Is The Peax Backcountry Duo Just a Rebranded Cheap Overseas Headlamp?
When I posted my headlamp battle 3 months ago and ended up recommending the Peax Backcountry Duo I was immediately flooded with DM’s that there was some controversy indicating the Peax was really just a rebranded cheap overseas headlamp. I felt obligated to buy the other headlamp immediately and find a way to see if there was a significant difference between the two. Here are my results.
Original Headlamp video - • Headlamp Review 2023: ...
The spreadsheet showing all my data and testing results is available to download for Mindful Reviews members.
Peax Backcountry Duo
www.peaxequipment.com/product...
Sofirn D25LR
www.sofirnlight.com/products/...
Jay Nichol
jay@mindfulhunter.com
www.mindful-reviews.com/
www.mindfulhunter.com/
Merch
www.mindfulhunter.com/shop
Free Backcountry Nutrition Guide
www.mindfulhunter.com/tools
Newsletter
www.mindfulhunter.com/contact
IG
/ mindful_hunter
Podcast
www.mindfulhunter.com/podcast
0:00 - Intro
0:25 - Mindful Reviews
1:25 - Background
4:06 - Testing Protocol
9:47 - Categories Assessed
10:11 - Price
10:32 - Weight
10:58 - Size
11:07 - Durability
11:34 - Comfort
11:38 - User Interface
13:17 - Weather Resistance
16:41 - Battery Life
18:59 - Recharge Time
21:11 - Temperature
24:56 - Brightness
30:01 - Conclusion
Man, I love that you are pressing the issue of accountability to these hunting gear juggernauts for consumers. There needs to be so much more time and money spent on this and less on marketing in my opinion. We all just want the truth when spending our money. Thank you for committing all the countless minutes and hours finding the truth on hunting gear Jay, much appreciated brother!
My pleasure man. You nailed it.
Awesome, thanks for the review very helpful. I have a pretzel actik core but was considering the peax. Your content will help out in the decision!
Excellent video. Appreciate all of the great work.
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You just have to appreciate how much effort you put into these reviews. Awesome!
Thanks man. Appreciate you saying that.
Another great video. Amazing job as always!
Thank you man! 🙏
Great video Jay! Thanks for the review.
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Great stuff, extremely thorough testing!
Thanks man!
By far the best headlamp review I’ve seen. Super helpful info!
Thanks man!
Another great review Jay! Appreciate you man.
Thanks bro!
Thank you so much for doing this review
My pleasure!
Excellent review. Keep them coming.
Yessir! 🫡
Love this Jay, Stay hard!
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This is one of the most thorough comparisons I’ve ever seen. Excellent work & thanks for doing all this!
Thanks brother!
as always extremely thorough and straight forward honest well done again Jayy
Thanks man!
You're nuts! This is fantastic. Thank you!
My pleasure!
Keep these types of reviews going!
Lots more on the way!
Another stand up review Jay, definitely interesting to see that they did change out some stuff from the budget option, looking forward to future reviews 👌
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Excellent review. Well done Sir
Thanks man!
I'm extremely happy to see this outcome! I mostly expected to see it, but had it not went this way and they had ended up being the same, that would have completely destroyed my faith in peax as a legit back country hunting gear company. I'm a pretty new follower of yours, but I really appreciate what you do for this community, so thank you for this and all your other reviews! While I don't always buy your top pick, they really do help me make good, informed decisions on gear purchases.
Appreciate the support and the feedback!
thanks for doing this. so informative
You bet!
Loving everything you're doing keep it up! I'd like to see the Princeton Tec Vizz headlamp in a lineup. They come recommended from another KZheadr but I see he's sponsored by them so I fear it was a commercial more than a review. Thanks!
Copy that!
Another awesome review Jay. I was holding off on getting the Peax til I saw your comparison. It's one thing to have the company SAY that it has "different internals," but to have that big of a difference in just about every meaningful metric is really nice to see.
Thanks man! I was glad there was such a definitive result.
