REVIEW – I’ve a tactical flashlight that I preserve beside my mattress for emergencies round the home and yard, however I’ve needed one for my automobile as nicely. Possibly I get a flat tire at night time, possibly I run out of fuel and must hike to the closest fuel station, or possibly I come throughout somebody who wants assist. For these sorts of conditions, I believe having a strong and reliable flashlight may very well be very useful. In the present day, I’m reviewing the WUBEN T1 tactical flashlight.
What’s it?
The WUBEN T1 is a tactical flashlight that has 4 ranges of brightness, a chargeable lithium-ion battery, and an progressive three-way change in its tail. With an IP68 ranking, it needs to be suited to any climate. The T1 is made by WUBEN, and its mission is to information individuals out of darkness.
What’s within the field?
- WUBEN T1 tactical flashlight
- USB-A to USB-C charging cable
- Two spare O-rings
- Person guide
- Wrist strap
{Hardware} specs
- Gentle Supply: Luminus SST-40 LED
- Max Brightness: 2000 lumens
- Battery: 18650 Li-ion battery rated at 3100 mAh
- Change: Three-way on tail
- Charger: through USB-C
- Dimensions: 25 x 1.5 x 1.5 inches
- Weight: 7.9 ounces
- Materials: unknown
- IP Score: IP-68
- Influence: 5 toes impression resistant
- Max Runtime: 100 hours
- Max Distance: 544 yards
Design and options
The WUBEN T1 tactical flashlight has a appear and feel that may be very typical of small, tactical flashlights. It’s about six inches lengthy, excellent for holding with one hand. The outside is a matte black coloration and is filled with exhausting edges and ridges that make it straightforward to carry. WUBEN doesn’t specify what the T1 is product of, however I assume it’s an aluminum alloy, because it has a hefty really feel to it. The tail has an attention-grabbing button mechanism, there’s a big belt clip that runs alongside one facet of the physique, and the pinnacle is crenelated. I just like the design.
Set up and setup
The T1 comes well-protected in a stable field with customized foam inserts. The very first thing I did was learn by means of the person guide, which has a foldout model just like old style maps. The font is eye-blindingly small, however at the very least the English is nice. There are quite a few graphics designed to clarify easy methods to use the T1 and alter between its two modes and alter the brightness of the sunshine. The guide shouldn’t be as clear because it may very well be, however with a bit of time and experimentation, I managed to determine issues out.
Gentle many flashlights, the T1 comes with a small piece of plastic within the battery housing to stop the battery from being drained throughout transit. WUBEN thoughtfully included a small blue sticker on the flashlight reminding me to take away this earlier than use, so I unscrewed the tail, discovered the so-called “insulation sheet,” and eliminated it. After I clicked the button on the tail, the T1 turned on, which is an effective begin.
Though the battery was already at the very least partially charged, I needed to see easy methods to cost it. Not like the K3, the battery doesn’t have a built-in charger. As an alternative, there’s a twist ring across the flashlight, just under the pinnacle, that rotates down till it reveals a USB-C port. The included cable is USB-C on one finish, however sadly, it’s nonetheless USB-A on the opposite. As most chargers lately are USB-C, I want WUBEN had included a more recent cable.
Efficiency
Straight away I used to be confronted with the belt clip. It’s lengthy and extends over the twist ring. After I tried to seize and twist the ring, the belt clip received in my method. As I turned the ring, the clip shortly bent over to the facet. I don’t know why WUBEN selected to place the clip over the twist ring, however that’s a poor design selection.
The clip is held in place by two very small screws, which don’t present almost sufficient power to maintain it secure; I discovered that it incessantly skewered off to at least one facet or the opposite. I don’t just like the design of the belt clip in any respect, so I used a really small hex wrench to unscrew it, threw the clip away, and changed the screws into holes. As the aim of this gentle is for emergencies in my automobile, a belt clip isn’t actually necessary to me. If a belt clip is necessary for the way you intend to make use of your tactical flashlight, then I’d suggest both getting a holster or in search of a unique flashlight.
The charger itself works nice. There’s a small LED simply above the twist ring that turned purple once I started charging; it turned blue when the battery was totally charged. As for the twist ring, I actually like this mechanism, because it does a fantastic job defending the charging port from mud and water, significantly better than the little rubber items that some devices use.
