Pull it up to 51.8cm and cook with both hands and no shadow on the board.

Two tailgates, one campground, dinner going on. The first cook is dicing onions under a head torch. Every time he looks down, the beam drops with him and his knife hand throws a shadow across the board. Every time he turns to answer someone, he blinds them. The second cook has a Beacon standing at the end of the tray. The board is lit from above and from the side, the knife stays out of its own shadow, and when someone talks to him he looks straight at them.

Two shapes, one light

Pulled up, a four-section rod lifts the head to about 51.8cm and it stands on its own. The side panels swing out through 270 degrees and put 170 lumens of warm 2500 to 3000K light all the way around it, a full 360 degrees. Stand it next to the chopping board and both hands are free.

Pushed down, it is 25.2 x 10 x 4.2cm and the head is a 310 lumen cool white torch, on high, low or strobe. That is the one for the walk to the car or the amenities block.

Warm, and sized for the job

170 lumens of warm light covers a tailgate, a camp table or the inside of a tent. It does not turn the site into a servo forecourt, and the camp next door keeps the dark it drove out for.

What it runs on

Type-C at 5V 2A, about three hours to full. Then 5 hours and more on the side panels, or 3 hours and more on the head beam. The shade lifts off when you want bare light, and the anti-drop ABS body takes a splash in its stride.

A$73.95, and when dinner is done it folds back down to 25.2cm.