Lots of people really dislike the KL box, but I am really digging it for quick target acquisition. This is definitely a more respectable sub $500 Lpvo. Blown away with the clarity at the current price that it’s at.
That's not a "focus knob" for the target image... It's called a diopter... it's to correct for your individual vision so that the reticle is clear and crisp... so if you're adjusting that based on distance to the target, you're wrong. It's also why there's no indicator dot on it, because you set it once for yourself and leave it alone. The focus of the target image at a given distance is controlled by parallax adjustment. Pretty sure the parallax on this one is fixed. There are many videos online that will teach you about scope parts, their functions, and how to properly use them. Vortex podcast on YT does a pretty good job of teaching about optics, but there are other good ones too.
@@batcountryfishingrods832 nope, I was talking to the video's author. He said he wished there was a locater dot on the diopter so that he could have a reference for where he sets the focus at various ranges. Haven't even read your comment bud.
Thanks Joe. I understand what the diopter is for. The parallax is fixed at 100yrds and sometimes I'll sacrafice a little blurriness on the reticle sometimes if I can get the image to resolve a little better to my eye with the diopter. At least temporarily to spot a hole.
I got to sight in my EP8 this weekend. I had very high hopes for this scope but to be honest I do not think I am very happy with it. To start on a positive note I really like the turrets, those adjusted wonderfully. I wish I could put them on my Leupold scopes tbh. Aside from that, with the "diopter" adjusted for proper reticle focus I did not get a clear image of the target with this scope at any distance or magnification level. With considerable eyestrain I could almost see the target clearly. Also at 1x the center of the reticle was almost invisible in the daytime even on the highest illumination setting. The fisheye as you moved from target to target was noticeable and annoying. I would really like to blame myself for not being able to see through this scope clearly, but I used two other scopes that day a Leupold VXR Patrol 1.25-4x20, and a Leupold VXR 2-7x33 that performed normally so I do not think it was my vision causing any problems. I'm probably going to sell this scope on Ebay for a cheap price to hopefully someone who will have a better experience with it than I did.
@batcountryfishingrods832 This is the elephant in the room that nobody is addressing with this optic yet. There is nothing wrong with the way you are looking through it. The 1x on this optic without a noticeable center dot ect: or, without daylight bright illumination is always going to suck on 1x. It's refreshing to see your actual honest evaluation instead of watching one of these shills for this optic who like I said are not addressing the elephant in the room of this thing having a non daylight bright center dot. Why bother having an LPVO if you don't have a good visible daylight bright and noticeable center reticle at 1x. You might as well piggyback a RDS on an MVPO and get more magnification. As a matter of fact there are optics right now from companies like Vortex and Primary Arms in about the same price range that have a daylight bright center dot so why bother with this absolute turd. I get it that this is Arken's first endeavor into an LPVO but unfortunately this is a huge failure as far as I'm concerned and I'm sure most serious shooters are going to think this thing is an absolute turd themselves. If you're hardly ever going to use it as a close in 1x optic and you're always going to be a shooting at distance then this thing will probably be okay for that, but like I said why bother.
@@woodpigeon2862 I think you'd be happier with a traditional scope with a side paralax which will give you a sharper image for air gun with holes that small.
@@dtnc556 I agree that I would like the #9 setting to be much much brighter. The center dot it hard to see because it's like a fine 2MOA target red dot sized. The bigger ring illuminated is enough for me to feel confident in aiming at IPSC targets out to 30-40yrds. Beyond that I normally go to 5x which makes the center horse shoe usable. But that's me.
As a fellow Californian, just gotta say I love your channel. And you're "based"! Doing reviews right out of the city! Keep holding it down my friend! As for their lpvo, I'll probably grab one in the future. I appreciate that you took the time to explain their reticle. I just took advantage of the pre Black Friday sales and grabbed another EP5. What's crazy is as I saw your video in my feed, my mail man just delivered my EP5!😂😂😂
Thanks for the invite. I'm located in Kern County. If you're ever in the area, stop by 5 Dogs. They have up to 550 yards steel targets. Kernville has a private range that has up to 750 and I know in SLO, there's a range with targets up to 1400 yards. Despite our stupid gun restrictions, we have some nice places to shoot at.
Gave the video a like because of the objective and honest review of this optic. At its price point it gets guys like me in the game and feature sets that are very similar to $1500 plus optics.
Good review. I ordered an EP8. The illumination is not daylight bright. Day- light bright means the illumination is visible to the user regardless of the sun's position or any other conditions. Examples of budget daylight bright illumination is Primary Arms NOVA and Vector Optic Continental 1-6×24i Fiber.
I did the same. Ordered the 1st day you could. REALLY hoped it could serve as for home defense without needing a red dot. Nope. I really like it otherwise, but I already have LPVOs that need red dots. Sent it back.
Outstanding review on this new optic from Arken. Recently got mine in and have video uploaded, just waiting on YT and their manual review process to complete. Anyways, I was pretty impressed, like you with what you get for the money. I was a little surprised at the made in China but has Japanese glass...not sure how that works, but regardless, the quality is better than my other topics in the price arena and even many I have that cost more. Will spend most of its time on a Ruger SFAR rifle in .308... so maybe i'lll engage 1300 yard targets ;) Anyways, love the video brother! Nicely done!
Thanks. They would buy the glass in bulk from Japan (Nikon, Fujinon, Kowa?) then that gets shipped to a factory in China where it's assembled is how that usually works. China quality is all over the map. If you get a good factory you get quality stuff but there's many more knock off of a knock off factories too.
Does the large outer ring illuminate at 1X? If so how well is it illuminated? That would be the most important part of the reticle to have illuminated on an LPVO. Center point illumination is nice and useful for a lot of things, but the concept of most LPVOs is using the 1X like a red dot or reflex sight in CQB while having the ability to better engage at longer ranges with higher magnification.
I would have liked a comparison to other big name lpvos for brightness of the image. I have a couple arken scopes and they're pretty much my go-to now.
I compared an EP8 to a loaner Razor and my Riton LPVO but those were brighter to my eye. And the sharpness was better. But not worth the price difference IMHO. Plus the KLBox reticle rocks. Hope you subscribed.
11:57 - That's.... unfrotunate. In my scopes I can tolerate a lot of weird artifacts, like the "fisheye" on Razor Gen3 1-10 1x magnification. But Chromatic Aberration? Nope. That's what killed me for the Strike Eagle Gen2 1-6x SFP. The CA it had made my eyes water during use. Thanks for your wonderful "through the lens" review -- that helps a LOT! I recommended this review to my other optics snob friends.
@@Moondog2A Let me know if you ever go up to Los Altos. I would be obliged to host you as a guest. I appreciate entrepreneurial reviewers immensely. I'll see if you have a formal contact page, to handshake more secure/private communications.
I ordered mine and the website said 6 week lead time. I was perfectly content to wait the 6 weeks and even set a calendar date in my phone when it could ship. To my surprise I got a tracking number 2 days later and it arrived the following week. Im not sure if this is normal or if anyone else is still waiting but I received mine. This is my 4th Arken’ I have the SH4GEN 2 in 4-14, 6-24, the ep 5 5-25 and now the 1-8. They work great for me and the price is very good. I do have a leupold mark5hd 7-35x56 & a NF ATTCR so Im not just a budget scope guy but for a civilian with no combat experience or law enforcement duties they All do what I need them to do as a larper gun range desert dork. I would go to war with any of them.
Good stuff Moondog! Not sure if it would flag your channel or not, but having a link to the optic would be great, had to google it. Kinda interested to see how this compares to my Vudu in terms of eye box and optics.
From what I remember from SHOT earlier this year the Vudu has better optics but I don't have one on hand to actively compare? Do you have the Vudu? I have to keep product links out of the description because some YT staff reviewers think that's violating their Ad Friendly policies. But thanks for pointing out my link at moondgindustries.com was not live. It is now.
In the video I'm using an Arken 20MOA mount which is pretty robust. amzn.to/3y72R4v I also recommend the Monstrum Pro series which is a good value for 7075 aluminum amzn.to/3A4vIqD
Why don't you demonstrate the Illumination at all? One of the biggest questions I think most of us will have is how bright is it under high noon conditions because this determines if its something that can be run reliable at all times of day.
