AFAustin
Flashlight Enthusiast
I am the proud owner of a Peak model that you don't see or see discussed around CPF much, but I am tickled to death with it and thought I'd show it off a bit. It is a brass McKinley 1 LED UP (Ultrapower).
Here's its story. I bought it from a fellow CPFer on B/S/T a few months ago, mainly out of curiosity and lured by the bargain price. When I received it, I immediately loved the short, chunky, heavy brass form factor, as well as its silky smooth twist action. However, the beam was really bad---the hotspot had very pronounced blue and yellow rings, the beam had artifacts, etc.
I am not a modder or even handy, but decided to try sanding the LED down to see if that would smooth out the beam. I figured, what the heck, I couldn't make it any worse. Well, I made it worse. I guess I overdid it, because I certainly smoothed out the beam---to the point where the output was so dim as to be almost useless.
I decided to kiss goodbye the bargain aspect of the light and try to save it, because I still loved the form factor. I called Peak and spoke with both Curt and Robyn, both of whom couldn't have been nicer. They told me that they weren't making McKinley 1 LEDs any longer, but they did have just a few parts still in stock, including a small number of brass heads in UP only. I had wanted a HP (High Power) because I saw this little guy as a potential runtime/suck-up-spent-CR123As champion, but I was just happy that any were available, so I gladly bought an UP.
Robyn shipped it right out, and when I received it I was very pleased indeed---the beam was now a winner---a clean white hotspot and a very wide spillbeam (although with several rings at various intervals, which don't bother me). And it is surprisingly bright on a new primary or an RCR123A, with slightly more overall output (as per the venerable ceiling bounce test) than my McKinley 7 LED HP (old style, w/ recessed LEDs). With a nearly spent cell, it also performs its original intended duty with honor, making it a very nice read-in-bed light.
I had previously been impressed with the results of an informal runtime test I'd done on my McKinley 7 LED HP---7h 45m on an (old style blue) AW protected RCR123A, with fairly flat output to my eye, till the protection circuit kicked in. So, I couldn't resist seeing how the 1 LED UP would do. The result was right at 9h 45m till the protection circuit on the same type RCR123A kicked in. And output was surprisingly flat throughout that entire period (as measured by my eyes, comparing it to a "yardstick" light).
[As a non-Peak sidenote, I also was testing another new (to me) acquisition---a gen.2 (reflector, long runtime) Inova X1 that I just received from Kevin at Batterystation (yep, he's still got the gen.2s, and at an attractive price). Running on a fully charged AA eneloop, the X1 had similar overall output to the McKinley 1 LED for 7 hrs., then began dimming fairly quickly. When the McKinley gave up at 9h 45m, the X1 was still going, but was so dim as to be almost useless. So, I was very pleased with the X1's performance as well.]
All in all, I couldn't be happier with my little brass McKinley 1 LED UP---its performance is now commensurate with its unique and appealing form factor.
Here are a couple of photos, one of which is to show size comparison with my McKinley 7 LED (old style).
Here's its story. I bought it from a fellow CPFer on B/S/T a few months ago, mainly out of curiosity and lured by the bargain price. When I received it, I immediately loved the short, chunky, heavy brass form factor, as well as its silky smooth twist action. However, the beam was really bad---the hotspot had very pronounced blue and yellow rings, the beam had artifacts, etc.
I am not a modder or even handy, but decided to try sanding the LED down to see if that would smooth out the beam. I figured, what the heck, I couldn't make it any worse. Well, I made it worse. I guess I overdid it, because I certainly smoothed out the beam---to the point where the output was so dim as to be almost useless.
I decided to kiss goodbye the bargain aspect of the light and try to save it, because I still loved the form factor. I called Peak and spoke with both Curt and Robyn, both of whom couldn't have been nicer. They told me that they weren't making McKinley 1 LEDs any longer, but they did have just a few parts still in stock, including a small number of brass heads in UP only. I had wanted a HP (High Power) because I saw this little guy as a potential runtime/suck-up-spent-CR123As champion, but I was just happy that any were available, so I gladly bought an UP.
Robyn shipped it right out, and when I received it I was very pleased indeed---the beam was now a winner---a clean white hotspot and a very wide spillbeam (although with several rings at various intervals, which don't bother me). And it is surprisingly bright on a new primary or an RCR123A, with slightly more overall output (as per the venerable ceiling bounce test) than my McKinley 7 LED HP (old style, w/ recessed LEDs). With a nearly spent cell, it also performs its original intended duty with honor, making it a very nice read-in-bed light.
I had previously been impressed with the results of an informal runtime test I'd done on my McKinley 7 LED HP---7h 45m on an (old style blue) AW protected RCR123A, with fairly flat output to my eye, till the protection circuit kicked in. So, I couldn't resist seeing how the 1 LED UP would do. The result was right at 9h 45m till the protection circuit on the same type RCR123A kicked in. And output was surprisingly flat throughout that entire period (as measured by my eyes, comparing it to a "yardstick" light).
[As a non-Peak sidenote, I also was testing another new (to me) acquisition---a gen.2 (reflector, long runtime) Inova X1 that I just received from Kevin at Batterystation (yep, he's still got the gen.2s, and at an attractive price). Running on a fully charged AA eneloop, the X1 had similar overall output to the McKinley 1 LED for 7 hrs., then began dimming fairly quickly. When the McKinley gave up at 9h 45m, the X1 was still going, but was so dim as to be almost useless. So, I was very pleased with the X1's performance as well.]
All in all, I couldn't be happier with my little brass McKinley 1 LED UP---its performance is now commensurate with its unique and appealing form factor.
Here are a couple of photos, one of which is to show size comparison with my McKinley 7 LED (old style).
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