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78 of 82 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE BEST & THE BRIGHTEST!!!, September 12, 2003
This review is from: Streamlight 78014 Ultra Stinger Xenon Rechargeable Flashlight with Charger, Anodized Black (Tools & Hardware)
//..The Streamlight Ultra Stinger™ Rechargable flashlight ROCKS!!! I am a gadget nut, and I have a very large number of flashlights. IMHO, there is no better all-around flashlight than Streamlight's Ultra Stinger. It truly is amazing how bright and light-weight this flashlight is. It puts out up to 75,000 candlepower yet weighs only 1.1 pounds. Not only is it bright, but you can focus the light to a small, penetrating beam that can be seen for miles. Don't let the light weight fool you, however. This flashlight feels rock-solid in your hand, and it can take a licking. I take mine running almost every night, and have dropped it on the pavement more than a few times, and it just keeps going. The Ultra Stinger is also durable and reliable. I've had my current model for over two years now, and the battery is still fine. I did have to replace the light bulb once, but that's not bad considering how many hours it's been in use and how many times I've recharged it. The only flashlight that even compares to the Ultra Stinger is the SureFire 10X Dominator™. The Dominator weighs only 1.25 lbs and has a two-lamp assembly that allows you to run it at 60 lumens (roughly 36,000 CP by my calculations, about half the output of the Ultra Stinger) for up to 3 hours, or at an incredibly bright 500 lumens for up to 20 minutes. Yes, 500 lumens (or roughly 300,000 CP) is 4X brighter than the Ultra Stinger, but the light is UNFOCUSED, so the brightness is lost over any real distance as the light diffuses. When you factor in the ridiculously high price of the Dominator (the best price I could find on the Internet was $360!), you can see why I recommend the Streamlight as the overall champion. The Dominator is a great flashlight in its own right, of course, so probably the best idea is to get both. I have several other flashlights from Streamlight, and they are all very well-made. Nevertheless, whenever I want a nice bright flashlight, I always go for my Ultra Stinger. My only serious question about it is, how can Streamlight make the Ultra Stinger so bright and light-weight, while their other models don't even come close? The brightest flashlight in the SL- series is the SL-35, which weighs 2.8 pounds (almost 3X more than the Ultra Stinger) and puts out up to 40,000 CP (Slightly more than half that of the Ultra Stinger). Plus, it's more expensive! The MSPR on the SL-35 is $229.95 vs. $174.95 for the Ultra Stinger. That math doesn't add up. Other unbelievable examples: Streamlight's 3.3 pound 8-Watt Vulcan™ spotlight can generate up to 50,000 CP, and the 7.4 pound 20-Watt Litebox™ spotlight can kick out up to 70,000 CP. How is it even remotely possible that the Ultra Stinger, weighing in at 1.1 pounds and sporting a 10-Watt bulb, can out-shine these oversized hogs? The obvious answer is "runtime" - the Litebox™ can run at 20 Watts for up to 3.5 hours compared to a 1 hour runtime for the Ultra Stinger. Who cares - I'll take the Ultra Stinger every time! Streamlight should take their older lights off the market and replace them or update them with the better technology found in the Ultra Stinger, like they did with the new Stinger HP. The Stinger HP weighs 12.2 ounces and kicks out 40,000 CP. Plus, the beam can be focused, while the SL- series is "pre-focused". I'm sure that Streamlight is on the case -- the HP models are nice, and I really like the Pro Polymer LED lights, too. I just wish that they could come out with an affordable competitor to the $1,800 Maxabeam 6 million CP spotlight. BUY THIS FLASHLIGHT -- YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID!!!
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