A cap for all: Safety Light Pt 3

Running during the pre-dawn or late-night hours is almost never a choice. When morning or evening runs aren’t possible due to other commitments, these may be the only windows of time you can squeeze a run in.  

Running in low-light conditions can be a bit hazardous if you don't have the proper gear - not just because you have to watch out for potholes, but also because you need to make sure you are visible to everyone you’re sharing the path with.

To address the safety concerns highlighted by runners we spoke with, we looked into lightweight safety lights currently available in the market and purchased some to test out. We compared features such as beam distance, weight, range of modes and accessibility and ease of control.

We sketched a few designs and mounted the lights on various positions of our cap to test them out. Our goal was to maximise visibility of the light beam from all sides while minimising vertical movement of the device.

Visibility Test 1

We ran the tests under different lighting conditions. Noticing how the blinkers intersect with various ambient light source while on the move. We narrowed our choices down to one device that is lightweight, has good visibility, easy to maintain and inexpensive.

Should we use a third-party device or design our very own LAST safety light? Either way, we will have to continue working on improving and coming up with an ideal safety light for runners. Check back to read more about our development.

Jonathan - LAST Running