@@Moondog2AI see, it looked like an indoor range so I assumed that it was. It would have been nice to see a little illumination with the eight times of the hilltop. Good video. Pretty comprehensive.
And that’s the difference on first focal plain vs second focal. Lpvos imo are better at second focal plane. First focal plain for long range shooting precision
A reticle can't get thinner with higher magnification because you're magnifying a shape and making it bigger. Unless it's an electronic digital projected reticle?
@MoondogIndustries the posts can start thick on the outer edge and then get gradually thinner. You will be able to see them towards the center as you zoom in.
Hope you subscribed. One for a red dot should fit if it's the right diameter. Funny but Evike seems to sell a lot of them probably because airsofters put them on their red dots to protect them from BB hits. www.evike.com/#a_aid=moondog&a_bid=b467b403
I can tell you without buying this scope the reticle is useless at low mag. Would make a great 1-8 spotting scope because no reticle in the way lol. You may laugh but my swampfox 1-10 is twice the scope of that pos . I wouldnt own that scope if given to me . Might make a great show and tell at a gun shop , on how not to make a scope .
The quick-aim ring at 1x is hard to miss. But I know what you mean. If you think this is useless at 1x just wait. I have a review coming up of an LPVO that's really nearly invisible at 1x. I hope you subscribe.
@@Moondog2A i hunt coyotes and use lpvo's or mpvo's i avoid ffp because they are mostly useless in that application . Some ffp reticles are more useful than others but are no where near as good as sfp . For punching paper or banging steel im sure its useable. But for real life situations such as tactical or hunting you would never see reticle at low settings .
Lots of people really dislike the KL box, but I am really digging it for quick target acquisition. This is definitely a more respectable sub $500 Lpvo. Blown away with the clarity at the current price that it’s at.
I know, right?
That's not a "focus knob" for the target image... It's called a diopter... it's to correct for your individual vision so that the reticle is clear and crisp... so if you're adjusting that based on distance to the target, you're wrong. It's also why there's no indicator dot on it, because you set it once for yourself and leave it alone. The focus of the target image at a given distance is controlled by parallax adjustment. Pretty sure the parallax on this one is fixed. There are many videos online that will teach you about scope parts, their functions, and how to properly use them. Vortex podcast on YT does a pretty good job of teaching about optics, but there are other good ones too.
@@batcountryfishingrods832 nope, I was talking to the video's author. He said he wished there was a locater dot on the diopter so that he could have a reference for where he sets the focus at various ranges. Haven't even read your comment bud.
Thanks Joe. I understand what the diopter is for. The parallax is fixed at 100yrds and sometimes I'll sacrafice a little blurriness on the reticle sometimes if I can get the image to resolve a little better to my eye with the diopter. At least temporarily to spot a hole.
Dude, your videos are so relaxing.
You've got great taste in music. I get the occasional complaint about my use of music in my vidoes. Hope you subscribed.
I got to sight in my EP8 this weekend. I had very high hopes for this scope but to be honest I do not think I am very happy with it. To start on a positive note I really like the turrets, those adjusted wonderfully. I wish I could put them on my Leupold scopes tbh. Aside from that, with the "diopter" adjusted for proper reticle focus I did not get a clear image of the target with this scope at any distance or magnification level. With considerable eyestrain I could almost see the target clearly. Also at 1x the center of the reticle was almost invisible in the daytime even on the highest illumination setting. The fisheye as you moved from target to target was noticeable and annoying. I would really like to blame myself for not being able to see through this scope clearly, but I used two other scopes that day a Leupold VXR Patrol 1.25-4x20, and a Leupold VXR 2-7x33 that performed normally so I do not think it was my vision causing any problems. I'm probably going to sell this scope on Ebay for a cheap price to hopefully someone who will have a better experience with it than I did.
