Nathan Halo Fire Review

Nathan Sports is sold in over 45 different countries and was on Inc.’s 500/5000 List of Fastest Growing Companies in 2013.  They make hydration, visibility, and performance gear using industry leading materials.  If you go to your local running store, there will most likely be Nathan products there.

Nathan Sports just came out with headlamps specifically designed for runners.  There are other headlamps that can be useful for runners, but the Halo Fire and Nebula Fire are the first headlamps that were designed with features specifically for runners.  Some of these features are really cool too.

Let’s start with their RunWave feature.  It is a mode where you simply wave your hand in front of the light and it will change the intensity of the light.  There are 5 power settings; Low, Medium, High, Sprint, and Strobe.  It has a sensor in front of the unit that knows when your hand crosses in front of it.  While this not seem like a big deal, it is.  Yes, we can all push a button to change the settings or turn off the light if it’s a nice summer morning.  What would happen if you were running in the cold and you have gloves on?  It is much harder to push the button in that situation and for me, I do most of my training in the dark during the fall and winter months (marathon training time). 

Another great feature of the Halo Fire is the Run-Right Light.  This is a combination of a spotlight and floodlight to provide decent light, not only up ahead, but at your feet too.  I really like this feature because most of the time, I can only see way ahead or right at my feet, but the Halo Fire did a great job of illuminating both areas.  This is probably my favorite feature.

The next feature was the one I was the most excited about.  It‘s the AutoStrobe feature.  The AutoStrobe sensor reacts to car’s headlights so you can have your headlamp on a steady light setting, but if a car is approaching, it will switch the strobe light on to alert the car that you are there.  It is an awesome idea and with a little more tweaking, it will be a very powerful safety feature.  My problem with this feature is that anytime I went under a streetlight, the strobe light would come on, which was basically my whole 13 mile run.  This would probably not be an issue if you run in more rural areas though.  I love the concept, and hope they fix this issue. 

The Halo Fire’s headband features Nathan Sport’s Black Light material, which look black, but is actually highly reflective.  The headlamp can be adjusted to point straight out or more toward your feet (just like almost all headlamps). There are several different modes that you can run the Halo Fire in.  The highest light setting reaches a nice 280 lumens.  The lowest light settings will let you run the Halo Fire for about 22 hours on its rechargeable battery.  Check out the video.

Pros:

Comfortable Black Light Headband

Three lights (2 LED’s to light your path and 1 flood light to show you the way)

22 hour maximum burn life

Rechargeable battery

AutoStrobe and RunWave features are really cool

Decent price at $96.74 on Amazon

Cons:

The Auto-Strobe is triggered when I run under a streetlight and is set too sensitive (IMO)

Nathan’s Social Media Links:

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Instagram

Nathan Sports Blog

Nathan states that “No matter how hard you push our gear, we guarantee it.”  This does not include normal wear and tear, but you are covered from any manufacture defects for as long as you own the product.  That sounds great to me.  I definitely push my gear to the limits at times and it is great to have a company that stands behind their products.  I emailed Nathan a while back about a leaky bottle and they shipped one out to me at no charge, no questions asked.  Now that’s great service!

I will be completely honest.  There were some negative reviews on Amazon about the Halo Fire.  I have tested this headlamp for over 15 hours and have not experienced any of the issues that other people have, with the exception of the Auto-Strobe issue.  Other than that, it does an exceptional job of lighting your way.  You can pick up the Halo Fire starting at $97.74 at Amazon or at your local retailer (click here for locations).  Nathan has been making quality running products for years.  I really like some of the features on the Halo Fire that you won’t find on any other headlamp.  I think you will like it too. 

Note:  I received this product in exchange for a review.  The review is my personal opinion of the product and I was not required to give a particular opinion of it.  I am not a doctor, so please use all of the products that I review at your own risk.