MikeSalt
Flashlight Enthusiast
In my review of the most excellent Kemenes Omicron, I was queried why I lamented the Lummi Wee so much, the light that the Omicron has replaced. I didn't want to clutter up that thread, so I'll answer the question here.
Yes, it's difficult to operate with one hand, the light engine falls out almost every time you change the cell, the 'driver' is archaic and of course, the maker took CPF members' money without delivering the product. However, having lost my original Wee Ti nearly 8 years ago, a Wee SS has served keychain duty very satisfactorily.
One thing to remember is that the design is nearly 10 years old. The Wee was, if not THE first, one of the first 10180 lights, particularly one sporting a proper power LED (Cree) . There were no readily-available 10 mm drivers back then, so direct (resistor) drive was pretty much the only choice.
The comment on my Omicron thread was that it seemed like something made in someone's basement. Surely that's where a lot of custom lights at least start out, even if production runs take place in a CNC shop? I don't remember a single criticism of the quality of the machining from anyone. In fact, it was outstanding for the price point.
As for the light engine being so easy to come out of the light, this was actually an advantage when AW (pretty much the only supplier of 10180 cells at the time) reduced the length of the cells. Owners were able to drop out the pill, send it to Rob, and he'd solder a thicker copper spacer on to work with the reduced length cells. No specialist skill required on the owner to get it sorted.
And with approximately 8 years on my keyring, my Wee SS worked, and is still working, absolutely flawlessly. The only reason it has been retired from that duty is because the Omicron Ti is better in almost every single way. In some respects, that's to be expected, with the availability of tiny, quality drivers, superior emitters such as the Nichia 219 and the recent resurgence in popularity of 10180 lights. However, for the time, the Wee was truly groundbreaking, so much light in such a small, lovely package.
Yes, it's difficult to operate with one hand, the light engine falls out almost every time you change the cell, the 'driver' is archaic and of course, the maker took CPF members' money without delivering the product. However, having lost my original Wee Ti nearly 8 years ago, a Wee SS has served keychain duty very satisfactorily.
One thing to remember is that the design is nearly 10 years old. The Wee was, if not THE first, one of the first 10180 lights, particularly one sporting a proper power LED (Cree) . There were no readily-available 10 mm drivers back then, so direct (resistor) drive was pretty much the only choice.
The comment on my Omicron thread was that it seemed like something made in someone's basement. Surely that's where a lot of custom lights at least start out, even if production runs take place in a CNC shop? I don't remember a single criticism of the quality of the machining from anyone. In fact, it was outstanding for the price point.
As for the light engine being so easy to come out of the light, this was actually an advantage when AW (pretty much the only supplier of 10180 cells at the time) reduced the length of the cells. Owners were able to drop out the pill, send it to Rob, and he'd solder a thicker copper spacer on to work with the reduced length cells. No specialist skill required on the owner to get it sorted.
And with approximately 8 years on my keyring, my Wee SS worked, and is still working, absolutely flawlessly. The only reason it has been retired from that duty is because the Omicron Ti is better in almost every single way. In some respects, that's to be expected, with the availability of tiny, quality drivers, superior emitters such as the Nichia 219 and the recent resurgence in popularity of 10180 lights. However, for the time, the Wee was truly groundbreaking, so much light in such a small, lovely package.
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Firstly that's not exactly uncommon in product design and secondly totally irrelevant in this case since the relevancy ended a decade or two ago. 
