FlashTorch Mini, the closest thing to a lightsaber that fits in your pocket

By Bruce Brown Updated October 25, 2016

FlashTorch Mini Firestarter Flashlight by Wicked Lasers

You will need a big pocket to hold Wicked Laser’s new FlashTorch Mini, because mini, in this case, is relative. The smaller version of the original FlashTorch — which lights fires and can cook your breakfast — is better suited to being carried in a backpack than in a pants pocket, according to Gizmodo.

At $200, the 40 percent smaller FlashTorch Mini costs the same as the original FlashTorch. The differences are in size, weight, brightness, and bulb life. The FlashTorch Mini is a bit more than 8.5-inches long and weighs 13.6 ounces. Its 2300-lumens halogen light output is the equivalent of a hall-sized video projector and the bulb is rated at 1,000 hours. That all sounds pretty hefty, but the original FlashTorch is a monster by comparison. The FlashTorch outputs 4100 lumens, is 11.7 inches long, weighs 1.3 pounds, and has a 2,000-hour bulb.

Made from anodized, machined aircraft-grade aluminum, the FlashTorch Mini should stand up to more abuse than most people could ever give it. Halogen lights give off a lot of heat, which is why you have to be careful using them in your home. The Mini has a heat-resistant lens and reflector, a good thing since it wouldn’t be too helpful for them to melt when you turn the light on. You can adjust the beam from flood to spotlight and if you do not need to light up the whole forest or football field, you can dial back the intensity, which also saves battery power.

With the light at full power, the Mini’s lithium-ion battery pack is rated to last an hour or 100 minutes at the lowest of the three settings. The battery pack recharges without removing it from the case with an included charger. If you do consider carrying this light in any pocket, or in a backpack or luggage for that matter, there is an automatic lockout mode so you will not light up your clothes, your leg, or anything in your luggage.

The FlashTorch Mini’s heat, as with its predecessor, is enough to start a paper fire just by holding the light close. That is impressive, but the ability to scramble eggs in a metal cup by balancing the cup on top of the lit Mini means you will not have to carry a small cooking unit when you head out in the woods.

Topics

Contributing Editor

Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…

Outdoors

Goodbye, coolers. The EcoFlow Glacier doesn’t need ice — it makes it

The EcoFlow Glacier is a fridge shaped like a cooler with its own battery,

Every cooler operates on borrowed time. It leaves for your camping trip brimming over with crisp produce and ice-encrusted beer that looks straight out of a Super Bowl commercial, and returns with a soggy block of foil-wrapped cheddar cheese floating in a pool of mustard water. Mother Nature always wins.

Perhaps that’s why I was so enamored when I saw the EcoFlow Glacier at CES 2023. Less a cooler than a mobile battery-powered fridge on wheels, the sleek electric Glacier not only obviated the need for ice, it would make ice for me in 18 minutes. My home fridge can’t even do that, and I didn’t even know I wanted it to until just now. When EcoFlow offered to let me try the Glacier, I envisioned sipping a perspiring glass of whiskey in the tropics and accepted the occupational hazards of my job.

Outdoors

I was wrong. E-bikes are so practical, they’re a transit cheat code

An Aventon Level 2 ebike sits outside a grocery store.

Confession: Despite loving both bikes and gadgets, e-bikes never excited me. Compared to my bicycle, e-bikes seemed unfair. Compared to my motorcycle, they seemed slow. Compared to my car, they seemed impractical.

But with $1,500 federal e-bike rebates potentially on the horizon at part of E-Bike Act, I decided it was past time to reconsider. Not just because 30% off would make them way more accessible, but because the entire idea that e-bikes could be worthy of a rebate changed the way I looked at them: less as toys, more as transit. Had I written off an entire way of getting around because I was looking at it the wrong way?

Outdoors

Upway launches one of the best marketplaces for certified e-bikes, new or not

Man holding ebike from Upway in a field, lifestyle image.

This content was produced in partnership with Upway.
It wasn't too long ago that e-bikes were a rare sight, but all of that has changed, and rightfully so. Electric bikes are all over the road these days, and there are many brands either venturing into the technology, to launch their own versions of the sustainable transportation option or reiterating existing and traditional designs. From Aventon to Schwinn, or RadPower to Momentum, with so many opportunities, the prevailing question is, where do you go to find the best deals and the best information about these brands and their e-bike models? The answer is Upway, the number one certified electric bike provider and an official partner to many of the aforementioned brands.

What is Upway, exactly? It's a marketplace, specializing in e-bikes, featuring an inventory that's sourced from some of the best brands in the world. There are American brands -- like Specialized, Cannondale, and RadPower -- and European brands -- like Riese, Muller, and VanMoof. The best part is the discounts, offering up to 60% off retail, for a plethora of brands. Upway is on a mission to make sustainable mobility affordable for everyone. It's also one of the best places to go for a new or pre-owned e-bike, and here's why: