Our standard

Four tests. A product has to pass all of them before it goes on the site, and most of what we look at does not.

One tool, several jobs

Space in a pack is finite. A torch that is also a power bank earns its place twice. A single-purpose gadget has to do that one thing properly to justify the weight.

Packs small, carries light

If you have to think about whether to bring it, you will leave it at home. We publish carried weight and packed size wherever the manufacturer gives them, and we say so when they do not.

Works with cold hands

Gear is used in the dark, in the rain, in gloves, in a hurry. Fiddly catches, tiny buttons and menus you have to remember are all reasons not to stock something.

Nothing that needs a manual

If it cannot be worked out in the car park, it will not get used.

What we will not do

• Quote a best-case figure as if it were typical. Runtime depends on brightness; we say which.
• Invent a specification. Where a number is not published by the manufacturer, the spec table says so instead of guessing.
• Hide a limitation at the bottom of the page. If a product has no published safety certification, or is not rated for the use people will assume, it goes near the top.
• Write reviews ourselves, or present anyone else's as ours.

When we get it wrong

We will. When a product turns out worse than its specification suggested, we stop selling it and we say why. If you have already bought one, that is what the returns policy and the 12 month guarantee are for.