Joby Gorillatorch Flare – bendy magnetic roadside safety light

I’m a big Joby fan – we’ve recently reviewed their Gorillapod Magnetic, and I’ve carried a regular Gorillapod in my bag for several years. The latest product to leave their lab is the new Gorillatorch Flare.

The Gorillatorch Flare takes the best of the Gorillapod Magnetic and the original Gorillatorch, and turns it into a roadside safety product. Instead of a single LED light, the Flare offers one 100 Lumen CREE LED and three red LED lights, and can be used as a flashlight or strobelight.

With its bendy feet, you can use it to aid in changing a tire, or to warn other drivers that you are stranded on the side of the road.

The Gorillapod Flare weighs just 9 ounces and retails for $34.95. It is available from selected retails including Amazon.com and REI.

Joby Gorillapod Magnetic review

It has been quite a while since we last reviewed a Joby Gorillapod. Since that last review, Joby has introduced several new Gorillapod versions, including their newest – the Gorillapod Magnetic.

The Magnetic is exactly what the name describes – a Gorillapod with magnets. These magnets are extremely strong, which means you can add a third method of using the Gorillapod. The new Gorillapod obviously features the same bendy legs – which allows you to wrap it around objects like a tree or a signpost. It also acts as a small tripod, and the new magnets let you stick to anything magnets stick to.

The limit of its uses are really only restricted by your creativity (and the weight limit). The Gorillapod Magnetic is designed to hold cameras up to 325 grams, and it had no problems holding a Panasonic Lumix GF1 to a lamp on my patio.

I had a blast finding places to stick the camera – though I’m not entirely sure when I’d ever need to attach a camera to the back of a plasma television in a hotel room…

The Joby Gorillapod Magnetic uses the same locking attachment base we looked at in our previous review. Included with the package is a tripod screw mount, though you can order a mobile attachment kit at Joby.com for just under $10.

I really like the Gorillapod lineup – they are compact enough to stuff in my carry-on, with the mobile kit, I can angle my iPhone where I want (I use the suction cup mount for that), and when I get to my destination, it’ll hold my camera in any angle I need.

The new Gorillapod Mobile retails for $24.95 and is available directly from Joby.com.

Product review – Joby Gorillapod Go-Go!

The Joby Gorillapod has long been a photographers favorite – the bendy tripod allows you to place your camera on a table or hang it from a tree.

The Gorillapod Go-Go! expands on that concept and offers a multifunctional Gorillapod with interchangeable base plates. The Go-Go! includes a conventional camera screw thread mount, a suction cup mount and 2 self adhesive mounts.

With these 3 different mounting options, the original Gorillapod suddenly becomes compatible with your iPod, PDA, smartphone, GPS or pretty much any other portable device you carry. As with the original Gorillapod, the Go-Go! has non-slip rubber feet, and each joint can be bent and rotated in any direction.

The mounting plates slide onto the Go-Go! and stay in place with a small locking ring . To release them, you simply unlock the ring and press the release button. When attached, the plate feels very sturdy with no wiggle room. The Go-Go! weighs just 1.6 ounces, so when you store it in your carryon bag, you won’t even notice it.

The maximum weight limit on each mounting plate is listed on the Gorillapod site (11.5 ounces on the screw mount, 10.6 ounces on the adhesive clip and 7.1 ounces with the suction cup). This should be more than sufficient for most gadgets out there. A large hard drive based MP3 player usually weighs about 5 ounces.

One minor issue I ran into is that the Gorillapod Go-Go! does not come with a carrying pouch. This may not be an issue with the original Gorillapod, but when you are carrying the Go-Go! with its multiple mounting options, it would have been nice to have a safe place to store them. Of course, a simple Ziploc bag resolves this.

The Gorillapod Go-Go! retails for $29.95, which includes free ground shipping. This is just $5 more than the original Gorillapod, which makes this new version a very good deal.