Better Gift: SL Scorpion or Pelican M6?

Since both of these cost about the same which one would you perfer? Which is brighter? I want to buy a Scorpion because I have had great experiences with Streamlight. IMO the PM6 looks better, but I had a Pelican Versabrite before and the bulbs were horrible.

This is for a non flashaholic so I am including 12 Sanyo 123s. ( He's a cool guy but he's not getting my SF123s!)

PM6 has gotten bad reviews (I haven't tried one). Scorpion is nice if a little bit bulky. Apparently it has a spare bulb inside, another good touch. You could also consider the 1x123 powered LED/xenon hybrid light for $34.95 from Cabelas (sort of like the Twin Tasks). I have no idea if it's any good but it's the first light of that type I've seen actually available in that price range.

V8TOYOTATRK,

IMHO it depends on what you want the light for. Whilst the SL Scorpion is a really great light it does have some obvious bad points. The Ability to carry it in a pouch is limited because of the rubber sleeve. The rubber sleeve itself can and does slip off the metal body. (I Know that some on CPF recommend gluing it on!)Finally with the Scorpion the push button switch can and does get accidentally switched on.

The Pelican has an excellent beam is very rugged and does not get caught up in holsters due to it's Aluminum body.
The LOTC does not turn on accidentally and the battery and bulb life are good.


In the end analysis both are excellent for what they are and IMO both are tailored towards specific tasks.

Just get both......you cant go wrong!

Doug

The cheapest price I can find on the M6 is $35 and the Scorpion is $20 so I would say go with price on this one. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Of course, being butt ugly notwithstanding, the Scorpion can accept a KL1...
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

what doug says is correct. i would bend in favour of the PM6 though...it has received very good reviews with regards to its cost effectiveness, durable construction and sturdy focusing mechanism. most of the bad reviews have subjective viewpoints. the PM6 has also been reported as being very water-resistant which is an area where the scorpion apparently falls short in. ultimately, i think it would be best if you could handle both in person and decide /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I did a major reconsideration after reading brightnorm's review of the Pelican M6. I tried one and with it's adjustable focus and it outhrew my surefire P9 even with the brighter bulb. Well, I sold the P9 and think that the PM6 is a steal. I think It's pretty well made, and the negatives I've seen have been mainly focused on subjective stuff that is of little concern to me, or I'm not sophisticated enough to appreciate them. It's rated bulb life is many times better than surefire. The scorpion is a nice light but no better than a surefire G2 in my opinion.

I don't have a Scorpion but I do have a PM6 and agree its a very good light for the money.

If I was buying these lights for myself, I would listen to R.Lee Ermey and buy both. But this is a gift. BTW, where do you get a Scorpion for $20? Don't tell me Botach!

I own both Streamlight Scorpion and a silver Pelican M6. At the moment I prefer the Scorpion. Here's my take on both.

The only disadvantage I see in the Scorpion is the fact that the rubber sleeve makes it difficult to retreive the light quickly from most sheaths. Also, the switch can be easily activated accidentally in a pouch. (It's happened to me while driving). When I do carry mine, it's usually in a Bianchi Accumold Elite sheath, so there are no flaps to fuss with, but a little effort is needed to sheath/retreive the light.

Now, regarding the Pelican M6. If it weren't for the lousy tailcap switch on mine, I'd rave on how good a light this is for the money. Unfortunately, the momentary on/off switch doesn't function well and it seems to only work when it wants to. It seems others have had tailcap issues with the M6's as well, so I've read. I've even emailed Pelican on the matter, but have yet to received any replies, so I'm thinking of getting the M6 clickie conversion kit from FlashlightLens.com to see if it remedies the problem.

By the way, why did you drop the Surefire G2 from consideration?

The cost of the replacement bulbs, and I don't really like the looks of it, even though its Nitrolon, to me its plastic.

OK, I didn't realize plastic was an issue.

How will the light be used? I'm still not clear on what the goals are. You're choosing very bright pocket lights, but I don't know whether other types of lights could also fit the bill. So I'll toss out a couple other ideas:

If you're trying to give a non-flashaholic the type of light he won't find in a typical store, and it doesn't need to be pocket sized, one of Wayne's clearance Blaster II's might be a good choice if $49 isn't too much. Uses normal D batteries and a 1W Luxeon with Wayne's 30mm optics for a much better beam than an NX05 makes.

For flat-out maximal usefulness, you can't beat the Arc AAA. You can explain that it takes 3.5 volts to run a white LED, so the light has a DC/DC converter inside, so this innocuous looking keychain light is actually a high tech piece of gear that couldn't have been made a few years ago.

Finally, if you want to impress with sheer brightness and can live with plastic, there's always the PT Surge.

Posted by V8TOYOTATRK: "BTW, where do you get a Scorpion for $20? Don't tell me Botach!"

Okay, I won't tell you (even if that's where I saw it).

[ QUOTE ]
V8TOYOTATRK said:
If I was buying these lights for myself, I would listen to R.Lee Ermey and buy both. But this is a gift. BTW, where do you get a Scorpion for $20? Don't tell me Botach!

[/ QUOTE ]
Yup Sorry /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I have both and like them both. I have had the Scorpion for over six months but just started carrying it again as my EDC last week. I carried the E2E before that but I changed because I don't mind banging my Scorpion up and the rubber body is nice if you have to hold it with your teeth. The PM6 has a better throw and a little more output. It is also a little larger than the Scorpion. My vote for a first timer wanting some power is a scorpion for cost and size. If he gets the "bug" he can buy the more expensive lights himself.

[ QUOTE ]
paulr said:
PM6 has gotten bad reviews ....

[/ QUOTE ]

PELICAN M6 EQUALS TACLITE & TACM III AS ONE OF THREE BRIGHTEST 2x123 LIGHTS

Brightnorm

Re: Botach

I ordered a Scorpion at $20 from Botach, it was a little hassle but I called to follow up a few days after I placed the order and they shipped it out that same day. If you don't mind putting out a little effort on your part you can't beat the price. If you don't want to hassle pay a few more bucks somewhere else, for me it was worthe the wait

Re: Botach

I never really had any problem with Botach, bought four SF lights and my PM6 and a Camelback from them and only had to wait once for my C2 to be back in stock (I just called to check status) and that took about five days.

They don't charge your account till something ships and they hold shipments until all items are in unless you request otherwise, which is what I did with the C2 I asked for my batteries and some SF accessories for other lights to be shipped ahead and they did it, no prob (now that they know me they usually ship whatever is in stock and put an "item out of stock" in the quantity of my confirmation).

I think some folks are just impatient and don't pay attention to the shipping terms on the sites and quantity listings in their confirmation emails. The prices were unbeatable on my SF's at the time!! I still have not seen prices like that on any other websites.

Some Items never seem to be in stock and they usually end up being hard items to get from the manufacturers (like KL3-HA).

I don't really find Botach to be a big hassle, but I'm a pretty patient guy.

Later,
TSG /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Re: Botach

Have you noticed that Botach gets mentioned quite a bit on CPF and they don't have a banner? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif