My Weltool T17
part of my collections
I am not paid or being offered samples by Weltool. I must admit that I am a friend of Weltool’s owner Danny Zhang, but we only ever talk about flashlights, we have no common interests. I write this article on my own will.
Here are some of my collections. You guys probably didn’t see my ID that much, I wasn’t very into sharing my thoughts and experience, but I am a collector, a quiet one. I own around 40 piece of flashlight, some are really rare finds, like a KAC flashlight (3rd from left).
I have been looking for a really rugged flashlight with a simple UI for daily and tactical use. I write this article to explain why Weltool T17 is my flashlight endgame.
Constant output and single mode, and why it’s such a lovely idea
T17 first output 600 lumens, then due to the voltage gets low, it utilize the rest to output 100 lumens for another hour and half.
We all know there is an impossible triangle in the flashlight world: performance, size and heat dissipation. T17 provides the perfect balance.
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it’s an SFT40, so you get a nice and far throwy center for horizon scanning and a wide spill for situational awareness. The throwy center can see in distance with 600 lumen output.
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thanks to its low, constant output,
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the flashlight will never burn LED even if it gets really hot
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the flashlight can use stainless steel as bezel without worrying about heat dissipation
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the flashlight can run at 600 lumens for 2 hours.
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we have all seen the Chinese lumen war, all compact size flashlight will be stable around 500-700 lumens after a couple minutes of “Turbo” anyway, so why don’t we start from there?
Genius low-mode design
When we need low output, we usually don’t need instant reaction, it’s smart to leave the high output to the only move we know when we are in panic – press that tail button in full power.
Weltool has the most genius low-mode design I have ever seen. It’s not a magnetic ring or mechanical ring, it’s not a hold of a button, it’s not quick tap to change output level, or anything that might stumble you when you are in panic, it’s a four-quick tap on the tail to enable 6-lumen output. You will never get it wrong when you don’t need it.
The way I use it is to use palm to cover the lens, then four quick taps. The last time I used it is for finding my earbuds without disturbing anyone in a full plane of sleeping passengers.
AK of the flashlight world
In the aspect of ruggedness, T17 is the AK among flashlights
- It’s fully potted, so if you want to place it on a rifle, that’s fine
- You can submerge it in water and do a battery change, it doesn’t care
- The bezel is made of stainless steel, not the usual aluminum. Smashing videos here
My thought process
So after purchasing T17, I am starting to have trouble justifying if it’s worth it to spend money on similar-sized flashlights. Examples:
- Surefire 6PX: potted on the electronic board, good; Outdated LED; Run direct drive; Only CR123, T17’s 3800mah 18650 has a doubled runtime; No shroud on tailcap
- Elzetta Bravo: potted lamp, perfect; single-mode, perfect; Constant output, perfect; Only CR123, T17’s 3800mah 18650 has has a doubled runtime. This is the closest match, also why I am calling T17 a well-updated Elzetta Bravo
- Nextorch TA30: has a warmer output version (4500K, T17 is 5000K), very competitive UI, but not potted and only “turbo” for 4.5 minutes, then drops to 400 lumen according to zeroair
- Acebeam G15: Single mode, love it; not potted; cooler output (6500K); “Turbo” for 1.5 minute then drop to 500 lumen according to 1lumen
- Olight Odin S: Olight gets rid of their proprietary battery, finally; not potted; “Turbo” for 2.5minutes then output 650 lumen according to 1lumen
As a daily use flashlight, Rugged, simple, stable, Weltool T17 is the one that checks all the boxes for me.
It’s always 600 lumens out of my pocket.
Last but not least: T17 and Nextorch FR-1, a match made in heaven
yeah, be a little careful though, once it’s on you will never get it off. it’s that tight. I even asked Danny to sell me a spare tailcap so I could try some other tactical rings