1,000 Lumen X300U

[spinmove_]

Beyond providing enough illumination in a low-light situation to PID a potential threat, anything more is superfluous UNLESS you want to weaponize the light.

Somehow these two concepts/purposes keep getting tangled up here. Neither is wrong but they don't necessarily overlap perfectly either.

I guess that’s part of my point though. You don’t KNOW that it’s a threat UNTIL you POSITIVELY ID them as such. If you ID the unknown as NOT being a threat then use less light or don’t shine the light in their eyes. If you ID the unknown as DEFINITELY being a threat, then it’s a good thing to start off on max lumens or have the ability to instantaneously go to max lumens.

Either way, I personally, for me, want ALL the lumens NOW with the simplest to use tool. If you want a custom configured 6 lumen level “Bop-It” flashlight, then that’s on you to manage that tool how you see fit. If that’s what you want, then drive on. I find such flashlights dubiously reliable to use in a stressful situation and choose to remove superfluous options. I don’t need to switch to a 10 lumen option if I can simply “muzzle down” the light and just use the spill to see what I need to see. I just think that some of the dudes that have actually been there and done that are offering their advice might lend an interesting and realistic perspective on what you’re trying to prepare for.


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[Trukinjp13]

Beyond providing enough illumination in a low-light situation to PID a potential threat, anything more is superfluous UNLESS you want to weaponize the light.

Somehow these two concepts/purposes keep getting tangled up here. Neither is wrong but they don't necessarily overlap perfectly either.

I may be misunderstanding this. But, I want my light to be a part of my pistol. Its job is to incapacitate the threat and id. I want to delay or slow my target when I hit them with light. If I hear a bump in the night and they come through my door I an going to light them up and if need be put them down. I want to overwhelm them with light. I want to impede their progress. I am not using my wml to do anything but to put down a potential threat. I have a handheld next to the bed for admin purposes if need be. My wml has ONE purpose on my pistol.

Everyone has their own reasons for why or what they want. I happen to want my light to be a weapon in itself. I have learned a lot from people more experienced then me from events they have dealt with around the world. And 99% say they want intense light on their weapons. As DB said the light should represent the sun as much as possible. I had previously assumed 600 was more then enough. Until I learned what it is like on the receiving end!

[MVS]

I ordered one today. Guess I should look at holsters.

[NH Shooter]

So I'm off to the Sig Academy today to take their Low Light Pistol Operator course. I'm looking forward to it! In their course requirements they list a WML as optional and based on AARs of those who have taken the course, hand held lights are the focus of the instruction. I'll be taking the Malkoff Bodyguard (600 lumens/7,700 lux), which is my primary EDC light, and the M61T head on a MD3 body (450 lumens/12,000+ lux).

FWIW, I am not in any way disputing what is being posted in response to my observations. I think I am to blame for failing to better explain the reasons for my interest in this instead of just focusing on my observations.

In regards to the X300 (which is what this thread is supposed to be about), I had the older X300-A (300 lumen) version and it was an excellent light. The beam was very focused almost to a fault in having little effective spill, but it sure did hit the target with plenty of lux. I truly regret selling it as it would be perfect for what I am currently looking for: a high quality light with the A-style QD interface that I can slide on the PPQ when comes out of the holster at bed time.

I'll circle back around tonight or tomorrow after I have a chance to absorb today's training. I hope no one took offense at my lame attempts to discuss this subject matter as it was most certainly not my intention to argumentative or seem disrespectful of those with far more experience.

[Hambo]

This is sort of one of those things where I just need to say “good luck, hope it works for you”. I must say that basing a home defense strategy on late night peeing is an interesting approach. I feel gifted...I don’t even need the light for that or to find the fridge. For dealing with potential human predators or a non hostile person in my home, I ll go with as much light as I can get.

Right. What NH does not understand is that being half asleep on the way to the head is an order of magnitude different from waking up thinking/knowing that someone is in your house to do you harm. One you do on autopilot and in the other your body and brain go from sleep to full speed right the fuck now.

[spinmove_]

So I'm off to the Sig Academy today to take their Low Light Pistol Operator course. I'm looking forward to it! In their course requirements they list a WML as optional and based on AARs of those who have taken the course, hand held lights are the focus of the instruction. I'll be taking the Malkoff Bodyguard (600 lumens/7,700 lux), which is my primary EDC light, and the M61T head on a MD3 body (450 lumens/12,000+ lux).

