UltraStinger questions

[**DONOTDELETE**]

1. Is there a space inside the unit for carrying a spare bulb?

2. Does the construction of the light allow for the focus tweaking?

3. Currently, UltraStinger is not compatible with a fast charger, but a new model that is to be released in 2002 will allow that. Does that mean that they will be changing the battery, or the charger itself?

4. How waterproof is it?

5. Is it possible to attach a landyard?

6. Is it possible to recharge the battery separately from the unit?

7. How useful is it as an impact weapon?

8. Is there a comprehensive review of the UltraStinger available?

Thankyouverymuch.

 

[Gandalf]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mad_scientist:
1. Is there a space inside the unit for carrying a spare bulb?

2. Does the construction of the light allow for the focus tweaking?

3. Currently, UltraStinger is not compatible with a fast charger, but a new model that is to be released in 2002 will allow that. Does that mean that they will be changing the battery, or the charger itself?

4. How waterproof is it?

5. Is it possible to attach a landyard?

6. Is it possible to recharge the battery separately from the unit?

7. How useful is it as an impact weapon?

8. Is there a comprehensive review of the UltraStinger available?

Thankyouverymuch.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
1)No
2) The focus is completely adjustable, and has a nice tight spot, as well as flood beam.
3) It will be a change to the charger, not the battery pack.
4)It's not dive rated, but is O ring sealed,
and either waterproof, or very, very water resistant. You could use in in heavy rain, for example ( I have, BTW).
5) there is no provision for a laynard (ie. lanyard hole, etc.) If you want to attach a lanyard, it can be done with heavy velcro, and a few other things. there is a thread about this in the past month or so.
6)Not with the factory charger, although you could fairly easily build a charger for the battery pack, if you are handy with hardware, and have another charger.
7) It's relaively lightweight, compared to the Magcharger, for example. You could do some damage to someone if you hit them right,
but it doesn't have the mass for a good impact, with every hit. it was designed to be much ligher in weight to previous Streamlight police type rechargeables.
8) yes, but you'll have to hunt it down. Do a search on the Ultrastinger, and you will doubtless find a link to a review. This light has been extensively discussed here on CPF, if you wish to look at past posts, you can find lots of information, as well.

I have 2 of them, and they get a lot of use. I built extra battery packs using relatively inexpensive sub C nicads, and NimH cells. This is a substantial improvement in light output and weight to the Magcharger, and previous Streamlight rechargeables. It has a lightly textured reflector, that give a very even spot, with no annoying rings and dark spots, but still manages a very good tight spot, as well as a very good flood beam.
I predict you will like it, if you get one.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Thanks for the prompt response

I did know that the focus is adjustable, but by "tweaking" I meant adjusting the bulb position/angle relative to the socket such that it would allow for perfect symmetry in the beam.

Using "tweaking", I managed to make a crappy M*gLite's beam look like a SF.

SF assemblies, for example, do not allow "tweaking". Nevertheless, being a tweaking maniac, I managed to disassemble a P60 assembly and tweak it. I wanted to make sure it wouldn't be as problematic if I decided to tweak an UltraStinger.

Oh, and another question: does the charger know how to charge high-capacity NiCd and/or NiMH elements, or is it optimized for the default sh*tty battery? I do realize that you can just DO it, but I would like to know if that would degrade the life of the NiMH or hi-cap NiCd elements.

 

[Dennis]

The US charger is a trickle charger that puts out a constant .18mAh. This would NOT be suitable for charging 2400mAh NiCad or the new cool 3000mAh NiMh batteries. If you are going to go high tech on batteries, you will need to buy a new charger. You could do a cheap RC car charger for ~$25, but if you like to experiment you might as well go all the way and buy a nice RC battery charger that has settings for Voltage, Amperage, Peak, Time, etc. charging for $120+. That way you can charge just about any batteries you want.

I built a 2400mAh NiCad battery pack for my US which lasts about 90min, but it was a lot of work for various reasons.

Good Luck.

 

[Velcro]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kogatana:
A good place to carry a spare bulb is the endcap, however there is no room in this model.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Is that really really true? My Galls catalog states the following about the US: "Additional features include self-cleaning switch for easy maintenance, variable spot-to-flood beam and spare bulb storage in end cap.".

Greetings,
Velcro

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Google r0x: Galls catalog rip

In addition, this place mentions spare bulb included in tailcap as well.

 

[dano]

The US is a suparb light, and I use mine every day, and in the last week, we've had some really nasty torrential downpours, and the light had been soaked, with no ill effects. As for beam quality, i would rate it as 90% close to perfect, with no dark spots, and only slight "ringing."

There is no space in the tailcap for a spare bulb. Lastly, Galls is notorious for having innaccurate catalogs.

-dan

 

[Gandalf]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mad_scientist:
[QB]Thanks for the prompt response

I did know that the focus is adjustable, but by "tweaking" I meant adjusting the bulb position/angle relative to the socket such that it would allow for perfect symmetry in the beam.

QB]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
The UltraStinger lamp is mounted on a small square of plastic, which is doubtless supposed to put it into perfect position. And we also know how imperfect 'prefocused' lamps can be; I'm especially dissapointed by some SureFire 6P lamp/reflector assenblies that delivered a rather wide flood beam, with no 'hot' spot in the middle. When you pay $17 to $20 for one of these lamps, it should BE perfect.

One of my UltraStinger lamps had a spot that wasn't optimal, and I managed to 'center' the lamp by placing some small strips of heat resistant, fiberglass tape under the lamp's base. (Please don't ask where I got the tape: I have no idea; I've had it for many years). This made a big difference in how tight the spot beam is.

So, if you are inventive and persistant, you can 'tweak' the position of the lamp in an UltraStinger.

 

[Numbers]

There is no place in the end cap to store an extra bulb, and my new US has plenty of rings although the spot portion of the light is clean and nice.