Watch lovers like myself seem to have tendency to love anything “engineered.” Sort of like the nerd equivalent of “designer.” I just get excited anytime I see a relatively simple item which has so much thought and effort (and hopefully quality) put in to it. We like nice watches, because they take the simple concept of telling the time, and make it more functional, more aesthetic, and more interesting.

That is why I like the Lumencraft GatLight V3 Titanium. The self represented “flashlight made in the spirit of swiss watches” blows me away (with light). Designed and crafted by Swiss engineers. The GatLight houses a 240 lumen LED bulb for bright, white light, and a 30% lower power consumption than traditional light bulbs. The gatling gun style looks not only looks intensely cool, but serves to allow for greater heat dispersion due to the increased surface area. The high quality titanium body is constructed from 79 hand assembled pieces. Like any fine tool, you should be able to carefully take apart the GatLight piece by piece and place it back together again. I find myself doing this with whatever I can, from pens to computers. But not watches, that would be a headache.

The Lumencraft GatLight runs on a single lithium ion battery. These are actually not very hard to find (most electronics stores, and some super markets have them), and they last a long time (depending on your flashlight use of course). On the back of the light, is a knob that allows you to vary the brightness of the beam along with turning the light on and off. This is a nice touch. Going along with the highly engineered quality of the GatLight, you can use it as a beam, or set it down on a flat surface to be used as a lamp. Lumencraft also claims that the GatLight is made to be highly ergonomic, which does not seem like a stretch as it looks very comfortable to grasp.

Coming in a nice box with a carrying case, the Lumencraft GatLight V3 Ti flashlight is not cheap as far as flashlights go at hovering near $400. But for the enthusiast who loves well engineered goods built to function and last, they are well worth it, and a totally different type of item than other expensive flashlights such as Surefire. You all know what it is like to have a terrible and unreliable flashlight. Weak beam, you never know if it will turn on, randomly turns off, batteries never last; memories all too familiar with most flashlights we have dealt with. I have noticed well priced Lumencraft flashlights on eBay at significant discounts. A great flashlight worth checking out.

See Lumencraft flashlights on eBay here.

A bit more about the Lumencraft Gatlight on Gizmodo.com here.