FWIW, I am not in any way disputing what is being posted in response to my observations. I think I am to blame for failing to better explain the reasons for my interest in this instead of just focusing on my observations.

In regards to the X300 (which is what this thread is supposed to be about), I had the older X300-A (300 lumen) version and it was an excellent light. The beam was very focused almost to a fault in having little effective spill, but it sure did hit the target with plenty of lux. I truly regret selling it as it would be perfect for what I am currently looking for: a high quality light with the A-style QD interface that I can slide on the PPQ when comes out of the holster at bed time.

I'll circle back around tonight or tomorrow after I have a chance to absorb today's training. I hope no one took offense at my lame attempts to discuss this subject matter as it was most certainly not my intention to argumentative or seem disrespectful of those with far more experience.

I hope that it is an illuminating experience.


Sent from mah smertfone using tapathingy

[NH Shooter]

I hope that it is an illuminating experience.

Well holy crap, it certainly was....

I'm pretty beat right now and I need to write up a good AAR, but it's safe to say my POV has shifted...

...a lot. I get it.

The Malkoff Bodyguard (600 lumens/7,700 lux) was outstanding out to about 15 yards, providing a wide swath of light that was not alignment critical. Beyond that the lower lux required a little more time to get good sight alignment due to less light on the target.

The M61T on the MD3 body (450 lumens, 12,000+ lux) was fine out to 25 yards, the maximum distance we shot. My time was pretty evenly split between the two lights but once we moved beyond 15 yards I used this light exclusively. I wouldn't have minded more and regret not bringing the 900 lumen/29,000 lux Hound Dog.

Both lights functioned perfectly, but there were a few people there with programmable lights who struggled to keep them out of strobe or low output mode. The simple UI of my two Malkoffs had no such issues.

The PPQ was flawless and the JMCK IWB #3 and mag pouches worked nicely.

Out of the 10 students, I dropped the fewest number of shots out of the faint 10-inch ring on the targets (about 8 out of 250 shots before we went to steel). The one below was shot from 5 to 10 yards using various flashlight holds (about 70 or 80 rounds on this target), the 100 grain frangible ammo shot low and left compared to the 147 I normally shoot;




The instructors complimented me on the target. :-)

I'll post a full AAR tomorrow.

[NH Shooter]

Another target, this one shot almost exclusively with the Harries technique. Yup, jerked that one way off to the left into Mr. Bad Guy's elbow;





A few more observations;

• I had spent two months of dry firing strong hand only which helped tremendously. I had also worked on mag changes and re-holstering with my eyes closed to simulate darkness, which paid huge dividends as well. No fumbles doing either.
• We spent plenty of time randomly loading dummy rounds in our mags to practice TRB drills. I defaulted to grabbing the slide to the rear of the ejection port to rack the slide and had no issues.
• We practiced failure to eject failures with dummy rounds and learned some very useful technique for that.
• All of the above in total darkness with our flashlights off.

But here was the exercise that really reset my thinking;

First pass was starting with the targets very dimly illuminated 5 yards away. The instructor shined a pretty powerful light directly into our eyes (not sure how many lumens) and once he shut off the light, we were instructed to take three steps to the right and engage the target 5 yards away with no flashlight. We were instructed to wait until we could make out the target well enough to engage it and for most of us, it was at least five seconds before we could do so. With a tritium front sight, I ended up with two perfect hits in the wrong target. Second pass was the same except we were allowed to use our lights. Even though I felt once again totally blind, illuminating the target with the 600-lumen Bodyguard allowed me to immediately engage two shots (and hit the correct target). The more powerful light allowed me to see even though I had just been "blinded" myself with a light in the eyes.

Going forward there will two flashlights on my night stand: one with very low levels for adjusting the thermostat, taking a piss and other non-critical needs. The second one will be the M61T-MD3 combo I used today for more pressing middle-of-the-night problems (the Bodyguard stays clipped in my pants pocket in case I have to get them on in a hurry - don't ever want to be without a light!).

I no longer have any worries about using too much light.

[Dagga Boy]

And the world is right again....;-).

[einherjarvalk]

I'm not quite ready to add a 1K lumen to my line up, but I figure more than a few of you are and Ike at Big Tex Outdoors has his shipment in now. Currently $234.64 shipped with code 15R.

https://bigtexoutdoors.com/products/...10704272293932