Pila GL2 Cavaliere: Super torch

If there was a torch version of Street Fighter II, then the Pila GL2 Cavaliere would not only win every fight but would laugh heartily at its opponents for being so weak. The GL2 is a compact torch designed specifically for extreme conditions. It's made from aircraft-grade aluminium and tempered glass, and features a specially designed copper battery compartment for reinforcement.

One end of the torch has an extremely bright 6V xenon bulb and the other features a customisable tail section that can be fitted with a four-LED tail light. Depending on your needs, you can use different-coloured tail lights for different conditions. White LEDs are good for high visibility in normal conditions, green ones work well in all conditions and IR ones won't interfere with your night-vision goggles -- well, you never know.

It's waterproof down to 20m with the tactical switch installed, will work at minus 20 degrees and plus 60 degrees Centigrade and according to Pila was still functional after Special Forces placed one 1kg of C4 explosives on it and blew it up. It's not particularly light, weighing 188g, but tough gadgets usually come in a little heavy on the scales. Another niggle is that its battery life is quoted at one hour using the xenon bulb and four hours using the LEDs, which is not as long as other torches, but then again few torches are as bright as this one.

The Pila GL2 Cavalier is available on the Pila Web site for about £40 (excluding shipping costs) and comes with CR123A lithium batteries, a white LED tail light and holster as standard. -AL