HEAD TORCH REVIEW

It’s December in a remote glen in the Highlands of Scotland. You are walking off the mountain as fast as you can but this far North the days don’t last long and already the shadows are lengthening. You quicken your step, but the night is fleet of foot and soon overtakes you. Now you start to stumble and soon progress is painfully slow. As the stars begin to populate the empty blackness of the sky you reach into your rucksack and pull out your head torch. You aren’t in any trouble, you tell yourself, soon your trusty head torch will guide you down the mountain and you’ll be home in no time. The little torch flickers into life, for an instant or two you are in your own illuminated world, safe within the island of light. Then it happens, the little torch fades away leaving you alone in the blackness. Now home feels a long way away and the darkness swallows you.

John Burns 1

A reliable head torch is an essential piece of any hill walker’s kit at any time of year. In the winter, short days might mean setting out in darkness and frequently, returning home using your torch as a guide. Without a good torch you might be forced to spend a night out. Olight recently asked me to test their H2R Nova and I thought this might be a good idea to give an overview of the pros and cons of some of the torches I’ve used over the last few years.
I’ll be looking at the torches from three perspectives.
• Reliability
• Cost
• Power
I’ll score each torch with up to 5 *****

OWN BRAND BASIC TORCH

Basic
Most big retailers sell these. They are very cheap, many cost as little as £5. I’ve found they are fine in a tent or a bothy but they just don’t have the power to guide you off a mountain safely. This one can easily get accidentally switched on in your bag as the power switch is prominent. It’s also not rechargeable so you’ll have to buy batteries which means the initial saving in cost will get eaten up when you have to replace batteries.
• Reliability ***
• Cost ***
• Power *

PETZL

petzl
I have used this little Petzl head torch for around 5 years and in that time it’s been through just about every trauma you can imagine from being dropped to soaking in torrential rain and frozen in sub-zero temperatures. Through all that it has never let me down. Now, after thousands of hours of use, this rechargeable torch is no longer holding a charge. After what I’ve put it through I have no complaints and it has served me well. It is old technology now and doesn’t have the power of the torches being produced today.
• Reliability *****
• Cost ****
• Power ***

MULTI LENS TORCHES

Multi
There are a variety of these on the market. When I first saw one in action I was amazed by the power and rushed out and bought one. Some of these torches can produce and incredible 8,000 lumens. It’s like walking around with the sun strapped to your head. Of the two I have used, and there are many available, the major problem I encountered was the poor quality of their construction. I had to conduct running repairs on both and one fell apart within hours of its first use. I also found that when I charged the torches from the power socket in my car they malfunctioned and I have heard that the batteries can overheat when on charge. As a result, they are not reliable enough to use in the mountains although they would be fine for your garden or anywhere where they are not subjected to the kind of rough treatment they’ll get in the hills.
• Reliability *
• Cost **
• Power *****

OLIGHT H2R NOVA

OLight
I was immediately impressed by the quality of this torch’s construction and design. It is very well made and easily detachable from the head straps which means you can use it as a general-purpose torch. I’ve not had it very long, so I have only used it a few times on the mountains but I have found it gives great light and, at 2300 lumens, is more than up to the job of finding your way about in rugged country. It’s a fantastic little torch I would thoroughly recommend for use in the mountains. I did find the instructions a little confusing at first and it might be good to be able to focus the beam when searching for somewhere like a bothy but, overall, I have been very impressed and I expect to be using this torch for many years to come in all kinds of conditions. It retails at around £70, so it is not a cheap torch but you are paying for a torch of exceptional quality. If you use the link and the code below you can order your torch at a reduction of between 20% and 40%.
Reliability *****
Cost ***
Power *****
WHAT TO REMEMBER
Go back to the situation at the top of this blog. You are alone in remote country and darkness descends. When you pull that torch out of your rucksack you need it to work, there might not be a second chance. The most important feature for any torch on the mountains is reliability. Reliability is more important than cost and power.
Get the best torch you can, one day you’ll be glad of it.