Stingray HeatBlock Products and Airo Booms from K-Tek

Stingray HeatBlock Transmitter Pouches and Airo booms join other creative audio solutions.

American Cinematographer

Protective transmitter pouches and new booms join other creative audio solutions.

To protect talent from the heat produced by wireless transmitters, K-Tek has designed insulating HeatBlock transmitter pouches. Swatches of the same material, handstitched in the company’s California headquarters, were also released as HeatBlock Pieces, easily placeable wherever necessary to shield from any uncomfortable heat when gear is positioned closely to a body.

After research and field testing, K-Tek devised its new Stingray HeatBlock line of a patented, heat-resistant fabric that is soft to the touch as well as flexible. The proprietary three-layer material is engineered to withstand continual temperatures of up to 240°C (464F°).

The HeatBlock Pouches are sized as three models to snugly fit popular transmitter brands. At $30 each, the Stingray HeatBlock Pouch will fit microphone transmitters like the Zax ZMT or the Lectro SSM, SMV and SMQV models.

Also for $30 each, Heatblock Pieces are sized to correspond with the HeatBlock Pouches and come in mini, small and medium. Fabricated without protrusions or sharp corners, material is soft and comfortable to wear against skin. They can be used with or without transmitter clips.

As the newest addition to K-Tek’s growing Stingray lines, the HeatBlock Pouches and HeatBlock Pieces join a number of sized sound mixer bags, Stingray Waist Belt, bag accessories, extra pouches, and back-protective Audio Harness with rigid spine and exoskeleton.

With an emphasis on design, K-Tek constructs audio-centric products — including their Klassic and Avalon families of graphite and aluminum boom poles, shock mounts tailored for a number of popular microphone models, and zeppelin setups and windscreens for mics.

For boom poles, tripods, C-stands, handles or handgrips, and other tube-shaped objects, the $19 Squid was announced in December of 2017 as a multi-purpose mounting solution for transmitter, monitor, mobile device or remotes. It’s made of see-through elastic silicone that will also protect like a shock absorber.

In January, K-Tek launched their Airo line for “budget-sensitive” content creators requiring affordable booming and audio tools.

Based around the 4-section, 1.6-pound (725g) Airo Boom Pole 1 to extend audio signal-to-noise- capture in a scene without stepping into frame. Offering an extension range of 3' 2.5" (98cm) to 10' 10" (330cm), it’s available on its own at a street price of $100.

Centered around the Airo Boom Pole 1, they followed it up a few months later during NAB with the $249 Booming Intro Kit, adding bundled Airo travel case, boom holder, 25' 3-pin XLR cable, fuzzy windscreen, and shock mount. Each accessory is available seperately. Their $99 Airo Mixer Bag 1 is provided in the same Airo by K-Tek line for smaller audio recorders like the Sound Devices MixPre-3, MixPre-6 or Zoom F4 and F8.