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Reviews -> Flashlights -> Lummi Wee NS
Last modified on Sat, 9th Aug 2008 at 13:46 BST by zippletSummary
Available from: Lummi (http://www.lummi.co.uk/)
Price: £35 and free postage at time of review for basic model, £47 including GTLS
Link: http://web.mac.com/Lummii/Lummi2/Wee_NS.html
Conclusion: Great miniature light, small but still useable and not a gimmick. Worth every penny.
Rating: 10/10
Description
The light on the right in this image is the Lummi Wee NS (the one on the left is the Lummi Raw NS which I'll review another time). What's so special about this light is the size (incredibly small) and exquisite workmanship. There are also some disadvantages to the small size which we will get to. Here is a size comparision, with the Nitecore SmartPD D10 on the left, an AA eneloop in the middle, and the Wee on the right. Note the very small size!
Click to enlarge image
In the box
In the package you'll find the Wee NS with the battery already installed with the light engine of your choice (more on that later!), a BT lanyard (very strong steel wire lanyard with plastic wrap) and spacing magnets for use with an RCR123A charger such as the 'Nano' charger also sold by Lummi.
Batteries
Quick tip: Lithium-ion cell sizes are typically quoted using numbers in the format DDLL0. DD = diameter and LL = length, both in millimeters. The 0 specifies a cylindrical cell.
The Wee uses a single small 10180 3.7V lithium-ion cell of 90mAh capacity. The capacity does not sound like much, but with lithium-ion you can attain this capacity even at reasonably high discharge rates which is very important. It is also very important that you never let these batteries short out in your pocket! They can vent with flame.
Click to enlarge image
This battery can be recharged using the 'Nano' charger also available from Lummi. There are 2 downsides to this charger. First, it may be 100-230V universal but the plug is american. Fortunately a simple shaver adapter does the trick. Secondly, it keeps charging the cell slightly past 4.2V, so once the light turns green to indicate a full charge please remove the battery. It should be safe even so but you'll get less life out of the battery if you leave it on the charger for hours. Here you see the Nano charger plugged into a shaver adapter plugged into a socket strip, ready to go (green light). The light turns red during charging.
Click to enlarge image
Design
The light is incredibly small, infact I believe it may be the smallest light with a cree XR-E emitter. Workmanship is excellent, there are no tooling marks, chaffed edges or scratches. Edges are tapered or chamfered. The engraving of the Lummi brand and Wee name is executed perfectly. The threads turn very smoothly indeed - part of that I believe is due to the material used (nickel silver) which is harder than aluminium and can be finished a lot smoother.
The material itself (nickel silver) is beautiful. It does tarnish slightly and turn a more golden colour with use as it forms a protective oxide layer, but I think it gives the light a nice look. It can be polished easily if needed. The light has a very fine ringed finish that can barely be seen, but can be felt and stops it slipping from your hand. It is astonishing that so much attention to detail has gone into this light!
The emitter is sufficiently heatsinked to the body. At first it may look inadequate but note the reflector (body) is heatsinked by contact to the metal ring on the emitter.
The GTLS (gaseous tritium light source) slots are perfectly placed and the trits sit nicely recessed into the holes. They are not fully protected because the back side is exposed so you wont want to put a Wee with trits onto your keyring. The GTLS costs £12 extra at the time of review and you can choose from ice blue, green or white trits. I highly recommend them!
Here is how they look in a darkened room:
Just great
Accessories and pricing
The basic Wee NS costs £35. For this you get the light without trits, charging magnets, a battery and the light engine of your choice. This is another thing the Wee shines at - you get to pick the light engine you want - a trade off between brightness and battery life:
- 25 lumens for 90 minutes
- 50 lumens for 30 minutes
- 100 lumens for 15 minutes
You may order additional light engines for £10 each. It is easy to change the light engine and an instructional video is on the Lummi web site so I wont repeat it here. 100 lumens for 15 minutes is impressive for a light of such a small size.
Additional batteries can be ordered for each £5 from Lummi and I highly recommend having 2 for a couple of reasons. Firstly you can't reassemble the light without a battery because the light engine will fall out; secondly you will want to be able to use your light at all times even while charging!
Having trits fitted costs £12 extra but it is highly recommended. I think it looks great and finishes off the look.
Beam
The beam is mostly flood with a slightly brighter hotspot. The flood is very even. This makes the light excellent for close up work and reading (using the 25 lumen engine) or for lighting up a room (50/100 lumen engines). Tint on my Wee is a pleasing cool white without noticeable colour shifting. I would like to see the option of a warm white light engine.
Extra features
None. The light is of a simple direct drive design and has no driver circuitry.
Reliability
As the light has no driver circuitry there is less to go wrong! As long as you keep all the contacts clean and thread clean + lubed, it should fire flawlessly every time.
Water resistance
The light should be treated as if it were splashproof/dunkproof. You can get it wet but don't submerse it deeply or keep it under water for long periods of time. There are o-ring seals at the lens and the tailcap but the seal at the lens is not held in as tightly as with other lights due to the design of this light. If water does get in simply disassemble and allow to dry before use.
Bad things / nitpicks
Not much really! I love this little gem of a light. Maybe the threads for the tailcap could be slightly tighter as they are too easy to turn which might be a bad thing with the light on a keyring.
Overall
I really really like this light. It balances form and function, and even though it is rediculously small it remains useable and not a gimmick. Some may find the price high but it is worth every penny if you want a high end miniature light.
10 / 10