@batcountryfishingrods832
This is the elephant in the room that nobody is addressing with this optic yet. There is nothing wrong with the way you are looking through it. The 1x on this optic without a noticeable center dot ect: or, without daylight bright illumination is always going to suck on 1x. It's refreshing to see your actual honest evaluation instead of watching one of these shills for this optic who like I said are not addressing the elephant in the room of this thing having a non daylight bright center dot. Why bother having an LPVO if you don't have a good visible daylight bright and noticeable center reticle at 1x. You might as well piggyback a RDS on an MVPO and get more magnification. As a matter of fact there are optics right now from companies like Vortex and Primary Arms in about the same price range that have a daylight bright center dot so why bother with this absolute turd. I get it that this is Arken's first endeavor into an LPVO but unfortunately this is a huge failure as far as I'm concerned and I'm sure most serious shooters are going to think this thing is an absolute turd themselves. If you're hardly ever going to use it as a close in 1x optic and you're always going to be a shooting at distance then this thing will probably be okay for that, but like I said why bother.
Was thinking of getting one for my hp air rifle out to 80 yards approx,what you think?
@batcountryfishingrods832 It might be worth send contacting Arken to send it back if it's not tack sharp at 100yrds which is where the paralax is set?
@@woodpigeon2862 I think you'd be happier with a traditional scope with a side paralax which will give you a sharper image for air gun with holes that small.
@@dtnc556 I agree that I would like the #9 setting to be much much brighter. The center dot it hard to see because it's like a fine 2MOA target red dot sized. The bigger ring illuminated is enough for me to feel confident in aiming at IPSC targets out to 30-40yrds. Beyond that I normally go to 5x which makes the center horse shoe usable. But that's me.
As a fellow Californian, just gotta say I love your channel. And you're "based"! Doing reviews right out of the city! Keep holding it down my friend! As for their lpvo, I'll probably grab one in the future. I appreciate that you took the time to explain their reticle. I just took advantage of the pre Black Friday sales and grabbed another EP5. What's crazy is as I saw your video in my feed, my mail man just delivered my EP5!😂😂😂
Good timing. If you're near SF you should come check out Coyote Point rifle range where I RSO once a month on Fridays.
Thanks for the invite. I'm located in Kern County. If you're ever in the area, stop by 5 Dogs. They have up to 550 yards steel targets. Kernville has a private range that has up to 750 and I know in SLO, there's a range with targets up to 1400 yards. Despite our stupid gun restrictions, we have some nice places to shoot at.
@@juniyananajukyu Nice. All the long distance ranges are out in the Central Valley it seems.
Gave the video a like because of the objective and honest review of this optic. At its price point it gets guys like me in the game and feature sets that are very similar to $1500 plus optics.
For the price, If you don't need a FFP, I'd also look at the Athlon Midas
Good review. I ordered an EP8. The illumination is not daylight bright. Day- light bright means the illumination is visible to the user regardless of the sun's position or any other conditions. Examples of budget daylight bright illumination is Primary Arms NOVA and Vector Optic Continental 1-6×24i Fiber.
Then this is NOT daylight bright because you'd have a hard time seeing it in SoCal noon day sun on a cloudless day.
I did the same. Ordered the 1st day you could. REALLY hoped it could serve as for home defense without needing a red dot. Nope. I really like it otherwise, but I already have LPVOs that need red dots. Sent it back.
6.5 or 308 1300 yard with 8 power little to far multiple hits you can try but 900 to 1000 yard is easy
You're a much better shot than I at 1000 yrds at 8x
Great review, I am for sure going to get one of these.
You should!
Outstanding review on this new optic from Arken. Recently got mine in and have video uploaded, just waiting on YT and their manual review process to complete. Anyways, I was pretty impressed, like you with what you get for the money. I was a little surprised at the made in China but has Japanese glass...not sure how that works, but regardless, the quality is better than my other topics in the price arena and even many I have that cost more. Will spend most of its time on a Ruger SFAR rifle in .308... so maybe i'lll engage 1300 yard targets ;) Anyways, love the video brother! Nicely done!
Thanks.
They would buy the glass in bulk from Japan (Nikon, Fujinon, Kowa?) then that gets shipped to a factory in China where it's assembled is how that usually works. China quality is all over the map. If you get a good factory you get quality stuff but there's many more knock off of a knock off factories too.
Does the large outer ring illuminate at 1X? If so how well is it illuminated? That would be the most important part of the reticle to have illuminated on an LPVO. Center point illumination is nice and useful for a lot of things, but the concept of most LPVOs is using the 1X like a red dot or reflex sight in CQB while having the ability to better engage at longer ranges with higher magnification.
