Streamlight 85010 Scorpion LED Flashlight

The Streamlight Scorpion LED is for anyone who needs a small professional grade tactical flashlight that's extremely bright, water resistant, tough, impact resistant and has great runtime per set of CR123A batteries. The Scorpion LED is without question one of the very best all around flashlights available. The Scorpion LED uses a shock resistant Luxeon I LED that produces a very intense white light. The Scorpion LED also has a power regulator that provides constant brightness throughout the life of the batteries. And it's textured reflector, produces a beam that has a very bright and smooth spot with a bright corona and nice spillbeam. And with the Luxeon I LED you will no longer have to worry yourself about an old fashion bulb in your flashlight, because the LED will never burn out or blow and never needs replacement like bulbs do. It can also withstand impacts so severe, that the flashlight would more then likely be totally destroyed before the LED was destroyed. With a Scorpion LED light, the only thing you'll need to worry yourself about, is changing batteries.

I read one review on Amazon.com where the reviewer claims that the Streamlight 51006 Tasklight 3AA Luxeon may be a better general purpose flashlight. The reviewer also states that the Streamlight Scorpion LED is only slightly brighter than Streamlight 51006 Tasklight 3AA, and that the 51006 is far more economical because AA batteries are much cheaper than CR123A Batteries, unless you buy tons of CR123A batteries in bulk. These are very misleading statements and not very accurate at all.

So here are some verifiable facts regarding the Scorpion LED. First of all, Streamlight Scorpion LED is vastly superior to Streamlight 51006 Tasklight 3AA Luxeon in every regard but runtime/burn time per set of batteries. Streamlight states that the Streamlight 51006 Luxeon will give you 28 hours of runtime per set of batteries. However, I find it to be down to 50% of it's beginning brightness in just under 6 hours runtime, and down to less then 25% one hour later. The light will burn much longer, but the light output will not be very useful for much at all after 7 hours. However, 6 hours to 50% is great runtime, just don't expect to put a set of fresh AA's in the light and think you can be walking mountain trails at night after 6 hours of continuous usage. The Scorpion LED's burn time is shorter, down to 50% in 2 hours and 52 minutes with about 2 hours of useful light afterwards. This is really very good runtime, and one must also keep in mind that the Scorpion LED is putting out much more light then the Tasklight. Using the numbers from FlashlightReviews.com the Streamlight 51006 is rated as follows: Overall Brightness is rated at 15.50 and the Throw (Lux) is rated at 17.84. The Streamlight Scorpion LED is rated as follows: Overall Brightness is rated at 26.00 and the Throw (Lux) is rated at 43.21! This means that the Scorpion LED is not only much brighter, but it also throws it's beam more then twice as far as the Streamlight 51006 Tasklight 3AA Luxeon.

Now about those batteries, AA Alkaline Batteries can still be a little cheaper, but you can get very good high quality CR123A Lithium Batteries for less the $1.25 each! If you went into your local CVS and got a 4 pack of Name Brand AA Alkaline Batteries it would likely cost you more then $6.00 or about $10.00 for an 8 pack, that's just about $1.25 each per 10 pack. You can get CR123A Batteries on-line for that price, and you don't have to buy large bulk quantities to get them for $1.25 or less. I always buy in lots of 20, 50 or 100, but at times I'll try a different brand of batteries and only get 10, then if I like them I'll get 20 or more soon after. You can get these very high quality CR123A Batteries for $1.25 and less from www.batteryjunction.com and other places on-line. However, I would highly recommend buying Titanium CR123A from www.amondotech.com for only $1.00 each! Titanium CR123A Batteries are of very high quality, and they are PTC Protected for safety just like the name brand batteries. I believe without question that the Titanium Brand CR123A Batteries from www.amondotech.com are the very best value out there. You can read a review on them at: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/titanium_123a.htm to learn more. I had been using SureFire Batteries from www.surefire.com that were $15.00 for a box of 12 and I was very happy with them. However, I believe the Titanium Batteries are just as good and for less money. In fact, in many of my flashlights they perform as good, and is some cases better then the name brands that cost more then $5.00 each. Recently SureFire raised the price of their SureFire CR123A Batteries from $15.00 to $21.00 per box of 12, so now the cost is $1.75 each. BatteryStation at: www.batterystation.com also recently raised the prices on their CR123A Batteries from $1.25 to $1.45 each for their very high quality low price CR123A Batteries. However, these are still very good prices for a batteries that outperforms Alkaline Batteries in every regard and are worth checking into and trying. So, as you now see, high quality CR123A Batteries at $1.25 or $1.00 each are right there in price with name brand AA Alkaline Batteries. Furthermore, Lithium Batteries greatly outperform Alkaline Batteries, and they will not die on you in cold weather the way Alkaline Batteries do. And CR123A Lithium Batteries also have a 10 year shelf life. So, don't forget to check out the Titanium CR123A Batteries and other great products at: www.amondotech.com. With their great performance, PTC Protection (Thermal Safety Device) to protect against over heating, and at a cost of $1.00 each, Titanium CR123A Batteries just can't be beat!

The Streamlight Scorpion LED is a world class superior flashlight, that's very well made and is great on performance. And with their high quality and low prices on-line, CR123A batteries are now no longer a reason to miss out on this screaming bright, Professional Grade High Intensity LED Flashlight. I bought 2 Scorpion LEDs when they first came out and they both get used extensively, and I just can't say enough about this great little light! I highly recommend it to all. I also recommend that people read reviews at Amazon.com, but don't rely solely on them. Do some research and get all the facts. I highly recommend reading flashlight reviews at www.flashlightreviews.com before buying a flashlight to get facts. The web site is very good, and one can get the unbiased quality and performance test results on flashlights. Even after you get a flashlight, you can use flashlightreviews.com to research other flashlights, and also to keeping up on new illumination products that come out. Check it out and get the facts regarding the Streamlight Scorpion LED. I'm sure you'll agree with me, it's one great light!

I needed a backup light for subway tunnel inspection and ordered this Scorpion. When I met the team one of my partners forgot his light and borrowed my new Scorpion. After 4 hours in the tunnel the Scorpion was still as bright as it was in the beginning of the inspection and was brighter than most other flashlights being used. It is great because of its brightness, compact size, and long life. I am buying more Scorpions based on this experience.

The Scorpion LED is very good flashlight both for brightness and size, and I am satisfied with the product. However, I guess that 51006 Lux 3AA model is better overall. Here are my comparison.

1. For brightness, Scorpion LED is slightly brighter than 51006, but there isn't much difference. Considering that Scorpion LED is fed by 2 123A Lithium batteries(which is expensive), 51006 is far more economical because AA batteries are far cheaper than 123A unless you buy tons of 123A batteries in bulk price somewhere; you can even use rechareable batteries for AA size. Also 51006 has definitely longer battery duration. Although I haven't done any actual testing myself, Streamlight argues that 51006 can be used for up to 28 hours, while Scorpion LED can only be used for 3.75 hours(with brightness declining).

2. Scorpion LED is much shorter than 51006; 51006 is about 1.5 times longer. For size, Scorpion LED is better. However, 51006 isn't really uncomfortable size in most cases.

3. Body of Scorpion LED is covered with rubber like regular Scorpion, while 51006 has metal body. For weatherproof matter, Scorpion LED should be better.

4. Since both uses Luxeon LED, buld replacement shouldn't be a concern here.

To conclude, if you need more compact and more weather-resistent flashlight no matter what, Scorpion LED is better choice. However, if you need a flashlight just for general purposes and maintenance economy is one of your concern, consider 51006 or something else.