I got my Stinger HP upgrade kit last night. I didn't have much time to really use it, but I made a number of observations.
The most surprising is that there are now 3 distinctly different reflectors in the Ultra Stinger/Stinger HP 'big head/big reflector' series.
I have 2 Ultra Stingers; the first came with a very finely textured reflector; almost such tiny 'facets' that you can't really distinguish them. The second one came with coarser irregular facets, that change to a more regular pattern of rectangles near the base of the reflector by the lamp. The beams of these lights are very similar; one has a better spot, by a small margin, but I forget which.
The Stinger HP head upgrade came with a reflector with very large, irregular rounded 'facets'. By very large, I mean more than a millimeter. I thought they looked like a Princeton Tec 40, but they are twice the size of the facets in the Tec 40.
The net result is that the reflector is much, much more shiny looking, with less ambient reflected light scattering. And we know this means greater projected light efficiency, of course.
So, take the head off the Stinger, pull the Stinger lamp out, and install the Stinger HP lamp. This takes some care, as it has a large
flange on it, and you can't really see the tiny pins that go into the two holes, *as you insert* the lamp; you have to do it mainly by feel; and if it isn't lined up, you will bend the pin(s), and when you try to straighten them , they will break off. I did that with my first UltraStinger. (Streamlight cheerfully sent me a new one, stating that most people don't find this to be a problem, after they've done it a few times. And they are right, of course. ) But you do need to be careful the first time you do this.
Then screw the new, larger head on, and I have a Stinger HP.
The first thing that's really obvious is that the light is much, much, much brighter than before.
Also, the beam is vastly different than the beam from an UltraStinger: it's much, much tighter, with a distinct edge, and yes, a few dark spots.
This Stinger HP light projects a beam on it's tightest focus about 3 times the diameter of a regular Stinger's very tight beam. And it's a very coherent beam, with a sharp edge. It looks a little like a Maglite tight beam, that's bigger, and smoothed out.
There is no wide dispersion of 'soft' light around the central beam spot, so it's vastly more concentrated than the beam from either of my UltraStingers.
I *really* like this beam!
Streamlight has apparently chosen to 'concentrate' the light of the Streamlight HP into a much tighter beam than the Ultrastingers, unless they are getting/going to get, this 3rd generation reflector, also.
I like the beam of the UltraStinger: it puts out *so much light*, that even though the central spot is diffuse, with a large area of 'Surefire like' light around it, it still has very good throw, due to the sheer power of the light produced.
And the Streamlight HP has both a very good spot beam, and a very good flood beam as well. The higher power of the new HP lamp and reflector are not used to project a more diffused beam, as is the case with the more powerful UltraStinger.
How bright is the Stinger HP; especially compared to the 30,000 candlepower Magcharger? The HP claims 40,000 CP. Without instruments, I can only report what I saw. Since the beams on these two lights are so different, I simply shined the Stinger HP and 2 of my Magchargers side by side a few inches from a white wall. To my eye, the Stinger HP puts out about 2/3rd the light of the Magcharger. Given the Stinger HP has 3 sub C cells, at 3.6 volts, and the Magcharger has 5 half D cells, and 6.0 volts, this was not a real surprise to me.
In fact the Stinger HP performed better than I expected. It does appear more than twice as bright as my regular Stinger, so the 15,000 CP for the Stinger, 40,000 for the HP, and the 75,000 for the US are pretty accurate when compared to each other. When compared to other lights, from other manufacturers, candlepower ratings, as most people know, are largely only somewhat useful.
Those who don't like lights with focused beams may not like the beam the Stinger HP produces. I think that Streamlight made an excellent decision with their 'new' reflector for the Stinger HP. I like the larger, brighter, and fairly tightly focused beam the Stinger HP produces. It has very good reach, and is adjustable to a nice flood beam, when desired.
While I expected the Stinger HP to have a beam the same as the UltraStinger, I'm very, very pleased with the more focusable beam the Stinger HP produces.
Adding the HP head does add to the size of the Stinger flashlight. The head is the same diameter as the UltraStinger, which is larger than the original Stinger head; and putting it on the very compact Stinger adds a little less than an inch in length; I didn't have time to measure it accurately.
This still akes the Stinger HP a relatively small light, especially considering how much light it produces. It's about 3 to 3 1/2 inches shorter than the UltraStinger, making it small enough for a glove compartment, or easy carry while walking the dog.
Streamlight has produced yet another milestone in their extremely popular Stinger series of rechargeable flashlights. Extra lamps are available from m favorite flashlight website, brightguy.com, at $5.30/ea
I ordered the upgrade kit, and an extra lamp, and thanks to brightguy.com's oustanding service, I had the kit and extra lamp just 2 business days later. Shipping cost was very reasonble at $4.75, making the total for the upgrade kit with new head/reflector, the HP lamp, and a spare HP lamp, cost exactly $34, delivered.
Now I have to decide if I want to upgrade my other two Stingers.....as if I had some *choice* in the matter......
