The flashlight as flamethrower

(Credit: Wicked Lasers)

The Taser may soon have some competition as the personal safety device of choice, from an unlikely source: the flashlight.

We've already seen models capable of blinding an assailant, shooting 800,000 volts, and even resembling a Gatling machine gun. Now Wicked Lasers--the outfit that brought Blu-ray to the laser pointer--has outdone itself with the "Torch."

Though not the first to make fire-starter claims, this one is billed as "the world's brightest and most powerful flashlight," with the ability to "burn plastic, light paper, or even fry an egg or toast a marshmallow," Gadgetell says. The $300 Torch's 4,100-lumen beam is twice as powerful as a competitor dubbed "The Beast" that goes for $7,000.

And even if you decide later that maybe you didn't really need a personal flamethrower after all, you can still use it to make breakfast.