I cannot truly say that I am feeling gadget deprived, currently. I've bought a number of technically interesting things lately, such as new running shoes, the slightly concerning Bodyglide, and so on. I haven't had much cause to buy an actual toy recently¹.

Right now, though, I want an EDC torch.

"EDC" is illumination freak jargon for "every day carry", such as a little keyring torch. The thinking is that if you're actually carrying a torch then it is more likely to be useful. I am inevitably much more interested in the current crop of white LED torches than I am in an incandescent bulb device, partly because of their vastly improved robustness, partly because they have many technical advantages, but mostly just because they're cool.

I would imagine a lot of this enthusiasm can be traced to reading too much of Dan's Data. The estimable Mr Rutter has reviewed a lot of LED torches and light sources, from the cheap and cheerful to the heart stoppingly expensive, from the diminutive to the mighty. It's pretty clear that his views of LEDs vs incandescent bulbs in torches are very much a mirror of his views on digital photography vs chemical photography: the newer technology will simply displace the older as soon as it's cheap enough.

Although I lust after many of the more technical torches reviewed, the best combination of portability, robustness, ease of use, price, and just plain coolness that I have seen is the ArcAAA. It's a tiny wee thing being more or less the same size as a AA cell, it has five hours of bright light from a single AAA cell ("sun" mode) and further usable light ("moon" mode) until the battery eventually dies, and its regulator (which is the reason it costs more than the competition) ensures that every last usable erg is extracted from a battery. It's more or less reasonably priced, too.

Unfortunately, there's a huge backlog on orders at the moment, to the point where they're not taking any more. Which leaves me feeling a bit cheesed off, to be honest.

I want one. I want one now.

If I were less financially responsible, I would probably at this point drop $70 more on the Arc-LS, but I'm not going to. It is even smaller than the ArcAAA, but you get less run time from what is unavoidably a more expensive battery.

So I am going to remain disappointed in gadget limbo for a little longer.

[1] this is not, in actual fact, true. I bought a toy in the literal sense a couple of weeks ago - one of those magnetic stick and ball construction toys - which I have been enjoying in between code writing bouts at work. But somehow it doesn't count.

Posted by Dunx at April 14, 2004 03:58 PM