ThruNite Scorpion V2
ThruNite has for some time been known for the Catapult (Made in V1, V2, V2 XML and V3), a large and very solid thrower light, but lately they have expanded the range of light with more models, in this review I am going to look at the Scorpion V2 tactical light. This light has five modes (lockout, infinite (variable brightness), firefly, strobe, momentary) that can be selected by turning the tailcap, on/off and momentary is done with an electronic tail switch. The light is made of aluminum with hard-anodized (Type 3) finish.
The light is delivered in a solid black cardboard box with a wrapper around that shows what model is in the box. Inside is foam with cutouts for light and holster.
The box contains the light, a manual, a warranty card and a holster. There was no o-rings or lanyard.
The light has a smooth reflector with a XM-L led at the bottom, to protect the glass and give the light a solid front it has a stainless steel bezel.
It is possible to unscrew both the bezel and the reflector. The reflector part of of the head uses square cut threads with a o-ring.
As usual on high power lights it has some cooling fins, the rest of the light is covered in knurling.
The light has a removable clip and it is easy to remove, remove the tailcap and loosen the lock ring (There are no o-rings to remove), now the clip and be removed or mounted again.
The tailcap is unscrewed by turning on the antiroll roll ring or the knurling just behind the ring. The ring works very well for antiroll, but is not very good for holding the light cigar style.
The tailcap is mounted with square cut threads, but there is no o-ring on the outside.
Looking into the light it can be seen that it uses a spring for + connection, i.e. it will work with flattop batteries. Inside the battery tube there is a plastic insert and just above the insert is a o-ring.
The tailcap is a plastic button and a plastic ring to select mode. The actual function of the button depends on the selected mode. The inside of the tailcap is one big unit. When mounting the tailcap the pins on the tailcap must match a grove in the body, this works automatic, there is no need to do any alignment, just screw it on without using a lot of pressure and the pin will catch the grove.
- Lock-out, button is locked half way down (When turning the ring the button will be pulled down).
- Infinite, press button to turn on or off, hold it down when turning on and the brightness will change.
- Firefly, press button to turn on or off, this is the lowest mode.
- Strobe, button is momentary, strobe is always full brightness.
- Momentary, button is momentary, on is always full brightness.
This interface makes it possible to select momentary/strobe/firefly mode before turning the light on. If the light is is on in Infinite or Firefly, the tail can be moved to another position and the button pressed to change to that function.
The 3 button position: Lock-out, not-pressed and pressed. Except for the lock-out position, the tailcap can be turned to all the other positions with one finger. All positions has a click-stop.
Here is a adjustment sequence from infinite mode. The button is held down and after 1.5 second the light starts changing brightness, until the button is released again. Both max. and min. is marked with a double flash, there is ample time after the flash to release the button and select min. or max.
The light is supplied with a holster.
ThruNite has also made a turbo head for the light, this has a larger reflector to give more throw. In the beamshot comparison I have included the light with both the regular and with the turbo head.
The Scorpion is a very powerful light for its size and has a simple and flexible user interface that can be controlled with one finger and includes lock-out. With the turbo head it is possible to increase the throw a bit. The light is mostly for 18650 batteries, with CR123 it is best to keep the brightness down and only use full brightness in momentary mode.
I like the light with its high brightness and easy user interface.
Technical specification and measurements
This light is designed for 2xCR123 and 1x18650 batteries. All sizes of 18650 will work from 65 mm to 70 mm long with button or flat top.
Measured size and weight standard head:
Length: 165 mm
Diameter: 25 mm to 35 mm
Weight: 203 gram with CR123 and 217 gram with AW18650-26
Measured size and weight turbo head:
Length: 173 mm
Diameter: 25 mm to 41 mm
Weight: 220 gram with CR123 and 234 gram with AW18650-26
The light uses a Cree XM-L T6 led, this is a cool white led. ThruNite has also made a limited run with a neutral white led.
Usual a tailcap with controls need a extra connection to the head, but this tailcap get around this and only has the usual connection to the head. To transfer the tailcap selection is used magnets, the selector moves a magnet and the button pushes it forward. Inside the plastic insert in the body is hidden some magnetic sensors (probably reed relays).
In the above table I have collected all modes. I have also included off as a mode, because the light uses a small amount of power. All the estimated runtimes are with a 2600mA LiIon battery. The estimated lumen is scale from the specified maximum. The brightness is a relative measurement from a lux meter.
All the values are measured at 3.7 volt. The battery warning was observed in infinite mode at 2.7 volt.
The first voltage sweep is done in high mode and I have used a couple of minutes for this, at a about 5.6 volt the 1 minute step down can be seen. Some of the brightness drop is all due to temperature.
To get around the 1 minute step down I also did a fast voltage sweep, here the light hits is maximum current drain of 3 ampere. Using RCR123 cells the maximum current drain will be about 2.2 ampere, just before the cell is empty!
At infinite the maximum current drain is about 2.7 ampere.
Some more curves with different settings in infinite mode.
Runtime again shows that the brightness is depends on battery voltage. On the LiIon track some ticks can be seen from 80 minutes, this is the low battery warning. The light works very well with LiIon cells, reducing the output to a low value and flashing a alarm, before the cell is discharged too much. Using CR123 batteries only gives about 10 minutes at full brightness (Tested with Panasonic cells), they are best used at lower brightness settings!
With two IMR16340 cells the brightness is more stable and it has a decent runtime (35 min), but the light will over discharge them, because the warning is designed for one cell.
The above two traces shows the first 3 minutes with LiIon and CR123 batteries, the specified drop after one minute can be seen, but it is rather small (Note: These curves are made with my high-speed equipment that samples the brightness more than 1000 times each second in the above curves, i.e. any fast variation in brightness is shown).
I did also make a curve of infinite high setting, there is no brightness step down.
The strobe is 10 hz with 50% duty cycle and is using maximal brightness.
Comparison to other Flashlights
ThruNite Scorpion V2, ThruNite Scorpion V2 with turbo head, Fenix TK21
Fenix TK35, JetBeam BC40, Crelant 7G3,
For the full comparison to other lights with graphs and beamshots see here
Another full comparison can be seen here
Notes
The light was supplied by ThruNite for a review.
