TREK 4 LTD. EDITION ALUMINUM

Trek 4 Limited Edition Aluminum, retail $64.95 (http://www.tek-tite.com)
Manufactured by Tektite (http://www.tek-tite.com)
BUY IT AT THELEDLIGHT.COM
Last updated 05-30-09

Trek 4 Ltd. Ed. Aluminum


The Trek 4 Limited Edition Aluminum is the "luxury model" of the popular 3-AA Trek series of small LED flashlights. This flashlight is milled from a solid billet of aluminum, and is individually serialised - as it *is* a limited edition and a flashlight you can pass down to your children if you don't lose it or have it stolen first. :)

The light is designed to burn for hours and hours and hours on a single set of common AA cells, and is submersible to 1,000 feet, making it ideal for outdoor activities, boating, or just keeping around for those pesky little household emergencies.



Size



The packaging for the Limited Edition is still being developed (as far as I know) but it is safe to assume it will come with batteries, which you install yourself. Once that's out of the way, turning the bezel clockwise turns it on, and turning it counterclockwise turns it off. Although this is the same basic mechanism used by the stock plastic Trek 4, there are some differences regarding things that happen inside the flashlight that I'll discuss later.



To change the batteries, unscrew the bezel, and remove the LED module. Dump the dead batteries in the nearest garbage can and kiss their butts goodbye. Now, drop in three fresh batteries, button end (+) facing up, into the barrel. Put the LED module back in with the LEDs facing outwards, and screw the bezel back on.

I don't yet have any estimates or mesurements of battery life, but I'm pretty certain it will be noticeably longer than the original Trek 4 because the LEDs are driven more gently.



Fewer parts to screw with


You want tough? Then you got it bubba!
The aluminum bodied Trek 4 Limited Edition is about as tough as it gets, without having to go to some exotic metals like some molybdenum cobalt titatinum alloy. The body is made from a solid bar of aircraft aluminum, and the finish is clear anodized to help it keep looking newer longer. It has the "TEKTITE TREK 4" engraved in it, along with a serial number and patent number, right near the front of the body where it begins to flare out.

The unit is also supplied with a sturdy split ring attachment affixed to a large, beefy eyelet on the tail. Attached to the split ring is Tektite's generous and tough wrist lanyard, complete with soft rubber tubing to cussion the wrist. The lanyard is large enough to go completely around the flashlight body, enabling you to hang it from anywhere, even a tree branch or a piece of metal tubing or railing that has no obvious "end".

The Trek 4 Limited Edition uses a twist-on mechanism which is totally non-destructive. Instead of a springy metal strip going up the side of the flashlight and contacting the LED board at one point, there is a lip or shelf milled into the body of the flashlight which contacts the whole circumference of the PCB at once, putting an end to any worries of the traces on the PCB being dug out and eventually becoming intermittent or failing alltogether. In my opinion, the twist-on switching mechanism of this light is the most reliable twist-on switch tested to date.



Beam profile


Comparison: The new aluminum vs. the old plastic.
While the newer one is dimmer, both its batteries & LEDs will live longer.


Beam profile analysis.



Beam contour analysis.

Charts made by the ProMetric system, on loan from Radiant Imaging.



Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the LEDs in this flashlight.


Spectrographic plot
Same as above; newer spectrometer software & settings used.
USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.



TEST NOTES:



UPDATE: 04-27-02
Testing is in its earliest stages; stay tuned for regular updates to this page.
size comparison
Compared in size with the original Trek 4.


UPDATE: 05-28-02
A replacement LED module was provided by the manufacturer around the 24th of May, and it turns out to be substantially brighter than the one that came with the flashlight. It is not yet clear whether the original was supposed to be that dim, or if it was indeed defective. In any case, I ran the light with replacement module through the ProMetric, and here are the charts. Compare them with the earlier charts directly above, and you'll see the difference.


Beam profile analysis.



Beam contour analysis.

Charts made by the ProMetric system, on loan from Radiant Imaging.



UPDATE: 09-12-04
I should have done this a long time ago, but better late than never...I placed this flashlight in this website's Trophy Case, denoting it as among the best you can get.


PROS:
Durable construction
Uses common, easily available batteries
Long burn-time
Has a non-destructive twist-bezel switching mechanism
Submersible to 1000 feet
Does not appear to overdrive its LEDs, will retain that "like new" brightness longer.


CONS:
Slightly dimmer than its predecessor.


    MANUFACTURER: Tektite
    PRODUCT TYPE: Small hand torch
    LAMP TYPE: LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 4 ea. 5mm white LED
    BEAM TYPE: Medium flood, soft falloff
    SWITCH TYPE: Twist bezel on/off
    BEZEL: Clear Lexan with rubber shield
    BATTERY: 3ea. "AA" cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION:
    WATER RESISTANT: Yes
    SUBMERSIBLE: Yes, to 1000 feet
    ACCESSORIES: Generous wrist lanyard with cussion, lens shield, batteries
    WARRANTY: Limited lifetime, including LEDs

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star RatingStar Rating









Trek 4 Limited Edition Aluminum * WWW.TEK-TITE.COM






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