LED Lenser TT Review

LED Lenser TT – 5 stars

Summary

The TT stands for tactical torch, LED Lenser says it’s for first responders, but this beautiful, compact handheld is a perfect general purpose, house or car torch.

Using regular batteries it punches above it’s weight thanks to it’s highly effective variable beam. Set fully to spot, you can see as farther than some larger torches.

Just 2 settings – high & low – it’s very easy to use, has a well engineered, expensive feel and is light and comfortable to hold.

A solid recommendation and a personal favourite of mine.

Brightness

280 lumens doesn’t sound like a lot but thanks to the tight spot of the LED Lenser’s variable beam, it punches well above its weight in terms of beam distance.

As you can see from the 2nd photo below with the LED Lenser’s variable beam set to spot, not only is the house door 15m away very brightly illuminated, The Tilbury (pub) sign 50m away is also clearly visible (in the larger version of this picture the sign is bright enough to read). The sign for The Plough (pub) on the right across the road is not visible at all due to the LED Lenser TT’s very tight spot with no flood.

Useful for

Based on conventional batteries, it’s suitable as a house torch, left in a drawer for months but still reliable when you need it. Appearing more powerful than it’s headline 280 lumens for 3 hours would suggest, thanks to the tight spot’s impressive beam distance, it’s also suitable as a general purpose torch. You could leave it in the car glove compartment too. It’s now one of my first choices for a weekend torch, walking back from the pub on the edge of a poorly lit Lake District village, or in a light backpack in case I come across a cave on a coastal walk.

A simple, compact, reliable torch for first responders too.

Notable features

The variable beam on the LED Lenser TT is a ‘twist & extend’ type. With the head fully extended to spot, is has phenomenal range for a 280 lumens, 132 grams torch that can maintain it’s brightest level for 3 hours. The mechanism has a well engineered, nicely damped, solid feel, very typically LED Lenser.

Can be used with or without the anti-roll nut at the rear.

The LED Lenser has 2 brightness levels:

• High: 280 lumens for 3 hours
• Low: 25 lumens for 25 hours

Access the brightest setting by clicking the on/off button once, or lowest brightness by quickly following that with an off/on again.

Design

If there is such a thing as a pretty torch, this is one of them. Not all minimalist, supposedly industrial designs work, but this does. There is something about the knurling of the hand grip, it feels more grippy than other torches even though the knurling isn’t as deep.

Designed to meet the needs of emergency teams & first responders around the world, according to LED Lenser, the TT (tactical torch) keeps things simple and usable. It’s also nice that the anti-roll nut is removable. 

This isn’t the highest spec. torch out there, so why the 5 star rating? It’s for executing so perfectly on the brief of simple and low cost, but high quality, reliable and high performance torch. And a lovely piece of industrial design that feels right in the hand.