Once the weather starts getting a lot colder and darker.
You might find yourself starting to look for some accessories, that can keep you
running outside during the winter months.
I'm Anna, and along with Andy,
we're going to be running through some of the best winter accessories to help
keep you running in the colder weather.
We're not paid by the brands to say nice things about their products,
but these are just a few of the selection out there.
So we'll be covering everything from socks to gloves, to hats and head torches.
And at the end, Anna and I will be giving you our picks for our favourite winter accessory.
Firstly, though, if you're new around here,
please do hit subscribe and tap the bell icon to be notified,
when we release new videos, all about running, which we do every week.
These are the Carbonite gloves from Brooks.
So Brooks have released a range of high reflective,
high visibility running gear for the winter, the dark nights and being seen
and being safe. So the Carbonite gloves are wind resistant.
They also are made of quite high-tech fabric, which wicks sweat away.
When I wear gloves, when I'm running often,
I get to a point where I don't need them anymore,
and I instantly need to get rid of them and take them off because my hands have
got so hot so quickly,
but these ones do let your hands breathe quite a bit and also have a really
handy magnet on the cuff, which means that they stick together.
So you don't lose one of them. Well, that's the idea, anyway.
So with these, running in these gloves, I've found that they're super comfy,
they're super lightweight,
so you don't really even feel like you've got them on,
but they do keep the elements from getting to your poor hands while you're
running. So that's the Brooks Carbonite gloves.
These are the Ronnhill Wind-Block Flip Gloves,
which do exactly what they say on the tin, I suppose.
There's a flip over mitten element here,
which tucks away in a handy pocket on the back of the hand.
So that's tucked away on this hand here, and that is the bit that's windproof.
So if you start to overheat on a run, then you can flip it back,
tuck it away and not worry about it too much.
And that's one thing I would say that's brilliant about these gloves that are
really nice weight overall. So enough to keep you warm.
And the extra added benefit of the mitten element, does provide an extra element
of warmth when you're getting started on your runs,
or if you're out in a particularly biting wind, but as you start to warm up,
I wore these for a run of well over an hour the other day,
and didn't feel like I needed to take them off at any point,
which is a really nice point to note with regards to overheating,
which can sometimes be the case when you go out all wrapped up for a run.
A couple of other features to note. There are grip panels on the palm of each hand,
which I found really useful when driving or holding my phone and when using a phone,
that's something else to note because on the finger and thumb of each glove,
there are panels which allow you to use the touch screen of your devices.
Finally, there's a sort of toweling elements to the outside of the thumb,
which they say is for wiping perspiration.
We all know it's probably for wiping your nose on a horrible winter's run,
but that's a really nice touch because a harsh fabric that can be a little bit uncomfortable.
So these are the Gore-Tex Infinium gloves by North face.
So this is a much thicker glove compared to the likes,
of the Brooks ones. For both of them, they do have tech compatibility.
So it does mean that you'll see on the finger, there's a little on,
off switch button. Um, it's not a button it's just the logo for it,
but it means that you can use your touch screen on your phone whilst wearing the gloves,
which you will find is included in the majority of active wear kind of gloves
these days. So these ones are much, much thicker, really, really fleecy.
And they've also got like a bobbled design on the first two fingers and the
thumb on each hand for grip. So for these ones,
I would say that they're more of sort of an active day out kind of glove.
So if you're going to be scrambling on rocks or like holding onto things,
they give you extra grip and that kind of thing. Running wise,
they're probably a little bit on the thick side. So not so much for running,
unless you do get super cold.
And also it depends on the climate that you're running in.
So you might be living somewhere where you get six feet of snow on the daily.
So, uh, yeah, if you do get incredibly cold,
then these ones will definitely keep you warm. Also with these,
you've got the added feature of keeping them together with a little clip so that
you don't lose them. Uh,
I am always terrible at shoving one in a pocket somewhere and leaving one
somewhere else.
So you've got that added security of keeping those gloves together.
These are the Sealskinz, waterproof all weather gloves,
and they're by far the most hardcore glove that we've included in our roundup today.
We wanted to include some gloves that are a good all-rounder and that might be
useful outside of running because actually these are probably overkill for your
short runs, unless the weather is really severe.
They are a hundred percent windproof and waterproof.
So they're great for being out on the bike out for a long walk,
knowing that you gotta be protected from the elements.
