The nice people at Silva were going to take the outdoors meeja up
to the Lakes and lavish wine and fine food on us while impressing us
with their new L-series LED headlamp range, but unfortunately
they cancelled... Never mind, we're going to tell you about the
L-Series anyway
Silva says that the L1, the flagship of the four-model
L-series range, is the brightest LED headlight in the world and
offers 'unprecedented performance'. Retailing for £69.95,
the L1 uses a single ultra-bright, three-watt Luxeon LED with four
settings - Power Save, Bright, Ultra Bright and Biking Alert.
The headlamp - above - is claimed to kick out at 63-metre focussed
beam for distance work as well as a close-up flood beam. Claimed
maximum burn time is 170 hours from four AA batteries housed in a
two-piece battery box and Silva says that the unit is 'completely
weatherproof'.
At 226 grammes (claimed) with batteries, the Silva is around 55
grammes heavier than the Petzl Myo XP and to give a near identical
range, though to achieve that length of beam, the Petzl needs to use
its short duration 'boost' setting. The Silva torch can also use a
remote battery box for extreme cold weather conditions.
Alongside the L1 are three other LED headlamps. The L2 uses
a less powerful 1-watt single LED to give a 35-metre range and weighs
165 grammes thanks to using just two AAs, price is £39.95.
The L3 is a more traditional looking five-LED unit costing
£29.95 and is designed for 'close / medium' work with five light
modes and a 22-meter maximum range.
Finally the L4 - pictured - is a Tikka-esqe 4-LED version
with a 15-metre range and 90-hour burn time from three AA batteries
and weights 82 grammes including batteries. Price is just under 20
squid.
The torches should be available pretty much now, as we understand it.
You can find full specifications and details on the Silva web site:
www.silva.se
Maxwell Beer
