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New Sig Kilo 5k Release

catorres1

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Minuteman
Nov 24, 2013
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Sig released their newest RF, the Kilo 5k, to the market this morning. It is apparently the first in a new line of RF's they will be bringing to market. It has a lot of impressive features pulled from their current lineup including onboard environmentals, continued BDX and Kestrel/Foretrex connectivity, stronger ranging than previous Sig CRF's, onboard ABU. All in all, they appear to have pulled a lot of the best capabilities from their RF's, while increasing ranging somewhat (how much, I am not sure, but it looks like a pretty good upgrade vis a vis their other CRF's)....but for me, the most exciting is the new GPS integration with Basemap.

Basically, you can range a position, and it will transfer that data and drop a pin in Basemap for navigation. I find this particularly interesting after having a very hard time finding my bull last year. I shot it across a canyon and he was down and done but to get there required a very circuitous route that was hours long. By the time we got there, it was waaaay after full dark, near 10 pm IIRC, and though we had taken readings, pictures, set pins to the shooting position etc., we still had a very difficult time finding it in the dark moonless night. Ultimately, we did, but really started to worry it was not going to happen and it would be bear or coyote food by the time we found it in the morning....this would have made it much more sure and much faster.

Of course, it will also be useful for navigation, planning stalks, etc., so I can't wait to try it out and see how it does, but in theory, this is a real differentiator in the market for Sig, Swaro's version not withstanding, as it is much more limited AFAIK.

So I am pretty excited to check this new tech out from Sig. I don't know when I will have one to actually try, but I am also testing a Sierra 6 right now, so I hope to have something from the new line to work with through season and see how they fare.
 
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The First in the Revolutionary New KILO K Series of Rangefinders​


The new KILO5K 7X25 mm laser rangefinder monocular features the new XR technology (Extended Range) giving it a maximum reflective range of 5,000 yards. The KILO5K includes Applied Ballistics Ultralite onboard along with environmental sensors and supports BDX External for connecting to external devices such as Kestrel and Garmin devices. Additionally, it works with BaseMap to provide remote waypoints on ranged targets and can be fully configured with the SIG SAUER BDX App.
This is what we were e-mailed by Sig
 
In my experience with doing phone-based navigation, the kind of feature you describe is highly dependent on the onboard compass in the RF, and to a lesser extent the inclinometer. Ironically, the latter is usually much more reliable. The onboard compass is easily affected by many nearby metallic substances (car keys, buckles, rifle barrels, etc.) and can therefore give seriously erroneous readings. This is usually mitigated by looking at the map and making sure the bearing shown makes sense with nearby visible landmarks such as peaks/saddles/etc., so it seems to me at a glance that you should take great care to validate the pin shown by the RF.

...which basically sounds exactly like the process you were already using. So, I'd wait to see how others report performance in the field, but yeah, that'd be my main concern, the onboard compass giving false readings and dropping your pin in the wrong place. Otherwise it sounds pretty cool, but nothing you couldn't do with your existing map app either.
 
In my experience with doing phone-based navigation, the kind of feature you describe is highly dependent on the onboard compass in the RF, and to a lesser extent the inclinometer. Ironically, the latter is usually much more reliable. The onboard compass is easily affected by many nearby metallic substances (car keys, buckles, rifle barrels, etc.) and can therefore give seriously erroneous readings. This is usually mitigated by looking at the map and making sure the bearing shown makes sense with nearby visible landmarks such as peaks/saddles/etc., so it seems to me at a glance that you should take great care to validate the pin shown by the RF.

...which basically sounds exactly like the process you were already using. So, I'd wait to see how others report performance in the field, but yeah, that'd be my main concern, the onboard compass giving false readings and dropping your pin in the wrong place. Otherwise it sounds pretty cool, but nothing you couldn't do with your existing map app either.
Yeah, for sure, I sometimes have my Kestrel's compass go off, so I have to periodically re-calibrate. That said, I've never had the same problem with the one on my Leicas, so don't know what's up there. Hopefully this one will work more like my Leica.

In terms of the mapping, you would have to make sure you were on, but in our case, we did place a pin where we thought the elk was across the canyon, but it was not nearly close enough to find it in the dark, somewhere on the side of an oakbrush covered mountain. Four of us searched a long time and were getting concerned when we finally found it. I am hopeful this will solve that issue, but we'll see if it's accurate enough or not....should be fun testing it out for sure....
 
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Kinda puts the pressure on the terrapin to update its offering at that price. The X is an awesome RF but it def has some shortcomings.