And of course they're good on a run,
but they are so thick and heavy that you could risk overheating.
And they are a little bit bigger to perhaps store if you wanted to take them
off mid run. Because they're that bit thicker,
they come in a kind of pre curved fit, which fits really nicely.
They're lined and really comfortable. But like I said,
a little bit more heavy duty and you do notice that. They've got Velcro to hold
them on at the wrist,
which is a nice touch as well as fingers and thumbs that allow you to use
touchscreen devices as well.
These are the running gloves from Proviz, they're in their Reflect 360
range. So you'll see, they've got these reflective strips on them.
Perfect for late night, dark runs for being seen.
One thing that I would mention though,
is that having worn them on a run and then putting them on the radiator to dry
out afterwards, cause it was very wet.
I have noticed that some of that detail has started to peel away. However,
the Proviz gloves are a really comfy fit, they're quite a
tight fit, but also, I mean, fits like a glove.
That's the saying for a reason, right? So they're a really comfy fit.
They keep the rain out. Like I mentioned, they're not waterproof.
So they do hold quite a lot of water, if you're out on a wet run,
these ones are also touchscreen friendly.
And so they've got a special little bit on the finger so that you can still use
your phone whilst you're wearing them because who wants to take off gloves,
when they're nice and toasty warm, just to use their phone.
So the other good thing about these ones as well is that they screw up really, really tiny.
So when you get to the point where you want to take your gloves off during a
run, you can just bung them in a pocket or in your shorts or whatever.
They don't have any mechanism to keep the two of them together.
So just be careful that you don't lose one of them,
but those are the Proviz Reflect 360 gloves.
This is the Inov-8 Train Elite Beanie.
And I love this because it strikes the perfect balance between keeping you warm enough,
but also being light enough that you don't feel like you're going to overheat or
get massively sweaty on a longer run.
It's also lightweight enough that if you did get too hot or the weather warms up
throughout the course of a run,
you can just take off and slip it away without worrying about it too much. It has a
contoured shape and a stretch fit to give a really nice close fit with a fleece,
lining for comfort, and I did find it was really comfortable.
It's also pretty good value and could be a really good option,
if you have a mandatory kit list for a longer event,
you might have signed up for.
This is the Buff Coolnet Headband,
which you might've seen in our Christmas presents for runners video.
So Coolnet, don't really want to keep you cool,
but it does keep you warm in the winter as well.
This one keeps my ears nice and toasty.
So you can wear it over your head to cover up your ears.
You can wear it around your neck to keep your neck warm.
You can wear it around your wrist in the summer to wipe sweat off your brow.
It really is a multifunctional piece of headwear gear,
whatever you want to call it. So the buff is made from a really,
really light material. So it hardly even tell that it's there.
It's really easy to move around whilst you're on the run,
keeps the wind off your ears or off your face.
And it also keeps the hair out of your face,
which is really useful for someone like me.
So the buff headwear is a really nice way to brighten up
your dreary running wardrobe. If you're,
if you tend to not go for the brighter stuff,
then have a little lookout for the Buff Coolnet headband.
This is the On Merino Beanie, which as the name would suggest is made from Merino wool.
It's lovely and comfortable, and really does keep you warm.
I'd suggest preserving this for the very coldest days,
if you're gonna wear it out on a run, as it is a pretty warm hat,
but it's brilliant for before and after runs or just in a social setting as
well. So I do love this one. This is one of my favourites.
Be careful when you wash it though, that's the top tip from Anna.
She said that hers shrunk a bit,
if she didn't give it the care and attention that it deserved.
It's available in a few different colours.
So if you're looking to invest in something where you can wear it for lots of
different purposes and also in a casual setting, then this could be the thing for you.
So in the winter it gets dark earlier.
So it's wise to think about being seen and seeing where you're going as well.
So this is the Actik Core headlamp by Petzl. For the
price of it, it's not a bad one to consider as a sort of entry level head torch.
If you've not had one before and you don't really know where to start looking,
then this one does the job that you will need it for.
So it is adjustable so that you can point it downwards on your run.
It has a white light and a red light version.
So the red light is great so that you're not going to blind your running buddies.
So you can switch it to red while you're having a chat with them.
But also it's bright enough to get you out on some of the darkest trails.
