I am getting back into shooting more night and my x300v has migrated from my current setup below back to my pistol. I plan on getting a TAPS and running a Surefire Light. I’ve heard mixed things about lights and need some help from the experts. Some say brighter white lights are better and some say vampire IR lights are better. Not sure what to go with, obviously the vampire lights are more versitile with having both modes but sacrifice in white light brightness. I’m looking at a the m300 series to keep weight and size down. So what say the experts? White or vampire type lights?

Bright white light + a great Illuminator (mawl). I own a m300v and it’s worthless for illuminating across a field.

Are you hunting and trying to see across wide open spaces, or in an enclosed area?

I like my vampire for a couple of reasons.

One, I like having redundant systems and it gives me illumination in case my primary laser system fails.

Second, I find the ir illumination actually better in terms of flood and bounce than laser illumination when indoors and lighting up a room with IR.

The downside is obviously as you said. You get half the white light with a vampire in white mode.

And vampires are pretty weak at distance anyway. There is a noticable difference between the 300 and 600 series lights.

Of course, you could get a DBAL-A4v2 and have the best of both worlds. TNVC will give you a crazy good deal if you call and order on the phone.

I’m not doing any hunting really, mostly tactical shooting mostly outdoors and some cqb. Most of the shooting is on my land with again mixed outdoor and cqb mostly for fun and to get more comfortable and faster at shooting. Some of it will be in the mountains and high desert with mix of sage brush to high mountain vegetation.

I’m not really looking to change my laser setup unless it’s a MAWL but don’t have the money for one. Any money in the future is going towards goggles at this point. I’m just trying to add a primary vis light source with maybe having a secondary Ir source if that is the best route.

I defy you to find me an expert left that thinks less lumens is better than more. If you do they are stuck in the past and I’d treat anything else they said with a suspect eye.

The new surefire scout has 1500 lumens. That’s what you seek. Cloud defense also has a new light that mounts like a MAWL and I think is even brighter iirc.

You might also look at the Fenix TK 25 IR, I have one on a good offset mount and it works very well for both day and night. The IR is good for medium ranges out to say 100 yards and a good mix of flood/spot on the beam. The white light is up to 1000 lumens. Uses both cr123 or 18650, costs under $100 and I think is an overlooked bargain light compared to the SF vampire series.

Im no expert by any means but depending on your AO will dictate how much illumination you'll need. Have the brightest with the most flood is not very well suited for all situations. Trying to stay as stealth as possible it's not advisable to announce your presence by shining a huge spot light when you need to see something since it can easily be traced back to your location. Bright lights are great for searching or defending but not so great for recce use. While there is no perfect setup for all around use ans every system has its cons. On one of my rigs I use a 9007 which is great for indoors and outdoors to @ 75m. Paired with a M622V 350 lumen TIR lens I can have additional IR that's good to @ 125m and white that is good to 150. All these distances are based in an urban environment. Take the same lights and use them in a very dark environment and the useful distances go up. Another thing to keep in mind is if you have a good spec NVD in an urban setting additional IR is not needed in most cases except looking into dark corners, under cars etc.

For argument sake Augee, say it was a combat rifle and not social rifle what would you say for light setup in that case. I'm by no means trained with NODS outside the cockpit and may never be but someday id like to be more trained on NODS with firearms.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, and will check those out. I'm not completely set on Surefire but they are high on the list as they are tough and made for the job... plus I get mil/le discounts on surefire. I like the Fenix light but only problem I can see is it will not integrate with the TAPS. I could see it good for other uses however.

Gotcha the meaning alluded me a bit but makes perfect sense that way, thanks.

Wish I'd have bought this instead of the Surefire Vampire. The only thing I like better about the Surefire is the AA battery option. Wish Fenix would do a AA version of their light. The Fenix switching looks better than the twisty head on the Surefire. No doubt the price on the Fenix is waaay better.