Dude I trust your videos so much lol. Thanks for doing the research nobody wants to do. 🤙🏽
My pleasure man. Glad it’s helpful!
Thanks for the great and well thought out video review. I would like to see the Peax Backcountry Duo compared to both the FENIX HM61R V2.0 RECHARGEABLE HEADLAMP the FENIX HM60R RECHARGEABLE HEADLAMP both have IP68 waterproof rating, 300 hour run time on ECO mode, etc.. The Fenix products seem to have a high rating and great customer service from what I see and read. The FENIX HM61R V2.0 RECHARGEABLE HEADLAMP has a removable headlamp that serves as a flashlight with magnetic base that could become useful at times. Appreciate your hard work and insight. Thanks
HM61R v2 is definitely on the list!
Nice work Jay!
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As an electrician, I approve of the electrical jargon and speculation used in this video lol another great review Jay. When it comes to gear I can't think of another source I would legitimately trust for reviews
Now that’s the kind of Validation I’m looking for!
Yet another well developed and presented review. As has been stated before, we just want to have valid testing of equipment in real-world use cases without the bias of a relationship with the seller. Armed with that knowledge, we can go forward and make our purchase decisions. You are appreciated.
Deeply appreciate that man!
Great detailed video! You typically “get what you pay for” so not really surprised with the results.
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Jay, I’ve been listening to all of your reviews for some time,and I’ve got to say your analysis on everything is so spot on, if I would have joined mindful reviews long ago I could have saved thousands and got better gear! No joke… you call it the way you see it and I really appreciate the unbiased approach show where gear excels and fails! I’m joining mindful reviews asap! Love the films too from the goat hunts to elk hunts, keep them coming and reviews for us gear junkies! Also can’t wait to see you have Bryce from peax on to maybe review the tipi, the new sleeping bag and of course their gators!
Sincerely appreciate the feedback man. Means the world to me. Tons more content on the way!
Fantastic review. I would have liked to seen the Slonik Gen 2 added since it is almost identical as well for 38 bucks. Middle of the road. I intend to test my slonik similar to your charging and run times.
Never heard of that one. Will take a look.
Excellent review as always. I really appreciate on of your last comments about the Sofirn being a good budget option. I was coming to that same conclusion as i watched your review. I personally cant justify paying 4 times more for a headlamp to get 35% more performance based on my hunting style. I will pack a backup headlamp in my kill kit and accept the weight penalty of carrying 2.
Could always just order a spare battery as well. Great budget option!
Good work! On target!! Do not compromise.. hyper intentional,, so tough to get truth these days.. steady on.
Yessir!
Fantastic review, really informative. I am interested if there is a difference between them in operation at extreme temperatures as that could be an important metric for some. I would also be curious to see who the sofrin compares to other "on the shelf" options from big brands. Sounds like it is a hell of a deal for most people.
Great points!
You just saved me some $$$ much appreciated
Happy to help!
Dang jay keepin it real!!! Curious now on there tipi tent, sissy stix, gaiters... funny how some of these other sponsored dudes no names drop here speak highly of there products. Thanks jay for what you do 🤙🏽🤙🏽
I’d kind of written off their stuff at first but seeing the actual improvements in the headlamp makes me want to review more.
Great video as always! Could you do some testing to see how many full recharges you can get out of something like a 20k mah battery pack?
I’ve had an Anker 525 for over three years and it still holds basically a full charge. If you treat them right in the off-season they’ll last very long.
Thanks for this, Jay. I would be great to see the test repeated with the batteries swapped, i.e. run the Peax with the Sofrin battery and Sofrin with the Peax battery. Or just repeat the Sofrin test with the Peax battery, as others have suggested. It would be useful to know if the run time, heat, and "internals" differences come from the battery or the headlamp itself because you can buy a 3600mah battery and the Sofrin for less than half the cost of Peax.
I know when I miss something cause I get 20 comments about it 🤣 will definitely swap batteries in future versions.
My Peax just stopped working one year into ownership. I just reached out about the warranty today and we’ll see how their customer service is. Thanks for the video, very informative!