I’m still holding out for the trijicon Ventus with lidar.
The 5k & 10k announced is really going put pressure on terrapin.
I’m pretty excited about the 10I
 
Kinda puts the pressure on the terrapin to update its offering at that price. The X is an awesome RF but it def has some shortcomings.

I’m still holding out for the trijicon Ventus with lidar.
I'm seeing $8500 for the Ventus, while I'd love to have one, that could cover most of the 5.3L swap in my Sonoma. The sig looks affordable but still a sig so I will wait until it gets some good real world testing.
 
I'm seeing $8500 for the Ventus, while I'd love to have one, that could cover most of the 5.3L swap in my Sonoma. The sig looks affordable but still a sig so I will wait until it gets some good real world testing.
Yes but the sig doesn’t have LIDAR.
 
So far SIG Kilos were quite a hit and miss affair , with considerable variations from unit to unit, lately, lots of big numbers are being thrown around in LRF scene but typically when it comes to practical-sized targets they are nowhere near those numbers
 
Is this the upgrade version of Kilo 2400ABS or it's for 2400BDX?
 
Anyone know what temperature range the 5K is good for? I'm mostly curious how cold it can be and they still range.

I skimmed the manual and the Sig site and didn't see this

Thanks,
Scott
 
How well does the ABU system communicate with a Kestrel Elite? Does the R/F send the Kestrel distance, DOF, and inclination? If paired with a Kestrel does the Kestrel do the computing and then solutions are displayed on both the Kestrel and R/F?
 
Pushing this back up to the top. Anybody have hands on experience with the 5K yet now that they are on the street? I’m interested to know how good the ranging is and how good the connectivity to the Garmin Tactix Delta is.
 
Anyone have any feedback on this yet?

I'm curious about the integration with Basemap. This doesn't appear to have a compass built in. Does it use your phone compass to determine DOF to figure out where to drop the pin in Basemap?
 
I'll never buy another sig product. I bought a kilo 2000 in 2017 or 2018 no clue it was December or January. The item was built early 2016. Less than 4 years of ownership. I call them because it would only range to 450 or so 🤷 and no dice I was like 22 days over the manufacture date. Their warranty is bs.


Sig puts electronics in every optic. so, they can hold it in a warehouse to run the warranty to garbage, so the window they are liable for is very short.
 
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Sucks about the warranty thing, I can see where that would be frustrating.

I replaced a Leica 2800.COM with the Sig 5k and am very happy with it. I’d rarely get 4-digit ranging out of then Leica. The Sig does what it’s supposed to, the ABU works decent for hunting ranges, and BaseMap and Kestrel links work phenomenal, it ranges fast. So far so good.
 
I finally got tired of waiting for one of you guys to buy one and review it for me so I picked one up. Posted a review on it here:

 
Sucks about the warranty thing, I can see where that would be frustrating.

I replaced a Leica 2800.COM with the Sig 5k and am very happy with it. I’d rarely get 4-digit ranging out of then Leica. The Sig does what it’s supposed to, the ABU works decent for hunting ranges, and BaseMap and Kestrel links work phenomenal, it ranges fast. So far so good.

I finally got tired of waiting for one of you guys to buy one and review it for me so I picked one up. Posted a review on it here:


Thanks for the input from both of you. I would be looking to replace a Leica 2700 with this. From what I've read, the Leica glass may be a bit better but the ranging is slower and worse performing.

I still have an open from question from above. Does the Sig Kilo 5K have an onboard compass or does it use the phone compass for dropping pins into Basemap? The Sig website doesn't list a compass so I'm assuming it uses a phone compass.
 
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Kind of what did it for me…I could see things better with the Leica but I have Swaro NLs and a BTX for that. I got a real crisp picture of the thing I couldn’t range with the Leica LOL.
 
Thanks for the input from both of you. I would be looking to replace a Leica 2700 with this. From what I've read, the Leica glass may be a bit better but the ranging is slower and worse performing.

I still have an open from question from above. Does the Sig Kilo 5K have an onboard compass or does it use the phone compass for dropping pins into Basemap? The Sig website doesn't list a compass so I'm assuming it uses a phone compass.
It does not have an onboard compass. The returns on ranges have been quick. I am most impressed with the connectivity it has with my Kestrel elite.
 
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Thanks for the input from both of you. I would be looking to replace a Leica 2700 with this. From what I've read, the Leica glass may be a bit better but the ranging is slower and worse performing.

I still have an open from question from above. Does the Sig Kilo 5K have an onboard compass or does it use the phone compass for dropping pins into Basemap? The Sig website doesn't list a compass so I'm assuming it uses a phone compass.
I am wondering the same thing.