The light is 450 lumens. With this head torch as well.
You have the option of it being battery powered with three AAA batteries,
or it's also rechargeable as well.
So you don't have to constantly stock up on your batteries.
You can plug it in and charge it. The headband,
the stretchy headband on this one is really comfy.
It stays put it's adjustable to fit around your own head,
shape and size as well. And yeah,
basically it is a very good intro to head torches.
If you want to see where you're going on the trails with all these different
settings that get brighter and dimmer as you go.
These are the Nite Ize, Taglit Magnetic LED Markers,
a really simple product designed to keep you safe
in the dark. They're not an expensive product. They keep it nice and simple.
There's a charging port on the end of each one,
which takes a standard micro USB to charge them up. They come in two colors,
yellow, which is essentially green, when it's turned on and red,
there are two settings, press the button once, for it to be on solidly,
press it again for it to flash.
There's also some passive reflective printing on the front.
So they'll catch the light from streetlights, but more importantly,
probably from car headlights or bike headlights.
And then to the actual functionality, how do you wear them?
They are very simple mechanism.
So, they have magnets that allow them to clip on them to the sleeve of a t-shirt
the backpack that you might be wearing to commute in, the back of a jacket or
the front of a jacket or wherever you want to really they're a nice strong magnet.
So I didn't have any concerns about them falling off,
even when running and moving my arms quite vigorously. A nice little thing,
potentially a stocking filler, I suppose,
to keep you or your loved ones safe when it's dark.
Let's talk about arm warmers.
So apparently a bit of a contentious subject among some runners.
So arm warmers honestly,
are not something that I've ever considered wearing when running before.
However, you see them all the time on elites or at cross country, where people are wearing
club vests and shorts, and it's freezing.
So you can be a little bit warmer by wearing your arm warmers,
but not having to change the top that you're wearing.
So have you ever got ready to go out for a run and been a bit confused about the
temperature and what to wear,
and you don't know whether you're going to need long sleeves or a t-shirt? Well,
you can wear a t-shirt and put your arm warmers on.
And then if you do get too hot, you can whip them off. Or if you're not too hot,
then you keep them on and you've stayed warm. So yeah,
these are the arm wamer's from Proviz. They've got the reflective detail on them,
like a lot of the Proviz kit does,
and they also have this sort of sticky inner bit around the top,
which sits on your arm, makes sure they stay in place and they don't fall down.
So gonna have to admit, having tried these out for this video, I'm a bit of an arm warmer convert.
Next up, we've got the 2XU Vectr Ultra Light Crew Socks. Now,
socks, I suppose aren't necessarily a winter specific item,
but you do need a good pair of socks. And in the winter when it's wet and cold,
that becomes even more important. Because this is a 2XU product,
there's an element of compression involved. In this case, the X lock system,
which aims to provide support for the arch, plantar fascia and the ankle,
allegedly to provide a more efficient foot strike. It's worth noting,
these are the ultra light version, which refers to how much cushion they have.
There's two other versions of cushioning,
which get progressively more cushioned. Similarly,
there are four different lengths. These are the crew,
which is the second longest.
You can get a full compression sock as well as shorter versions that are more
hidden in your shoes. And yes,
I have an impractical white version from a winter perspective.
They do come in other colors as well.
I wore them for a nice clean road run to keep them nice and pristine to show you
on camera.
So in the winter,
it's worth thinking about taking care of your skin. As runners, we go out in all
elements and our face gets a battering from rain, sleep, hails, snow,
you name it, and then you go indoors,
have a hot shower or put the central heating on. And again,
that will dry your skin out. So this is the Weather Defence,
Facial Cream from Premax.
So having tried this a few times pre-run and also post run.
One thing that I will say is that it smells amazing. Also what I noticed though,
when I go out and run and I've put this on beforehand,
is that I do notice that if my face gets a bit sweaty,
the sweat does tend to kind of stay there rather than run off your face.
So another super handy thing about this is that it's obviously quite small and
therefore portable, so you can pop it in your bag or in your running pack,
if you're going out on the trails for an entire day, for example.
Consider it a little bit like sun cream.
One thing to note is that it is pretty pricey for the size of the
product. So do use sparingly, but you don't need to use too much anyway.
And the weather defence cream does just sort of feel like
your, just giving your skin a drink.
