Outdoor Retailer Summer 15: Best of Illumination and Run Safety. Albedo100 Reflective Spray and Ultraspire Lumen 600 and 170 Belts

We discovered 2 absolute home run new products at Outdoor Retailer to keep anyone out at night on the roads and trails illuminated and safe: Albedo100 Reflective Spray and UltraSpire's high power Lumen 600 and 170  reflective waist packs.

We first ran into Albedo100 at the Open Air Demo on an incredibly bright day.  Not exactly auspicious for demonstrating a line of night focused products....but they did not disappoint  Albedo, a Swedish company has a line of three reflective sprays: Invisible Bright, Fur and Pets, and Permanent Metallic.

• Invisible Bright can be used on any textile, is invisible, highly reflective and can be machine washed out. Obviously it lasts longer and adheres better to textiles with some texture.  In general expect a couple of weeks of use from a treatment.  All kinds of uses: running, night relays, group runs, kids at the bus stop in winter, nordic skiing, dog walking, etc... No more dorky run vests! 

Below pictures we took. The left picture was taken without flash of the treated shoe, the right with flash. One shoe treated the other not. Brilliant!

• Horse and Pets Another brilliant idea. A slightly different formulation to keep pets and horses safe at nigh. Has a light gray shade
• Permanent Metallic: Developed with Volvo, this spray has an off gray color and is great for bikes, helmets, even road marking. 

Not clear which spray is used, but herders in Finland,where the winters are oh so long, are using the Albedo Reflective Sprays to keep their reindeer safer as they roam near roads as thousands are killed every year by vehicles.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-26244339

Each type available at Albedo100, $13.99 for 2.3 oz Invisible Bright, $18.99 for 4.6oz Horse and Pets The Metallic will soon be available in the US.

Ultraspire is a Southern Utah company with a long and storied history creating hydration products and packs for endurance athletes. I have used a number of their products over the years. While folks from Northern climes think of winter as the time for running illumination ,UltrAspire's location in very hot Southern Utah makes running in the dark also a necessity to beat the heat. In recent years they have made highly reflective products, waist belts and packs. 

Their upcoming (Fall 2015) Lumen 600 and 170 belts are a brilliant combination of highly reflective visible fabrics, a phone sized pocket, and a waist mounted rotatable yet removable aircraft grade aluminum  "tactical" type light. Equally useful on road or trail they provide not only safety but superb halo free illumination where you need it, lower, casting shadows over obstacles to impart depth of field. With distracting driving such an issue day time use on busy streets, as cyclists often now do, not a bad idea either.

Update: See RoadTrailRun's detailed from the trails review of the Lumen 600 here

Ultraspire Lumen 600 

Ultraspire Lumen 600 

The  Lumen 600 has 600 lumens on high with a battery life from its USB rechargeable battery of 8 hours. Most running headlights max out at 300 or so lumens so this is an absolute flame thrower! Retail $179. Available Fall 2015

The Lumen 170 has 170 lumens on high with a battery life of 6 hours. it uses AAA batteries. Retail $99. Available Fall 2015.

Interested in other shoe brands, packs, illumination introductions at Outdoor Retailer? All our coverage at RoadTrailRun's summary page here