Gear Review: UltrAspire Lumen 600 3.0 Waist Light
Get ready to take your night runs to the next level with UltrAspire’s Lumen 600 3.0 Waist Light. 600 lumens oriented at waist level brightens up the trail like it is daylight, practically eliminating the worry of tripping over pesky roots and rocks when running at night or in the early morning hours.
Specs
- Lumens: 600
- Battery: Rechargeable 18650 (included)
- Burn time: 4 hours (high), 10 hours (low), 7 hours (flashing)
- Brightness Levels: 3
- Weight: 7 ounces
- Fit: Unisex
- Waist size: 26–38 inches
- Battery: Rechargeable 18650 (included)
- Features: Large pocket (removable), super wide beam, fatigue free performance buckle, adjustable belt, low weight
- More info on UltraSpire site here.
What’s good: the new, differentiating, or simply well designed or built features
The UltrAspire Lumen 600 3.0 waist light allows you to take the burden of lighting off your head and move it onto your waist. This 600 lumen lamp is a workhorse that lights up the entire trail in a lightweight, compact, and rechargeable package.
The Light
At 600 lumens this is one BRIGHT light. The light is 30% smaller and lighter than the 2.0 version. It has WideBeam flood-cone lighting, which helps eliminate tunnel vision by lighting up the full area around you. This allows you to run without fear of tripping over and unseen root or rock.
The light offers 3 output settings—low, medium, and high—as well as a strobe feature. The button on the side of the light toggles through all of the light output options. The button is large and easy to press with or without gloves.
The light easily detaches from the clip on the belt. Partially unscrewing the cap on the button side of the light reveals the USB charging port. The light comes with a small micro USB charging cable. The placement of the USB port is conducive to connecting a charging pack while on the go. Unscrew the other cap and you can slide out the rechargeable battery. The battery can be replaced without detaching the lamp from the housing on the belt.
Removable Pocket
The pocket is big enough to up to an iPhone Plus. The stretch fabric expands to fit your major essentials such as a phone, lightweight jacket, gloves, and keys—everything you would need on a short run. If you need to carry more with you, you have two options. Remove the pocket entirely and throw on a vest instead. Or keep the pocket and use it to increase your carrying capacity. The pocket includes a key clip to ensure you won’t lose your key if you riffle through the pocket while on the run.
The Buckle
UltrAspire calls their buckle “fatigue free” and I think that is a good name for it. The ease of design doesn’t require much thought, so you should be able to clip and unclip the buckle even if your mind is tired. It is also easy to use with gloves.
What could be improved: tweaks or improvements that could be made to make the light better
There are two small things that could improve the UltrAspire Lumen 600 3.0 Waist Light. I found the size adjustment on the waist strap to be a little cumbersome, which could be a bit challenging mid-run if you add or remove enough bulk to your waist through layers to need to adjust the size.
Program the light to start with the lowest setting and have the button presses increase the light output. This could potentially help runners save battery life by not using a higher setting than needed for the conditions.
When to use it: the situations or scenarios where the light excels.
The UltrAspire Lumen 600 3.0 Waist Light is perfect for any activity done in low light conditions—road running, trail running, hiking.
How it Compares: My current go to light and how this light compares
Throughout the dark winter months I was toggling between the Ledlenser MH10 and Neo10R as well as the Petzl Reactik+. The UltrAspire Lumen 600 3.0 Waist Light has the same max output of both the MH10 and Neo10R (review), with the substantial difference being that the MH10 is a headlamp and the Neo10R serves as both a headlamp and chest lamp (I was using it primarily in the chest lamp configuration). The Petzl Reactik+ maxes out at 300 lumens, so all of these options are much brighter than the Reactik+, however, the Reaktic+ is noticeably lighter.
The UltrAspire light and both Ledlenser lights all use a standard rechargeable battery, an 18650 lithium-ion. You can purchase an 1860 battery directly from the lightmaker or at a number of other suppliers, including Amazon. Because it is a standard battery they tend to be cheaper and easier to find, as well as they can be useful in a variety of other devices. Comparatively, the Reactik+ has a rechargeable battery but it is proprietary design and is only made by Petzl.
The main difference with the UltrAspire light is the location. Having the light on your waist lights up the trail in a noticeably different way than when it is on your head or even your chest. The sway of the light is less on the waist mounted light compared to the chest mounted light. However, you will notice that the movement of a light on your waist is more than the movement of a headlamp.
Many of you have probably worn a headlamp as a waist lamp—especially if you are running ultras—but the beauty of using a light that is specifically designed for the purpose is that it rides much more comfortably on the waist and is more stable as the belt is much more substantial than a headlamp strap. The UltrAspire light also adds in two rubber grippers on the removable pocket to ensure that it stays in place when used.
Should you purchase? My overall recommendation.
Yes! I love this light. I have had my eye on the UltrAspire waist lights since version 1.0 and I was very excited to finally get to try it out. Having a bright light source at waist level is a game changer for me. I have always hated having to wear a heavy light on my head. But I need a lot of light, which really necessitated either a waist light/headlamp combo, or a 600 lumen headlamp. While I think that the Ledlenser MH10 is a great headlamp, it is still noticeably heavier than a 200 or 300 lumen Petzl.
I think that the perfect lighting setup is to combine the UltrAspire 3.0 Waist Light with a lightweight headlamp. Despite the high brightness of the UltrAspire 3.0, I found I still wanted some light source on my head. In my opinion, it is critical to have an easy to direct light source where the turn of the head can focus the light quickly where needed. But with a 600 lumen light on your waist, you can easily go with a 150 to 200 lumen light for your head. This means you can go with a very lightweight headlamp—even the Petzl Bindi, at 200 lumens, would be a very reasonable choice for this secondary lamp source.
At $159.95 the UltrAspire is about middle of the road when it comes to lamp price. It’s more expensive than the Ledlenser MH10 (a steal at $80), but less expensive than the Petzl Nao+ ($199). The run time of 4 hours at 600 lumens is superior to the range of the Petzl Nao at high output (1.5 hours), but less than that of the MH10 at its max setting (10 hours).
For runners regularly running at night or in the early morning hours, especially on trails, this lamp will quickly become an essential part of your toolkit.
Purchasing Info
If have the option or purchasing this light from a locall owned run specialty store with good customer service, please do so. They and we depend on stores keeping a good culture alive. If you can’t find it, please consider using this Amazon affiliate link.
Your Reviewer: Sarah Bradham
I started my love of gear as a climber and as I turned my attention to running I shifted from carabiners, ice tools, and crampons to hydration packs, midsole foam types, compression clothing, and everything in between. After several years of foot injuries, I’m enjoying getting back to my beloved muddy and rocky trails near my home in Portland, Ore. In my work life, I enjoy coordinating an annual Mountain and Ultra Running Camp at the base of Mt. Hood with Yassine Diboun, Amy Sproston, and Joelle Vaught.