I had absolutely no intention of buying a Surefire M600DF Scout Light of my own. That is, until I checked the function of one I’d bought for a mate.
It was like a nuclear sun.
Surefire’s flagship tactical light isn’t just bright, it’s eye meltingly bright. As for its applications, it got me thinking about an older article on the blog which was entitled: “Ultra Lumens: Toolkit Essential or Penis Extension?”
This was back in 2014, when the 1000 lumen Surefire X300U was state of the art and seemed really bright.
A quote I’d used by Alex Ko seems appropriate to repeat here:
I was at a recent training event using UTMs in which I was entering a building. It was essentially a warehouse. I was #2 going in and upon my initial buttonhook I saw a figure at around 50+ yards and lit it up with my regular X300 mounted to the AR15 to ID the target. I couldn’t sufficiently ID if it was a threat or not, I assumed it was and engaged. I got lucky, and it was a “hostile”, but it really got me thinking more about lumens and keeping in perspective end use applications of it.
This is exactly where the M600DF – with a staggering 1500 lumen output for 1.5 hours – comes into play: the less enclosed spaces we sometimes find ourselves in.
I’ve actually been using the light more for EDC than anything else, as it’s a veritable flood light. It has a large spot and big peripheral spill, with massive throw.
Don’t let that put you off the M600DF for tactical use, however. There are a good number of excellent reviews on YouTube which aptly show off what it does on a rifle.
Closer up, due to its power, it does tend to white stuff out. Ironically (and ridiculously) my first encounter with this was searching for a dropped screw underneath a sofa. It was just too close up to use the M600DF so I switched to a really old (and really weak) incandescent MagLite and found the item straight away.
That’s an extreme example, but you get the point. Up close and personal the M600DF is so powerful it’s overkill. Plus, searing white light hitting a white wall in a previously pitch black room? It seriously affects your eyeballs; and not just the spot but the peripheral spill as well.
Use the M600DF in a residential, white painted stairwell and you first have quite a glitch acclimating to the powerful light, then adjusting again to the dark.
That said, if you do need more of a floodlight (Surefire says the M600DF is best suited to medium to long range engagements) and you’re not familiar with Surefire Scout Lights, you’ll want to know how they are built.
I’ll start by saying they are built tough. Like Aimpoint is to optics, Surefire is to lights.
Surefire says that the M600DF’s white light LED is recoil-proof and virtually indestructible. The body is composed of aluminium and the tan version has a tough, mil-spec hard ‘tanodized’ coating.
Its lens is made of tempered glass and O-rings make the structure highly water resistant.
For mounting to Picatinny it features Surefire’s own knurled thumbscrew M75 mount, which is fully removable via two Torx screws.
To mount the light on my L119A2 replica, I instead used Surefire’s RM45 mount; but there are a plethora of other aftermarket mounts to choose from, by a myriad of manufacturers. The M600 series is well supported.
Although the M600DF has an output of 1500 lumens with its own rechargeable lithium ion battery, by using two CR123 batteries an output of 1200 lumens is possible.
This may actually be a good direction for those who simply want a slight uplift from 1000 lumen lights.
The M600DF comes bundled with a Z68 momentary/constant-on pushbutton tailcap, which features a protective shroud. A quarter turn of the tailcap anticlockwise is an effective lockout for transportation or negligent discharge. The tailcap can also be substituted for a remote switch attachment, but that isn’t provided with the kit.
However, aside from the rechargeable battery, the light does come with a charger and other accessories. Note that the power cable plug is a US one, which requires a travel adaptor to work with UK sockets.
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