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On test - March 23, 2004
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Emissive Energy Inova 24/7
By John Stevenson
A flashlight that you can strap to your head - or your helmet - is one of those handy widgets that nobody who spends any time in the outdoors should be without. Petzl's incandescent-bulb Zoom head torch is an old standby for me, but the world of head torches is being taken over by nifty little LED lamps like this one from Inova.
The Emissive Energy Inova 24/7 Smartbright - to give it its full name - comprises a standalone torch with eight LEDs (four white, two red and two yellow) with an attachment kit that includes a head strap, a magnetic mount and bolt-on clips for attaching the torch to any flat surface; the 24/7 grips each of these with its own stainless steel clip. It's powered by a single 3V CR123 lithium battery, like the ones widely used in cameras. The battery lives in a compartment under the LEDs and you get at it by unscrewing the right-hand of the two rubber caps; the left is just a dummy.
The octagonal black bezel round the LEDs isn't just decorative, it's also the switch that selects from the 24/7's eight functions: low output white; high output white; flashing white; SOS signal; three-colour emergency strobe (instantly dubbed 'disco mode' in the CN office); red/yellow emergency beacon; constant red; red locator beacon.
That's a lot of modes and you'd be forgiven for wondering if you really do need a different emergency flasher for every imaginable type of emergency. However, the useful functions are very useful indeed. The high-output white is plenty of light to see by, you can read by the low-output white and if you're sufficiently dark-adapted the constant red is even bright enough to read by. Traveling back from a race a few weeks ago I was able to use the red light to read my notes and work on a laptop without distracting the driver, something that's a problem with bright white lights flashing around in the passenger seat.
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There isn't really enough light here to, say, ride off-road - for that you want big halogen or HID lamps. But for night-time repairs, map-reading and other nocturnal close work, the 24/7 does the job extremely well. Its biggest advantage is that it's light, at just 80g for the lamp and 35g for the headstrap - you just don't notice it's there, unlike incandescent head torches that require bigger batteries and therefore more weight.
Inova claims the battery will run for from six hours on high output white, up to 15,000 hours on red locator beacon mode (one flash every five seconds, so it's not exactly taxing the battery). However, this is where we get to the 24/7's biggest weakness. The bezel switch is easy to turn and therefore easy to turn accidentally while the 24/7 is tucked in a bag. Switch it to the high output white setting and you have a flat battery on your hands in a fairly short time. This is easily prevented by wrapping a rubber band round the light to prevent the bezel moving, but it's a bit of a bodge. This wouldn't be too bad if CR123 batteries were dirt cheap, or available in rechargeable form, but they're relatively expensive and rechargeable versions are rare and exotic.
The Inova 24/7 is a well-made and very useful little torch, but it would be more practical if it were less easy to accidentally flatten the battery and if it were powered by, say, a couple of AAA cells.
Recommended retail price: US$49.95
Weight: 80g
Pro: Lots of lighting options; excellent head torch strap; light weight
Con: Easy to switch on accidentally.
More information: Inova's
website
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