Tektite Luxeon PR bulb and Tekna Splash-Lite

[Quickbeam]

tektite_tekna_splash-lite.htm

tektite_lpr-3.htm

Enjoy!

 

[milkyspit]

Quickbeam, great reviews as always. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I don't own a Splash-Lite. Looking at your review, though, I'm torn over my opinion of this one. I really like the housing; looks tough, and it's both small plus extremely waterproof. Seems like a winner! On the other hand, here's what I find myself wondering: if this light is intended as emergency backup and costs around $15, why not just buy an Infinity Ultra for $15, put a lithium AA cell in it, and end up with a light that's even a bit smaller, will run much longer, is reasonably waterproof itself, has an unbreakable source of light (LED), produces a much higher quality (though not brighter) beam, and has perhaps an even tougher housing?

 

[Quickbeam]

Milkyspit -

I'm trying not to make direct comparisons between lights from different manufacturers in my reviews anymore so I purposely don't mention the light you brought up. I'd prefer to let the readers compare this light to others on the site and then decide themselves.

However, you do bring up a very valid point... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[paulr]

Milky, I have a Splash-Lite and an Ultra, they're not really similar. The Splash-lite is quite a bit brighter, and with that 650 mA bulb it would be brighter even than something like an Arc LS. Also, it seems to me that aside from the bulb burning out, not much can really go wrong with the Splash-lite. There's no electronic components to fail. If something does stop working (except the bulb), you can probably fix it with a pocket knife since all the parts are big enough to work on. No tiny sealed devices.

That said, the Splash-Lite's reappearance is kind of surprising. I think it was originally sold as a handy compact light, not as a survival light. As such, unless you're concerned about very long shelf life or cold weather operation, an LED light or one of the 2AAA dive lights (PT Blast or UKE 2aaa) makes more sense. The Splash-lite's main limitation is probably that #222 screw-base bulb. Newer lights have mostly passed the Splash-lite by.

I think the Splash-lite is a little bit shorter than the Ultra (though thicker). It definitely weighs a lot less because of its plastic body.

 

[paulr]

Quickbeam, I notice you have the UKE 2L waterproofness rated as "dunk", but it's a dive light.

 

[vcal]

IMHO-that was a great light (in 1988).

I also found mine on a closet shelf after all these years. I put a new 123 in it w/600mA bulb, and compared it's beam/brightness to my 1996 UKE 2-AAA side-by-side.

Conclusion: for 10 bucks, the UKE beats the pants of the Techna..-which was a great light in it's day, though.

 

[milkyspit]

Where is a good place to buy the Splash-Lite? I'd like to check one out, but the places I normally buy my lights (including Brightguy) don't carry them...
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[paulr]

The only place that has them is tek-tite.com in their flashlights section. They only appeared there recently. I bet they found some new-old-stock in a warehouse somewhere. They were discontinued for many years and I seriously doubt that they're back in production. Anyway I'm not trying to steer you away, I bought mine a few months ago because I thought they were cool when I first saw them in the 80's and I always wanted one. But really, objectively, by the standards that we flashaholics are used to nowadays, the Splash-lite is not really special. Alternatives include PT Blast, UKE 2L, CMG Ultra, etc.

 

[Quickbeam]

[ QUOTE ]
Quickbeam, I notice you have the UKE 2L waterproofness rated as "dunk", but it's a dive light.

[/ QUOTE ]

Let me check on that. If it's not rated to a certain depth, it gets the "dunk" rating (drop in a stream, fish it out, shake it off and keep going). If it has a depth rating, it gets the "submersible" rating (jump in the lake and look for your lost anchor with it...)

 

[paulr]

I think the 2L is rated to 500 feet or something like that. The company is not called Underwater Kinetics for nothing! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Quickbeam]

I understand your enthusiasm, but I needed to see it in writing from the company. I don't make changes to the specs based on word of mouth. The website didn't have anything, but the documentation that came with the light did indeed have a depth rating tucked away in one corner that I must have missed first time around. I will update the review.

 

[Phaserburn]

How does the 3 cell PR bulb compare in output to an Everled? The review seems to paint it as kind of dim. Anyone know what kind of current each is pulling across the emitter? I take it the PR replacement isn't regulated as is the Everled.

 

[paulr]

I should add, one of the reasons I wanted a Splash-Lite back in the old days was to mod it by replacing the bulb with a red LED and resistor. There's not much point to that now, with so many LED lights available.

 

[paulr]

Well, I just went to Radio Shack and I finally remembered to look for the Krypton 222 bulb. They had only one in stock ($1.29) and I looked at it closely, filament looked centered to me, so I bought it. I put it in my Splash-lite and yeah, it looked a little brighter than the old bulb, and the beam shape was different but still awful. The brightness difference wasn't all that obviously useful, either--maybe the beam had more bright parts or something. I put the old bulb back figuring substantially more runtime was probably more useful than some not-that-big-a-deal extra brightness. Then for kicks I compared the old bulb with my CMG Ultra-G, both for direct illumination (nearby target) and total output (bounce light off white ceiling), and to my surprise they were about the same. I put the krypton bulb back in and compared again, and its total output was much higher than the CMG. Of course, even with the stock bulb in the Tekna, the CMG has a huge advantage in runtime. I weighed both with a postage scale and the Tekna is somewhat lighter. The Tekna is somewhat more waterproof. Total size is roughly the same. Cost is about the same.

I concluded that except for the weight and waterproofness advantages, the CMG makes the Tekna with the stock bulb pretty much obsolete. So I left the krypton bulb in the Tekna just to give the Tekna some reason for existence. It really is a nice little light despite its low efficiency. However, to bring it more up to date, I still want to mod the screw-base bulb with an LED. The CR123 should run a resistored yellow LED just fine for a very long time, or I might try direct driving an R2H Luxeon with it. Other possible option is to try modding with a small bi-pin halogen bulb like a Minimag-style bulb. That should get more brightness and maybe a cleaner beam.

 

[milkyspit]

Paulr, is there enough plastic in the sides of the Splash-Lite to bore it out for a 123 cell and still retain most of the structural integrity of the light?

 

[paulr]

Scott, I don't understand the question. The Splash-lite already takes a 123 cell. See Quickbeam's review for pictures. Is that what you meant?

 

[milkyspit]

Oops. Sorry Paul! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif Don't know what I was thinking. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif