Inova T4 - Real world test mini-review

Real World Review - Inova T4 - mini-review

ZeSpectre's "Real World Reviews"

First off, if you aren't familiar with the Inova T4 you should refer to Quickbeam's excellent review at http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/inova_t4.htm

Test Location- Cunningham Falls State Park, MD http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/western/cunninghamfalls.html

Test Conditions- Cool (low 50 degree Fahrenheit) and wet with heavy fog and mist.

Please note that I did not intend for this real world test to be so extreme but nature and circumstance had other ideas.

I purchased two Inova T4 lights on 10/7/2005. One was a gift for a friend, the other for myself. The trip was to be a weekend camping/hiking trip to Cunningham falls where the four of us (Me, my wife, my friend and his fiancée) would stay in a rented cabin (by the way the cabins are really neat!) and then day hike around the park. On Saturday night we had also planned a night time jaunt through a corn-maze in Thurmont. All in all a perfect set of opportunities to test the new lights.

At first I was worried about the light coming on in my pack, but following Quickbeams notes I discovered that a simple ¼ twist of the tailcap "locked out" the flashlight without compromising the water resistance. I shared this information with my friend and it worked fine for him as well.

Well as anyone on the East coast knows, this weekend brought on a really heavy rainstorm that lasted for 2 days straight and dumped between 3-6 inches of rain on the entire area. To summarize a pretty involved story, by the time we got to the cabin it was pitch black, foggy, and either raining…or raining like hell! Once we arrived we found another camper had managed to drive off the road and put his camper/van into the ditch so we dropped the ladies off at the cabin to set up and went back to help.

Neither of us dropped or dunked our T4 at any point but the heavy rains we were getting made it impossible for the lights to remain dry. At one point a fairly serious stream of water was running down my sleeve and across the underside of the light (over the charging terminals) and trickling to the ground from the bottom of the bezel. At no point did the either of the lights give any indication that moisture had penetrated to the interior. Opening the battery compartments later revealed everything to be bone dry. Neither the temperature nor the wet seemed to affect the lights operation in the least. Note that the switches were operated several times under these conditions.

The light produced was well controlled and very usable under the harsh conditions of the recovery operation. In addition to providing excellent working light, the Inova T4 joins the Jupiter emitter based River Rock 2xC and 2xAA lights in my elite category of "fog penetrator". I certainly won't claim it has the cutting power of a MagCharger, but we were able to easily select a good tree to hook a come-along onto in spite of the dense fog.

In summary, my new T4 got a serious trial by fire this weekend…and came through with flying colors.

Hi,

thats a good review...

I am also looking to get a T4, the only draw back for me is that it is fairly long. However I'm a little unsure as to whether the throw is good enough for my needs. I need a torch I can use very frequently, with a decent throw. I currently have a 1 watt 25-30 lumen torch (Nuwai ALX-1213N) that throws light up to about 70m, although it is no use at this distance as it is very faint.

Can you give me some idea about the throw of this torch please?

Thanks

I agree that at 8 inches and 10oz it's not exactly pocketable though it sits nicely in a collapsable baton holder.

My primary use of this light is for evening walks my wife and I take through our neighborhood in a suburban setting that only has streetlights along the main road, not the "loops and trails" we walk through. That means about 1 hour of use 3-4 times a week(I was using my Surefire L2 but even using it mostly on low the cost of the 123A batts were starting to add up).

There isn't any location on our walk where I can see more than about 150 yards in a straight line, but on a clear evening, with more or less dark adapted eyes, this light will allow me to clearly identify squirrel-to-cat sized objects at about 40-50 yards (45 meters?) and man sized objects out to about 80 yards (73 meters?). Beyond that I could see a man sized object out to about roughly 100-120 yards ( 90-110 meters) but really couldn't clearly identifiy what the object is. (Though I could clearly identify a white refrigerator out on a curb from about 120 yards away).

I don't know if you've ever seen a Gerber LX 3.0 with fresh batteries (that screamingly bright first 2-5 minutes of use), but the T4 beam is noticably stronger with more throw...and stays that way for the entire runtime.

I'm very pleased with this light, it performs even better than I expected.

I hope that helps.

Yes that certainly helps, I've been asking this question for weeks... so I'm pleased you've given me some indication on its throw.

I tend to use the torch about 4 hours a time, 3-4times a week. I like the T3 because of its compact size but also like the T4 because it is rechargeable... its a tough choice.

I know you can get spare T4 batteries but they are expensive, are there alternatives that fit and work with the charger just as well?

No idea on the spare batts, sorry.

For anyone interested, I'm going to do another corn maze (last one of the year) this weekend. This one is LONG so I should have a good endurance test of the T4 by the finish.

I wonder how the output compares to an L4? Similar, but more throwy and less floody?

Inova T4 Mini-Review---part II

It was a dark and stormy night...again.oo: Okay, I'm really starting to think that the Inova T4 is a weather wand because every time I take it out for a serious real-world test (timed, measurements and the works) we have record-breaking bad weather!

The conditions were wet with intermittent heavy rain, muddy, and cool (low 50's F). The testing area was a HUGE corn maze so we alternated between a closed in maze structure and crossing open fields. There was a lot of rain, haze, and some light ground fog.

In spite of the weather I could see down the paths, easily pick out the small (4x4 white rectangles) checkpoint signs from a distance, and in fact could frequently see through the cornstalks to spot other people moving on different trails 3 and 4 rows away. Mist, rain, and a light ground fog were no problem. As I have noted before, the T4 is among the elite ranks of LED based lights that WILL penetrate fog and this allowed me a good view of my footing (okay, it was all slippery mud, but I could SEE that it was slippery mud).

As in the previous review, the T4 was absolutely unaffected by the weather. The checkered pattern gave a very positive grip. Even when the light was completely wet I was never in danger of dropping it. I would still like a lanyard though.

The T4 is a powerful light and was, in fact, too powerful when used to read a black and white printed map up close. The resultant glare was painful to semi-dark adapted eyes so we used headlamps set on low to actually read the map. The T4 was also just too powerful when used inside the tent later and we quickly went back to our headlamps for smooth area lighting. The bottom line is that this is not the light for close-up tasks.

Some people complain about the "ringy" side spill from the T4. In the real world I was constantly moving the light over varying terrain and under those conditions I really didn't notice the rings, the only thing I noticed was whether things were lit by side spill (they were) or not.

The T4 gave me a very consistent runtime even under the cool conditions (2hr 32min) before cutting out. However in my opinion Inova should take a note from the Night-Ops Gladius and have some sort of warning "flicker" or something before the light goes dead. The abrupt shutdown is somewhat disconcerting to say the least.

Full recharge from dead was 2hr 55min as done in the car on the drive home. In fact it switched over just as we pulled into the driveway which was a nice touch.

The Bad:
-No good for close up work, it's just too bright.
-No lanyard.
-Abrupt cut-off with no real warning.

The Good:
-Excellent for medium to distance work
-Top notch weather resistance
-Solid construction
-Good grip/ergonomics
-Fog/mist penetration
-Rechargeable

Other comments:
-The regulated light is fantastic and consistent, I'd have loved this light as a cop.
-Needs a "low battery" warning of some sort.

The bottom line... This is a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED light for outdoor use.

zespectre said:

The T4 is a powerful light and was, in fact, too powerful when used to read a black and white printed map up close. The resultant glare was painful to semi-dark adapted eyes so we used headlamps set on low to actually read the map.

Click to expand...

That's when you hold it by the head in your cupped hand, the reflection off your palm will produce nice non-blinding illumination that you can read by.

The T-4 uses a protected LI-ION cell which is why it does'nt give any warning before it shuts down. When the battery voltage reaches a preset point, the internal protection circuitry turnes off the output. As far as replacement cells, several people have reported that using a 18650 protected cell works fine. The 18650 is a little smaller in diameter and may need something wrapped around it to keep it from rattling. There are dealers on this forum selling 18650 protected cells with higher capacity than stock T-4 cell for a lot less money.

Bob

NIce review Zespectre!
I always love to read these real world tests.

I would'nt rave much about the T4's water-resistance. After all its much worse than most other premium lights. I would say heavy rain allready challenges luck.

Just to test this, in true flashaholic style, I took my T4 out on a horrible wet night. Water poured off it. No problems to report whatsoever. Hopefully this is not just a fluke, cos there's plenty more where that came from!This light really surprised me. It is what I would class as my first "quality" torch, my only LED (apart from a keychain). The beam is very white compared to what I'm used to, and the light is heavier than I imagined. It seems very well made. Initial trials seemed to prove what has been already mentioned on here - it struggles a little where there is lots of ambient light, particularly yellow ish streetlamps, but when you get it into a truly dark area, it really comes into it's own. Run time hasn't been tested yet, but it's had over 1.5 hours of constant use, no problem, and recharges petty quick.

The only drawback so far is that I haven't been able to locate a holster in the uk yet to fit - might have to get one shipped from the US.

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I would'nt rave much about the T4's water-resistance. After all its much worse than most other premium lights. I would say heavy rain allready challenges luck-

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Hey, I just call 'em like I see 'em. We've had the two different T4's out under a variety of circumstances and although I would NEVER recommend actual immersion, they seem to be plenty weather resistant.

surviving rain doesnt proof much... any $5 light could do that.

A light that i take outside should be well sealed on _all_ openings, not just 'all but two'. especially if those openings lead directly to the electronics and inaccessible parts of the light.
Beside that, i wash my lights (lens, mud, etc.) - that would be clearly too much for the T4.

I bought the T4 well aware of this shortcomming. It is mainly used indoors.