Your toes are not sonar. Rather than pick your way through a darkened room by smashing them into every obstacle in your way, bring a torch. The Dark Energy 214 from SOG is bright enough to light any path, and it’s small enough to take everywhere.
What Is It?
A blindingly bright palm-size torch.
Who’s it For?
Vampire hunters, spelunkers and anyone who lacks cat-like night vision.
Design
It’s under four inches long and weighs 85 grams. The high-output LED bulb is protected by a waterproof, shockproof, machined aluminium case.
Using It
A half-press on the on/off switch cycles it from full output, to 40 per cent output, to full power strobe. (You know what a full press does.)
The Best Part
The confounded look on marsupials’ faces when a midnight bin raid suddenly turns into high noon sunshine.
Tragic Flaw
This thing blows through power on full brightness. Bring plenty of spare batteries.
This Is Weird…
Every edge is sharp enough to scrape your knuckles off. It’s designed to stay inside a pants pocket, but you’ll quickly learn not to reach past it to fish out change.
Test Notes
- The integrated clip fits snugly on a belt or the inside of a pocket lip
- There’s no way to adjust the beam spread
Should You Buy It?
The SOG is definitely a premium torch. There are definitely less expensive models with equivalent light outputs, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find one as rugged and durable as the Dark Energy 214. Do you need a really bright, really tough torch? This one does the job well.
SOG Dark Energy 214
• Length: 3.8 inches
• Weight: 85g
• Body: 6061-T6 aluminium
• Run time: 80 minutes (high), 180 minutes (low)
• Max output: 214 Lumens
• Battery: CR123A
• Bulb:R5 LED
• Price: $US105 RRP (distributed by NIOA in Australia)