Bushnell HD Torch Flashlight Review

I have to start off by saying that this new flashlight by Bushnell Corporation is one of the most interesting things I’ve seen in a while.  While it’s not the actual flashlight itself that is so neat, the mesmerizing beam it produces is.  This round metal tube makes square light!

The HD Torch is a medium-sized aluminum body LED flashlight.  It measures 9 1/4” long and weighs 9.8 ounces loaded up with 2 CR123 batteries.  The head diameter is 1 5/8” and the body is 1 ¼” across.

Activated by a tail cap on-off switch, this flashlight also has a side button toggles between constant on, strobe mode, and off.  Once pushed, the tail cap has an illuminated green “B” that lets you know the unit is ready and allows the side switch to work.  The lit up “B” acts as a “Find Me” feature, according to Bushnell.  A rotating lanyard ring fixture completes the package.

At 165 lumens, with a 90 minute run time, the HD Torch puts out good light.  What makes it outstanding is that the bright light is uniform from edge to edge in a square shape.  It does not have the regular old circular center spot with a halo of peripheral light—yawn.

225 Lumen Streamlight Left, 165 Lumen Bushnell HD Torch Right

Streamlight Left, Bushnell Right

The Square of Light is amazing.  It is captivating in a “like I think I could get some of the younger guys to chase the light around like a crazed dog after a laser dot” sort of captivating.  When you look at the lens of the flashlight, you see just a deep opaque well of glass.  Nothing in there looks square in the least.  Magic!  Sorcery!

Bushnell calls it High Definition Illumination.  I’ll buy that.  As the distance increases from the flashlight, you still get an evenly distributed area of light that expands with every foot.  This makes the quality of the entire illuminated area better than in standard uneven flashlight patterns.

Click, click.  Click, click.  I can’t seem to stop turning this thing on and off just to see the light.  It also gathered a small crowd in the PD parking lot after dark one shift.  Click.  People just start coming over to look at it.

The Bushnell HD Torch is rugged, waterproof, and $109.00 MSRP.  I found the HD Torch on-line in the mid-$60 range and lower.  There is also a 200 lumen Bone Collector version that I saw in the mid $70’s at retail.  Meanwhile, at work I will continue to amaze and astound my friends with its luminescent witchcraft.

Randall