King Arms DBAL-I Battery Case Review
It seems like King Arms release a new Airsoft item every week. One of their newest items to be released is a new RIS mounted battery box.
Until now previous battery boxes manufactured by King Arms were of the PEQ II style, however this time they have gone for a new design which is styled upon the Laser Devices Inc dual beam aiming laser-intelligent (DBAL-I) system. The real world DBAL-I is a next generation dual beam tactical and training system. The standard model is equipped with both a visible (635nM) 5mW and an infrared (835nM) 0.9mW laser target designators, in a compact waterproof unit.
Like the PEQ II Battery box that King Arms already manufacture, the DBAL-I battery box is sold in three different configurations, these are:
DBAL-I Battery Case only.
DBAL-I Battery Case with a 1400mAh-9.6V battery.
DBAL-I Battery Case with a 1400mAh-10.8V battery.
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The nice folks at King Arms have sent in dEFCON one of the DBAL-I Battery cases for us to review. The model supplied to us was the KA-BC-02-96, which includes the 1400mAh 9.6 V battery. |
Box Contents
The first thing that struck me when I opened the box, was how small the DBAL unit actually was when compared to a PEQ II battery box. You can see this in the picture below where I have it sitting next to the Classic Army PEQ II box, the DBAL-I is almost half the size.
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Also included Inside the box with the DBAL-I unit was a Intellect 1400mAh 9.6v battery, a set of transfer stickers to put onto the battery box and instructions on how to remove the battery.
DBAL-I Battery Box
Handling the battery box you can immediately tell this is a very sturdy unit, made from ABS, this is far superior to the original flimsy Classic Army PEQ II that came with the M15 RIS Carbine.
Moulded onto the battery box are the windage, elevation, on/off and laser select knobs. These knobs are fake and don’t move, however they look realistic enough to fool anyone when they first pick the unit up.
The battery lead comes out of the battery box where the remote pressure pad would normally be fitted onto the DBAL-I. The lead itself is covered with a black plastic sleeve so that when fitted you do not see the red and black leads of the battery.
The battery box is also fitted with a removable 20mm RIS rail so that additional items like a laser / tac light can be fitted.
On the front of the battery box rubber protective caps cover the fake metal laser outputs, interestingly the metal outputs can be removed, apart from this being handy to replace the rubber cap (if parts are available). I have no idea why you can remove these.
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One thing missing from the King Arms copy of the DBAL-I battery box, is the training switch which is recessed in the side of the housing and capped with a threaded cover to prevent the unit from being accidentally switched. On the real world DBAL-I this switch would reduce the optical output power in the operational mode to an eye-safe level for force-on-force training.
Swapping The Battery
Access to the battery is very simple, a screw on the front of the battery box is first undone, This screw would normally be the battery cover on the real DBAL-I units.
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Once the screw is removed the battery storage draw can then be removed entirely, allowing you to swap over battery’s with the hassle of trying to fit in the battery while its still attached to the AEG. |
As the battery is a tight fit, the bottom of the storage draw has a large hole positioned under the battery, this allow you to push the battery up using your finger.
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When swapping battery’s the rubber tail is cut so that this can be easily swapped onto the new battery, as the battery connector would not pass though without it. On the DBAL-I Battery cases bought without a battery this rubber is provided but has not been cut.
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The 1400mAh-9.6V battery provided is manufactured by Intellect, these are the same size cells as a standard mini battery (2/3AF). Unfortunately as the battery compartment is small a standard mini battery will not fit, either a custom battery like the one provided must be purchased, or any existing mini battery’s you already have must be taken apart and re-soldered so that they are in the same 3,2,2 configuration as the original battery.
Fitting The Battery Box
The DBAL-I battery box can be fitted to any 20mm RIS rail. For me this meant fitting it to my Classic Army M15 RIS.
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Fitting is easy as it just a case of tightening up the single thumb screw. Unfortunately for me I found that no matter how much I tightened the screw, the DBAL unit was still a little loose and rattled. I tested this on another of the rails on my RIS, and this was ok.
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As I do not have access to a 2nd Classic army M15 RIS I am unable to say if this is just a manufacturing defect with my RIS, however as the other rails are ok I imagine this would be the case. A work around was to remove part that clamps it in place from my PEQ II box and use that with the DBAL-I.
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Overall I loved how much neater the DBAL-I looked on my AEG, also with the battery being tight it does not rattle around in the box like battery’s in my PEQ II, although I admit I normally stuff some paper in the box to stop this.
Conclusion
This is a fantastic product from King Arms, obviously the supplied battery may not be enough to last a whole day for the average Airsofter, so another battery may be required or old mini battery’s converted.
I have tried to find a UK stockist for prices, but as this is a new product I have not found it available. UN company do have the DBAL-I listed for US$ 54, the model with the 9.6v battery retails for another 23 dollars. Which 23 dollars for a battery is a fantastic offer.
The DBAL-I looks great and feels solid. Swapping the batteries is very quick and easy compared to the standard Classic Army PEQ II battery boxes.
The small size of the DBAL-I would make this a great box not only for M4 / M16 RIS units, but this would be ideal on smaller AEG’s with RIS units or rails.
If you were looking for a new battery box to mount on your RIS I would seriously recommend you take a close look at the King Arms DBAL-I.