Yes,the large outer ring illuminates,he said it's not red dot bright,but quite good for an LPVO
Hope you subscribed. See 13:24
Great Review! See you at next shot show!
You know it!
Good info on the scope. Thanks for sharing 👍
Any time! Hope you subscribed.
I would have liked a comparison to other big name lpvos for brightness of the image. I have a couple arken scopes and they're pretty much my go-to now.
I compared an EP8 to a loaner Razor and my Riton LPVO but those were brighter to my eye. And the sharpness was better. But not worth the price difference IMHO. Plus the KLBox reticle rocks. Hope you subscribed.
@@Moondog2A Thanks... that kinda goes along with what I've seen reported elsewhere.
You always do A great job on your videos truly appreciate you brother.
I appreciate that
I'll wait for the second gen. The illumination looks subpar at best and the reticle looks too small at lower power.
Considering how much better the SH4 Gen 2 was to the original, I can't blame you for not being an early adopter.
@@Moondog2A I made the mistake buying the first SH4 haha.
Good looking optic. FYI did you noticed the person walking to the right of the eight powered Clip of the trail marker ?
They were jogging pretty fast up that hill. Hope you subscribed.
This optic is my next purchase once the rush on them slows down.
I know, right?! It took 4 months for me to get this one.
@KevinMcGrath-777 And?
@KevinMcGrath-777 They went up $100?! Or were you referring to the Black Friday deal?
11:57 - That's.... unfrotunate. In my scopes I can tolerate a lot of weird artifacts, like the "fisheye" on Razor Gen3 1-10 1x magnification.
But Chromatic Aberration? Nope. That's what killed me for the Strike Eagle Gen2 1-6x SFP. The CA it had made my eyes water during use.
Thanks for your wonderful "through the lens" review -- that helps a LOT! I recommended this review to my other optics snob friends.
Thanks! I have yet to find an LPVO that has no Chromatic Aberration at max magnification. Some are worse than others. Thanks for subscribing.
@@Moondog2A Let me know if you ever go up to Los Altos.
I would be obliged to host you as a guest. I appreciate entrepreneurial reviewers immensely.
I'll see if you have a formal contact page, to handshake more secure/private communications.
Primary Arms 1-8×24 is the ticket an NO wait time
I ordered mine and the website said 6 week lead time. I was perfectly content to wait the 6 weeks and even set a calendar date in my phone when it could ship. To my surprise I got a tracking number 2 days later and it arrived the following week. Im not sure if this is normal or if anyone else is still waiting but I received mine. This is my 4th Arken’ I have the SH4GEN 2 in 4-14, 6-24, the ep 5 5-25 and now the 1-8. They work great for me and the price is very good. I do have a leupold mark5hd 7-35x56 & a NF ATTCR so Im not just a budget scope guy but for a civilian with no combat experience or law enforcement duties they All do what I need them to do as a larper gun range desert dork. I would go to war with any of them.
Wow! You lucked out. Hope you subscribed.
I’ve been waiting for mine for about 5-6 weeks now. I feel like I’m never gonna get it lol
Don't feel too bad, I waited 3 months. lol@@ryangoodspeed2809
Good stuff Moondog! Not sure if it would flag your channel or not, but having a link to the optic would be great, had to google it.
Kinda interested to see how this compares to my Vudu in terms of eye box and optics.
From what I remember from SHOT earlier this year the Vudu has better optics but I don't have one on hand to actively compare? Do you have the Vudu? I have to keep product links out of the description because some YT staff reviewers think that's violating their Ad Friendly policies. But thanks for pointing out my link at moondgindustries.com was not live. It is now.
I have the Vudu, I'll bring it to Bad Blood next year :) @@Moondog2A
good video. Thanks for doing this.
Glad you enjoyed it! Hope you subscribed.
Hey moondog, what mount did you use for this lpvo? Thanks mate.
In the video I'm using an Arken 20MOA mount which is pretty robust. amzn.to/3y72R4v
I also recommend the Monstrum Pro series which is a good value for 7075 aluminum amzn.to/3A4vIqD
So what caliber is the bdc holds adjusted to?
