Torches. You wouldn’t believe how much there is to know (and obsess about) when it comes to light sources. But what has this to do with gadgets? Well, I’ve just upgraded one of my torches to an LED light source and the result is more light for longer - can you ask for more of a torch upgrade?

Maglite are one of the more common household names when it comes to torches - every cop you see on TV is toting one of the big “D” cell monsters, ready to light up a parking lot or whack someone over the head with it if they get out of line.

They might be popular but in the face of modern LED torches the Maglite range are starting to show their age. LED torches can provide more light for less power than conventional bulbs (up to a point anyway, and certainly in the size we’re talking about here).

Less power = more battery life, and as an added bonus LED’s are virtually indestructable and last practically forever (~100,000 hours - that’s 11 continuous years)

So TerraLUX have designed a range of replacement bulbs for the popular Maglite AA battery powered range of pocket torches.

Total time to change out the bulb for the TerraLUX LED - about 1 minute.

And the difference? Well these two photos show the same torch on the same batteries before and after the upgrade. The target is a white wall from a distance of about 3.5 meters. Need I say more?

Old bulb

New LED

Get them in the UK for about £25 from www.ColdSpark.co.uk