Peak Kino Bay vs. Fenix L1P

Last month, I bought two Peak Kino Bay. I'm satisfied with this lights, they have a good beam, tint, and brightness. They draw about 800 mA from a fresh alkaline AA cell, and about 600 mA from a Ni-MH. The drawback of the Peak is its lack of regulation, and the twist on-off switch, where I would have preferred a "tactical" clickie. I get about two hours of runtime with NiMH and Lithium cells.

Now, before engaging in the "quest" for the Fenix L1P, I would like to receive some qualified opinions, from somebody who owns both the Fenix and the Peak.

I like the shape and the clickie switch of the Fenix, and I would like to know how it stand in terms of brightness, power regulation, runtime and overall reliability, when compared with the Kino Bay.

TIA

Anthony

I have the L1P and would also be interested to know how it compares with the Kino Bay

Flashlightreviews.com soon will be reviewing the Fenix L1P. They've already reviewed the Kino Bay, so comparing the test results will be informative.

However we already know the approx. L1P run time to 50% from various end user tests: about 2 hr on alkaline and about 3 hr on e2 lithium. By contrast the Kino Bay run time to 50% is 37 min. from Flashlightreview.com's tests.

Regarding L1P output, we don't have a tested number yet, but I seriously doubt it's the spec'd 46 lumens. It's probably closer to 30 lumens, but that's still brighter than the Kino Bay.

We'll know for certain pretty soon when Flashlightreviews tests the L1P.

I own both the Fenix L1P v2.0 and the Kino Bay. They are both great lights, and equally bright. I sold the Kino Bay, and kept the Phoenix because:

- Clicky tailcap
- Smaller size
- Mineral Glass lens with AR coating
- Longer runtime
- Cool belt pouch

Either light would be a great purchase. It is all a matter of personal preference.

Many of us are waiting for Doug's review of the Fenix and we'll see just how well the Fenix's brightness stacks up against the many lights reviewed by FlashlightReviews.com.

My bet is that not only will the Fenix be significantly brighter than the Kino Bay; it will beat several of 1 x 123 powered lights.

I have a Peak Carribean that I'm really fond of; I find the Fenix L1P is nearly as bright when measured by just my eyes.

The Fenix L1P has superb output for a 1 x AA light. I'm more than impressed by this light's output.

I don't own a Peak Kino Bay, but I think the L1P is a way better choice.
- Kino Bay draws 800 mA from an alkaline, while the L1P draws around 1000 mA (source : ledmuseum.org). The difference in throw is equal : around 400 lux for the Kino Bay, around 500 lux for the L1P (check here), both measured at 1m.
- L1P has better regulation. Runtime with alkalines to 50% output is 37 min for the Kino Bay, around 2 hours for the L1P ( check the blue curve, L1P v2.0 with Duracell alkaline). Runtime with NiMH's to 50% output is 63 min for the Kino Bay, around 145 min for the L1P 2.5 ( check the white curve) or around 200 min for the L1P 2.0 ( check the green curve). Runtime with lithiums to 50% output is 123 min for the Kino Bay, around 225 min for the L1P 2.0 ( check the red curve)
- Twist button for the Kino Bay, tactical switch for the L1P. In my opinion I prefer a tactical switch.
- L1P comes with a nylon pouch and a lanyard, the Kino Bay doesn't
- The L1P costs 45 USD, the Kino Bay 70 USD.
- Fenix weighs 1.59 oz versus 2.16 oz for the Kino Bay. Fenix weighs less.
- Fenix's length is 3.61 inch, Kino Bays length is 3.78 inch. Fenix is smaller.

I can't find any more differences between the lights

EDIT : found another one The Fenix L1P comes guaranteed with an R-bin Luxeon I LED, the bin of the Kino Bay isn't guaranteed.

I own both the Kino Bay and the Fenix L1p2.5. The center beam in both flashlights are very similar in brightness, perhaps with a slight edge going to the Fenix. The spill beam is where the two diverge abruptly. The Fenix spill beam is much brighter than the Kino bay's spill beam.
I bought three of the Fenix flashlights and two have a pinkish cast to them while the other has a mild green tint. The kino bay has the whitest color light of all my flashlights (snow white as the company calls it). I like the twist on-off feature as it will be usable long after the Fenix flashlight switch fails, which is what I consider the Achilles heel of the Fenix; of the three I just bought, one already has switch problems. Warren will be sending a replacement switch.
I own the stainless steel version of the Kino Bay so it is quite a bit heavier than the Fenix, It is also longer than the fenix; too large for a keyring light, really, although I do keep it on my keyring. The smooth body of the Kino Bay gives me the feeling that It will be easier to slip from my grip. If I had to pick only one for an EDC, The Fenix would win hands-down. I love that extra bright spillbeam!
Fortunately I can have more than 1 EDC so the Kino Bay will stay on my keyring. I know that when I twist the head on my KB, it WILL come on. Frankly, With the switch problems I and many others have been having with the Fenix Flashlights, I"m a bit uneasy in relying completely in this model. Hopefully the passage of time will raise my confidence in the Fenix.

Cmoore said:

I have a Peak Carribean that I'm really fond of; I find the Fenix L1P is nearly as bright when measured by just my eyes. The Fenix L1P has superb output for a 1xAA light.

