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  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stickman View Post
    Everyone has a lemon now and then. Report back when you get a replacement.
    Less than two weeks including shipping both ways. I sent exactly one email.

    It would be great to live in a perfect world but it would be hard to beat warranty service like that.

    I am going to carry the Tactician for a while and see which one I like better. Even if I love it I will probably buy another one of some sort. I am definitely starting to become a light geek. The long shelf life of the batteries as well as the exceptional performance that I've had with the four other lights (not including this one) makes them definitely a go to for emergency preparedness.

    Basically when a hurricane blows through and you don't have electricity for a week or more and you will appreciate a good flashlight.

  2. #32
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    Instead of starting a new thread I thought I would give an update on the XSC light on my 365XL. I have been using the XSC since May of 2021, so just over a year and a half as of this post.

    The light itself is fine. I have had exactly zero problems with it. That said I rarely shoot at night but from time to time I have gone out in the back yard at night (I live way out in the country) and practiced using the light itself, typically without shooting much as I don't want to alarm the neighborhood. If they hear gunshots at night it's pretty likely they will call the cops as it's out of the ordinary. For actually shooting at night I will need to find alternate locations to do that.

    Flash forward, and I bought a different pistol (a Sig P322). On a whim I bought an on sale TLR-7A for that pistol. With a suppressor I can shoot that pistol all night long and no one would care. What I immediately noticed about the light itself though was the buttons on the back were in my opinion way nicer that the Surefire XSC. The Surefire buttons are mushy and I feel like I have to hunt for them a little bit. The Streamlight however is very tactile and has more 'meat' to it.

    When I was originally looking for the XSC the Streamlight TLR-7 Sub had not been released yet and it had no ETA yet (back then). Also my only real experience with lights previously has been Surefire (of which I now own four different lights). Just my habits, but I was (and in ways still am) partial to Surefire so they started out with more points just because they are Surefire. None the less my curiosity had been piqued when I started using the Streamlight on my P322, so on a whim I bought a Streamlight TLR-7 Sub. Sig uses some proprietary rail so this is the model that can fit on my carry gun.

    After doing a head to head comparison I will most likely end up switching to the Streamlight for my EDC on my 365XL. The decision has nothing to do with battery type or life, or the amount of lumens, or even aesthetics. It has everything to do with pure function. To me the Streamlight seems substantially more ergonomic. The gun I carry is small as is, but in my opinion there is such a thing as 'too small'. Surefire made a super sleek light that is smaller and lighter, but it also is not as ergonomic. With the Streamlight the light feels like it gives me a natural place to put my thumb that is just perfect for light activation as well. I don't feel like I am needing to hunt or whatever for the micro size ledge on the Surefire. On top of that I really like the tactile feel of the Streamlight's buttons a lot better than the ones on the XSC.

    Yes the Streamlight is slightly bigger, but not annoyingly so, but that small bit of extra size seems to give me a lot better light control. With the Streamlight with my hands in their natural shooting position I can control the Streamlight better without compromising my grip. With the XSC I can obviously activate the light, but it's a noticeable difference between the two, at least for me.

    As of right now I will still use the XSC, but as of this moment I plan to eventually switch over to the Streamlight PRIMARILY based on the ergonomics of it.

    Don't get me wrong, there are other differences, but for my purposes either light has more than enough output, and I already have extra batteries and so forth. In the video below it goes over a lot more of the technical data in a hands on test comparing the two. Some of the other features seem attractive to me as well (but in the end not really a game changer for my use). The ergonomics though are enough to warrant a the switch.

    Last edited by alamo5000; 21 December 2022 at 00:25.

  3. #33
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    Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I'm happy with the TLR-7A on my 19. Great value.

  4. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by BoilerUp View Post
    Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I'm happy with the TLR-7A on my 19. Great value.
    I never used any other brands until recently, but that shows how little I know. My habits are generally to let others do the vetting and then just stick with what I know. So while yes I like my Surefires I learned a lesson that almost no one is the only game in town. I was pleasantly surprised by all means.

    I'm sure there are other things that make Surefire a staple. Their warranty and guarantees are excellent. Any time I ever needed anything (which hasn't been very often) it always only took a single email and cost nothing to correct. Not even a question one has been asked. They just make it right.

    For this specific light though I think it would be worth it to do a re-design of the activation buttons. To me it's more than just the 'clicky' nature vs the mushy feel.

    With the Surefire if I activate it with my support hand thumb I have two options. If I use the curved textured area of the switch I have to put my thumb down like I am playing thumb war with somebody. If I try to use the ledge just above that, that ledge is slightly better, but it's tiny and I have to slightly move my hand to get activation.

    With the Streamlight, the tactile feel of the button aside, where things are located and the shape of the button itself is in a much more natural place and there is more meat to it. In a natural shooting grip your activation thumb just goes to the right spot.

    With the XSC if I am using that top ledge I feel like I am using the side of my thumb to sort of rake the switch, whereas with the Streamlight I have a purchase right in the center of my thumb right on the switch without compromising my grip. If I use a similar center of the tip of my thumb on the XSC that little ledge is quite small and hence it requires a little bit of hunting sometimes, or I have to do the thumb war position.

    Aside from that I bought the Streamlight shipped to the door for like $130 bucks. The Surefire with one extra battery right now will cost around $360.

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  5. #35
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    As I've said before, aside from the cool guy factor, SF just doesn't offer enough over the Streamlight to make it worth almost 3x as much. I'm not married to anything but reliability, so thanks for the info. I will keep that under my hat for future purchases.
    There's no "Team" in F**K YOU!

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