Streamlight Scorpion + Hammer and drill = Perfect P60 Host
Gentlemen,
Have you ever had a torch that you loved and cherished for years, only to wind up forgotten and neglected because some younger, prettier, and brighter torch came along? May I present to you my first: The Streamlight Scorpioin.
Our relationship started way back last century (1995 to be exact), and for more than a decade we laughed, we loved, were inseparable... But as so often happens I found myself not carrying a torch for a few years and soon my precious was demoted to "car duty" (shudder...). It was only in the past 6 months that I rekindled my interest in all things shiny, and found myself buying new torches with these new fangled LED's... (and buying, and buying, and buying...). Well, one night as I was rummaging through my old electronics bag I came across my old streamlight. Compared to the new lights out there, the years haven't been kind to this old gal. Popping a couple of fresh C123's in there, I was dismayed at the output after recently being spoiled by the newer tech. But still, there was just something about the size...the rubber grip texture...the perfect clicky...
A quick google search of upgrades available turned out only a strion incan mod (blech....). Out of nowhere the Six Million Dollar Man theme song started playing though my head. We can rebuild her....faster, stronger, brighter!
Not knowing the direction this would take I started with a simple teardown. As it turns out, this is the hardest part of the mod. After unscrewing the head and removing the bulb, the lens can be removed by pushing something blunt up through the hole. The lens just snaps in place. Make sure the end is soft so it doesn't scratch the lens, we'll need that later. The next part is pure brute force. To remove the reflector, place the head face down on soft wood and find a suitable socket to use as a punch on the rear. Apply ball peen hammer gratuitously to the makeshift punch and it should look something like this:
If one is so inclined, the clicky can also be accessed by using a very small screwdriver and carefully working it around the rubber sleeve while pulling. Once apart it looks like this:
Once apart it was apparent that with a little work I could make it P60 host-able. Aside from the tear down, the only thing I had to do was enlarge the interior of the head to accommodate a drop-in. Turns out a 55/64" drill bit is almost the perfect size for this (7/8" will also work, but will be oversided and require more tinfoil or copper). Yup, no lathe needed for this mod. Just drill down until the bit starts to touch the inner threads, then the depth will be perfect (just take your time to keep it centered). It should look like this:
And that's it for the hard stuff. The rest of the mod is rather blasé, more like a P60 assembly. As fate would have it, the day I started this mod a padded yellow envelope arrived on my doorstep. Looks like 'ol bessy is getting an XM-L! The driver of this particular drop-in would only do 1.7A, so it was swapped with a SB 2.8A piece. A single wrap of copper foil was cut and ready for final assembly.
The last part only requires snapping the plastic lens back in place. Mine had been scratched to hell and back from over a decade of carry, so a new one is on order.
And that's it. I've fallen in love all over again. The neat thing about this is that a used scorpion can be had for @$20, which puts it in the same price range as a solarforce. But the IMHO, there's no comparison...The scorpion is smaller, slimmer, has a better feel due to the full rubber grip, and doesn't have any pocket shredding "tacticool" assult crown. The fact that's it's now putting out roughly 10x the lumens doesn't hurt either . Although it can be run off of primaries, I suggest using a good 17670 (depending on driver/emitter combo, of course). And that's it!
Here's some before and after shots :
Before:
And after: