By AMY JURRIES
Swedish company Silva is best known for its compasses. But the company also makes headlamps, including the X-Trail LED, a headlamp series that won an award at the ISPO trade show this year in Germany for a technology that is touted to allow less head movement to see in the dark. “Intelligent Light,” Silva’s name for the light-distribution technology, combines a distance light beam with a wide-angle flood light. This combination gives peripheral as well as long distance vision at the same time.
The headlamp’s high-power LED reaches up to 75 meters into the night, the company touts. At the same time, two wide-beam LEDs provide a floodlight close to you. The user has a choice between five light modes and levels.
The X-Trail is a modular headlamp, meaning it can be moved between its headband, a helmet mount, or bike handlebars. The attachments are all included.
There are two models, the X-Trail and the X-Trail Plus, both of which have external battery compartments. The X-Trail takes four AA batteries that will last for up to 30 hours of illumination. The X-Trail Plus comes with a rechargeable Li-ion battery pack, which will last for up to 45 hours of activity, the company says.
The external battery packs mean you can carry them on your waist or in your jacket pocket to cut down on head weight and increase battery life through warmth. A battery indicator on both models lets you know how much light time you have left to get back home. The headlamps are available now and retail for around $200 for the X-Trail Plus and about $120 for the X-Trail.
—Amy Jurries is founder and editor of TheGearCaster.com, a blog dedicated to profiling emerging companies and technologies in the outdoor sports industry.
