I work for security at a giant warehouse, and I have to walk a 1/2-3/4 mile fenceline 4-6 times a day (good exercise I love it). I'm using a Torch from wicked lasers and tbh it's doesn't do what I thought it would, it doesn't quite throw enough, and has to much flood (I often blind truck drivers and the yard jockeys). I need something that's 8k+ lumen with 30-45 mins of battery life if that's even possible, and adjustable would be great as well. My budget is somewhere between 150-200$. I will be using this for other things as well like hiking at night in the mountains etc etc. I also need it to be about the size of a mag-light. I hope that's enough info. Any help would be appreciated.
To get that out put, for that run time, would require lot of power, and, space to store all that energy. You also describe using the light as both a flood and a search light....which means it either has an in efficient defocusable head or a zoom lens.
You say the current torch doesn't throw far enough, AND that its too floody...
And you describe your potential patrol as having a potential ~ 1/2 to 3/4 mile sight line. That's a roughly 800 - 1,300 meter range.
To resolve a guy who doesn't want to be seen from a low contrast back ground, at those ranges, you need a very high cd....beyond what a hand held flashlight can do.
If you were OK with a beam that could resolve that level of detail at say 200 meters or so, that's more in your budget and specs.
About the lumens...you, so far, indicate the prior torch may have had TOO MUCH. IE: It was too floody, with too little range. What it needed was to either take the lumens it DID make, and concentrate them into a tighter beam so as to not blind your buddies with wasted flood, in addition TO BLINDING the guys making off with the printers, etc.
IE: You can't afford 8k lumens that also has the throw you want.
For your budget, it sounds like a practical alternative might be something like one of Vinh's K40vn or TN31vn, which would get a lot of light down range, and allow you to focus it onto the points needed. Those lights get you ~ 400 -500 k cd, which is going to get you ~ 10 - 12 lux on something ~ 200 meters away.
For perspective, when calibrating a night shooting scenario, a shooter with an illuminated scope might need ~ 1-5 lux on target to be able to aim, depending on their night vision adaptation level. That light level lets you see a guy in a white shirt at that range...but not a dark shirt. You start to need ~ 10 -15 lux on a target at that range to resolve low contrast features.
So, you should not look at lights with under ~ 400,000 cd. (400 k cd), with more being better. Forget about it being adjustable, as that blows the budget as well as typically the water resistance and durability too.
Drop the lumen spec, as its not what you want as much as cd.
