[arushus]

I just got my Surefire x300 ultra from Bot.ach this afternoon. And man is this sucker bright! I dont even know how to explain how bright it is...Honestly, it may ALMOST be too bright for clearing rooms indoors, but outdoors, you could easily make out people from a hundred or more yards away, it is ridiculous!

I bought it for my Spike's Tactical M4, and for ten extra bucks it came with a mount that mounts to the front sight so that the light is sitting at 12 o'clock. It isnt too inconvenient to reach up and turn it on, but obviously a remote switch would be much better! For as much as surefire charges, remote switches should be thrown in...naturally you have to buy a new battery door as well. All in all, to get it set up for remote switch capabilities, it would cost more than the light cost initially. Bo.tach has an excellent price on them right now, IMO, $209 for the light, and $220 for the light plus front sight mount, and as usual free shipping. But, before you order, call and make sure they are in stock, I always do this, and it always makes for a trouble-free order. However, if you are backordering with them, I'll be praying for you...

Anyway, Im sure you are all already aware of the high quality surefire is known for, and they did not disappoint this time. I dont know how they measure lumens exactly, but it does seem to be a legitimate 500 lumens based on what Ive seen from other 150 & 200 lumen lights.

[kodiakpb]

It's a good light. Here is a outdoor pic comparing the two.

[arushus]

There is definitely a world of difference!

[SCmasterblaster]

I'll bet that it goes through batteries quickly.

[Genin]

That photo comparison really shows the difference. Holy crap!

[SCmasterblaster]

I have a SureFire flashlight.

[dakrat]

Originally Posted by SCmasterblaster

I'll bet that it goes through batteries quickly.

+1. too much unnecessary brightness for my taste. I would rather have less lumens and more runtime. 200 lumens is the sweet spot IMO.

[SCmasterblaster]

Originally Posted by dakrat

+1. too much unnecessary brightness for my taste. I would rather have less lumens and more runtime. 200 lumens is the sweet spot IMO.

I could live with a little less run time for the brightness.

[FireForged]

I would hate to wake up in the middle of the night and turn on a 500 lum light in my dark house. It sounds nice for outdoor use though

[SCmasterblaster]

Originally Posted by FireForged

I would hate to wake up in the middle of the night and turn on a 500 lum light in my dark house. It sounds nice for outdoor use though

I didn't realize that it was 500 lumins.

[plouffedaddy]

I have a 600 lumen Streamlight Protac; it's very bright for sure but it's not blinding indoors at night. That said, I'm not sure it's would be all that more effective in a HD scenario than a 130 lumen Streamlight Polytac

[kodiakpb]

Yeah battery life according to specs:

x300 = 2.4 hours
x300U = 1.5 hours

[denn1911]

I have several X300's and am tempted to pick up an Ultra. My initial impression is that the Ultra is too bright.

[berfles]

Plan on picking this up around Christmas. 500 lumens really isn't that bright, but if you're woken from a sleep it probably will be. I'm used to my 2000+ lumen Maglite though, so even my 835 lumen Fenix looks dim compared to that. Honestly if I pointed my custom Maglite at someone, there's no way they'll be able to do a damn thing afterward.

[kodiakpb]

Originally Posted by denn1911

I have several X300's and am tempted to pick up an Ultra. My initial impression is that the Ultra is too bright.

Only in comparison

[SouthpawG26]

Originally Posted by denn1911

I have several X300's and am tempted to pick up an Ultra. My initial impression is that the Ultra is too bright.

The Ultra more than doubles the total light output of the regular X300, as given in lumen.

The light intensity of the hotspot however, which is what our eyes perceive as brightness, isn't actually that much higher: 13000 candela vs 12800 candela.

So the Ultra shines a bit brighter, but does so with a huge increase of the size of the beam hotspot, thus more than doubling total light output.

[zee90]

Originally Posted by SouthpawG26

The Ultra more than doubles the total light output of the regular X300, as given in lumen.

The light intensity of the hotspot however, which is what our eyes perceive as brightness, isn't actually that much higher: 13000 candela vs 12800 candela.

So the Ultra shines a bit brighter, but does so with a huge increase of the size of the beam hotspot, thus more than doubling total light output.

In that case, wouldn't a regular x300 still be better for close quarters? I would imagine with a smaller beam hotspot, less light is reflected back to your eyes and your eyes would stay better adjusted to the dark.

[arushus]

I bought it for my M4, mostly for the possibility of shooting at night. I can see how this would be too bright for clearing rooms indoors in the middle of the night. Im going to buy a TLR-4 for my G20sf, which fills that role of investigating things that go bump in the night...I was looking at an x300 for my G20sf, and discovered the x300 ultra while looking. I figured I may as well buy the ultra since it was only ten or twenty bucks more. But now that Ive mounted it and tried it out, I can definitely see that I may actually need a 100-150 lumen light for indoors. But, like I said, I couldnt resist getting the ultra for a few bucks more.

[Copis]

i take it holsters are not interchangeable?

[arushus]

Ive actually read that they are...I read that any holster that fits an x300 will fit the ultra model.

[kodiakpb]

Originally Posted by arushus

Ive actually read that they are...I read that any holster that fits an x300 will fit the ultra model.

Nope...it won't

[arushus]

Well maybe it was just with a certain brand of holster...I do know it is like 3/8" (or somewhere thereabouts, not positive exactly) longer than the original...

[kodiakpb]

...and wider at the bezel.

[dakrat]

Originally Posted by SCmasterblaster

I didn't realize that it was 500 lumins.

told you so