Eton scorpion Emergency Radio Review.
I am excited to review this piece of gear today. First of all, let me point something out, although the title is "emergency radio" this machine is much more useful and versatile so you will be using it more often to enjoy some tunes while resting by the river rather than to just listen to NOAA emergency broadcast. I took it out for a trial and it performed great, so let's get started.
Preppers are considered wackos thanks to TV shows on Discovery and National Geographic channels. For the sake of entertainment, they picked the wackiest, craziest families that prep and placed them for all to see, making being prepared seem like a joke. This in term made people point fingers and laugh at the preppers, instead of making people want to get educated on how to prep. And then tragedy strikes; tornados, floods, hurricanes, and blizzards have torn through our country and killed people. People that potentially could have survived if they were simply ready and educated.
This is the main and most important reason to get this radio. During emergencies information can be a lifesaver and depending on the power to stay on to get information can betray you since energy is usually the first thing to go out even in a mild storm. With this radio you can listen to NOAA emergency broadcast radio and stay informed even when the power goes out. Since the radio can be charged by a solar panel or dynamo crank you don't have to worry about batteries. Another awesome perk to this radio is that you can charge your smart phone via the dynamo crank, about one minute of constant even cranking should give you enough juice to make an emergency phone call, and if your phone is already charged you can keep it alive by cranking the dynamo while using it. Must warn ios users though, I have heard circulating through the Internet that the scorpion does not charge ios devices.
Preppers are considered wackos thanks to TV shows on Discovery and National Geographic channels. For the sake of entertainment, they picked the wackiest, craziest families that prep and placed them for all to see, making being prepared seem like a joke. This in term made people point fingers and laugh at the preppers, instead of making people want to get educated on how to prep. And then tragedy strikes; tornados, floods, hurricanes, and blizzards have torn through our country and killed people. People that potentially could have survived if they were simply ready and educated.
This is the main and most important reason to get this radio. During emergencies information can be a lifesaver and depending on the power to stay on to get information can betray you since energy is usually the first thing to go out even in a mild storm. With this radio you can listen to NOAA emergency broadcast radio and stay informed even when the power goes out. Since the radio can be charged by a solar panel or dynamo crank you don't have to worry about batteries. Another awesome perk to this radio is that you can charge your smart phone via the dynamo crank, about one minute of constant even cranking should give you enough juice to make an emergency phone call, and if your phone is already charged you can keep it alive by cranking the dynamo while using it. Must warn ios users though, I have heard circulating through the Internet that the scorpion does not charge ios devices.
There is several plugs built into the machine. You can plug in an A/C adapter to keep it juiced while there is power (not included), there is a headphone jack (keep those zombies from hearing you scan for survivors), a USB port to charge your phone (you will have to provide the cord), and my personal favorite, an input jack, yes you can hook up your Ipod (you still use an ipod right?), MP3 player or your phone and enjoy your favorite music. If you have not noticed a pattern yet, there is no cords that come with the scorpion, so you will have to provide your own Aux cord to plug your music source to the ample powered speakers of the scorpion.
If you happen to be old school and would simply like to chill to the aimless babble of talk radio, you can do that too. This radio is capable of tuning into any radio station out there and the reception is excellent. The scorpion has a built in antenna incase you happen to be particularly out of range you can still catch your station. The scorpion has a simple led screen that lights up and displays the time and station you are on and the rubberized buttons make it easy to go from the emergency mode (preset noaa station) to the radio or the phone charging mode.
So already you should be impressed, but the scorpion is not done yet. The body is "splash proof" and rugged, in other words don't dunk it in a river but I wouldn't be nervous around a pool or creek. The scorpion also rocks out some additions that are simple things that nobody thinks of yet make your life easier. One of them is an aluminum carabiner, it is not load bearing so don't go putting the pounds on it, but it is sturdy so it should not fall apart while clipped to your bag or on my case my hammock. It also has an led flashlight built in, because nothing is more valuable that a flashlight that doesn't need batteries. The other is a bottle opener, yes, a bottle opener, I am telling you this thing was design to survive the Apocalypse and the after party that will follow. You do plan to party right?
So, overall this is a piece of gear that is very well thought out. My only complaint is that the only way to charge my phone is the dynamo, why not the solar panel? Who wants to crank their phone back to life? Oh well. Aside from that this radio is compact, rugged, and very functional. Perfect for an evacuation bag or to keep in your glove compartment. I give this an 9 out of 10.
What other gear would you like for me to review? Let me know in the comments, also let me know if you got any other questions or if you plan on buying this. Below is a link to purchase the Eton Scorpion from the manufacturer.
Comments
Post a Comment