New Guy, Need LED Searchlight recommendations

Hey guys, new member, but not new to lights. I'm kinda a flashlight whore and a Surefire junkie. I carry an E1B as EDC pocket everywhere, a E2D in the car always, a 6pled on my motorcycle, and a Z2S with a click tail-cap at work.

I'm now looking for a good super high output search light for use at work mostly and where ever else I may need it. I was looking at the new Surefire M3LT but that sucker is expensive, and I'm willing to try the less expensive alternatives. I would like it to be at least 500 lumens, and prefer the CR123's as and energy source as I use them for all my other lights. Being able to use trhe 123 cross-platform for what ever light I have is a big plus.

I was searching around the forum and came across the Fenix TK30 which looks like it might meet my needs and is priced right. I'm just trying to figure out if it can reach the reported 630 lumens running on 3 123's. Also the Jetbeam Mx1 and M2S. The advertising is mildly unclear on this. I'm also open to any and all other suggestions.

:welcome:

be sure to check out the Review Forum. Here are a couple good reviews by the user selfbuilt with some high output lights:

Selfbuilt's 100-Yard Outdoor Beamshots - 26 lights - July 2010
High-Output (MC-E/P7/SST) Round-Up Review: RUNTIMES, BEAMSHOTS, & more!

Also here is a video page on youtube which has a bunch of video reviews
http://www.youtube.com/user/goingprepared

Couple other lights that meet your criteria besides the ones you mentioned are Eagletac's M series lights, Thrunite Catapult, Olight M30, Malkoff MD3

hope that helps get you in the right direction :thumbsup:

Consider getting in line for a Malkoff Hounddog with 3 or 4 CR123s: http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop/malkoff-devices-hound-dog-flashlight-p-92.html

Not quite 500 lumens, but sometimes quality of the beam trumps sheer quantity of reported output. No question about these being highly reliable lights, and the price/quality ratio is certainly excellent with Malkoff's stuff.

There are many beamshots on cpf where you can compare the different light, but usual they are outside the review forum.

I have made one here (this link is to my own website, but it is also on cpf), that compares lots of larger/large lights. It does not include TK30, but that is because TK30 has exactly the same beamprofile and brightness as TK40.