Out of the box I was impressed with the brightness and quality construction of the Peak LED’s. All three are regulated single cell white LED lights made of durable O-ring sealed type III anodized aluminum (brass and stainless steel models are also available) with screw out split ring lanyard attachment posts in the tail caps. The lights are turned on by twisting the bezel clockwise (this is the opposite direction of the Solitaire and Mini-Mags).
Peak’s web site:
http://www.peakledsolutions.net/
Matterhorn High Power Snow 1 AAA/3 5mm LEDs. This is a small key chain size light roughly comparable in size to the Mag Solitaire but slightly longer due to the lanyard post screw in the tail cap (which is handy for a key chain light since it can be unscrewed to temporarily detach the light from a key ring without fooling with the split ring).
Reviews:
http://ledmuseum.thefire.us/peak3.htm
http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/peakled_matterhorn_3.htm
Kino Bay 1 AA/Luxeon I LED - similar but much larger than the Matterhorn. I would consider the Kino Bay more of a pocket light than a something for a key ring and as such I would have preferred either a plain tail cap without the lanyard post for a shorter overall length or better yet a clicky tail switch.
http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/third/peak23.htm
http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/peakled_kino.htm
Mediterranean 1 123/ Luxeon I LED – shorter and fatter than the Kino Bay, would also like a clicky tail cap on this one.
http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/peakled_mediterranean.htm
I decided to compare the Peaks to some of the AAA and AA lights I happened to have at hand.
Peak AAA Matterhorn vs. Mag Solitaire – No real comparison here; the Solitaire’s weak pale yellow light is blown away by the Peak’s whiter, brighter, better throw and much wider beam.
Peak AAA Matterhorn vs. AAA Mini-Mag – Closer comparison but the Mag’s beam is still much more narrow and yellower. The MM AAA is as good as or slightly better than the Peak AAA for throw.
Peak AAA Matterhorn vs. AA Mini-Mag with Brinkmann NexStar bulb – Noticeably brighter, tighter beam with more throw when tightly focused. Peak AAA gives more area light. Overall the NexStar equipped AA MM was fairly impressive compared to the non-Peak AA/AAA lights.
Peak AAA Matterhorn vs. AA Mini- Mag LED conversion (single unregulated green 5 mm LED) – The Peak has a brighter, slightly wider beam. The green LED conversion seemed to have a bit better throw (possibly due to different contrast?), but otherwise white is a big plus.
Peak AAA Matterhorn vs. Peak AA Kino Bay – The Kino Bay is much brighter, whiter with better throw. Beam widths are about the same. The AAA Matterhorn produces noticeably bluer light.
Peak Kino Bay AA vs. AA Mini-Mag /NexStar bulb – The AA MM can be focused to a tighter/brighter beam with slightly better throw than the Peak AA Kino Bay, but the tightly focused MM beam is of course much narrower.
Peak Kino Bay AA vs. Peak 123 Mediterranean – the 123 is a bit brighter with better throw and a slightly wider beam, but the AA Kino Bay is whiter (I assume that this is due more to variation of the individual LEDs than the light model). I was a expecting that the 123 Peak would over power the AA version but this was not the case – the AA Kino Bay held its own against the 123 Mediterranean.
Peak 123 vs. AA Mini-Mag /NexStar bulb – The AA MM has a weaker, yellower, more irregularly shaped beam with a perhaps a bit less throw.
Overall, I like all of the Peaks very much. I would choose the AAA Matterhorn for a key ring and the 123 Mediterranean is nice if you have other lights that use 123’s, but the AA Kino Bay is my favorite. I liked the Kino Bay’s impressively bright/white light and the common AA batteries make feeding easy.
I would like to thank Peak and Dave H. for opportunity to participate in this passaround!
- Frank
Peak’s web site:
http://www.peakledsolutions.net/
Matterhorn High Power Snow 1 AAA/3 5mm LEDs. This is a small key chain size light roughly comparable in size to the Mag Solitaire but slightly longer due to the lanyard post screw in the tail cap (which is handy for a key chain light since it can be unscrewed to temporarily detach the light from a key ring without fooling with the split ring).
Reviews:
http://ledmuseum.thefire.us/peak3.htm
http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/peakled_matterhorn_3.htm
Kino Bay 1 AA/Luxeon I LED - similar but much larger than the Matterhorn. I would consider the Kino Bay more of a pocket light than a something for a key ring and as such I would have preferred either a plain tail cap without the lanyard post for a shorter overall length or better yet a clicky tail switch.
http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/third/peak23.htm
http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/peakled_kino.htm
Mediterranean 1 123/ Luxeon I LED – shorter and fatter than the Kino Bay, would also like a clicky tail cap on this one.
http://flashlightreviews.com/reviews/peakled_mediterranean.htm
I decided to compare the Peaks to some of the AAA and AA lights I happened to have at hand.
Peak AAA Matterhorn vs. Mag Solitaire – No real comparison here; the Solitaire’s weak pale yellow light is blown away by the Peak’s whiter, brighter, better throw and much wider beam.
Peak AAA Matterhorn vs. AAA Mini-Mag – Closer comparison but the Mag’s beam is still much more narrow and yellower. The MM AAA is as good as or slightly better than the Peak AAA for throw.
Peak AAA Matterhorn vs. AA Mini-Mag with Brinkmann NexStar bulb – Noticeably brighter, tighter beam with more throw when tightly focused. Peak AAA gives more area light. Overall the NexStar equipped AA MM was fairly impressive compared to the non-Peak AA/AAA lights.
Peak AAA Matterhorn vs. AA Mini- Mag LED conversion (single unregulated green 5 mm LED) – The Peak has a brighter, slightly wider beam. The green LED conversion seemed to have a bit better throw (possibly due to different contrast?), but otherwise white is a big plus.
Peak AAA Matterhorn vs. Peak AA Kino Bay – The Kino Bay is much brighter, whiter with better throw. Beam widths are about the same. The AAA Matterhorn produces noticeably bluer light.
Peak Kino Bay AA vs. AA Mini-Mag /NexStar bulb – The AA MM can be focused to a tighter/brighter beam with slightly better throw than the Peak AA Kino Bay, but the tightly focused MM beam is of course much narrower.
Peak Kino Bay AA vs. Peak 123 Mediterranean – the 123 is a bit brighter with better throw and a slightly wider beam, but the AA Kino Bay is whiter (I assume that this is due more to variation of the individual LEDs than the light model). I was a expecting that the 123 Peak would over power the AA version but this was not the case – the AA Kino Bay held its own against the 123 Mediterranean.
Peak 123 vs. AA Mini-Mag /NexStar bulb – The AA MM has a weaker, yellower, more irregularly shaped beam with a perhaps a bit less throw.
Overall, I like all of the Peaks very much. I would choose the AAA Matterhorn for a key ring and the 123 Mediterranean is nice if you have other lights that use 123’s, but the AA Kino Bay is my favorite. I liked the Kino Bay’s impressively bright/white light and the common AA batteries make feeding easy.
I would like to thank Peak and Dave H. for opportunity to participate in this passaround!
- Frank