Morning gun bros,

I have always been a buy once / cry once type. If I buy a $200-$400 Surefire, I feel that I invested in the best, will keep it for life and never have to worry about upgrading from a cheaper light which costs more money in the long run. Plus, since it's used by the military, gives me a sense of confidence that it has been tested in tough conditions.

Lately, I have been hearing about Surefire QC issues. I was about to buy an XC-1 until I read about how they break often and this is well known. I never heard about SF having issues with their lights, is their quality going downhill? Are they still worth their price?

I have been seeing these Olight weapon lights come out. I remember when I used to be on candlelight forum's like 10 years ago, Olight was a cheap/high lumen option. Mainly for hobbyist screwing around, I never thought these were tough like SF. I saw a youtube review with the olight pistol light and the beam was so much better than the SF. I also ignored other brands, considered quality by some, in the past like Inforce just because I assumed they weren't as good as SF due to their price. I tend to assume quality and MSRP go hand in hand....just my style, I know some people think differently. I'm a "brand whore" as the chicks used to say in my old college, just with cars and firearms, not clothes ha.

Just wondering what you all think. Is the SF dominance as the end all be all light coming to an end? How do the cheaper competitors compare these days? Would you all buy 2-3 of these up and coming brands vs 1 SF light for the same price?

Surefire x300 and be done with it

This.

I bought some Olights, realized that electronic switches suck. The interface on their handhelds was pretty cool but electronic switches drain batteries slowly but constantly.

I do not like multifunction weapon light switches at all. Mechanical, single function is the way to go. Momentary is a press forward and constant is accomplished by rotation so you always get what you want vs pressing it for .012 seconds too short so now it’s on constant or activating it again within the .24 second window so now it’s on strobe. Maybe I’m just a simpleton but I really prefer the straightforward interfaces after playing with Olights for quite a while.

FWIW

PL-2 : sold
PL-Mini : sold
M2R : sold
M2T : have, gave to my wife. She needed it and it was dead, it’s going away very soon.
H1 : sold
H1R : sold

X300U 600 : on my carbine
X300U 1,000: on my G19
EDCL2-T : in my pocket
EDCL1-T : on the list for my wife

I’ll freely admit that I drink the SF koolaid but I’ve bought lights from Maglite, FourSevens, Olight, Streamlight, Surefire, Fenix, ThruNite, NITECORE, Inforce, and probably some others that I forgot so I can honestly say I’ve tried.

Surefire needs to understand there are much cheaper lights that perform or even out perform surefires.
Olight makes great lights.

This is from a diehard suefire guy. I easily have 3 maybe 5 grand worth of surefire lights and rails.

I had an Olight PL2 that would turn itself off and on randomly under recoil, got a replacement and it had huge battery drain issues. Decided that I would never trust a Olight for anything I would consider "serious" use. Surefire and Streamlight (surprisingly) have 100% for me and I am very confident having them on a home defense weapon.

I have had a lot of weapon lights

Surefire
3 Scouts- 200, 600, 1500 lumen models
1 M951
1 M952
1 M952v
2 X300A

2 TLR-1 and TLR-1 HL
1 TLR-7
2  Protac rail 2. 650 and 1k lumen

Inforce APL gen2

Insight M3X

Also have had a bunch of SF, SL, tomahawk, fenix, petzl, energizer, maglights, and the atomic light .

I've had issues with the paddles on the Inforce, I had issues with the Protac rail 650 lumen flickering and just not turning on when the button is pushed on the pressure pad, and I'm just not a fan of the paddle switch on the TLR.

All the Surefires I've have bought or issued to me have been rock solid. You can feel the quality difference in them.

A lot of the other lights have more features and better prices points and will probably serve you well for mostly anything you can throw at it but if I was going to have to pick one it would be a SF.

I really like the SF x300 its a solid light for a rifle or pistol if you're looking for a one and done light.

For each category I would choose

Fullsize
SF X300

Compact
SL TLR 7

Rifle
SF M600DF

I really want to like the Streamlight protac 2 rail but the 1k lumen model is huge and my 650 lumen has had issues.

Edit just realized this was in "Handgun Accessories". Nevermind all the long gun stuff.

True, I have one and an XH-30 (pretty much the same). I love them

Haha I drink the koolaid too brother. Great points, I hate multimunction as well...no time to worry about settings when you really need it. Could get you into a bind.

I think I have 3 scout lights for my rifles and shotgun and two pistols lights. Just got the XH-30.

All I own is SF, but damn they are annoying expensive! I wish they would drop their prices to stay competitive, worried that may drop QC?

Great to know this, I was assuming I'd get feedback similar to yours. Youtube has been tricking me with highly rated reviews on brands 1/4 of the price so was confusing.

Great summary, thank you for feedback on your experience. I'll continue on with SF. Yea I know what you mean about long guns. I'm with ya I use the SF scout lights just as much as pistol lights (x series). Glad to know I haven't been wasting my money.

+1
I’ve broken the switch on an x300u. One out of the 8 or so SF’s I’ve owned for years. My rate of failure has been much higher with other brands and I need my shit to work in the cold, wet, and snowy weather.

Streamlight TLR-1HL or Surefire X300 are GTG and really the best starting point of pistol WMLs.

Thanks guys, love the first hand feedback