Keep me in the loop with your warranty service. I’ve heard mixed reports.
How was the warranty claim mate?
Honestly this was one of the worst purchases I have made. They may have changed/upgraded the internals, but my headlamp still became glitchy and unusable within 30 days. What’s worse is Peax refuses to refund it and when I sent it in for an exchange I heard nothing back. It has been over a month now and even after multiple emails to them, I have not heard anything back. I am not even expecting to get one back at this point and I am just accepting that I was robbed $90. I will absolutely never buy or recommend anything from Peax ever again.
That’s brutal.
Very glad you did this one. I am sooo tired of seeing beligerent dudes in the forums arguing about this, because they cant be bothered to research.... or even read specs. LED, internals, and battery are all different... but I guess shape means everything to them 😁. Excellent info as always! Love the reviews! I also run a Zebralight (albeit with a diy red filter), which I highly recommend for future reviews/comparisons.
Yeah felt obligated to put this one to bed lol. I’ll add the Zebralight to my list!
Great info
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Hello sir thank you for your great review i own a few fenix light and they are excellent. Would love to hear your feed back on fenix lights.
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Great stuff man
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Awesome review Jay. Thanks for doing what you do. I see Montana knife company just released a headlamp. I know there knives are one of the best in the business and they are a top notch company, I don’t think they would put out a product that isn’t top notch either. Maybe one worth doing a review on? For $45USD, I think I’ll pick one up and do my own comparison with my Peax headlamp anyway.
Good call! Only heard good things about them. Let me know what you think. I’ll put it on the list.
Well done sir! Truly appreciated! I’ve been buying sofirns because for the price I see no good reason not to. For the price even with buying an extra battery or two it’s still significantly cheaper than one peax. Hats off to peax though for making a very nice product that in the end deserves credit for making a better product. I definitely think for the 90$ price tag they need to be hitting a better IP rating. As you said in the review, most every other competitor at that price point does. It appears Sofirn has been doing slight upgrades as well. Of the ones I have the newest version is noticeably brighter. I’m sure I’ll eventually get a Peax to add to the collection because I’m a gear junky. Keep up the great reviews!
Thank you man!
As a hunter I am interested in whether either tested headlamp has high CRI (high color rendering). There is solid research that high CRI will show blood trails better. Morgan Sowell - Georgia
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I feel like you should have tested the sofirn with the peax battery. Big fan of the videos.
It’s a fair point and you’re not the only one who thought so. Always room for improvement.
Great review Jay! Peax for the win for hard core mountain hunt. Sofrin for the win to give to the kids and wife for general camping, farm chores ect.
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Well done sir. Some future testing would be a 3&4 AAA battery lamp vs peax using the protocols and luxe measurement. I wonder if there is a lamp that doesn’t have the 50% decrease after just 1 hour of use?
It’s a great question.
Nebo transcend 1500 or led lenser wont use anything else there is nothing better end of story
Great review. The only question I have is, does the SoFirn have similar red light brightness? That is the reason I bought the Peax. I have had wierd charging and dying quickly issues with my Peax. I will try a slower charging method, like you said, hopefully that will work.
The red light brightness is identical. Only limit is time difference from the battery.
I have the Sofirn light and bought a Fenix 18650 battery for it and the performance with that battery is much better than the factory Sofirn battery
I bet!
Ordered the sofrin 10 hrs ago. Video drops 3 hrs ago. Literally my life. As always thanks for the videos. Putting better content than ANYONE as usual.
Thank you my man. And rest assured for $20 you’re getting a helluva headlamp.
Love the review and thoroughness. One point of clarification though, the PEAX with a 7hr run time is a 55% longer runtime than the Sofirn [(7-4.5)/4.5=0.5556]. The Sofirn runs 35% less than the PEAX [(7-4.5)/7=0.357]. Based on your wording used in the comparison, the PEAX lasts 55% longer than the Sofirn. This wording dictates the baseline and denominator be the Sofirn runtime, not the PEAX. That % calculation has a big effect on the marketing impact to us humans, as you go to great lengths to prove/disprove and we all greatly appreciate your work!!!
