Customer Reviews

Joby Gorillatorch Flare Adjustable and Flexible Tripod Flashlight

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Length:: 1:57 Mins

As with the original, this light comes with Joby's bendable legs and magnetic feet. You can stand the light up and aim it anywhere, wrap the legs around post, poles, and pipes for where there's no place to stand it, and stick it to anything to which a magnet will stick. Bottom line is you'll be hard pressed to find a situation where you couldn't find a place to set the light and have it illuminate what you want.

The question is, do you want this one or the original (Joby Gorilla torch Adjustable and Flexible Tripod Flashlight, Gray)? The difference isn't really in the price, $35 vs $30. It's not in the amount of light (as you'll see). The choice is based on the kind of light you need.

It's not clear from the description but this light has six settings (seven if you count "off"). Those settings are:

- White light low
- White light medium
- White light high
- White high and blinking
- Red light
- Red light blinking
- Off

You cycle through the settings by repeatedly pressing a button. When you get to the one you want you stop pressing. A nice feature of this light (not mentioned in the instructions) is if you hold the button down for a few seconds it will turn off and the next time you turn it on it will start at whatever setting it and been in.

If you plan on using this as a work light then I'd image the only one your interested in is the high white light setting. (BTW, the white light is actually a tad blue and that's not uncommon with LED lights.)

The light output is a fairly bright, fairly wide circle. One of the main issues many reviewers and owners of the original light had was that the beam was too narrow. One extremely helpful reviewer suggested using a piece of Glad Press 'n Seal to act as a diffuser. That spreads the bright part of the beam out a bit but nowhere as much as this light. However, with the original light with it's narrower beam, even though it's not rated for as many lumens, results is a brighter light at the center.

So, which light is better? Well, it depends. If you need a very bright beam that's fairly tightly focused then I suggest the original. If you need a wider beam of light, something that provides a more than adequate amount of light over a wider area then you might prefer this one. It's like the difference between a spot light and a flood light.

Other notes... the description is somewhat cryptic about the LEDs. There are four of them, one is the high-power white Cree and the other three are red lights. Also, I really wish there was some way to have this light just cycle between off and the high white setting. I can see using the other options if I was camping or on a SWAT team. However, to work on a car engine or just about anything else I'm likely to encounter high will do just fine.

The bottom line: this is an excellent light and about as versatile as any I've seen. FWIW, at least for the time being, this light will be replacing the original in my tool bag. I'll keep the original on hand for the times when I need that very bright spot light.

BTW, I feel that honest, effective reviews, accompanied by detailed videos, can take the place of first-hand experiences that are often lacking in online shopping. I've always appreciated the help I've received from other reviewers and try to return the favor as best as I can. I hope you found this review helpful and the video at least entertaining. If there was anything you thought was lacking or unclear leave a comment and I'll do what I can to fix it.

So besides looking cute and a little alien like, this flashlight is totally usable in all situations. I purchased it for my husband to use mostly on our bass boat and auto repair shop. Since the boat is made of fiberglass, we use the magnets to attach it to the windshield frame. Works great those those late nights out trolling for walleye. He started using it as a spot light to work on vehicles but decided against it because he was worried he would forget about it and the owner of the car would drive off with his Gorillatorch stuck inside their hood. :-)

Comes with six different light settings. Both the white and red LED lights are perfect for any situation or emergency. The body is durable and easy to twist and bend in any position. Uses 2 AA batteries which are included. It is water resistant but it is not waterproof. It can withstand rain but if it drops into a body of water, I can't promise you it will survive (we have not tested it for that).

Great hands-free flashlight and makes a unique gift.

I love this product it has 3 settings for the light brightness from low to high then it will flash of on on, also you have a steady red light aswell as blinking red light all on a magnetic legs, I keep this in the car with me, nice and bright. But disapointment with delivery it took nearly 2 weeks via USPS

I do a lot of computer hardware work, and running wires and cables, and more times than I can count, I needed a bright light in a particular place, and ended up holding a pen-light in my mouth. Or, I do have one of those lamps you wear on your head with an elastic strap -- but I can never get the light pointed where I really need it. I have other LED flashlights of various shapes and sizes, but none was exactly what I wanted.

My Joby Gorillatorch Flare arrived today, and I can already tell it will be my favorite flashlight of all. (For starters, the packaging wasn't ridiculous to open.)

The tripod legs are quite stiff and will stay wherever you position them, and each segment is a little ball joint, so the possible arrangements of the legs is almost infinite. At the ends of the legs are magnets. VERY powerful magnets. As an experiment, I set the Flare on the side of my metal filing cabinet, and it stuck there quite securely. (You may want to remember to keep this flashlight away from credit cards and anything else with mag-strips.)

The important thing, of course, is whether the flashlight is bright enough and puts light where you want it. I'd read the reviews about how the original Gorillatorch has an ultra-bright center spot, with rapidly decreasing brightness. For me, the wide, even brightness of the Flare is preferable.

