TRAILFINDER 2-in-1 LED LIGHT

Trailfinder 2-in-1 LED Light, retail $8.00 (www.biglots.com*)
Manufactured by (Unknown) for Energizer Holdings (www.energizer.com)
Last updated 02-02-10






The Trailfinder is a handy-dandy "2 in 1" light that features a 1 watt white LED, and can be used both as a flashlight and an area light ("lantern").

It comes in a sturdy plastic body, and can easily be converted from a flashlight to an area light simply by pulling the bezel (head) away from the body - doing so exposes a diffusing plastic cylinder that the high-powered LED can shine through.

It is powered by four AAA cells - which are included.

* Not found on the Big Lots website; so this URL simply leads to their front door.


Size of product w/hand to show scale SIZE



Feed the Trailfinder its included AAA cells first (see directly below), and THEN you can go pitch that tent.

To turn the LED on & off in either mode, press the black rubberised button on the tailcap until it clicks and then release it to turn it on. Repeat the same action to turn it off.

There is no momentary or signalling mode available when the flashlight is off, however, you can blink the Trailfinder while it is on by partially depressing the tailcap button. If you don't mind the backward or reverse feeling of this, you can blink the flashlight this way.


To switch between modes, just do the following.

1: To place the Trailfinder in "flashlight" mode, just press the bezel (head) and barrel together until they snap into place.

2: To place the Trailfinder in "lantern" (area light) mode, grasp the barrel in one hand, and gently pull the bezel out with the other until it stops moving. Due to the way the Trailfinder was designed, it should not just summarily "collapse" when set face-down in "lantern" mode.



To feed the Trailfinder, unscrew & remove the tailcap until it comes off, and throw it into the woods as far as you can so that a deer finds it, sniffs at it, and then proceeds to uranate on it...O WAIT!!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT!!!! So just set it aside instead.

Tip the black battery carriage into your hand.

If necessary, remove & dispose of or recycle the used AAA cells from this carriage.

Insert four new AAA cells into the chambers, orienting them according to the silkscreened legends next to each chamber. DO NOT insert them so that their flat-ends (-) negatives face the spring in each chamber - that does not work in this light!!!

Insert the now-full battery carriage back into the barrel, orienting it so that the end with THREE metal contacts on it (not two!) goes in first. Slowly spin the battery carriage until it slides down into the barrel.

Screw the tailcap back on, and be done with it.
Aren't you glad you didn't huck that tailcap into the woods with that upset deer now?

Current usage measures 163.8mA on my DMM's 400mA scale.



The Trailfinder comes in an all-plastic body that may not withstand serious abuse, not in a metal or thicker plastic body. So I won't throw it against the wall, stomp on it, try to drown it in the {vulgar term for feces}bowl or the cistern, run over it, swing it against the concrete floor of a front porch, use a medium ball peen hammer to bash it open in order to check it for candiosity, fire it from the cannoņata (I guess I've been watching the TV program "Viva Piņata" too much again - candiosity is usually checked with a laser-type device on a platform with a large readout (located at Piņata Central), a handheld wand that Langston Lickatoad uses, or a pack-of-cards-sized instrument that Fergy Fudgehog uses; and the cannoņata (also located at Piņata Central) is only used to shoot piņatas to piņata parties away from picturesque Piņata Island), send it crashing into a quantum filament*, send it to the Daystrom Institute for additional analysis, or inflict upon it punishments that a flashlight in a metal or sturdier plastic body may have inflicted upon it.

This product is not all that water-resistant - for a light meant to be used outdoors, in my opinion it *SHOULD* be. This alone will knock more off its rating than everything else combined.

