Club 4X4 Gear Review: Narva ALS Rechargeable LED Head Torch

There are some things that are must-haves when camping and a head torch is certainly one of them. Our mates at Narva sent me through a couple of units to try out on my recent trip with the family down to Green Cape in The Ben Boyd National Park.

At the top of the range, Narva’s ALS (Advanced Lighting Systems) head torch is the one I focused on. I have to say it did take some time to work out how to get the sizing right, but that was probably owing to the fact that I was doing this initial setup in the dark (funny that!). Once set, the “around-the-head-and-over-the-top” strapping meant the 200 gram unit was very comfortable and unobtrusive.

A feature packed unit, I wondered how much I would use things like a sensor function and the detachable magnetic torch head. Surprisingly, knowing the features were there meant the uses came flooding in. The sensor function was useful when sitting around the camp fire doing some cooking where you’d turn the head torch off in between steps. A quick wave of the hand in front of the unit see’s the main flood beam turn on without having to fumble for a button and potentially making a mess with dirty hands. The magnetic function worked a charm when my eldest wanted to do some drawing around the campfire at night – removing the torch head and using the magnets on the back to attach it to the pole of her camp chair meant a happy lass and parents.

The head torch clipped onto the side of our camp chair.

You can disconnect the torch…

Other features of note are a 3 hour runtime provided by a rechargeable battery, an IP65 dust and water resistance rating and a nifty glow in the dark element which made it easy to locate if you were to take it off in the dark.

But what I liked the most with this unit was the different lighting modes and the pure light output, with up to 250 lumens depending on the mode you choose. There are 3 lighting modes; spot, flood and arc. The first two are self-explanatory but the latter was a kicker. With a lighting element that basically faces down, you could get a great flood of downward light without blinding your fellow camper around the campfire.

‘Arc’ mode was awesome around the campsite with others nearby

If you want a high-end head torch that delivers, definitely put this unit on your shopping list folks!

Model: RRP: $149.00

Where to buy? Good automotive stores (E.G. Repco)

Let us know in the comments below if you’d like to see this in our Safety Shop!

Happy Touring

Kalen