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Lupine Wilma TL 1100-lumen Flashlight

2011-05-04 • SEND FEEDBACK
Related: flashlight, Lighting

Sometimes a bike light or headlamp is not the ideal solution— a flashlight is handy in the hand. But you don’t have to choose between a bike light and a flashlight any more, because the Lupine Wilma TL 1100 fits easily into a pocket and one’s hand, and it can also be mounted on a bike handlebar with a handy screw-in mount with rubber ring, as shown below.

One suggestion I have for Lupine is some means to use the regular (non-flashlight) Lupine batteries to power the Wilma TL (or Tesla) flashlight lamphead. Perhaps a stubby extender with a suitable plug; this would essentially turn the lamphead into a bike or other light, getting the battery weight elsewhere and thus making it useful on a helmet or handlebar without the extra battery weight.

Mounting the Lupine TL 1100 on a bike handlebar

Specifications

This is a very powerful flashlight.

  • 4 High-power LEDs, collimated lens array, Beam pattern 15°
  • 1100 Lumen
  • 2.5 Ah Li-Ion Battery Tank
  • 49 x 110mm
  • Weight: nominal 219g (incl. battery)

Runtimes and Illumination

These are real measured lumens, not LED specifications.

  • 1 hour at 17 Watt (1100 Lumen @ 100%)
  • 2 hours at 9 Watt ( 650 Lumen @ 55%)
  • 3.5 hours at 5 Watt ( 440 Lumen @ 30%)
  • 7 hours at 2.5 Watt ( 230 Lumen @ 15%)
  • 40 hours at 0.5 Watt ( 50 Lumen @ 3%)

The light comes with the “Wiesel” charger, but I recommend paying extra for Lupine’s outstanding Charger One, which can be used with all Lupine products.

Lens system

The Wilma TL 1100 uses a 4-LED layout with a lens system to focus the 4 LEDs. The Tesla 1200 uses a single LED with a parabolic reflector.

The Wilma TL 1100 uses a 4-LED layout with a lens.
The Tesla 1200 uses a single LED with a parabolic reflector

Beam pattern

The Wilma TL 1100 beam pattern is tighter and brighter than the Tesla 1200, but the Tesla 1200 has a broader and smoother coverage. Both are excellent, but different. In general, I prefer the beam of the new Wilma TL 1100, but the Tesla 1200 offers a more uniform illumination around the periphery, as well as a wider beam coverage.

Color perception at night with the Wilma TL 1100 is noticeably better with my mid-40’s eyes, which can’t see as well in the dark as when I was 25 years old. So if the goal is vision at 50 feet on out, then the Wilma TL 1100 is the better choice. If it’s more about closer range usage, then the broader and more diffuse beam of the Tesla 1200 could be helpful.

All in all, the Wilma TL 1100 makes its impact felt as a noticeably brighter light at distance, no question there at all.

Without a special alignment setup, it’s hard to aim the flashlights exactly the same. But what I want to show below is that the Wilma TL 1100 offers a notably brighter and tighter beam pattern.

Battery

The battery screws onto the lamphead, so changing batteries is quick and intuitive; get as many batteries as you need for the required runtime. The screw-on fit is precise and unambiguous.

In classic Lupine backward-compatibility fashion, the TL 1100 uses exactly the same battery as the original Tesla 1200. When the Wilma TL 1100 first arrived, I simply screwed an already charged Tesla 1200 battery onto the TL 1100 head.

The lamphead is actually quite small relative to the battery. Lupine supplies a push-on cap for the exposed battery internals when not screwed onto the lamphead.

Lupine Wilma TL lamphead and screw-on battery

Size and weight

I own two of the original Lupine Tesla 1200 flashlights, but I immediately grew to prefer the much smaller Wilma TL 1100, which fits a regular pocket much more easily than the Tesla 1200. The TL 1100 is also a perfect fit into my hand, whereas the original Tesla 1200 always had felt a little large.

Wilma TL 1100: 110mm tall, 217g with battery
Tesla 1200: 146mm tall, 266g with battery

Lupine Wilma TL 1100 (left) vs original Lupine Tesla 1200

Conclusions

Like all Lupine products, the new Wilma TL 1100 is an outstanding lifetime-quality unit (though all batteries do wear out). If you’re looking for an outstanding flashlight with brightness leaps and bounds beyond most of what’s out there, you can’t go wrong with the rugged Wilma TL 1100.

Since Lupine has discontinued the original Tesla 1200, so your Lupine flashlight choice is easy.

For those folks on the go who needs use of hands, consider instead the bike lights / headlamps such as the Lupine Betty or Wilma or Piko. The Lupine headstrap lets you do whatever you need to do with the light on its headband, while aiming the light with your head while you jog or grill or climb or hike or whatever. I use my Lupine headlamps on the headstrap nearly every day for one reason or another.

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