Click to expand...

I agree with that last sentence. The key phrase being "for a 1xAA light". There're a whole lot of people who are playing fast and loose with the word "nearly". Even running on 2xAA my Caribbean is obviously brighter than my Fenix L1P v2.5 - especially the spill. Not only is the hot spot brighter - to quote the white queen, "you couldn't deny that with both hands" - but the ratio of the spill to hot spot is 1:35 for the Caribbean vs 1:55 for the Fenix. The Fenix has some teething issues, but i think it's a good light for what it is; unfortunately, too many people are making it out to be more than it is. Not all 3.5" torches are created equal. There're a whole lot of pocket torches the Fenix can't realistically compete against, but there's no shame in that, because it wasn't designed to. (pause) I now return you to the original topic. (Hopefully.)

Both my Kino Bay run 45 min to 50% with a no-brand alkaline. I have measured a solid two hours of runtime with a 2500 mA/h NiMH Energizer, and 1 hr. 45 min with a Lithium AA.
I repeated the test for three times on both lights, but I believe, at this point, it must be a reason to explain the divergence with the runtime measured from Doug.

Anthony

Hrmm... I don't own any of the Luxeon Peaks though I've owned several Peaks and currently do own a number of them. The stainless lights are very nice and give a serious sense of quality before they are even turned on, esp the AA and 123 body lights.

As far as output... according to flashlightreviews.com the Kino bay has 400 throw and 1220 output while the Q3 has 600 throw and 1900 output. Guesstimating, I'd say the Fenix L1P v2.5 will have 450-500 throw and about 1200-1300 output.

Keep in mind, when considering throw, the reflector as a LOT to do with it. The hotspot of the Fenix is smaller than the Q3 and by my guess, slightly dimmer but the corona of the Q3 is brighter than that of the Fenix.

Who knows... I figure with the cost of the Fenix, if you are considering the Peak, buy them both and sell the Fenix if it doesn't live up to your expectations.

Caribbean throw/output is 810/2480. My Caribbean hotspot seems about the same on-axis brightness as my L1P (confirmed with my Lux meter), but the Caribbean has a significantly larger hotspot and brighter spill, hence more overall output.

My guess for the L1P throw/output is 800/1500 (on alkaline; lithium may be slightly higher).

I'm surprised no one has started a betting pool

I think a pool regarding how Doug's (FlashlightReviews) Fenix output measurements will come out is great idea joema. I'll muse on this a bit and then submit my guess.

I also agree with you that the Caribbean puts out more lumens than the Fenix and that the Caribbean's hot spot is larger. But, in general use and measured only by one's eyeballs, I think most will find the Fenix comes pretty close to the Caribbean in brightness (recall that the human eye requires a significant step up in brightness to discern a clear difference in output). Also, it could be that my Caribbean is a weaker one and that my Fenix is among the top of the heap regarding output.

Cmoore said: "...the human eye requires a significant step up in brightness to discern a clear difference in output...."

That cannot be overemphasized. We flashaholics tend to pore over output statistics as if it were a car's 0-60 time. A car that's 20% faster feels way faster to anybody.

Yet because of the logarithmic manner we perceive light, even a 20% difference is often hard to see visually.

I compared my Caribbean side-by-side with a L1P and a Nuwai Q3. I mentally know there are significant output differences, and using my flashlight knowledge I can see certain visual clues to that effect. But to the casual observer (I asked several family members) they all looked about the same brightness.

joema said:

I compared my Caribbean side-by-side with a L1P and a Nuwai Q3. I mentally know there are significant output differences, and using my flashlight knowledge I can see certain visual clues to that effect. But to the casual observer (I asked several family members) they all looked about the same brightness.

Click to expand...

I'm assuming that this was on "high" setting for the 1p. If this is so this
answers my question about the 1p vs the Caribbean or Med.

MB

mykall said:

I'm assuming that this was on "high" setting for the 1p. If this is so this
answers my question about the 1p vs the Caribbean or Med.

MB

Click to expand...

High setting on the L1P? The L1P only has one level of output...

I was kind of comparing these two flashlights too (says a lot about the Fenix considering it's half the price of the Caribbian). Does the Caribbian have a better throw than the Fenix?

Ledsaber, throw is pretty much the same for my Fenix and Caribbean; but, with its larger hot spot, the Caribbean lights up a larger distant area.

Thanks Cmoore. I'm looking for a small led flashlight that is a good thrower. I have narrowed it down to these two.

cratz2 said:

High setting on the L1P? The L1P only has one level of output...

Click to expand...

Aside from it's output and quality, why did I think that it was
also a 2 stage light? "Me bad" (or however you do that!)

Well...I guess we are closer to a challenger than I thought. Was
the L1+ a 2 stager?

Thanks

MB

joema said:

Caribbean throw/output is 810/2480. My Caribbean hotspot seems about the same on-axis brightness as my L1P (confirmed with my Lux meter), but the Caribbean has a significantly larger hotspot and brighter spill, hence more overall output.

Click to expand...

I can't possibly imagine how your Fenix's hot spot is as bright as your Caribbean. Mine isn't even as bright as my Caribbean on a 2xAA pack, and that's obviously not feeding it what it wants to be fed.