SC33 Brutus Mk6

If you're looking for the most light you can carry in your pocket, you've come to the right place!

The Brutus* is truly a masterclass in compact torch design, bringing together Cree's most powerful LED and the most popular high-capacity lithium-ion battery on the market, connecting them with some advanced electronics, and fitting them into a watertight tube small enough to live in a pocket or purse.

The result is a tough little light which, at full power, is brighter than the headlights on a car – on high beam – that can show up shapes and movement at the far end of a rugby stadium!

It all starts with Cree's top-of-the-range XHP70.3 de-domed HI emitter, delivering a massive 5,200 lumens of neutral white sunshine via an "orange peel" reflector and toughened mineral glass lens, over a distance of 327 metres using the misleading ANSI formula adopted by all flashlight manufacturers (which I recommend you divide by three for a real-world throw).

The juice is supplied by an industry-standard 21700 format (i.e. 21mm diameter, 70mm long) rechargeable Li-Ion which will be easy to replace when the time comes, 3-5 years from now, or to buy a spare if you need real endurance in the bush or during these days of electrical uncertainty. Sofirn's 5,000mAh cell delivers top quality, capacity and value, but you can use any 21700 Li-Ion... so you'll never be stuck.

This battery is charged inside the torch via a standard USB-C port like almost all new cellphones and other electronic devices, so you can recharge your torch from a multi-plug, powerbank, inverter, solar charger, car USB port or compatible cellphone charger – in fact, pretty much anywhere.

The new Brutus is controlled from an electronic tail-switch that is easier to find in the dark and harder to turn on accidentally, while still allowing the torch to stand solidly on its tail if you point it at the ceiling to light up a room during loadshedding, and it's fitted with a sturdy pocket clip which also stops it rolling off a table. 

The latest Brutus offers six standard brightness levels to cater for every situation, four of which will run without dimming through the longest round of loadshedding. You can switch from "stepped mode" to "ramping mode" to adjust the brightness evenly from "eco" to "high", while a double-click in either mode gives you "turbo" and triple-clicks trigger a devastating dual-frequency strobe, SOS signal and beacon.

On the "high" setting (one notch down from "turbo") the Brutus whacks out 1,800 lumens for nearly two hours while "medium" delivers a sustainable 750-lumen light for more than five hours (what load-shedding?) The 300-lumen "low" will run continuously from dusk to dawn and the 50-lumen "eco" for a couple of days. There's even a 10-lumen "moonlight" mode, perfect for moving around at night without disturbing others.

The electronic tail-switch user interface is simple and intuitive, and there's a "mode memory" so the torch returns to whichever brightness level you were using when you turned it off – except "turbo" and "moonlight" which are just a double click or a long press away, respectively. 

Another innovation is an automatic lockout feature to remove any threat of accidental activation – a double click turns the torch back on at its previous brightness level, while a long press gives you moonlight for as long as you keep pressing. 

Other safety features include advanced temperature control, which turns down the light before the torch overheats at higher output levels, and a low-voltage protection feature so the torch won't over-discharge an "unprotected" battery (like most 21700 cells).

All of this brilliance is wrapped into a 131x32mm water-tight double-walled cylinder of aerospace aluminium, stainless steel and toughened glass, weighing just 194g complete with that big Li-Ion. The double-wall construction allows for a "mechanical lockout" so there's no parasitic drain on the battery when the torch is stored for long periods – even after many months it will still be ready to rumble!

This is the kind of torch you'll want to have next to your bed to investigate bumps-in-the-night; in your lounge or kitchen during load-shedding; in your car when you're touring or patrolling with the NHW; in your hand when you're confronted by an aggressive person or animal; and in your pocket at all other times.

A previous (and less bright!) version of the Brutus astonished Pieter du Toit of Paarl, when the headlights on his Land Rover failed while he was driving through the Karoo in the dead of night. Fortunately he remembered he had the little Brutus in his bag. "I did not at first believe my eyes – it worked almost better than the actual headlights – so I drove the next 75km to Calvinia with the window open, holding the torch between the mirror and door," he wrote.

A stainless steel bezel protects the hardened lens if the torch should fall, and the bezel is crenelated so if you stand the torch on its nose you can tell whether it's on or off. If you're trapped in a car (God forbid!) the torch and bezel are probably the right shape, weight and hardness to break a window to get out.

The torch is machined from aerospace-grade aluminium and anodised to military specifications, so it can take hard knocks. It also has seals to keep out water to IPX8 (submersible) standards, although it's worth knowing that waterproofing and impact are not covered by the warranty because the factory can't verify the circumstances.

The Brutus comes with a charging cable, lanyard and spare o-rings, and I offer a holster (to carry it on your belt or bulletproof vest) and diffuser (transforming it into a surprisingly useful all-weather lantern) as optional extras.

If you want an even smaller torch, check out its little brother, the SC32 Sarge, which shares many of the same features but uses the more compact 18650 Li-Ion and a Fresnel lens to save space – the result is a serious light that fits into the coin pocket of your jeans! 

And if you want bigger and brighter, check out the legendary Q8 Pro Quad, which delivers twice as much light from a versatile package the size of a can of Red Bull!

These torches are perfect examples of where Sofirn are positioning themselves... at the pinnacle of the flashlight world! It's really hard to find fault with any of them in terms of concept, construction, operation or performance. Their products look and feel like the finest Japanese cameras while still delivering extraordinary value.

If you can have only one (more) torch, or you need a classy gift for someone "who has everything", you honestly can't do better than these beautiful lights – I feel honoured to offer them to you.

* PS: when I Googled "Brutus" I was astonished to find it means heavy and dull – boy, did I get its name wrong – this torch is the exact opposite!