Wuben T1 Review: Is It The Best Tactical Flashlight?

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Wuben is known worldwide for its flashlights, so there’s no doubt they make great products. However, there is some heavy competition among the niche community of tactical gear companies. So, who makes the best tactical flashlight? If you ask Wuben, they do, in their so aptly named “T1 Best Tactical Flashlight”.

The T1’s numbers are undisputedly impressive: 2000 lumens, a 498-meter throw, and a 100-hour max run time. However, we’ll break down the T1 to see if it is truly the best of the best.

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WUBEN T1

SPECS

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Wuben immediately gives a good first impression with the high-quality box the flashlight comes in. Good packaging truly makes a difference, as it is always the first thing people see.

When I got my Sako S20 Hunter rifle, for example, the packaging was eye-catching, which made me even more excited about the item inside. Wuben has done the same with their top-tier flashlights.

Upon first handling the black anodized aluminum body, the T1 is slick and feels comfortable in the hand. It also has a decent weight to it, so you know it’s not cheaply made.

Weight can be overlooked sometimes, but it is important as it reflects the materials used. This is most easily seen when you go to the dollar store and pick up the cheap plastic toys they sell.

Wuben’s proprietary tactical tail switch also stands out right away. It’s different, it’s unique, and it is very functional. The switch between instant strobe and instant turbo is very easy.

The rubber hand stop, like the hand guard on a knife, is excellent at keeping the T1 in your and preventing it from slipping out.

The external type-C charging port is uniquely covered and is cool with its screw-on cover. I would have liked to see greater knurling on the body for increased grip in wet and cold conditions.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX

In the box with the T1, Wuben has included a wrist lanyard made from military grade 550 cord, a type-C charging cable, two replacement o-rings, and, of course, the instruction manual.

FIELD FIRSTS

When I first took the Wuben T1 out into the field, it performed quite well, easily lighting up a distant wood line where deer, bears, and coyotes are known to frequent.

The beam was nice and intense, hitting the distant wood line, yet it didn’t seem as focused as I thought it would be with 62013 candela.

When my team and I simulated a self-defence situation next, the T1 performed great at blinding and disorientating unwanted nighttime intruders.

Overall, we were quite satisfied with the T1’s initial performance.

QUALITY AND DESIGN

BODY

The T1’s body is made from hard anodized aluminum, which, with the anodized coating, gives it great corrosion resistance and a high level of overall strength.

The T1 was also given a nice semi-gloss anti-abrasion finish. There is very moderate knurling around the tail and center of the T1, leaving a generally slick feeling when in your hand.

BELT CLIP

Wuben has placed a decent two-way belt clip on the T1. It is quite large but isn’t tight against the body of the flashlight, making it suitable for most battle belts but leaving the potential for it to slide off.

The outside of the clip has a tighter bend and a stiffer hold, so it can successfully hold onto smaller items such as MOLLE on a plate carrier or backpack.

HAND STOP

Wuben gave the T1 an awesome rubber hand stop at the tail end of the T1, which is huge in preventing the T1 from ever slipping out of your hand.

When held in your hand, your index finger and thumb wrap around the T1 snugly right behind the hand stop. This provides a very comfortable and secure grip.

CHARGING RING

The charging ring is one of the unique characteristics Wuben has given the T1. The T1 has an external charging port that is protected by a weatherproof screw-on cap.

The cap is sealed at the top with a rubber washer and unscrews to reveal the Type-C charging port.

COOLING FINS

The T1’s cooling fins are large but not overly aggressive, which is perfectly fine. I ran the T1 for over an hour, and it never heated up to the point that I couldn’t hold onto it.

So, although it throws out 2000 solid lumens, it does really well, not overheating.

SWITCHES

Wubens’ proprietary lever-style tactical tail switch is definitely a lot of fun and unique to the T1. Many companies have tail switches, while the good ones have dual ones for easy one-handed function.

Wuben eliminated the need for dual switches with the lever-style switch because it does the function of two: instant turbo and instant strobe.

You feel decent resistance when depressing the switch down for a partial press followed by a light but audible click at the bottom indicating you have fully depressed the switch.

The detent of the switch is very light.

Also, when you depress the switch to either side in order to activate the strobe, there is a light audible click and a very soft wall.

STRIKE BEZEL

The strike bezel on the Wuben T1 is strong but not very aggressive. Although I have yet to break glass with it, I have done it enough to know that you could smash glass with it.

BATTERY

The Wuben T1’s battery is an 18650 Li-ion 3100mAh battery, and as I stated earlier, it is charged using an external USB-C charging port.

The T1 can hold turbo for approximately 2 minutes before it steps down to around 600 lumens, which is pretty good for a tactical flashlight.

The 3100mAh battery also boasts a 100-hour max runtime.

INDICATOR LIGHT

Wuben has given the T1 a handy indicator light above the external charging port. This light lets you know the state of your battery as you’re using the light and the state of your battery as you’re charging it.

This was one of the features I liked most about the T1.

LIGHT

The Wuben T1 uses a Luminus SST40 LED, a specially designed high-brightness LED with a maximum output of over 1800 lumens.

Made with a high-brightness monolithic design, the SST40 LED is ideal for long-throw applications, such as a tactically orientated flashlight.

Throwing out a maximum of 2000 lumens to a total distance of 498m, the SST40 LED really shines in Wubens T1.

FUNCTIONALITY

Wubens T1 tactical flashlight has proven itself to be a highly practical and functional flashlight.

The T1’s aluminum body is extremely solid and has some heft, but it is still decently light in hand, pocket, or pack.

The rubber hand stop is very efficient at keeping the T1 firmly situated in your hand in any weather condition, even when you’re wearing thicker work gloves, i.e., winter or slash-proof gloves.

The bezel is pronounced and strong enough for a first responder to take on the glass planes in a house or car. When combined with the rubber hand-stop, it makes an excellent egress and ingress tool.

Wuben’s proprietary lever-style tail switch makes it easy to switch between tactical functions. It is probably the easiest and quickest tactical light to switch between turbo and strobe that I have used.

The 2000 max lumens, 498 meters, and 62013 candelas make the T1 an excellent self-defence tactical flashlight.

With the average home invasion confrontation happening on average at 10 feet, the T1 is sure to blind and completely disorientate any adversary.

Wuben has very efficiently separated what the flashlight can do in its two modes. Tactical mode gives you the bare necessities, making it easy to access exactly what you’ll need in high-stress situations (turbo, eco, and strobe).

Outdoor gives you everything else you need, mainly the ability to cycle between all four lighting modes and SOS.

At the end of the day, my team and I were very impressed with the Wuben T1 and its performance. We were even more impressed by its price point.

WHAT I LIKE BEST

There are a few aspects of the Wuben T1 that stand out to me above the rest:

• Rubber hand stop
• 62013-candela rating
• battery indicator light
• tactical tail switch

The rubber hand stop. You may have already noticed that I am a fan of this feature, but it is such a functional feature. It doesn’t add any weight or bulk, and it keeps your hand firmly situated on the flashlight.

It is also quite comfortable in your hand.

The 62013 candelas are above average, and I firmly believe a flashlight’s candela rating is one of the few features that truly makes it a tactical flashlight.

Whether you are a soldier, police officer, or just a dude protecting your family, you need to be able to blind your assailant, and the only way to do that is to make sure the full force of light is hitting them squarely in the eyes.

The battery indicator offers extremely valuable information. With many lights, you’ll only know it’s dying because the light isn’t as bright when you use it, but you have no idea of the actual state of the battery.

With Wuben’s T1 indicator, you can see the general percentage of life your battery has left. This information is invaluable in a survival situation.

Finally, the tail switch. It’s unique, fun, and as easy as two-tail switches are; one-tail switch that can do two things is even easier.

CONCERNS AND CRITICISMS

As much as my team and I liked the Wuben T1, there were some aspects we were concerned with and found could use some tweaking to bring the T1 closer into the realm of the best tactical flashlight:

• Flimsy belt clip
• Knurling isn’t aggressive enough
• Overall size is too big

Although the belt clip is a great size and can be used on all gear, it is a fair distance from the flashlight’s body.

This means that even though it can be slipped onto a battle belt or any other piece of gear you have nicely, it can also slip off much more easily. I would always be worried about it slipping off when using the inner side of the clip.

The Wuben T1 is a very slick tactical flashlight in both design and feel. However, it is much more likely to slip out of your hands when wet because it lacks any real knurling.

The rubber hand stop that Wuben put on the T1 compensates for the lack of knurling quite a bit, but some more aggressive knurling would be great.

Lastly, the size was my greatest concern. The T1 is quite large for a tactical flashlight, and you’d be hard-pressed to fit it comfortably in your pants or a vest pocket.

At best, you could comfortably put the Wuben T1 into a cargo pocket on your thigh or store it in a backpack.

A large part of being a tactical flashlight is producing solid lumens and, more importantly, having a highly intense beam while remaining tactically small and compact so that it can be easily carried.

A Wuben T1 with a length of 6″ or less and a head width closer to 1″ is a much more ideal size.

CONCLUSION

In the end, the Wuben T1 is a fantastic tactical flashlight, but not the best, as there are a few design changes Wuben could make.

Nonetheless, its design and build quality are exceptional, as we have come to expect from Wuben.

Its unique lever-action tactical tail switch is highly functional and makes using the T1 exceptionally easy.

The rubber hand stop secures the T1 into your hand and doesn’t detract from the flashlight’s comfort.

And the 2000 lumens it throws out with an above-average 62013 candela is absolutely awesome.

Flashlights should be a part of everyone’s EDC, and the Wuben T1 makes for a solid EDC.

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