The Intensity 500 LED Head Torch from LIFESYSTEMS offers the choice of using either the supplied rechargeable battery or AAA alkaline batteries, writes Mike Gormley.
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This is a very neat, compact, easy to use and powerful head torch, well suited to those who will be travelling light and off-grid for some time; it is these features that attracted me when looking for gear for Ben Cook for his forthcoming trek down Africa.
For a small head torch only weighing 97 grammes, it is very feature rich. On full power it has 500 lumens but at the click of its top-mounted button, this power can be reduced offering three settings and then go to flash mode on full power for signalling if required. It can also be dimmed by holding the button down for your own prefect light level. At full power there is also a motion sensor, so a wave of the hand close in front will turn the light off and on: handy when face to face with someone or just if you need to kill the light fast without finding the button. The light unit has a rotating bezel to adjust the beam as required, from wide to far reaching.
The power for all this can be taken from the supplied removable, rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery or from three AAA batteries. Changing from one to the other is very simple – no wires involved, just a straight swap. The rechargeable battery can be re-powered simply by plugging in to another device or a charger with the supplied USB cable. This also enables the torch to be powered from a solar panel when off-grid. The spec tells us on low power this torch can run for over 20 hours.
The supplied headband also has a strap over the top of the head for added security. The torch unit can, of course, be adjusted to get the correct angle. This is a head torch with a lot to offer.