Short Description:

The Gerber Inferno is a multipurpose light. Concealed inside it's movable forward tube are 7 flexible stalks with a combination of white and red, narrow and wide beam LEDs. 3 AAA batteries power the light from inside a special carrier inserted into the back half of the light. A rotating switch on the end allows the user to select a variety of lighting modes.

Detailed Information:

Ever heard the term "Jack of all trades, master of none."? That is a fair description of the Gerber Inferno. It does a lot of things, but only does them adequately.

The body of the Inferno is polymer with two distinct sections. The front section telescopes over the rear section to expose 7 flexible stalks, each festooned with an LED and a plastic lens. Two LEDs produce a narrow white beam, two a wide white beam, two a wide red beam and the one in the middle produces a narrow red beam.

Moving the front portion of the body back only requires a gentle push - no locking mechanism is present. If the stalks are not all together the body tube will push them together when you slide the tube forward. On the side of the sliding tube is a large clip for attaching the light to your gear.

The rear portion of the body tube contains the battery carrier. To remove it from the front portion can be a little tricky. Put your thumb over the LEDs to hold the stalks and the telescoping tube in place relative to one another. Then push in and twist slightly the rear portion of the light. This will separate the body halves.

Tipping the rear body tube will cause the battery carrier to drop out. The carrier has 4 contacts at one end and carries 3 AAA batteries.

To replace the batteries, use your fingernail to grab the positive end and push down and out. Runtime is not given.

Output is, well, marginal. I was underwhelmed by the output of all of the modes except the single red narrow LED. I guess the idea is that you are going to use this as an area light so the emphasis is on wide beams. However, it won't stand on end, so forget about using it at a picnic table or out on your porch.

By twisting the switch on the end you can cycle through the various modes: 2 white narrow, 2 white wide, 2 red wide, 2 red wide blinking, 1 narrow red, all 4 white, off. Letting the light remain on in any mode for around 3 seconds causes the next twist of the switch to be "off". The mechanism for switching modes is actually based upon a brief interruption of the current. Twisting the switch forward just enough to break the circuit and then moving it back causes modes to change as well.

Which brings us to the switch. Ahhhhh, the switch. It's on the tail of the light, it's a twist switch, and it's cone shaped. Yes, that's right, cone shaped and very hard to grip. It has 4 dimples and a hole running through it for attachment of the included lanyard, but it's very tough to use. Someone at Gerber really put form as a higher priority than function which is always a disaster waiting to happen with practical-use gear. Get ready for a workout for your thumb and forefinger, because you really have to push hard on the sloping surface of the switch to get enough grip to actually turn the thing. If your hands are slick or cold, I'd just resign myself to the idea of sitting in the dark.

The unit is sealed for water resistance with o-rings, but I wouldn't trust it to receive much more than a splashing. In fact there is a large groove in the body which crosses the space right where the main o-ring is supposed to seat...

What I Liked: Flexible stalks let you point the light where you need it, Multiple modes of light.

What I Didn't Like: Not water resistant, Poorly designed switch, Poor seals, Underwhelming light output, Flimsy body design.

Other Things I Noticed: While retracting and extending the telescoping body tube a metal piece fell out (!) of the bezel end of the light. I have no idea where it belongs, but I start to get concerned when pieces start to fall off of a device while only being operated in the way it was intended.

Conclusions: OK. I'm going to be totally frank here. After reviewing some really great Gerber aluminum lights I picked up the Inferno, took it apart, put in the batteries, played with it for a couple of minutes, and literally caught myself scratching my head and saying out loud, "What the heck were they thinking when they made this?" I'm still trying to figure out which audience they were aiming for with this light. It sure wasn't the serious camping / hiking / spelunking / adventure travel crowd. Maybe it was the "go to the campgrounds in your SUV, fire up the generator so you can watch the game on TV in your 6 room tent, all while sitting next to your cooler full of budweiser and cooking frozen wings on your portable propane grill" crowd. They got the multiple light modes partially right (it needs an "all on" mode), and the flexible stalks right, but that's about it. Very disappointing.

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