The T1’s “declare to fame” is the distinctive “tactical tail change.” It’s a single change that has the performance of three switches. It may be tapped down, pressed down till there’s a click on, and pushed sideways. All of those allow the T1’s modes, ranges of brightness, and particular results. This change is each a blessing and a curse for my part. It’s a blessing as a result of there’s just one place my hand must go so as to activate the flashlight and set it the way in which I would like. That is helpful when it’s darkish or once I’m in a high-stress scenario. It’s a curse as a result of there are a plethora of decisions that require me to memorize precisely when and for the way lengthy I faucet, press, and push so as to get to the setting I want. In a tactical flashlight, this complicated set of choices is undesired. I want WUBEN would take this again to the drafting board and redesign this to be easier. The silver lining is that the essential performance of the flashlight, turning it on and setting brightness, is fairly straightforward, and all the things else may be ignored.
The T1 is available in two totally different modes, tactical mode, and out of doors mode. There’s no rationalization within the guide of those variations or once I ought to use one over the opposite. So far as I can inform, there’s just one distinction between these two modes: In tactical mode, I can change between excessive and low brightness, and in out of doors mode, I can change between excessive, medium, low, and eco brightness. That’s it. The very first thing I must determine is what number of ranges of brightness are necessary to me. As I plan to maintain this in my automobile, I believe I solely want two ranges, so I wish to put the T1 in tactical mode. To change modes, I need to faucet the change 5 occasions after which press it as soon as. After that’s finished, I can neglect about modes.
For primary operations, I solely want to recollect two issues: I press the button till it clicks to show it on and press it once more to show it off. When it’s on, I push it to the facet to vary between high and low brightness. That’s straightforward, and it really works nice. At 2,000 lumens on excessive mode, the T1 is greater than vivid sufficient to gentle up my yard at night time.
The T1 has 4 extra settings that could be of use in sure conditions. If the sunshine is off, then:
- If I faucet and maintain, it activates till I let go.
- If I push and maintain, it strobes till I let go.
If the sunshine is on, then:
- If I push for two seconds, it is going to strobe till I press once more.
- If I push twice, it is going to flash in an SOS sample till I press once more.
As I received’t want these settings the overwhelming majority of the time, I’m positive I’ll shortly neglect easy methods to set them. I can depart the guide within the glove field—I suppose that SOS may come in useful someday—or I might depart the field within the trunk, as WUBEN thought to incorporate diagrams of easy methods to activate these settings on the within lid.
In response to the guide, the T1 will run for:
- 1.5 hours on excessive
- 2.5 hours on medium
- 10 hours on low
- 100 hours on eco
I totally charged the T1 after which left it on excessive; it lasted for 110 minutes, 20 greater than the guide says, which is nice. Throughout this time, I seen that the T1 turn out to be fairly heat. It was by no means sizzling sufficient to burn me, nevertheless it was sufficient to be a fantastic hand hotter on a cold February morning.
WUBEN has a brief video on YouTube that provides a fast overview of the T1.
Additional Options
The T1 comes with a beautiful wrist strap. There’s no point out of easy methods to set it up within the guide, however as there’s just one gap on the flashlight close to the change, that’s the place it has to go. I actually like this strap. It feels prefer it’s product of nylon, has clips on each ends, and an adjustor within the center to maintain it comfortable on my wrist. I even just like the camo-inspired design.
The T1 has an IP-68 ranking. The #6 is the very best stage of safety in opposition to solids; no mud, dust, sand, pollen, or something ought to get contained in the T1 when it’s closed tight. The #8 is the very best stage of safety in opposition to liquids. The T1 is totally waterproof and will perform as regular when submerged underwater. To check this, I put some water in a sink, turned on the flashlight, and submerged it within the water. It labored nice, even once I left it in there for a couple of minute.
Though that is the primary skilled tactical flashlight that WUBEN has made, they’ve all kinds of different flashlights, from EDCs to penlights to bike lights to headlamps. The Gadgeteer has not too long ago reviewed a number of flashlights from WUBEN, together with the WUBEN C2, the WUBEN D1, the WUBEN E6, and the WUBEN H5.
What I like
- Compact, sturdy design
- Rugged, sturdy physique
- A single change to regulate all the things
- Greater than vivid sufficient to assist with any roadside emergency
What I’d change
- Redesign the belt to be stronger and never block the twist ring
- Simplify the settings
Last ideas
The WUBEN T1 tactical flashlight is a stable, sturdy flashlight that works nicely in a wide range of emergency conditions. The essential options are straightforward to make use of with its single tail change, and extraneous settings can be found if mandatory. Whereas the belt clip is poorly designed, the wrist strap is a delight. The T1 is tremendous vivid, greater than ample for my wants, and waterproof. If you happen to want a sturdy, sturdy tactical flashlight (however don’t require a superb belt clip), I like to recommend having a look on the T1.
Worth: $89.99
The place to purchase: WUBEN’s on-line retailer (Use coupon code gadgeteerT120 to earn 20% off the worth. Expires 4/12/22)
Supply: The pattern for this assessment was supplied by WUBEN.
