I haven't seen the King Pelican. The D8 is NOT a tight beam (as the 100,000 over-inflated-I-suspect CP-rating of the KP implies). The D8 just whomps the room with light.
I think I said in an earlier post, IF I were doing S&R at night, I'd want the D8 for it's relatively long life and dual lamp and overall illumination capability while I'd also want an SL-6 (also UKE) for it's ability to reach out and touch someone.
Check on BrightGuy's return policy--buy both and return one--I think that's do-able.
I'd like to know what you think about the two side-by-side in a variety of configurations.
Cheers,
Richard