See the Future with Ergodyne’s Glowear PowerCap

That little light strapped on your noggin bouncing around when you’re wearing it at night, the flashlight you drop down a ravine after slipping on a climb . . . all a thing of the past when you don the coolest headgear in a fortnight, the Glowear PowerCap with it’s just discovered secret capability.

Created by St. Paul, Minnesota’s Ergodyne, a 25-year-old company built to create products for those in the trenches, finds its products bleeding over to the outdoor sports markets. Hey, we run and snowshoe in those trenches, so the fit is right on particularly with their theme, their creed, the one saying that permeates everything there: “Be tenacious.”

No better description, a reminder of how to make the next aid station in the blistering sun of the Western States 100, or to crampon the last step up a soaring Colorado mountain USSSA National qualifier is available. “Be tenacious” says it all. Metallica sings, “Nothing Else Matters,” Ergodyne replies a chorus of “Be tenacious.”

Famed Oregon Coach Bowerman said of superstar Steve Prefontaine, “You can’t coach desire,” meaning Pre was naturally filled with that particular tonic of drive. He could just as easily have said “You can’t teach tenacity, either” as the trait needs to be inbred. Yes, yes, but it can be polished, and as a skill it can be honed to better use. 

But tenacity is the veracity of getting on with each day no matter the number of hits to the skull of self-confidence the prior day; or the number of footsteps taken to cover the brier-infested Barkley ultras with many more left before the final page is torn from their books stuffed in crevices throughout those Tennessee Mountains. 

Ergodyne’s destiny is creating innovative, high-quality gear designed to make the workplace a better place, just the ticket for a successful product like the Glowear PowerCap athletes can commandeer for those ultra distance night jaunts. It has all the bells and whistles a perfect cap needs.

First, it fits all users comfortably, and that comes from one with a head shaped like a brain-infused watermelon. A generous Velcro combo-catch at the back allows the cap to proudly and properly wear the mantle of, “It fits all.” Mesh side-panels of oxford polyester, one of the world’s most durable materials, keep it cool while wrappings of silver reflective tape shows up better than a 3M Headquarters sign on I-94. This means the cap fits ANSI 107 standards for visibility and conspicuousness not at all a bad idea when lost off trail.

There are only two-types of trail runners: Those who have lost their way and those who will. It’s nice comfort knowing your head can perform like a reflective lighthouse overlooking a bay.

The real brilliance lies in the LED light arrangement populating both sides of the cap bill, reminiscent of Macy’s at Christmas. Two LEDs sit in the brim’s edge pointing forward looking every bit akin to a head-fired flood-beam of light.

Two more are perched back underneath the bill resembling a torpedo launcher. The work idea is the two lights on the edge lead the way in dark places like an airplane’s belly, and when working up-close-and-personal on a sophisticated piece of avionics gear, just click on the torpedoes for a directed beam of vision.

For trail use the two leaders cast a generous, broad beam reaching out some 25 yards, plenty fine in the darkest of nights like the test I ran near the St. Croix River with only a sliver of moon remaining in its cycle. I prefer plenty of light so I made way with all four brightly illuminated. The addition of the two beneath the bill provides a next-step light while the brim leaders show the way to come.

It was a moist, heavy night when I discovered a unique attribute of the two little covered torpedoes. At the Sawtooth 100-mile ultra trail race in 2010, and many other similar events throughout the country, heavy rain turned into dense fog rendering the head lamps useless in making way. Running in a low-lying area rolling with fog, I noticed the bill kept the lights underneath from shining the particles floating around. Instead the bill deflects the light downward so the all-important next-step was lit, and the fog was neutralized. I clicked off the forward lights and realized: Hey, these torpedoes are fog lights for the trail! An invention for industrial use turns out to contain a special feature needed in trail running but prior to the Glowear PowerCap wasn’t available. Now it is!

I chose the lime model so the cap can be comfortable even during the day. Wear it the entire race; protection from the sun, protection from the dark at night. There are also choices of black, dark blue, and the clever camouflage, too.

The LEDs are expected to last 100,000 hours, just about enough time I’ll need to complete the Sawtooth. Can’t you just hear RD Larry Pederson at the prerace meeting saying, “. . . and the cutoff at halfway, the Finland Recreation Center, is 50,000 hours?”

The batteries, four CR2032 coin-like lithiums, are advertised with 30 hours of use so no bulky changes will be required on a two-night ultra.

Ergodyne says, “Funny what you can accomplish with some good ideas and a little guts.” With the Glowear PowerCap, they have accomplished something truly remarkable for the workplace and the sport place. “But in the end, our hearts were always with the folks in the trenches,” (photo, Tom Votel, CEO) a snowshoer or trail runner’s favorite place to be.

Find Ergodyne’s Glowear PowerCap at: http://bit.ly/mlFaMP.

While you’re there, check out their wide assortment of product ideas. Don’t fail to visit the closeouts section; I spent my monthly allowance on gigantic bargains.

Write phillipgary@snowshoemag.com.

Visit Phillip‘s author’s page for HARMONIZING: Keys to Living in the Song of Life and Ultra Superior, the book at: http://amzn.to/dIdqQw.