You are 100% correct. Not the first time I’ve made this error. I’m sure I did the same thing with the battery figures as well. Appreciate the added clarification. I know better just got sloppy.
I have the Sofrin. No complaints. I may upgrade the battery at some point.
Like I said I’m the video. For the price it’s the best headlamp on the market by a mile.
Where do you get a upgraded battery from?
Awesome review. Would be nice to swap batteries and see how they compare
That’s a good point! Would have helped rule out one more variable.
This was a great review. It's nice that Peax actually did what they said, in upgrading the internals, and it's not just a high-margin white label (like so much else.) I ended up ordering the Sofirn, though, mainly because for almost $100, the IPX6 weather rating is shameful for the Peax. For $20, I can overlook it, or just bring a spare along. Further, I can easily get a 3600maH battery for the Sofirn (or a few) and potentially upgrade the run time and brightness. Either way is a good option, I think the Peax value proposition just isn't really there, IMO.
I’d agree that’s a fair assessment. In fact, the one part of the experiment I failed to do was swap batteries and run it all over again to see if the bigger battery was responsible for all the advantages.
@@MindfulHunter that was what I suggested in a comment YT ate (keyword?) cos I suspect some of the heat difference and charging time and length is battery. Not all, a more efficient LED and electronics will be some of that, but I bet a better battery will close that gap.
@@realfingertrouble agreed
@@MindfulHunter true, but still a truly thorough review, and much appreciated!
Wish i would have saw this before i ordered the Peax! Funny how this video popped up in my feed the day after i ordered it!?🤔
The power of the algorithm lol
Way to pin down some good information as usual. Keep flipping those rocks over and see what crawls out.💪🏼
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Thank you
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If you triple tap the peax it has more settings single tap on the one you want. My wife and I each have one and have been happy with them.
Thanks!
How long will red supply the needed light to hike out.a very good review. I have spent the whole night in the woods more than once
A long ass time. It takes very little juice. Prolly 15-20 hours
Thanks
Wow an amazingly in-depth test! As a note, I'd love a review that compares red/green/blue brightness, it feels that coloured lighting is a bit of an afterthought and among ALL the manufacturers it's hard to see what the lumen and distance is among their products. Like Black Diamond doesn't list red intensity at all, and I think Petzl does, but Energizer - nope.. Princeton Tec does, but many don't. I will say one thing: if you buy the SOFIRN and replace it with a better 3600mah battery - it's a 18650 right, replaceable? I wonder if that difference closes up. Maybe not if the LEDs are different, but I bet the heat is partly the less good battery. And the time.
I did measure the reds and there was no discernible difference. Even after hours of being on. The red light seems to require very little battery power. You’re 100% right. I should have swapped batteries and ran the tests again to rule out that variable.
@@MindfulHunter it would be a good video to have a red light comparison across brands, it seems everyone focuses on the white light lumen - which of course hunters, stargazers and late night cooking hikers like me depend on a decent red light. :-) I've ordered the Sofrin and a decent Panasonic NCR18650GA 18650 battery, 3500mah from a legit supplier, and will test! Thanks for letting me know about that head torch. I get that the PEAX is better, but I can't afford that, so will make do with less cos for £19 inc shipping that's a steal.
Coming back to this video 4 monnths later! Been using the Sofrin all the time, very happy with it. In normal use, I don't have to charge it for weeks, or on a hike it's every 2-3 days, with a lot of night time use. I did buy a 'better battery' but in practice use the Sofrin one, it's good enough. I did dabble with the Wurkkos HD15R and found the UI of that confusing, and strap issues. I will say this - not a fan of not being able to go directly to red in the Peax? It's a feature I found essential in the Sofirn, the long press you mentioned. Starting at white kills night sight, especially when checking around my tent on a camp if I hear a noise, and at low power also does not initially alert the deer, so tells me if it's human or not. It would be nice to have the internals of the Peax - the dimming down can be slightly annoying - although Sofrin flashes to tell you it's dying, which is useful warning but I can always carry an extra battery.
