Streamlight Scorpion - Never too late to learn something new

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sween1911

sween1911

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 10, 2003
Messages
2,157
Location
Pennsylvania
Okay, let's start in the early 2000's... talking to a co-worker about gear and flashlights, and he pulled a Streamlight Scorpion out. I guess he saw my eyes light up and said "Here, you can have it. The batteries are REALLY EXPENSIVE!" I already was into CR123's for my Surefire addiction, so I gladly accepted. It was already worn and well-used when he got it. I kept it with my lights, but didn't use it too hard. I put it with some bug-out gear and some spare batteries and forgot about it. I tried it a couple years ago and the bulb blew. *sigh* oh well. The LED drop-ins were kind of expensive, and I wasn't really invested in it, having gotten into Li-ions. It's been rolling around in the bottom of my parts bin.

Well, I just picked it up and started playing with it here in the sween1911 shop. Looking at the lamp module, HEY, the bulb comes out. It's just a tiny bi-pin dealy. Hey, there looks like foam sticking out from under the positive terminal... why is there foam... HEY, THERE'S A SPARE BULB IN THERE! I never knew that Scorpions had a little channel in there to store a spare bulb. For someone considering themselves an old school incan-fan who knows a thing or two about old Surefires and Streamlights, this was a pleasant surprise!


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sween1911 said:
Okay, let's start in the early 2000's... talking to a co-worker about gear and flashlights, and he pulled a Streamlight Scorpion out. I guess he saw my eyes light up and said "Here, you can have it. The batteries are REALLY EXPENSIVE!" I already was into CR123's for my Surefire addiction, so I gladly accepted. It was already worn and well-used when he got it. I kept it with my lights, but didn't use it too hard. I put it with some bug-out gear and some spare batteries and forgot about it. I tried it a couple years ago and the bulb blew. *sigh* oh well. The LED drop-ins were kind of expensive, and I wasn't really invested in it, having gotten into Li-ions. It's been rolling around in the bottom of my parts bin.

Well, I just picked it up and started playing with it here in the sween1911 shop. Looking at the lamp module, HEY, the bulb comes out. It's just a tiny bi-pin dealy. Hey, there looks like foam sticking out from under the positive terminal... why is there foam... HEY, THERE'S A SPARE BULB IN THERE! I never knew that Scorpions had a little channel in there to store a spare bulb. For someone considering themselves an old school incan-fan who knows a thing or two about old Surefires and Streamlights, this was a pleasant surprise!


View attachment 25360

View attachment 25361
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Still love my 2 Scorps. One is sitting within reach as I type. I guess 6Ps were the rage when I got mine, but I was fine with my Scorps. Truth be told, they were my first lights that I considered truly 'worthy' - and have never had a problem with either. They were my primary work lights until I met my Strion Incan. With the great 'system' incl. li-ion power and inboard charging (which I don't recall anyone else offering me), I still didn't bother with the 6Ps.The Scorps went into backup duty, but were always trusted backups - and still are.
 
Most may not know this but a large batch of 6P lights had Scorpion bulbs. Bulbs prior to the legs being trimmed. Yup.

At one point Carley could not supply enough bulbs for the 6P fast enough. So Streamlight supplied some. Yup.

For a time the Scorpion was in direct competition for government contracts and at times the government split the contract between the two. A lot of flashlights were made for Desert Shield and Desert Storm. So both Streamlight and SureFire got a portion. Fulton and others did as well.

Edit: it dawned on me, it was cool to learn that the Scorpion came with a spare bulb.
End edit
 
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Streamlight Scorpion
Streamlight TL-2 and
Streamlight NF
All use exact same bulb.
Many people used to replace bulb with Strion bulb and power up with single 17650 (or 16650)
Few people also went to 18650
Also possible to use TL-3 bulb and power up with pair of 16340 which is not a good idea for Scorpion because of plastic lens.
 
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Reminds me of when folks were running P90's in their 6p's with (2) Pila rechargeables.

In fact, I think I remember someone doing that with a Surefire C2 and calling it the "C2-90".
 
Yeah, thankfully Maglite didn't sue Streamlight for borrowing that particular idea. Spare inca. bulb stored inside the light.
 
I don't know for certain that Kel Lite was the first to do it but do know they had an optional tailcap the holds a sprare bulb before Maglite did.
 
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bykfixer said:
I don't know for certain that Kel Lite was the first to do it but do know they had an optional tailcap the holds a sprare bulb before Maglite did.
Click to expand...

This has me wondering. To your knowledge, what's the earliest example(s) of any 'spare' bulb in any type of flashlight pre-'70s? Sure the 'bulbs' were larger, but so were the lights (C/D), so they could have been incorporated without too bad a relative size penalty far earlier than I recall seeing them in the market. In a device with a critical component that's practically 'designed to fail', it would seem that would have been a marketing / selling point worth the penalty of having, just from a 'reliability' standpoint even (and perhaps especially) in the early days.
 
I would have thought a TL122 B, C or D from the WW2 era would have been a logical light carry a spare bulb. Or the later MX-991 light. But to my knowledge the first to do it was a Kel-Lite at the tail end of the 1st generation lights. They largely showed up on second generation lights but from what I understand they were available as an option before the release of the second generation version.
 
bykfixer said:
I would have thought a TL122 B, C or D from the WW2 era would have been a logical light carry a spare bulb. Or the later MX-991 light. But to my knowledge the first to do it was a Kel-Lite at the tail end of the 1st generation lights. They largely showed up on second generation lights but from what I understand they were available as an option before the release of the second generation version.
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Thanx. Interesting. I think the Sportsman and Captain designers of the day needed DK back then to help them 'think outside the tube'. Even if it had added a bulb/flange width to the length of the light, I think that would have been a worthy tradeoff (especially in a light that size) for the dependability factor - back when my grandparents (and parents) considered and used theirs more like an 'emergency' device than a daily convenience, and a practically guaranteed increase in 'dependability' would have sold product. I think an opportunity was missed in the 'consumer' flashlight segment if none of the players 'got that', and even more credit to who finally did 'get it'!
 
I suppose the rigid alluminum tubing is what made it easier to build a "shelf" the spring rests on in such a way that the bulb wasn't crushed. The stamped metal tubing was not very sturdy.

By the time those plastic right angle lights came with an end cap for storing filters they could have easily added a wee bit more storage area for a spare bulb. Perhaps the spare bulb would have rattled around causing the stealth factor to be ruined. I suppose who ever carried spare batteries carried spare bulbs too.
 
This is a fun trip down memory lane. The Streamlight TL3 also had that spare bulb storage. I still have one of those rattling around in the second glove box of my work truck. It replaced a Surefire C3 with an SRTH that I really couldn't afford at the time.
 
bykfixer said:
For a time the Scorpion was in direct competition for government contracts and at times the government split the contract between the two. A lot of flashlights were made for Desert Shield and Desert Storm. So both Streamlight and SureFire got a portion. Fulton and others did as well.
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What was Fulton contracted for during that period-- MX-993 and MX-994 lights?
 
I do not know the specifics beyond the fact that Fulton sold right angle 2D and straight tube 2 and 3D format. I don't know this for certain but it seems I read somewhere straight tube were for the Navy and came in white or gray.
 
The SL Scorpion! By far my favorite flashlight of the day. I thought these were the greatest lights ever, and bought a bunch over several years for myself and to give away. I still have a few Scorpions, but they're not used anymore.
 
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