Gadget Review – The Joby Gorillatorch Flare

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The other day I needed to make some adjustments behind my television. I needed both hands but I also need a light illuminating the right spot where the cable connections we. So I grabbed a small flashlight, stuck it between my teeth, and did what I needed to do. It dropped on the ground three times and… well you know what they say about the “right tool for the right job”?? This wasn’t it.

Obviously there’s a better, more dentally-respectful way to do this and that comes in the form of… the Joby Gorillatorch Flare. I’ve been evaluating one of their units for the past week and a half, and have, once again, been rather impressed with Joby’s offering. Let’s take a look.

From Joby

Equipped with both white and red LED lights, the Gorillatorch Flare combines a powerful emergency signal and an ultra-functional work light into one compact flashlight.

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I’m a big fan of Joby’s products. I’ve been using one of their tripod stands (The Gorillamobile) for some time now and I love the design. The legs are flexible but rigid enough to maintain whatever shape you put them in. And the degree of flexibility they offer can’t be beat. I was a bit surprised when the next direction Joby expanded their line was to offer a flashlight on a tri-pod (that would be “torch” to all of you in the UK) but after using it for a while it is clearly to me it was a good choice.

The first thing you’ll notice about the Gorillatorch is that it’s based is the same tri-pod system as Joby’s other Gorilla products. That means it’s remarkably secure, totally flexible, easily reshaped to hold on just about any surface and so well constructed that over time the joints won’t loosen up the way they might with an inferior quality product. The legs can be bent this way and that without ever wearing out. The result is that you can take the Gorillatorch, turn it upside down, put one leg on one side of the door frame and the other two on the other side and…

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… it will hand around as long as you like with the light shining wherever you point it.

But the Gorillatorch has a new trick up its sleeve (or down its leg if you will). The final segment on each foot of the Gorillatorch is magnetized. That means you can hold the light in place not only by wrapping the legs around something but by simply attaching it magnetically to a metal surface. How strong are they??

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Strong enough to hold the Gorillatorch upside down on my wall light…

….or to hold the light in place by simply placing each of the legs on one of the screws that are holding the sheet rock in place in my currently-being-rennovated home office. They are even strong enough to…

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…to hold my relatively heavy Canon G9 upside down. (Although I’m not sure why you WOULD WANT to hold your G9 upside down but… you could if you wanted to.) 🙂

In other words, the Gorillatorch has two ways to be kept in place and both work exceptionally well.

The Gorillatorch is a simple 65 lumen flashlight on a tripod while the Gorillatorch Flare kicks it up a notch by providing 100 lumens of brightness, two colors of light and a strobe function for emergencies. The Flare weighs just 6.5 ounces when the batteries are in place.

The white LED light runs for anywhere between 20 and 80 hours depending upon brightness. It can also be set to strobe and run for a full 80 hours on one set of batteries. The red lights will run for up to 60 hours on one set of batteries and can be set to strobe for a whopping 240 hours at a time.

Some of the suggested uses for this “flashlight on a tri-pod” are power outages, lights out reading, tax elimination, roadside assistance, home and auto repair, nighttime barbecuing and more.

Like the company’s other products it is well-built, nicely featured, easy to use and clearly a quality product.
If you are in the market for a new flashlight I can strongly suggest considering one of the Gorillatorch’s. You’ll get all the functionality a standard flashlight offers and much more flexibility. And the fact that you’ll never have to hold a Maglite between your teeth when working on your car or behind your stereo… priceless.

The Gorillatorch Original and the Gorillatorch Flare are available directly from Joby.

MSRP: Original $29.95; Flare $34.95

What I Like: Well made; flexible legs; long battery light; bright light, strobe function with the Flare; means I won’t get yelled at ever again for holding the flashlight between my teeth

What Needs Improvement: More expensive than many standard flashlights (but then again far more flexible)

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About the Author

Dan Cohen
Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. Dan is married to Raina Goldberg who is also an avid user of Apple products. They live in New Jersey with their golden doodle Nava.

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