Product Reviews: Pro Tek RC Pit Mat, AKA Tire Punch, Hobbying Power Switch

MANUFACTURER: AKA
PRODUCT: MULTI-TIP TIRE PUNCH
PART NUMBER: 44007
PRICE: $10.99
LINK: raceaka.com

RATINGS (Low 1-10 High)
QUALITY: 9
OPERATION: 10
EASE OF USE: 10
VALUE: 10

Most tires need to be vented in order to reduce the bounce factor that causes erratic handling and there are certainly many ways to vent a tire. But if you are a racer, you often grab a punch to punch a rubber plug out of the tire in order to vent it. Finding a good punch is hard, but now your hunt is over since AKA released the Multi-Tip Tire Punch. This punch has six tips (2mm, 2.5mm, 3mm, 3.5mm, 4mm, 4.5mm) and allows you to want for 1/10 up to 1/5 applications. The tips are laser engraved with the sizes for easy identification and the red rubber grip handles have the AKA logo printed on them. During our testing of punch holes in the tires, the AKA logo wore off the handle, but more importantly the tips stayed sharp and did their job of easily punching holes in tires. These are not a cheap hardware store punch, the tips line up perfectly with the stop pad for perfect cuts.

There is certainly no shortage of pit mats available in the RC industry, but we got our hands on the Pit Mat from ProTek RC and we like it, we like it a lot. The ProTek Mat is 24×48 inches so it’s the perfect size for setting up to work on most RC vehicles. It has a cool ProTek Logo and graphic design printed in one corner and the 4mm thick padded foam helps cushion elbows or helps keep parts and tools in place. One of the things we really liked with this mat is its color. The deep blue doesn’t really show stains, but since it isn’t black, you can see screws and E-clips easier when they are resting on the mat. What sets this mat over the top is actually its included mesh storage bag which keeps the rolled-up mat neatly stowed for transport.

RATINGS (Low 1-10 High)
QUALITY: 9
OPERATION: 10
EASE OF USE: 8
VALUE: 8

The days of the manual electronic switch are numbered when people start spreading the word about Hobbywing’s Electronic Power Switch and we’re going to start the ball rolling. The EPS is a compact electronic switch with simple push on/off button. The features don’t end there; this unit is also waterproof and features overload as well as reversal protection in non-load applications. That’s not it for this switch, it has thermal protection and can be used for NiMh or LiPo applications and when in LiPo mode it has a low voltage indicator. All warnings are shown through the switch’s LED’s. We mounted our EPS in a Tekno NB48 and used the supplied two-sided tape to stick it to the side of the radio box. Switching the car on and off is easy and there’s no need to worry about the manual switch getting knocked off or loosing contact. We did wish there were mounting tabs to screw the switch down, but the switch did stay in place when we were running the buggy.