In fact I reviewed the Sofirn and Wurrkos on my channel (this is me as well, in between this comment and now, I setup my own channel doing hiking reviews and trips - occasionally covering headlamps, but mostly other stuff)
Would like to see a comparison between a Fenix with the red light
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I would love to see Peax compared with Black Diamonds 450. I like the idea of headlamp you can recharge or use batteries for backup. I thinking of buying one or the other but I like Peax run time. Any thoughts on that?
Completely different options. I used to run the revolt for that same reason of spare batteries. They just can’t compare with the next gen of headlamps running larger batteries.
didn't read through all the comments so forgive me if this has been brought up or asked. Can you lock the button on the sofrin so you don't accidentally turn it on in your pack like you can with the peax. I have tried a pile of different brands of 18650 batteries and they are definitely not all created equal . It would be interesting to see what the results would be if you just swapped the batteries in between the 2 to see how well they perform using each others battery. Would also be interesting see how the sofrin would stack up against the peax if you used a good solid 18650 like a Nitecore 3500mAH in the sofrin (about $20). I bet that would narrow the gap quite a bit even know its doubling the cost of the sofrin but at 40$ it's still a lot more appealing to folks thank $90. But i also agree that lifetime warranty has to worth something too. That email response sure sounded familiar.... that was the response they sent me that i have posted on rokslide on multiple occasions when this topic has been brought up.
Ha! Then it’s your post I copied it from 🤣 small world. Definitely missed checking for a lock and swapping batteries and repeating the tests. Fair points. I’ll see if I can find a lock option.
On the Sofrin if you give the battery cap a 1/4 turn it locks out the power so it won't turn on accidentally in your pack.
Makes me wonder what you'd see if you switched the batteries between the 2 lights. That would make the battery immaterial, which is important...because you can just buy a better battery pretty low cost.
You’re 100% right. My bad. Realized after I shot it. Will do next time for sure.
I’m partial to Zebralights. Not as fancy, but simple and extended run times
Good to know. I’ve never run one.
You’re not missing out on anything with the Zebralight. They’re far and away better quality then the Peax.
Buy 2 sofirns for only $40 and have plenty of light plus always good to have a backup.
Definitely an option. I carry my sofrin battery as backup to my Peax.
22:21 - regarding the measured temperature of the headlamp body - the outer shell. What kills longevity of those LEDs is overheating. Lets for example compare two made up headlamps of same power output and efficiency, meaning they both generate same amount of waste energy as heat per unit of time. If one of them has a heatsink outter body that is contacting the LED better - the outer shell of the headlamp will be hotter, which means more heat is able to be moved out of the LED, protecting it from overheating - cooling it down better. The outside temperature alone without knowing the temperature of the LED is not enough to draw any conclusions on neither its efficiency, nor cooling ability of the heatsink. If you had both measuring outside and inside temperatures at the same time you could tell if the headlamp is efficient so it doesnt need to transfer a lot of heat to the heatsink cooler in order to not overheat the LED, or if the LED is cooking inside, with bad cooling setup so the outside is cool.
Great additional feedback. I’ll try to work this into future reviews.
Have you tried testing the Peax battery in the Sofirn?
No. That was a miss on my part.
Appreciate it…glad i didnt spend the extra $70 for nothing!
Haha. Yeah made me feel better too!
Sou you could buy 2 sofirn for $40 and swap them out when one dies for a 4oz penalty. But possibly recharge faster because you didnt mention if the sofirn would charge with the more powerful charger.
Yes you could.
Can you review it against the ACEBEAM H30 headlamp?
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Does the Sofrin switch have a lockout like the Peax does?
Not that I know of. I’ll play with it and see if I can find one.
Fenix Flashlights are the best for the money & performance in my opinion.
I ran one fenix and the head strap and lack of a red light were fails for me. Great build quality though.