It uses 3-AA batteries, which I absolutely prefer, because I can use rechargeable batteries if I like. One thing I try to stay away from in flashlights is button or proprietary or otherwise unusual batteries. If I can't easily pick up some replacements on the go at a pharmacy or supermarket or hardware store, it's not a light I want.

I would agree with the other reviewers: I do wish there was simply an on-off switch, and to have the light go to whatever the last setting was. Other than that though, this is a great flashlight.

On update: Actually, this function is available, just not prominently documented. I found the description on the packaging cardboard insert. Pressing the switch briefly cycles the light through its settings -- low white, medium, bright, strobe, red, red-strobe, and off. On any of these lit settings, if you press and hold the switch for 1 second, the light will go off. If you press the switch again, it will return to that last setting.

A son gave me this for my birthday a couple of years ago. He knows I love gadgets. I thought it was neat, tried it a couple of times, and put it on the headboard. Now it has become the most used flashlight in the house - and flashlights are my favorite gadgets!

Why? Well, I'm an old geezer, and I get up a lot in the night ... to track down an unfamiliar noise, or, most frequently, to visit the bathroom. I don't like to turn on the house lighting, it ruins my night vision, and draws outside attention to any lit window.

I just turn on the steady red beam, do whatever has to be done, make my way back to the bed, and back to sleep. The wife is not bothered, the dog just yawns, and nobody tries to look IN a window.

It also goes on trips to help find the way around hotel rooms, and locate stuff in the car after dark.

The only problem is that the batteries last so long it is boring.

Bought this as a gift for my husband to use in tight spaces such as under the sink -he loves it and so does everyone who sees it - it is very, very bright and works anywhere.

Great little flashlight. If I owned a couple, I would definitely find some additional uses. As an emergeny light in the car, it doesn't get much better because you can set it up almost anywhere and direct light where you need it. The strobe is a great emergency feature. Gave 2 away as Christmas gifts. Only wish is that I could focus the beam.

I bought the Joby Flare as a headlight for my bike and it works great. As an added bonus I find myself using it inside for all sorts of other projects. The white LED bulb is very bright on high and the battery life has been terrific. I highly recommend this light.

I got two of these as emergency lights for our two vehicles. There's a lot to love about these -- bright setting for locating objects dropped on dark floor, wrap-around legs for hands-free operation when messing about in an engine, magnetic feet and red flasher setting let you set it on the trunk to create a warning beacon on a stalled car . . .

BUT

after 9 months of rolling around in the glovebox, I found the plastic battery cover broken in two places and cracked in one more, rendering the cover (and therefore the light) useless. The cover has a very tight compression fitting which requires some strength to operate (might be a liability for arthritic hands). All I can figure is that the temperature extremes of glovebox storage in the upper midwest USA combined with the bumpiness of the gravel roads backroads that my husband prefers and the tension that the housing was already under from the abovementioned compression fitting caused the plastic to shatter. Not good to open the glovebox and find that our emergency equipment would be useless in an emergency, though.

Just wish the Gorillatorch Blade, which I am now considering due to its metal housing, had the flasher and a red filter . . .

I REALLY like this light! I just had to walk down a rough 20 foot path in the dark, carrying something that took both hands to hold. So, I wrapped two of its legs around my neck as far as they would go, and bent the 3rd leg to brace on my shoulder to keep it steady. I then aimed the light so it would light the path from immediately in front of me, to about 10' - 12' ahead, using the White light Medium setting. It was just as good as walking in the daylight, for what I needed to do. Its uses are only limited by my imagination.

The Flare is a Flood beam, as compared to the Joby Gorillatorch Original , which is a tightly focused Spot beam. I have both, and I find I use the Gorillatorch Flare much more often than the Original version. I like the push button switch of the Flare better than the knob switch of the Original, as it gives me more control over the light output. A feature I find useful is that with the Flare, I can always have the light turn on in my favorite, most often used setting, which is White Medium. I start by turning the light on and scrolling to the setting I want. When I'm done using the light I simply hold the switch down until the light turns off, rather than scrolling through the settings until I get to off. That way, each time I turn the light on, it comes on at my choice, White Medium. I just remember to HOLD the switch down until the light turns off. And if I do that, it always comes on at White Medium. This can be done with ANY of the light settings.

If I want to save my night vision, the Red LED's will light the path a safe walking distance ahead, even when my eyes are not fully adjusted to the dark yet. The Red light on Flash setting has fairly wide viewing angle and is easily visible a couple of blocks away, and probably a good deal farther, but I didn't try it at any greater distance. Don't know how much warning time it would give oncoming traffic at Highway speeds, though. I think it would be more noticeable if it were brighter, and had a slightly slower flash rate. But it definitely beats not having any warning beacon.

All in all, I think this is a very versatile light and I plan on getting another one for my car, which was where I intended to keep my first one, but it became a house light. I give it 5 Stars.