Olight M30, Jetbeam M1X, or a cheapy 900 lumens?

After looking around this site for a while and reading user comments, I have decided the Olight M30 or the Jetbeam M1X would be my best options, both at 700 lumens.

I will be using the flashlight for mountaineering expeditions, weight is an important factor so 18650's are a bonus over AA's.

The battery life also needs to last through a 6-7 hour night, a mode that uses just a couple of hundred lumens would be ideal. I then need to be able to whack the brightness up to max power every now and again for temporary route finding and navigation. I need to be able to see a decent distance ahead but I also need to get a good idea of the landscape as a whole and not just a tiny portion of it. I'm thinking a pretty good throw with plenty of flood.

After trying to decide between these two, I then noticed a whole load of cheaper flashlights that were 900 lumens, now these should be brighter and cheaper, but are there any disadvantages?

Re: Please help me choose a flashlight!

Deal Extreme or Kaliedomain lie about how bright their lights are. They use the emitter specs (which for the P7 lights were actually incorrect when they were first put out), with the ASSUMPTION that they are fully driven which they arent.
What you really care about is how many Out the Front (OTF) lumens you get.

Most DX ones will produce maybe half of what they claim.

I'd consider a P-Rocket which is 1x18650 and actually produces pretty close to its 700 stated lumens using an SST-50 at 3 amps I believe.

It is nice and compact for easy carrying and light weight. Simply toss in some spare charged batteries in an accessible mini-pocket or whereever. Use some cellophane wrap or something to keep em from discharging but that shouldnt be a problem.

I think that is much better than buying a light that is twice the weight that you have to carry. Its lots easier to carry a few spare batteries instead.
Since you will be running on Medium most of the time, the heat buildup should not be a problem.

And this is a cheap approach, relatively speaking. If something goes wrong you have customer service.

http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-182/**NEW**-MG-P-dsh-Rocket-SST-dsh-50/Detail
The older version. Very compact, flood and throw.

http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-183/**NEW**-MG-X-dsh-Thrower-SST-dsh-50/Detail
Slightly newer version. Built for more throw, bigger head so harder to carry. Newer revision of the emitter.

Ok thanks, I will definitely look into that p-rocket. Have you got any idea what the otf is for this compared to the otf for the M30.

If these cheap 900 lumen flashlights are producing 450 lumens otf and 'almost' 900 at the source, where the hell are all these lumens going? Is it just due to a crappy reflector or something?

What would that p-rocket put out with the 123 batteries? My dad is looking for something and won't use something he has to recharge

The M1X is much more throw oriented than the M30. While they both use MCE emitters, their beams are quite different.
The advantage with the 2cell lights is longer runtime. I would check the medium runtimes of each light against your requirements to decide if 1- or 2-cell is better for you.
Another option is the Dereelight DBS MCE.

The P-Rocket uses a linear regulator so running on high on 2x123 batteries should be very limited as the driver is dumping a LOT of heat. If you want to run primaries, its best to use low or medium for the PRocket.

You should have a look at the new Olight M31!
800 good lumens, great throw and much brighter than the M30

Also, Eagletac M3C4 line....they have options available (emitters SST-50, XPG triple, XRE triple, and MC-E....and tints Cool White and Neutral White) to tailor the beam most to what you want.

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Might I suggest 4sevens quark line-up? very lightweight, and small. its not a 500+ lumen beast such as the M30 or M1X, but 200 lumens might be bright enough when there is no ambient light, except maybe the moon.

the quarks have a moonlight mode which is 0.2 lumens which will last a month!

HDS clicky is highly recommended.

also, may I suggest something with a warm/neutral tint for the outdoors

what about a romisen RC-T6?