How old is your Kestrel?

[RWE3]

Hello all, I am looking at a 10 year old Kestrel Sportsman that has been upgraded to "Elite" with a model on the screen of 5700AL. I think the firmware is still 1.48 so that will need to be updated to 1.53. Looks spotless, no scuffs or scratches at all that I could see.

This will be my first Kestrel ballistic solver but I have used Kestrel weather meters for environmental/work reasons. Those were good, solid tools for sure, used for a couple to 12 years maybe? Others took over those projects and no idea where they are now.

Concerned about the age and how long it will last for me. As such, I am curious as to how long your Kestrels have been running in the wild and would appreciate any input.

If this should be in any other forum please let me know. Thanks in advance!

 

[_Windrider_]

I still use my upgraded sportsman. Been about 10 years. No issues

 

[morganlamprecht]

i lost my original at or traveling back from a match around 2016/17 and bought a replacement the next day...been running without issue ever since then

 

[TylerN]

I have the old model from before the current elite was launched. It still works fine but I almost also use strelok for ease and speed of use instead.

 

[Ichi]

Make you wonder about the chips and sensors used by Kestrel... Have they been upgraded? Does it really make a difference since the calculations and features have not changed?

Mine is about 8 years old and still functions. Firmware updates can be problematic. But I don't think it is due to the age of the unit.

Probably at some point they won't be able to update the firmware on some of the older units due to incompatibility with the chip set being used.

Perhaps the biggest change in the last 10 years is the amount of power consumed by the chips and sensors. Do the newer Kestrels use less power?