mini-trek troubles

Well the time came for me to change the batts. in the mini trek. I followed the printing on the side and still had a glimpse of hell. I am not a patient man so perhaps others may not experience the same level of difficulty. After a considerable wrestling match I did finally get the evil little light to sircome and succeeded in completing the batt. change. I would feel very hesitant to recommend this light to any one I like for this reason.

<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by KenB on 12-11-2000 at 11:33 AM</font>

I really like the light but changing the batteries is almost worse than changing a Photon with the tiny screws. It is tricky to change that third battery; it helps to have a small flat blade screwdriver to maneuver the battery around in the light. It is pain.

Brock - http://www.uwgb.edu/nevermab/led.htm

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by KenB:
Well the time came for me to change the batts. in the mini trek. I followed the printing on the side and still had a glimpse of hell. I am not a patient man so perhaps others may not experience the same level of difficulty. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you.
From the standpoint of changing batteries, this little flashlight is nothing more than pure, concentrated evil.
http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/ccmini.htm

As you will read in this review, I had to enlist in the services of a disposable pen in order to get the %*&$&^@% batteries in and out.

And God help you if you open this flashlight directly over a garbage can full of smelly kitchen waste, because you will have just dumped out the good parts right in the can with stinky rotten food and soggy paper towels. :X

If you can get past this horrible battery changing procedure though, the Mini Trek really is a nice little light, plus you can swap out the business end with the PLW-3 to get a new beam configuration and more LEDs.

http://ledmuseum.home.att.net


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Given the troubles changing the Mini-Trek's batteries, can anyone recommend another LED the same size as the Mini-Trek?

Well a bit larger and you get in to the 3 AA sized lights like the lightwave 2000, PLW-3, or Eternal lights. Smaller you get in to the CMG infinity, which is dimmer, but uses a single AA battery, or smaller still you get in to the Photon style. The closest thing would probably be a Streamlight Stylus, using 3 AAAA batteries, it is small but long, similar in size to a laser pointer. It is bright for it's size. I think the Streamlight Batonlite might fit the bill, but it won't be released until early next year. It is said to use 3 N cells 3 LED's.

Brock - http://www.uwgb.edu/nevermab/led.htm