Here at T.Rex Arms, the Surefire X300 is our favorite all-around pistol light. It may not be the smallest, the cheapest, or even the brightest light on the market, but it wins on overall features and ergonomics. Earlier this year, Surefire improved on the X300 with the XH35, which increased the brightness from 600 to 1000 lumens, and added switches to control new low-light and strobe modes.
Unfortunately, it also had a new, much wider “Maxvision” beam pattern. When using the XH35, those extra 400 lumens seem to be spread down by your feet instead of being thrown downrange towards your target. Floodlights can have certain advantages over spotlights, but we prefer a much tighter, more focused weapon light.
That’s why we’ve been looking forward to seeing this new XH30 light, which promises to combine the fancy new features of the XH35 with the tightly-focused light beam of the X300. Surefire announced that the XH30 has begun shipping this week, and we’re looking forward to running it through its paces to see if it can replace the X300 as our new overall favorite pistol light.
The XH30 is compatible with Surefire’s Masterfire holster, which means it will also work with our XH35 Ragnarok, and our upcoming XH35 Sidecar.