So when you feel thirsty and you have water,
my skin felt like it was thirsty and this was it's water. Just rehydrating it.
So this is the weather defence, Facial Cream from Premax.
Those of you looking to take on something a little bit more extreme this winter.
These are the Inov-8 All Terrain Gaiters.
If you're not familiar with Gaiters,
you use them to protect your ankles and shoes from mud,
other debris like sticks and stones from, from getting inside,
when you're tackling some more severe terrain,
or you might be out for a longer run and wanting to protect yourself for a
longer period. You slip them on after your socks, but before your shoes,
and there were three hooks around the edge, aimed at hooking onto your shoes.
If you have the Inov-8 shoes that have the hooks built in already,
then you can hook them directly onto those. But if you don't,
then they come with these rubber O-rings essentially that go underneath the arch
of your foot to hook onto the two back rings.
And then you still hook the front one onto the laces on your shoes. That holds
them securely in place on your run and should protect you for a long day out on
the trails or the fells.
So as well as thinking about your skin,
just thinking about your lips. Personally, for me, this time of year,
I always get a bit of a chapped lip or just sore lips from being out in the
cold, then coming into the warm and vice versa.
So this is Nivea's Hydro Care lip balm. Personally,
I'm never normally without some form of chapstick or lip balm on my person.
I just like to make sure that I can sort it out if I do get any kind of
soreness or chapped lips. So this one also comes with SPF 15.
So if you're out in the sunshine, sun, where are you?
Then it will help protect against the harmful rays as well. So yes,
this is Nivea's Hydro Care lip balm, super handy to pop
into your running pack or what have you, and keep it on you for an entire day.
These are the Kahtoola Nanospikes.
And they're essentially an extra bit of kit with a rubber harness on the top
that you strap onto your existing running shoes to give you extra grip in really
extreme conditions. And by extreme, I mean, snow and compacted ice.
There are 10 tungsten carbide spikes on the bottom to provide you with the extra
traction that you need in those really difficult conditions.
If you don't want to have specific shoes that are designed only for the few days in
the year, in the UK,
at least when you get conditions that extreme. They're straight forward to fit onto
your existing shoes, using the harness on the top, nice and easy.
And they come in different lengths or different sizes depending on your foot size.
So you need to look that up on the website and then order the corresponding
size. The plates themselves,
that the tungsten carbide spikes are attached to our aimed at evenly
distributing the weight from your shoes.
And also the grip that the spikes provide.
This is the 10 litre backpack from Proviz.
So I've been using a version of this for run commutes and bike commutes for some
time now. So it's obviously highly reflective and very bright.
So you can use it as a means for other people being able to see you or the road
users, for example. Um,
and it's just nice and bright to make sure that people can see you.
So the zips on this are taped as well.
So it is waterproof and you can fit quite a lot in it. As I say, it's 10 litres.
You might struggle getting a certain size of laptop in there.
So do just check that yours will fit the dimensions,
but it comes also with loads of super handy pockets.
So you've got one pocket on the side here to put smaller things in than the
main pocket. You've also got to zip pockets, which sit around your hips,
which means that you can put things in there that you might want to be able to
access whilst you're on the run or cycling.
So things like your keys or a lip balm or something like
your credit card to use on public transport, a face mask,
the list is endless really. So really, really super useful pockets here,
a really comfortable fit. You've got, um,
a clip that goes across your chest as well as one that goes around your hips and
it's all adjustable for you to be able to fit it to your body shape and size.
So now it's time to pick our favourites. So out of all of those,
which are my favourites, well,
I am renowned for not being able to make a decision. So I can't choose just one.
There are so many accessories out there that are available that help making
running in the winter and in the cold and in the wet and the dark so much
brighter and also so much easier too.
Speaking of brighter, the two that I've picked are the brightest of the lot.
It's the Proviz backpack and the Brooks Carbonite gloves.
So my pick would be the Ronhill Wind-Block, Flip gloves.
They're really versatile.
I've worn them for lots of different distance runs and in lots of different
conditions and they've survived them all.
And I've never felt like I've overheated.
Plus the versatility of been able to use a touch screen device is a really nice
touch as well. So what are your favourite winter accessories for running?
Is there something that you couldn't survive without?
Let us know in the comments below,
and we'll see you next time on The Running Channel, but whilst you're here,
why not check out one of our other videos?