Thinking about getting an Kino Bay

The reason is I really want a quality single AA light. I'm not overly impressed with the quality of either my Jet or Triton. Both perform very well, but I have my doubts as to the reliability of either. I suspect I'd feel the same way about the Fenix if I owned one. I don't particularly care for the switch on either and the tendency for either, particularly the Triton to flicker occasionally has me doubting.

What I like about the Kino is is waterproofness, it's reliability (twisty!) and it's also American made. I guess I'm just thinking that this could be the real go-to travel bag type of light I'm looking for.

Maybe I'm wrong on this and I should just forget about spending the money. I haven't seen much on CPF WRT the Kino, even in the Peak
area. It also doesn't help that the search function isn't what it used to be.

Can anyone give me a reason not to get this light?


Thanks

MB

The only downside I can see on the Kino Bay is the regulation of the original version (with the electronics before the Pacific was developed). I would expect that a higher power version of the Pacific with the optional 1xAA body might be a better choice. That way you would have many body choices available, like 1xAAA, 2xAAA, 1xCR2, etc.

However, they may have upgraded the electronics in the Kino Bay using the Pacific circuit.

Give them a call!

The only problem is that the output of the Pacific w/ 1xAA is less in both total and throw than the Kino. I thought that the runtime problem was fixed or was an error in testing by FR for the Kino, but I don't see a correction. Maybe I'm wrong.

MB

I'd say the main point against a Kino Bay would be the runtime results at flashlightreviews.com. However, ViReN reported considerably better performance. Unfortunately, there aren't that many runtime graphs for the Kino Bay out there besides Peak's own, which at least looks better than those at flashlightreviews.

I'm not sure if you've already found these threads, but here is what I could google (admittedly not a lot):
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/88435
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/88633
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/89212

Regarding the Pacific comparison: The stock (high power) Pacific is clearly optimised for maximum runtime (I get almost 10 hours with 2700mAh AA rechargeables before the output drops). If you're mainly looking for brightness, the Kino would probably be a better choice. Or you might ask Peak for an Ultra power version of the Pacific, which according to this thread seems available, but would probably still be less bright than a Kino Bay.

Edit: I just came across another Kino Bay review (including comparison shots to a Caribbean and other lights) which reports the Kino Bay actually running longer than Peak's advertized specifications:

Review on outdoors-magazine.com

FLR's runtime graphs of the Kino Bay look like crap, but only because they're for such a long time, which exaggerates the drops in output. If you cut the time in half (4 hours long instead of 8), the graphs look much better, compareable to other 1xAA Luxeon lights like the Fenix L1P. With a NiMH you should get at least an hour of light that only drops 20% until you get the "plunge". I'm guessing that FLR's graphs are so long only because the Kino Bay has such a long tail of "moon mode" light.

It's kinda a bummer that there aren't more USA made 1xAA lights; it seems like all the major competetors in this particular niche are Chi-com.

That is true about the scale of the graphs, but I specifically remember the review mentioning about 37 minutes of runtime. I thought that there was a correction to that some time ago, but again I may be wrong.

And YES, I'd like to more top quality 1xAA American made lights as well.



MB

I was thinking about getting one too, but the runtime was a real bummer, ended up with a L1p (not very impressed). Now I'm just waiting VERY patiently for the surefire aa .

Guys, there really is going to be a Surefire AA? I thought that was just a joke. I ordered the Huntlight AA, I'll post my impressions when I receive it.

Geepond,

Yes there is going to be an Surefire AA light, but I don't think it's a dedicated AA. I believe the tube is convertable. I started a thread some time ago about this after I received an email from SF confirming the release of this light by the end of 2006. I'd like to see a dedicated AA from SF or some other HQ manufacturer. I'd sure like to find more impressions from owners about the Kino.

Huntlight??? Not familiar with that light, I'll have to check that out.

MB