Tektite AA.

I will be in Nigeria for 5 months. Electricity is by generator only which isn't run often.
I will need a light that uses AA batteries. It will be used for reading and other basic duties.
I have a Maha Energy international charger with 12, 2300 mah batteries.
Long runtime is important due to the situation described above.
The Tektite Trek 4 seems to be what I'm looking for.
What's your thought on the Tektite? And what would you have me consider as options?

I am a big fan of many tektite lights. Their 3C with 7 leds is most durable and runs one heck of a long time with good light... but you want AA's.

My older 3 AA Tektite with 4 led's is bright enough for your listed needs and runs a long time before any dimming. However, I recently bought another 4 led and a 2 led. The 4 led was a lot brighter than my older versions but noticably cooked the batteries down in 90 minutes. My 2 led is nearly as bright as my older 4 leds and burns with little dimming for the 50 hours they promise. I suggest the 2 led version over the 4. In addition, I suggest the $6 accessory area light diffuser. It does a good job as a dim area light and retains the waterproof rating of the light. A lot of versitility for 6 bucks.

I would also suggest something that you can use on your head. The simplest and cheapest is a headband for your Tektite. There will be plenty of times when you need both hands... like when I was doing dishes with no electricty in hunting camp. I used a 4 led adjustible light Petzl headband light that uses 3 AAA's and it was the most used light in the camp. It was not suitable for a lot of things but always allowed me to find my way in the tent and to find a brighter light. My campmates used UK LED 4AA lights with headbands as necessary. Though the burntime is a lot less than the Tektite 2AA, it was easily the most versatile light in camp and on the trail.

Hope this helps

If you want long runtime in an existing flashlight consider looking into Tektite LED-Replacement bulbs http://www.led-replacement.com or http://store.led-replacement.com

The Trek series are real nice lights but maybe not the best choice if you're using rechargeables. Try a Gerber Trio, which has a boost converter. For a headlamp, hmm, I think there's a Princeton Tec 2AA model with a boost converter.

Another thing I would consider is one of those 15 minute battery chargers from either Ray-O-Vac or Energizer. That way you could charge up a bunch of batteries in a short time. The Ray-O-Vac requires it's special IC3 batteries, whereas the Energizer supposedly will charge any NiMH. Personally I like the Ray-O-Vac system. Get a car cord if possible, and check that any vehicle's system that you may use is 12 volts, negative ground.

I actually have the charger and batteries. Replacement isn't practical.
Are there any other manufactures that have a long run time like the Tektite?

BillM, is it possible that the newer 4 LED is faulty vs. having that short of a runtime? Just a newb wondering.

I have a few of the older Trek-2s and I really like them -- but I don't run them on NiMH cells. In the past I have owned a twistie that shortened my cells to such an extent that my charger would no longer charge them. I don't know that Trek lights will shorten cells, I'm just leery.

I would probably look for a clickie if I were using NiMH cells.

You might look around at the AA light reviews at the LED MUSEUM.

In this situation, I'd bring three lights: a Streamlight JR Luxeon which runs about 2 hours on 2 NiMH AAs for a good combination of bright throw and flood for outdoor and indoor needs, plus an Eternalight EliteMax from which you can eke a lot of light for indoor applications. In the lower output modes, you can run for days on 3 of any type AA cells. For emergency backup, it's really inexpensive to bring along a Dorcy 1LED 1AAA light (<$10) and a couple of 4-packs of AAA cells.

Sorry but I am not sure if mine is brighter than the typical 4aa since there was a full 2 years between purchases. You could call or e mail Tek-Tite and find out. Still, the 2 led version is most excellent and really takes the place of my older 4 led versions while gaining a lot in battery life. I should also mention I have only run alkaline batteries in mine but suspect the lower voltage of the rechargables may make the lights a lot dimmer. Of course 50+ hours on 3 AA's makes alkaline pretty reasonable.

Eternalight (already mentioned) is often overlooked. It deserves another mention.

The elitemax can also run from 2 cells and a dummy battery.

Battery life is like 700 hours on low.

Has a find-me flasher.

All options are configurable.