A good quality torch is a necessity as far as I am concerned. I live in a rural area and walking my dog, especially in the winter months, would be impossible after dark. I also like to have a torch handy in case of a power cut and always carry one with me in the car. I use to own a fairly decent Maglite, but managed to lose it our local woods. I did a lot of research before replacing it and decided to buy an LED lenser torch, as it had attracted great reviews. The model I bought is the Lenser 8407 P7. I checked several retailers to get the best price and found it on sale in a local shop for just under £40.

What you get for your money
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This is not the cheapest torch on the market, so I was expecting great things for the high price tag! The torch comes packaged in a box and at just 13 cm long, was a lot smaller than I had imagined. It is also quite light weighing just 180 grams with the batteries in place. The outer casing is made of black high quality, aircraft grade aluminium. There is a ridged grip section to prevent the torch from slipping.

I was impressed that there is a nylon carry pouch with Velcro fastening included. I find this really useful as it can be attached to a belt whilst out walking. There is a also a carry strap, enabling the torch to be attached safely to your wrist.

The torch boasts 200 lumens of focusable light; for those like me, who that means little, this is a very bright torch!

The torch comes with a set of Duracell AA batteries, so is ready to go! The batteries are housed in a case that slides into the main unit.

The torch in action
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As I indicated I bought this torch mainly for walking in the dark. The rubber on/off switch is located at the bottom of the torch. There are 3 levels of brightness including dim/ normal and maximum. The required mode is selected by clicking the switch; one click normal, two clicks dim. To activate the maximum light mode you will need to hold the switch down continuously. I find the normal mode is more than adequate for walking in the dark. In fact I really don't think there is much difference between normal and maximum.

The light beam can be focused from wide to spot. This is achieved by pulling or pushing the front of the torch. On spot mode you get approximately 4 feet of beam up to 35 feet and on wide beam you get 15 feet of beam at 35 feet. The torch has an overall range of about 200 metres.

My experience.
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I have been using this torch for a few years now so feel able to give a balanced opinion. The first thing to say is that this is one very powerful unit! The torch even comes with a warning not to shine the light in anyone's eyes as it can temporarily blind! This would, of course be useful if you are attacked! However it is important to keep this in mind if you are giving this torch to a child to use! I find that on the normal setting I can light up my way brilliantly! I also find it useful to have a spot beam that allows me to focus the light where it is needed. I recently used it to look for dropped keys in the dark (found with ease).

During the summer I took my children camping for the weekend. The torch was really useful at night. I used it on dim mode in the tent as I didn't want to disturb other campers with a bright light. On dim mode I could still see well enough to sort out bedding!

I like to take the torch with me in the car and find it helps me feel more secure when driving at night. I have not had to use it, but like knowing it is there just in case! I have used the torch during a recent power cut and it lit up each room just as if the light was switched on!

The battery life is amazing! The manufactures claim you will get about 130 hours of light, before you need to replace the batteries. I suspect this is on dim mode! However I have only had to change the batteries few times and I use the torch often. I always use Duracell batteries as I think these are the best!

If I had to find any negatives I would say that this torch can be a bit slippery when you have wet or cold hands. I always use the provided safety strap to prevent dropping the torch. Having said that I have dropped it a few times and no harm was done!

Overall this is a really well engineered torch that will (hopefully) last me well. It gives a really bright, even light and has excellent battery life. If you are looking for a quality torch that is bright, cheap to use and can focus the light to where you need it, then I highly recommend this model!