5.56 and 7.62. Probably military standard M855A1 but perhaps somebody can confirm?
Why don't you demonstrate the Illumination at all? One of the biggest questions I think most of us will have is how bright is it under high noon conditions because this determines if its something that can be run reliable at all times of day.
Sorry you didn't catch it but I do go over the illumination at 07:50 and show it again 13:30
Sorry you didn't catch it but I do go over the illumination at 07:50 and show it again 13:30
@@Moondog2AI see, it looked like an indoor range so I assumed that it was. It would have been nice to see a little illumination with the eight times of the hilltop. Good video. Pretty comprehensive.
after getting mine i loved it until i tried to shoot outside on a sunny day at 1x mag, the center is very hard to see, illumination didnt help either
Hope you subscribed. I agree it needs to be much brighter. The center is tiny like a 2MOA red dot . The cross bars on the circle didn't help?
That's when ya go iron sights lol
And that’s the difference on first focal plain vs second focal. Lpvos imo are better at second focal plane. First focal plain for long range shooting precision
They should have included posts that guide your eye to the center. Thick in one power and then gradually getting hair thin in Max magnification.
A reticle can't get thinner with higher magnification because you're magnifying a shape and making it bigger. Unless it's an electronic digital projected reticle?
@MoondogIndustries the posts can start thick on the outer edge and then get gradually thinner. You will be able to see them towards the center as you zoom in.
@@tsafa I see. The SIG Tango has that type of design with pointy crosshairs.
@MoondogIndustries yes Sig Tango does it well. Primary Arms uses that concept as well. It's an old idea, but not used frequently enough.
Maybe I missed it, but does this LPVO have adjustable parallax?
No. There are only a handful of LPVOs that have adjustable paralax and all I've ever seen are over 1k
Yea good luck getting one
Are they sold out again?! Hope you subscribed.
I love mine !!!
How long have you had yours?
About 6 weeks ... The only thing I did not like was no manual ...
Where would you get the kill flash to add to this scope
Hope you subscribed. One for a red dot should fit if it's the right diameter. Funny but Evike seems to sell a lot of them probably because airsofters put them on their red dots to protect them from BB hits. www.evike.com/#a_aid=moondog&a_bid=b467b403
Is that music (4:00-9:00) what the fbi uses to drive people out of barricaded positions?
No, the FBI uses Taylor Swift's "Snow At The Beach"
Whoa that is nice. Not a bad price point either
they went up 100$ 2 days ago
@@dsxz I did a search and found them for $299 which is less than what was quoted in the video
@@gunnwild1 ???? Where!
@@Moondog2A A place called Optics Force and Camera Land Inc.
Arken 4-6 weeks lead time
NO
Primary Arms
1-8×24
NO lead time
Hell YES
If you need one now, get the PA SLx. But I own one of those too and the glass is not as good as the Arken.
I can tell you without buying this scope the reticle is useless at low mag. Would make a great 1-8 spotting scope because no reticle in the way lol.
You may laugh but my swampfox 1-10 is twice the scope of that pos . I wouldnt own that scope if given to me . Might make a great show and tell at a gun shop , on how not to make a scope .
The quick-aim ring at 1x is hard to miss. But I know what you mean. If you think this is useless at 1x just wait. I have a review coming up of an LPVO that's really nearly invisible at 1x. I hope you subscribe.
@@Moondog2A i hunt coyotes and use lpvo's or mpvo's i avoid ffp because they are mostly useless in that application . Some ffp reticles are more useful than others but are no where near as good as sfp . For punching paper or banging steel im sure its useable. But for real life situations such as tactical or hunting you would never see reticle at low settings .
Lol thanks for the laugh
Compatible with your nods. Psh my boi. You mean clip ons. LPVO's are absolute ass under tubes. lol
Tru dat.
Nope on the 1300.
I'd love to see Arken test this sometime.
BREAKING NEWS: Another cheap china made optic has hit the market folks
What optics do you run on your rifles?
NF
How much?
They're a bit over 300 on Amazon amzn.to/4aIXBkF
.25mil 😬
.25moa 👌