Edelrid Novalite Headtorch | Performance

Edelrid’s best known for climbing hardware, but it also sells a small range of headtorches including the compact Novalite. Complete with the single AA battery, it weighs in at 70 grammes, which isn’t super light, but certainly won’t slow you down.

The light has a single central LED with a claimed 134 lumen spot beam plus a pair of peripheral lower-powered bulbs churning out 31 lumens for close-up work around camp and so on. Otherwise there are few frills: a simple light head with secure angle adjustment, a top-mounted switch that cycles through high, middle, ‘eco’ and SOS modes on the main beam and a simple but functional elasticated headband.

Get Me Home!

We found it worked best as a get-you-home stand-by torch and for pottering about camp. The main beam’s quite spotty, which limits its use for running off road at least and the lower-powered LEDs aren’t really up to fast movement and are best saved for cooking and reading.

What is super convenient is its use of just a single AA battery, which means it’s easy to carry spares and easy to buy new batteries in most areas if necessary. All of which makes it a great back-up torch rather than a prime mover in our book. To be fair, the central switch works well with gloves.