Quick Review: Eton Scorpion II is a rugged solar electronic survival kit for $50

I’ve been using the Eton Scorpion II Model NSP101WXGR Rugged for over a month now. Eton specializes in making durable emergency weather radios and this is their new “everything portable model”. In the small package, it contains:

• A STRONG.5W LED flashlight. Lots of USB batteries contain LED flashlights now. This one is brighter than all of the others’ put together. It is a real flashlight as opposed to a pen/key light.
• Receives AM/FM/NOAA Weatherband radio. The radio is great with the antenna pulled out pulling in many stations. I don’t like the design of the buttons (would almost be impossible to navigate in the dark) and the speaker isn’t great. Overall a win though because you are trying not to die not hear the “midtones and lows”.
• The digital Tuner also has a clock which turns on any time you hit a button.
• It is super small, portable and rugged with a cool green tone design. I love the design and it is totally droppable and water resistant.
• 5V 1A USB output charges smartphones with a 800 mAh lithium battery. This isn’t huge but will give you a few hours in a crunch. Even more impressive, there are 3 ways to charge the battery: hand crank, Solar and MicroUSB. The solar isn’t going to keep your iPhone charged, but it will keep the device ready for when you need it in a window. The hand crank will charge your phone. Like a fishing reel, about 20 cranks will add a bar of battery to the device. I think you could probably operate the emergency radio on solar alone. 
• Bottle opener – because just because the lights are out doesn’t mean you should stop the party.

So I see two use cases for this device. One is an emergency device that you keep at home in a window solar charged for when your power goes out. That’s where I used it.

However, with the carabiner and the ruggedness, I think i this is geared toward campers and cars where it can clip to your backpack and provide you with lights, radio and extra power (bottle opener) when you need it.

At $50, it seems like a very worthy investment for me.

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