Wee Ti - One Year On

[MikeSalt]

Hi Guys,

I've just worked out that I have owned mine for at least a year now, and decided to report in with a durability report. Now some people will suggest that carrying such a beautifully crafted tool on your keyring is sacrilegious. However, I think it is a traversty to not use these tools, and the most likely place a flashlight will be used is on the keyring.

My keyring happens to be one of the most hostile environments on Earth. Along with the ever-increasing number of keys, there is also my Leatherman Squirt P4 keyring and my alloy locking wheel nut. That's lots of very hard materials bouncing round in my pocket along with my Wee. And every now and again, I drop my keys, causing the weight of everything to smash the Wee into the pavement.

And the Wee itself? Apart from some very shallow scratches, the Wee is in absolutely perfect condition. The trits are still intact and glowing brightly, and the light works perfectly. Just goes to show that minimalist design triumphs.

The one thing that could not stand up to the keyring abuse was the BT lanyard, mainly because I used to pull my keys out of my pocket by the Wee. The SS swivel lanyanrd has held up much better.

That's it for now guys. the trouble is, the Wee Ti is such a perfect little flashlight that I spend less time on CPF looking for my next purchase because I am so contented!

Mike

 

[coloradogps]

How about some photos?

:twothumbs

 

[MikeSalt]

How about some photos?

:twothumbs

Will have to wait for my lady to come home. I only have a camera phone on me at the moment which certainly has no Macro function.

 

[Zeruel]

Makes one wonder who owns and uses a Wee Ti the longest. :thinking:

 

[Daylight]

How about some photos?

:twothumbs

+100

I will wait these photos from each corner

Thanks

 

[Cuso]

O yes, we need pics of the whole enchilada....:devil:

 

[MikeSalt]

Ok, some photos. However, I must warn you that the macro function works better in natural light...

Tritium still glowing...

Wee still glowing...

The punishers...

 

[Daylight]

Thanks Mike!

Ti is solid!

My Wee Ti will be in the plastic box only a few days, then when i will be tired to see it, the wee ti come with me every day in my keys.

BTW, i carry too a leatherman micra since 10 years ago, it's a real utility tool.

Regards

 

[MikeSalt]

I absolutely love the Leatherman. I once had a bike lock cease up in the shed. It seized so badly that even drilling the lock wouldn't do it. Eventually, I used the Leatherman to chew through the cable. Fair enough, the wire cutters have been blunted slightly but I was astonished how quickly this little keyring tool did the job.

Unfortunately, being so tough, it does have the potential to damage things. I had to take my Fenix E01 off my keyring since the front face was getting chewed to bits on my Squirt and keys.

 

[deusexaethera]

Why do you carry your car's wheel lock with you all the time?

I have this Leatherman. It kicks every other multi-tool's ***, including yours :

You would be amazed how handy it is to have lockjaw pliers that small.

 

[MikeSalt]

Did you have to import that Leatherman? I haven't seen that in the UK. Awesome!

The reason I carry the wheel lock is because the less desirable residents of Fallowfields, Manchester have very little respect for the locks on my Punto. If they ever found the wheel lock in the car, I would probably have nothing to roll home on.

On the plus side, I did learn how to replace the locks in my car for only £14. If ever I locked myself out, I could break in and then fix the lock for less money and less time than it would take to call a locksmith.

 

[MikeSalt]

I suppose I ought to report in about my girlfriend's Wee NS too since this is actually older than my Wee. I bought it at the same time as my Raw Ti to keep her sweet.

Well, her keyring is not quite as hostile as mine, but her Fenix L0D-CE has lost a considerable amount of anodizing, so it's no picnic. She is on her second BT Lanyard, but the flashlight is functionally perfect. There are a few shallow dings, slightly deeper than in the Ti but nothing to worry about. I'm still envious of the beautiful tint hers throws out though. I know I could just swap pills, but i would feel dishonest about it.

 

[deusexaethera]

Holy crap. I just looked up the Crunch on www.amazon.co.uk, and it costs double what it does in the States! Just buy one from www.amazon.com and ship it internationally; let your credit card handle the currency conversion. (It works fine in the other direction, anyway; I've bought plenty of CDs from www.amazon.co.uk before.)

It's not made with the same laser-cut precision as newer Leathermans(men?) like the Wave or the Skeletool, but it works plenty well and the locking pliers are indispensable -- it saves you from all kinds of discomfort trying to maintain a strong grip and twisting whatever you're holding onto.

Anyway, I keep my Wee NS in my watch pocket, along with my pocket watch, my super-thin USB flash drive, and my lucky silver dime -- lucky not in that it brings me luck, but in that it's been in that pocket since 1999 and every time I've lost it, I've found it again. The Wee has a little bit of rub polish on it, but no damage at all.

 

[MikeSalt]

Cheers. I've given up importing anything from the States at the moment though until the £ recovers. But the main reason is due to the customs handling charge they charge at this end.

Let us take a Fenix L0D-CE for instance, which is about $45.00. Back when FenixStore used to declare the value as $10 no matter what you had, customs wouldn't bother with it and I would get it for £22.50 English money at $2 to £1. However, now they are declaring the value accurately, so I have to pay £31.13 (at current exchange rate), plus £4.67 in tax plus a FIXED handling fee of £8.00. Nowadays, the same flashlight costs £43.80 ($63.31). It ends up that the Semi-Custom Wee NS is less expensive for me to buy. That fixed customs fee really annoys me because I am pretty sure it does not cost the Royal Mail £8.00 ($11.56) to put my parcel on a shelf until I come in to pay the customs charge.

 

[Daylight]

I never have had any problems with customs in Spain , all my fenixstore orders and one order that was valued in 600$ that i bought here have saved of their restrictions
I own a leatherman tti too, its a winner!!

 

[MikeSalt]

Daylight, I ought to send my packages to you first to get them into the EU. British customs pay attention to anything over £19 (EURO 20.87) in value. It's sickening that something costing £20 (EUR 21.97) would end up costing £31 (EUR 34.05) once handling and tax have been added!

 

[Daylight]

Bad business then Mike
I think i'm a lucky man...

 

[HKJ]

Let us take a Fenix L0D-CE for instance, which is about $45.00. Back when FenixStore used to declare the value as $10 no matter what you had, customs wouldn't bother with it and I would get it for £22.50 English money at $2 to £1. However, now they are declaring the value accurately, so I have to pay £31.13 (at current exchange rate), plus £4.67 in tax plus a FIXED handling fee of £8.00. Nowadays, the same flashlight costs £43.80 ($63.31).

Or you could buy it in an English shop for £30.95.

But you are lucky that you have so "cheap" customs, around here it would be considerable more.

Anyway, my next lummi light is not going to be Ti, that is a bit more expensive than a Fenix light.

 

[AvidHiker]

Hey Mike, would you mind breaking down where you found the parts for your lanyard (mini ss swivel and split rings)?

 

[AvidHiker]

Think I've answered my own question, they seem to have added a number of things to the Lummi accessory page since I last visited...