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| What you get for yer money |
The Silva Runner. That’s £160 of headtorch.
What the heck? How can a torch command a price that high?!
More to the point, how can something that is used for fellrunning, such a
completely down to earth and non-poncified sport, command such a ridiculous amount
of cash?
More to the point, is it any good?
I’ve had one of these in my possession for a few months now,
when I first got my grubby little mitts on it, I have to say I was quite
impressed. The light unit itself is tiny and improbably light. The battery pack
is quite heavy, but not ludicrously so, and the band that goes around your head
is a decent width, and is siliconised around the inside.
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| The big green button |
Ridiculously bright. Crazy bright. Very bright. Off.
Ok, that’s 4 settings but “off” isn’t really a setting.
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| Siliconised headband |
The unit is easy to use and pumps out an astonishing amount
of light.
Ok, ok, so at its brightest, you’ll only get about an hour
out of it, but if you really need that amount of light, then you should
probably be running in the daylight, or have another torch.
I found that for just normal running the second brightest
setting is perfectly fine, and for sections where you really want to blast down
a rocky trail with no hesitation, pull out all the stops and use all 550lumens.
The lowest setting, a mere 90lumen is still bright enough
for generic walking and running at a decent clip, but is still dim enough to
not completely blind your fellow runners as you stand around nattering, or
dazzle you as you contemplate your next move on the map.
Speaking of mapwork, my other half was out using this on a
navigation course the other day and half way round realised that there was a
person either side of her using the generic pool of light created by the
“intelligent light” system, without really using their torches at all.
Apparently she “didn’t realise she was wearing a car headlight on her head”.
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| The connector from battery to headlamp |
On the subject of “intelligent light”, as I mentioned in my
review of the Trailrunner plus, the system really is quite intelligent, and works
well. Although difficult to explain and show in a shop, once out on the trail
it really makes sense.
The idea is that the light isn’t just confined to either a
beam or a generic flood, but uses the lighting to the effect that it has both
at the same time. Ok, so you don’t get a beam that goes 500metres, but you
really don’t need that.
What you do get is excellent light going forward when you
are about to be, and very good light down where your feet are landing right
now, without moving your head.
That’s pretty intelligent lighting.
There are a couple of minor issues I can forsee with this
torch. The first is getting addicted to this amount of light when out on the
hill. Especially dangerous when you are out for a long one, leave it on
“ridiculous mode” for too long and then, oh… not much light at all. No changing
of batteries here. You’ll have to recharge it plugged into a wall, or carry a
spare battery. Hmm. Bit of an issue.
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| Battery velcro wrap thing. |
Simple answer. Carry a small spare torch, or regulate your
lighting, or speed up.
The second issue occurred on an exercise at night with some
Mountain Rescue Chaps. Occasionally the lighting unit would get knocked and
would come off the elastic, so it was only attached on one side… cue a load of
faffing and swearing as I attempted to get it back on again. Ok, its not really
for use as a Mountain Rescue headtorch, but it’s worth mentioning.
I have to say that I really like the integral Velcro wrap
thing on the battery which means that you can attach it around pretty much
anything. It comes with an extension cable so that you don’t have to wear the
battery pack on your head. It is a *little* heavy on the head, so if you can
stick it in a pocket, or around a bumbag strap or something, that’s a weight
off your mind – as it were.
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| Lightweight. And sticks to your head. |
Is it worth £160? Well. Silva clearly think it is. I’m very
happy with it, and as a specific bit of kit for walking and running, its
brilliant. Top of the tree. Considering that lights for bikes go up into the
many hundreds of pounds, yes, it probably is. Also, the fact that it can be
bought for somewhere around the £120-£130 price bracket means that it is going
head to head with the Petzl Nao.
If you’re going out and bumbling around in the dark, it may
be above your needs, and indeed your price bracket, but if you want something
that is light, kicks out a crazy amount of light and don’t really care about
the price, this is your light.
If you’re looking for a hyper bright light for running that
isn’t too complex in it’s functions and lasts long
enough for an hour or 2,
This is your light.
If you want a light that lasts all night, this will also do
that, but it might be an idea to get a new battery as well.
Don’t just stand there, if you have the cash in your pocket and a burning desire to head out fast on the hill, go out and buy it.
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