Olight H1R Nova Review

 

Olight already made the epic H1 Nova, a 500 lumen multi function torch. They didn't stop there though, and said let's go one step further, lets turn it up to 11. So here comes the upgraded Olight H1R Nova Review.

 

Olight really went to town on the H1 and H1R Nova. I like it when companies look at the standard items out there and think there we can make it better. The head torch has always been a hated but necessary item for the outdoor community. I think we can all agree that having a headband on for long periods of time is uncomfortable, and often by the time you are done with them, you throw them in your backpack with a sigh of relief. So they came up with a head torch that you could keep using after you gave your self an itchy red band around your head.

 

They made a mini torch that can be attached to a headband or clipped on a shirt  or magnetically attached to, well, anything that was magnetic. I have to point out that this thing is small, seriously small for a 600 lumen torch. I'd call it thumb sized, if your thumb happened to just be the victim of a vicious bee attack, and as far as I'm concerned that's awesome. The size thing, not the bee thing. This is so well made and is so small that its perfect to fit in an EDC pouch and survive even the harshest of conditions you put it through. At its lowest setting(2 lumens it will run for 6 days, or you can run it on high(180 lumens) for 100 minutes with the option of bursting into the 600 lumen turbo mode for about 3 minutes at a time. It is IPX 8 rated to survive water of depths up to 2 meters.

 

It comes with a magnetic USB charger that is interchangeable with other Olight torches including the S1R/S2R/S10RIII/S30RIII and undoubtedly any others that are capable of magnetic charging that they might release in the future.

 

I really like clip on torches that are angled at 90 degrees. I can clip them to my collar, hang them from my pocket or just use them as a hand torch. They mostly serve the same function as a head torch (obviously you can't turn your head with them), but none of the discomfort. The thing is with this torch if I need it the headband is always an option making it a truly versatile piece of equipment and therefore a must have for my gear. I highly recommend this to anybody looking for a new head torch or just a general multi use piece of equipment. There are more powerful torches out there that are cheaper than this one, and there are also cheaper and more powerful head torches. The thing is they are cheaper for a reason, they lack quality and all of them are about 4 times larger or more. It doesn't have the longest beam distance on the planet, but it is plenty big enough for urban environments or dense shrub land and forests.

 

I usually end up clipping my phone on my collar when I walk my dogs or I'm trying to get back from the camp when I've stayed there far too late. Having a torch that is this powerful and this small though is a welcomed change. I know not everybody has dogs, but that ultra setting of 600 lumens is very nice for spotting them running around in the woods to make sure they haven't ditched you for some other weird dude wandering around a creepy, pitch black forest at 1am (I thought I was the only one...and he didn't even have a torch).

There are a lot of different torches from various manufacturers out there and it can be difficult to choose between them.  Whatever your chosen price range though, you can be sure Olight has something for you.