frustrating day at university (two hard exams in the same day). I grabbed my LX2, equipped it with f04 diffuser and went outside. That massive flood was really impresive! Then it came: wouldn't be nice if i didn't have to hold flashlight in hand? And since i consider LX2 as my best flashlight, minimus was the first thing that came to my mind. Is the headband strong enough to hold everything in place even while running "offroads"? Is it durable, cause i dont want it to loosen after a few days of usage? how "long" the beam reaches? I mean, i know it will be flood, but some distance is also important cause i mostly run through forest. I'm leaning more to minimus than the "full size saint", mostly because it's lighter and cheaper. Runtime isn't such a great importance, but if you consider saint much better choice than minimus please tell.

Any suggestions are highly appreciated (even other brands...)

 

[derangboy]

It's light weight and produces mostly flood which makes it a nice running light for me. Even with the Saint battery pack, I didn't find it bothersome. Being able to run it on rechargeable AAs is a real plus. For trail running, I have it at about 50% and have no troubles on familiar trails. Feels similar to my Tikka but it seems to stay put a little better.

 

[DimeRazorback]

They actually have it in advertising images performing the exact tasks you have mentioned pulstar. :thumbsup:

 

[pulstar]

i did some researches about saint and found a potential issue. Some members reported reflected light that shines on their noses, but other don't. Is that reflection really annoying, or not? Is larger(longer) nose only reason for that reflection because i have rather shorter and wider one

 

[Ska-T]

There are a number of headlamps that will work for night running. I would keep the headlamp light weight and the head band strong so that the light doesn't bounce around on your head.

The SM is probably very good from what I've read, although expensive (I don't have one). I've used the Black Diamond Spot and it works well for me. It uses 3 x AAA batteries and weighs about 75 g depending on the batteries you use. The Princeton Tec Eos is about 25 g heavier, but from what I've read it should work great (I don't have that one either).

 

[umc]

i did some researches about saint and found a potential issue. Some members reported reflected light that shines on their noses, but other don't. Is that reflection really annoying, or not? Is larger(longer) nose only reason for that reflection because i have rather shorter and wider one

I may have been one of the ones you saw post about this issue.

Personally I don't think it has anything to do with the size of ones nose. However that being said, I have a larger nose but still in proportion to my face (so I don't look weird)

Anyway, I've been playing around with the light and even if I tilt the light up so that the "rings" or reflection is not on my nose but they will then be on my shirt so to speak and are very annoying and distracting. It's hard to explain the distraction or annoyance but it's there for me and on my light.

That being said and the fact that others don't have this issue makes me wonder if their lights are different somehow. One way to check (I was doing this, this morning in the car on the way to work) is turn the light on and point it at a wall or ceiling, it's doesn't need to be on your head but hold it up close and see if you can see beams of light on the top and bottom of the lens projected onto the wall.

 

[alpg88]

i did some researches about saint and found a potential issue. Some members reported reflected light that shines on their noses, but other don't. Is that reflection really annoying, or not? Is larger(longer) nose only reason for that reflection because i have rather shorter and wider one

well, you'll never know unless you try

 

[pulstar]

I know, but 130$ worth attempt is pretty expensive for my student wallet:nana:. It's really strange that some users have that reflection.

@UMC: When did you buy your Saint? Maybe Surefire changed it's desing a little bit later, when people started "complaining" about it. And what's your general evaluation of this light?

 

[uplite]

Any suggestions are highly appreciated (even other brands...)

1) Clip a flood light on your waistband to illuminate the trail without any glare and leave your head free to sweat.

2) Carry a small throwy handheld with a convenient switch (momentary or soft) for trailfinding or spotting in short bursts when you need it.

I've found that a throwy headlamp (e.g. PT EOS) is not very good for trail running. At least not for me. The focused spot bounces while running, creates tunnel vision, and kills the peripheral near vision that I use (unconsciously) for foot placement.

My "perfect" trailrunning setup right now is H501w (flood) on the waist and SC50w (throw, side clicky) in hand.

-Jeff

 

[umc]

I know, but 130$ worth attempt is pretty expensive for my student wallet:nana:. It's really strange that some users have that reflection.

@UMC: When did you buy your Saint? Maybe Surefire changed it's desing a little bit later, when people started "complaining" about it. And what's your general evaluation of this light?

I bought it on April 1 so a week ago.

General evaluation, I love the ui is awesome and simple. If Surefire can fix this when I send it in I'll be one very happy camper.

 

[xcandrew]

but some distance is also important cause i mostly run through forest.
Any suggestions are highly appreciated (even other brands...)

You can do much better than the Saint Minimus for running through a forest. Look at orienteering/ski lights or similar. The value choice is the Magicshine, which not only costs less than the Saint, but is about 6 times brighter and has a much better combination of throw and flood for running.

 

[pulstar]

I've seen MS before, a friend of mine has it on his MTB. Well, it's bulkier, lover quality, i didn't like it's design and overall feeling. Brightness is it's only plus. I'd rather use headlamp.

 

[Qoose]

I'd also second the clipped flood light and a thrower in hand. A zebra light works really well for that due to how tiny they are. There are a variety of places I can then clip it.

 

[pulstar]

I usually run only in t-shirt and shorts, and don't think that i could clip it on these two. Do you guys, who notice that strange "glare" from LED housing find it very annoying? I did some researches and saw some pictures, and apparently this glare isn't on all saints. I'm (.) so close to buying it, but still a little bit affraid that there would be something that could bother me on it.

 

[csa]

You should definitely consider the Zebralight options. The H30 is a fantastic flood with similar properties to the minimus for a lot less money.

 

[umc]

Surefire will be receiving my Minimus today if they haven't already and they said it would be a week or two turn around time on it so I can let you know when it gets back if they found anything that they think should be fixed or not.

 

[uplite]

I usually run only in t-shirt and shorts, and don't think that i could clip it on these two.

You definitely can. I do it all the time. The H501 is just 0.75 oz by itself, 1.5 oz with clip and lithium AA. It doesn't pull my waistband. I don't even notice that it's there. Except for the illuminated trail.

In the wilderness, I often run with a small waistpack that holds a pint of water plus some trail essentials. Then I just clip the H501 to the strap like this:

Another approach is to leave the light in its horizontal holder and add a 1/2" nylon strap like this:

That is the most flexible setup I've found, since you can adjust the vertical angle. Especially nice if you might cross paths with other people. You can angle the beam down so it doesn't blind them. :thumbsup:

If I sound like a zebralight fanboy, it's only because I think they nailed it. It's one of those 1 in 1000 pieces of gear that is so good, I'd almost call it perfect.

-Jeff

 

[pulstar]

Thanks, but i'll probably just go for it. The more reviews and pictures i see, the more i want it! Since i've got LX2 i find myself strangely attracted to Surefire brand
Just one more question, are runtimes and stated output accurate?

 

[uplite]

Thanks, but i'll probably just go for it. The more reviews and pictures i see, the more i want it!

No probs. Just sharing what I've learned. The minimus looks like it would be OK for hiking...but I wouldn't want to use it for running. ymmv.

-Jeff

 

[pulstar]

Besides that glare, are there any other reported issues? If not, i'm ordering one today!