The new Maglite XL200 isn't just a very bright, well-made little torch, it does ingenuity too...
Outdoors people have always gone for head-torches for pretty obvious reasons – well, one obvious reason, a head-torch leaves your hands free to climb, or cook, or wrestle with Yetis, juggle flaming torches or whatever. Always useful.
Depth Perception
Interestingly though, a lot of runners and mountain bikers prefer a torch-type solution or a combination of a head-torch with a hand-held or bar-mounted light. Why? The closer a light source is to your eyes and the faster you move, the harder it is to judge shadows and depth.
With just a head torch, it's often hard to tell the difference between a small ripple in the rock and a two-foot step, add a light source with a bit of an angle, and it's all much clearer.
Flashlights...
There are plenty of affordable and very bright torches out there too, but arguably the Rolls Royce of torch brands – or 'Flashlights' as they call them in the States – is MagLite.
And what's interesting, is that in the face of the Far Eastern budget torch invasion, they've had to up their game. First by making their torches brighter and embracing LED technology, but secondly by making their products a bit more clever than the average torch.
Enter the new MagLite XL200, the newest and brightest of their XL series 'compact flashlights'. It has all the standard MagLite qualities – decent build, great anodised finish and so on – but it's also pretty bright with an independently-tested 172-lumen output and a range, on high, of 138 metres.
That dwarfs most outdoor headtorches – a Myo XP is just 85 lumens on max, though gives 150 lumens briefly on boost. It's also regulated, so power output remains uniform through the lifetime of the three AAA batteries housed in a neat little cassette.
A Twist Of The Wrist
But the XL200s real claim to fame, is its swot-like cleverness that'll delight gadget freaks everywhere. In short, it has five modes, and adjustment is via a motion-sensing internal Accelerometer thing that does ingenious things.
Switch on using the single, base-mounted switch and hold and you can adjust the light output simply by rotating the torch body in the palm of your hand. From bright down to low. Once set, the XL200 remembers for next time.
Click twice and you get a flashing strobe mode. Good for bike safety and confusing sheep at night. Three rapid clicks gives you Nite Lite mode – the torch switches on on full power, then, when you up-end it like a candle or lie it down, the light dims to a low level. Pick it up though and it's back to full power.
Four clicks? Signal mode, rotating the torch slightly sideways switches the light on and off. Ideal for morse code or the international distress signal or just showing off in the bunk house. Finally, five clicks of the button gives a blinking S-O-S mode.
You can also lock it by holding the light up with the switch depressed then pointing it down at the floor. Handy if you want to stop it switching on accidentally in your pack, less good if you have a rubbish memory and think it's dead...
The Essentials
Let's be brutally honest, you don't actually 'need' most of those features, most of the time, but they're kind of fun to have and the NiteLite one we could see being genuinely useful. In a way though, what really matters is that for £60, you're getting a very neat 112g torch, that feels incredibly solid and well made and is also, based on first impressions, very bright with a nice medium-spread beam with a central hot spot.
I'd say it's on a par with my Exposure Joystick, which is rated at 240 lumens and around the same as the 180-lumen rated Fenix LD20. It also, which might interest bikers, fits the Exposure bar and helmet mounts, albeit with a bit of a squeeze. That slightly broader shape does feel comfortable held in the hand though.
Downsides? The AAA batteries are less 'universal' than more commonly used And and with a claimed battery life of 2.5 hours on high / 218 hours on low, you'll be looking into rechargeables for regular use.
Plan is to use the XL200 in tandem with a medium bright head torch like the Tikka XP for a bit of off-road night running this winter and see how it does.
More information at www.maglite.com. The UK importer is Burton McCall – www.burton-mccall.co.uk.