Water will rather readily enter the product around the bezel, and to a lesser extent, around the switch button and the barrel/tailcap interface (there is no O-ring there). Therefore, things like water, milk, diet Pepsi Lime, cold (or hot) coffee, urine, ice cold fizzy root beer, disposable douches, disposable enemas, tranny fluid, gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, brake fluid, motor oil, or other liquids could get inside. So please try not to drop it into creeks, rivers, ponds, lakes, oceansides, docksides, snowbanks, puddles of whitetail deer pee, tall cold glasses (or short lukewarm glasses) of milk, slush piles, mud puddles, tubs, root beer floats, toliet bowls, cisterns, sinks, cups of coffee (hot *OR* cold), fishtanks, dog water dishes, old yucky wet mops, wall-mounted porcelain urinators, leaky water heaters, busted garden hoses, puddles of antifreeze, brake fluid, tranny fluid, gasoline, or other places where water or water-like liquids might be found. And you'll probably want to cover it up or otherwise get rid of it (such as by putting it in a pocket or in a bag) if you need to carry it in rainy or snowy weather.

If it fell in water and you suspect it got flooded, disassemble it as you would for a battery change, and set the parts in a warm dry place for at least several days just to be sure it's completely dry inside before you reassemble & use it again.

If it fell into seawater, got thrown into a glass of milk, if it fell in a root beer float, if it fell into a bowl of "soft-serv" ice cream, if somebody squirted a Massengill brand post-menstrual disposable douche or a Fleet brand disposable enema at it (and hit it with the douche or the enema), or if somebody or something peed on it, rinse the parts off with fresh water before setting them out to dry. You don't want your Trailfinder to smell like seaweed, sour milk, flowers, fresh butts, or rotten piss when you go to use it next. Besides, salt (from seawater, disposable douches, disposable enemas, or uranation), lactic acid (from moo juice), glycerol (from antifreeze), or sugar (from root beer & ice cream) can't be very good for the insides.

The intensity is not as such that it would set fire to a lavatory (bathroom sink) factory 0.750 blocks away, but it isn't terrible either. In fact, quite the contrary actually.
In my opinion, it would be more than bright enough to hunt down that tent stake that mysteriously sprang away while you were pitching the tent, or find out what's making that squeaky noise behind the outbuilding.



Beam photograph on the test target at 12".
Measures 420,000mcd on a Meterman LM631 (now Amprobe LM631A) light meter.



Beam photograph on a wall at ~10 feet.

Those colored graphics toward the left are my "Viva Piņata" posters, and that clock on the right that looks like a gigantic wristwatch is my Infinity Optics Clock.
You may also be able to see two of my SpongeBob SquarePants plush (Squidward Tentacles & Patrick Star) and a Digimon plush (Greymon)



Photograph of a bathtub illuminated by the product; the Trailfinder was positioned at the back edge of the tub for this photograph.
Measures 2,320mcd on a Meterman LM631 (now Amprobe LM631A) light meter.


Spectrographic analysis
Spectrographic analysis of the LED in this flashlight.
USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.


ProMetric analysis
Beam cross-sectional analysis.
Image made using the ProMetric System by Radiant Imaging.






TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased at a Big Lots store in Federal Way WA. USA on 05-21-09.

Product was made in China.
A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I published it on this web page.

* From the Star Trek: TNG episode "Disaster".


UPDATE: 02-02-10
I have given this light (plus two others) to my aunt; therefore I no longer have it at my disposal for future analyses or comparisons -- and the dreadful "" icon will now be appended to its listings on this website.


PROS:
Gives you dual functionality (flashlight & lantern)
Decent intensity in flashlight mode
Uses batteries that are common and relatively inexpen$ive
Good warranty coverage


CONS:
Not very water-resistant and not at all submersible
Batteries cannot be changed in total darkness


    MANUFACTURER: Unknown
    PRODUCT TYPE: Dual-purpose flashlight
    LAMP TYPE: 1 watt white LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: Medium spot w/dim corona (flashlight), 360° flood (lantern)
    SWITCH TYPE: Pushbutton on/off on tailcap
    CASE MATERIAL: Plastic
    BEZEL: Plastic; LED & reflector protected by plastic window
    BATTERY: 4x AAA cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: 163.8mA
    WATER RESISTANT: Light sprinkle- / splatter-resistance only
    SUBMERSIBLE: For Christ sakes NOOOOO!!!
    ACCESSORIES: 4x AAA cells, wrist lanyard
    WARRANTY: Lifetime

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Star RatingStar Rating





Trailfinder 2-in-1 LED Light *






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