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PEQ or DBAL?


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Hi guys,

 

Am looking at a light and laser unit in one. Currently looking at either the FMA or element offerings of DBAL and PEQ.

 

How good are the torches on these? I can’t find much other than someone shining at a wall 10cm away, which gives no indication or how tight and far the beam is thrown.

 

Also, how naff are the red lasers? Green would be great but I’d rather not spend extra on something 50% of sites won’t let me use, and red lasers can be a bit lacking depending on what you get.

 

Thanks in advance!

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I've got the G&P DBAL compact just for IR and visible laser, and it's a nice unit. The one with IR and visible lights is a bit more expensive, but also well made.

Loken.replicas (search FB) has arguably the best replica units of DBAL.

I also own an FMA or Element AN/PEQ 15 (can't remember which one) and the lights are good enough. Certainly not underpowered. No IR laser here though.

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I just got PEQ boxes for my dual upper MK16-ish build and after looking around at the options, price, looks, features etc. I went with the Element EX419 model over the FMA. The other manufacturers I found were too pricey for me considering mine will be mostly for looks. This is the green laser version I got but they have red on other models.

Think I found one or two videos on YouTube comparing the Element vs. FMA and the verdict seemed to be that the Element one won overall.

Oh and I watched some comparison video on PEQ vs DBAL as well and I concluded from that, that the features and performance on them are comparable but that the control layouts and tactile operations of the buttons and switches were more intuitive on the PEQ ones.

I went with the PEQ over DBAL mostly because of looks and "size". I think the PEQ fits more nicely on a rifle rail than the more sharp and boxy DBAL but that's just a preference I guess.

As I don't play airsoft I can't really say anything about in game use but the light is alright, laser is OK (one of my two units, forget if it was BK or DE) seems to have a smudge on the inside of the laser lens which distorted it a bit. But the clean one has a nice point.

Confirmed IR light as well by looking at it through my mobile phone camera but I don't have any NV gear so not sure how well it works in "real life".

Considering my level of OCD, if these Element boxes got my approval that should at least say something 😛 

These are the ones I got. Around $50 USD each.

Element PEQ LA5 UHP Advanced Target Pointer Green Laser Illuminator Aiming Light ( PEQ15 LA-5 UHP ) ( DE ) ( EX419-DE )

Element PEQ LA5 UHP Advanced Target Pointer Green Laser Illuminator Aiming Light ( PEQ15 LA-5 UHP ) ( BK ) ( EX419-BK )

 

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Not really that it worked "for me", more that it was explained that the button sizes, layout and feel on the PEQ is more suitable for glove use for example and easier to "feel" in the dark but I guess that's just a training thing.

The DBAL has the mode selector on the rear, which depending on your rail accessory configuration can be more difficult to operate than the PEQ one which has the switch on top,.

Mine came with a momentary on pressure pad for a single pre-selected mode.

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I have two EX 276's which is the red dot version. I'm very happy with the output of the laser, you don't want it too strong anyway but at night time it exceeds my effective range, and its visible in doors in the day time. I've not used it outside in a skirmish.

The build quality is good generally speaking - the body feels pretty solid and as far as it goes, hefty.  however the covers for the torch and lasers fell off one unit within a few skirmishes (not ideal but not a disaster) and the other has broken the laser zero adjustment on it's first skirmish (or during transit perhaps). So taping up the more vulnerable bits is probably a good idea.

The peq is really a laser first and a torch second i suppose. The torch isn't that powerful and has a fair splash, maybe useful in some situations but i rarely use it.  You only have the one button, and you can select between viz laser, ir laser, torch, viz laser + torch. the latter option isn't very useful imo. So if you want to toggle between laser and torch it's best to have a torch as a torch and the peq for the laser, dual switches are useful for this but not necessarily  essential 

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Just a word on the FMA TB1075 (Green Laser LA5).

While they look the part, mine is pretty useless. The zero adjustment on my laser won't zero any where near where it needs to. And is always a goof half a foot out. So renders it totally useless. Torch is okay, but nothing a stand alone won;t do better. 

48966738733_3cba9f2f86_b.jpg

 

Michael

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Depends what you want from it, of you just want a torch get a night evolution clone of the surefire series.

 

If you must have a peq or dbal- see below. 

Element la5s (peq) has quite a good white light for a peq, it has a visible laser and an ir laser. It looks quite good too. It has a large on off button on the top and a small led on the back that shows whether it's on or not (handy if you've selected the ir laser). It also comes with a tail switch that has a smart double tap to stay on permanently feature, as well as momentary on.

Zeroing the laser can be tricky, there are mods you can do to open it up (check out the heresy group video) or you can shim the underside with tape. This would be my choice for most people and the price is decent. 

Fma did a peq around the same time, it's good but not as good as the element la 5, there's a good comparison review on YouTube and their prices are similar, so just get the element. 

 

Nuprol have rebranded the element and wacked another £25-30 on, I know I'd just get the element version.

Dbal wise there is black cat, g&p and loken. Black cat isn't a good as the dbal but easier to find and a bit cheaper, atrg blog has done a great comparison review of it to the g&p.

The g&p is great, has a boxier and higher profile than the la5 but is better in quality, though it's almost 3 times the price. It intrudes on your view through the optic a bit more, though the laser features are awesome and it's very sturdy. 

Loken is apparently even better, though I haven't found a review or owned it yet, but their stuff is pretty awesome (and even more expensive). 

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