So when I purchased it they had a lifetime warranty, they just emailed me and it's a 3 year warranty now. I didn't know they could change that after the fact?
No shit? That seems shady.
Amazing on Sofrin 😮😂 $5 extra get a high Premium battery from 3000 to over 5000. Boom 😎
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I have 2 years with the Peax. It’s worth the money if you have it. 10 years ago I walked out in the dark after 2 Brinkmanship died. Light technology has come a loooong way.
Good feedback!
I'm buying American made regardless. 💪
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So being that 18650 is such a widely used battery. How does the cheaper one run with the 3600mah battery in it?? I would also say the button functions on the cheaper one are better.... when it's dark and u want a low level red light. I shouldn't have to cycle through every power of white tonget to low red. If the cheap one runs 5 to 6 hours on a better battery. May be a better option. I personally have multiple different branded 18650 batteries. I use them in my thermal scope and scanner, other headlamps, and multiple other flashlights. So for someone who already has an upgraded battery or just multiple seems like the cheap one could be a much better option.... I just watched another video from peaks. I'm going to leave my previous comment up but add to it that there is a lot more to the user interface than you demonstrated. It does make it far superior and usable for my situation. Almost any situation
Fair points. I realized after posting that not duplicating the tests after swapping batteries was a miss.
Commenting for the algo. good vid
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Did it last 7hours on hi?
The high setting yes but as you can see from the brightness graph you don’t get 1000 lumens for 7 hours straight.
I’ve had a Surefire headlamp for 15 years and it’s still going strong. It takes the weird C124 batteries which you can get rechargeable ones from Fenix. I bought a Peax headlamp to try it out and the build quality is a piece of junk compared to the Surefire…not even in the same league. The plastic part that clips the light to the headband broke in my backpack on day making the light useless. I contacted Peax and they staid they would send an invoice for a replacement clip. I never receive an invoice or replacement even after pestering them about it. I call BS on their warranty. I’m sticking with Surefire. You get what you pay for and if it lasts 15 years then thats cheap over the lifetime of the headlamp!
…BTW another great review, thanks!
Can’t argue with personal experience man. Good data point to share about the negative warranty experience too.
Fenix HM61R vs Peax headlamp
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In that email, also posted on Rokslide, Peax says it has a lifetime warranty; however, their website does not state this and in fact says their warranty is only 3 years. Plenty of complaints on their customer service as well, so good luck with any warranty. I decided to try a Peax and was immediately disappointed in the build quality after opening the package. For the same money get a Zebralight, you will be shocked at the difference in build and light quality.
Good feedback.
I agree , I spent the 90 bucks and probably would have went a different route as I think they changed their warranty after the fact
I think youre wrong on the 6 rating. I thought a 6 rating was good for water jets amount of water, think water hose.
Google the chart. 6 is high pressure water stream from any angle. 7 is immersion for 30 minutes for a depth of 1 m. And my standard for outdoor gear is seven. As that is what you need withstand dropping something in a creek.
Dude! The Wyatt Earp mustache is gone!
2 weeks in Europe with the wife. It happens.
If this isn’t the be all, end all criteria for head lamp reviews I don’t know what is.
Best comment of the day!
u should just switch the batteries and run all the tests again..alot of people will run them off of different batteries. I bring 6+ 18650s and a charger with me when I go hunting.
I agree 100%. Occurred to me shortly after posting this. Missed opportunity. Will try to redo at some point.
Peax's doesn't offer a lifetime warranty on the cheap plastic clamp. They want me to but one for $7 + $7shipping. I can basically buy the sofrin for that price. If anyone has the peax clamp in a 3d print let me know.
Yeah I’ve heard some not so great stories from their customer service.
Why would anyone buy anything that will not function in a downpour or accidentally dropped in water. You may have to hike out at night in a situation. Your life could depend on your lamp working and you not getting stranded in the backcountry. Dying from hypothermia is possibility and does happen. SMH
Yep.
Black diamond spot
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peax is no way worth 4x the cost. The peax is just made in another wing of the factory
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