Modlite vs. Cloud Defensive Handheld Light SHOWDOWN | PLH-V2 & OKW vs. MCH-HC 

I'm cracking up, because I so confidently said "$110 less expensive" when the math was right there in front of me. Y'all the price difference is $89 not $110...There's something silly like that in just about every one of my videos, and at this point I'm thinking I need to just own it, name it something, and turn it into a game haha! Thanks for watching this comparison video!

I've been happy with Surefire for many years. Thank you for introducing me to possibly my next carry light(s)! Keep 'em coming!

For those of you just now tuning in…. I’m not sure if the lights were different a year ago, but you can program the MCH to be single output only and a variety of other sequences of high and low order. I have mine setup to come on high first or with a double click it’s on low for admin tasks.

One of the best channels on RU-vid. Informative, educative, and entertaining. Thank you for sharing!

Your editing has gotten superb! Nice job!

This was a wonderful review! I am a photographer and pretend videographer, and I appreciate the color grading, lighting, and editing of your video! AND you know how to nerd out on flashlights! Haha I love my 3 modlites, my rein, and my other 519a nichia lights I carry daily! I’m gonna sub!

Cloud is just using different regulation and driver boards that are tailored for each battery size, whereas the current and voltage that the modlite head is asking for from the two different batteries is the same for both batteries. Cloud is keeping the 18350 in a comfortable range regarding battery discharge and pushing the 18650 harder. 18350's tend to max at 8A-10A of max current; 18650's around 13A-15A. Another great video!

good review with some thoughtful insights such as heat of handheld over 1.5 minutes.

The nice part about this channel is it isn't over the top tactical/operator point of view, like its very armed regular citizen and way more useful reviews

Love your channel. Thanks for the info!!

Solid Review, thanks!

I love my modlite 18650 with okw head. Mine has taken a beating and still works flawlessly.

I have a Cloud Defensive REIN 1.0 on my home defense gun. Super happy with it so far

Your videos are excellent.

Thanks for the comparison. I've been considering getting one or the other for a while. Modlite is known for poor customer service and occasionally spotty quality control so for $111 more that's a big deal. I'm leaning towards the Cloud MCH more and more. I personally want my tactical lights to be high-only. I carry a second light for utility work. If I'm pulling my tactical light, I want all the power all the time. I don't want to press twice and get low mode or have it come on in low mode because I used high mode the last time.

Regarding the mch clip, it's worth noting that they apparently ran into supply chain issues with a stock clip designed specifically for it, the lpc was used as a stopgap. I'd also be interested to see if the switchback designed specifically for the mch has the same issues you described.

Werkz Holsters on RU-vid has a good video showing how inflated the claimed candela and lumens are from Modlite. He also ordered a handful of the same light head and had quite a bit variation between heads of the same type. Just something to be aware - still a powerful light, but Modlite has a ways to go for marketing correctly and quality control.

Nice video!

I’m a die hard surefire guy. I appreciate your video outlining these two options. I’ve had my eye on the mod light for a while due to the punch and throw it offers. Might become the new partner to my shield pluses.

Thanks

I love flashlights I got just got an older surefire m962 kit with the filters it's the incandescent bulb but it has insane throw for 110lmns due to its candela and cri is nice for color I like the ir cap for my night vision as a handheld little spotter

A budget suggestion here. I can’t give everyone in my household a $200-$300 flashlight but a near runner up in performance and functionality to these lights is the Fenix PD32 V2. It is 1,200 lumens and impressively 39,000 candela from a 1” head. Takes about 1.5 minutes on high to get hot. Medium is still 11,900 candela and will run for hours. The mode switching is: while the light is on use 1/2 presses to switch between H/M/L. But it has mode memory so M&L don’t get in the way. It might be the best tactical/edu switching setup I’ve tried. Normal price is $75 with a 3500 mah usb charging battery but REI has the batteries-less SKU on sale now for $45

A note about the MCH's temperature, 2nd degree burns happen after 2 minutes at 124F, so during the summer if you have to light someone up for a few minutes straight, there's a good chance you could get burned.

I have all of them and I love my cloud mch for carry but the modlite plhv2 is my go to on my rifle as well as the rein 2.0

First of all, great video. Very nice testing and quite informative. Although I will say your math is off, 220 subtracted from 309 is 89 so the mod lite is only 89 dollars more. Also I would recommend watching the werkz holsters "best edc light" where they actually test the lumens and candela on the mch hc 18650 version along with the mod light, a surefire light and a streamlight with an anzi plato fl1 spec. You will see that the cloud defensive mch high candela version is only at 825 lumens and only 48000 candela. Far below what they advertise. I will be purchasing a modlite at some point, because it actually does what they says it does. And because my dang mch gets super hot super fast lol.

I like carrying a Nitecore P20i. It's about the perfect size for a "tactical" EDC flashlight, I clip it inside my left cargo pocket and it gets plenty of use (I'm actually on my SECOND one, a Sheriff took my first one!) I had considered the P20iX but honestly, my current 1800 lumen P20i is way more than enough for most tasks. I was really just looking for a powerful light with strobe. Not even to mention the throw and candela, both of which are GREAT for PID at night! My only gripe is that I can't lock it from activating in my pocket (like Fenix PD series) and it gets pretty hot but that's expected from a 4,000mAh battery.

Thanks for the great info. Are you still carrying the Modlite PHL-V2? I'm looking at maybe buying one.

Nitecore P10V2 with ring clip. Very happy with price to performance and it's the only tactical defensive flashlight with a ring other than modlight/cloud defensive

I have the Modlite OKW, PH2 and Cloud Defense MCH . I’ve carried them on duty . The Cloud Defense was defective out of the box. It had a dim glow. The gasket also split the first time I disassembled it. They are fragile. They were responsive and happened to be visiting my city and delivered the replacement to a extra duty job I was working . The Modlite OKW has more punch and reach. Additionally the Modlite lights are very well built. The Cloud Defense are comparable but not quite as well built . A note: a larger frame person can carry them in their front pockets .

I use a Coast PX15R, it’s a great budget friendly option. I think the PX1R is extremely similar. For around 50 dollars it’s a great light, with the great backing of Coast. Coast lights are routinely dropped off ladders and keep on shinning. They are loved by many contractors. The only down side is I think they are in short supply right now. Thanks for sharing, keep styling on!

Math is hard lol (light pricing is $89 diff. Still basically 100 bones). I personally lean more towards Cloud for the specs but can see 👀 the benefit of the contenders. Did the beam color make a difference for you while testing the lights? (wasn't sure if you mentioned it, my apologies if I missed it. love your content and will be on the look out for more!😃

I have the dual mode Cloud. I think you should check it out, as the lower made doesn’t get nearly as hot for more daily tasks

Wow...I really appreciate the review on these lights. I no longer feel like I should buy one after seeing the beam pattern on them. I have lights right now that are easily one-third the cost but output twice the light...not just in lumens but actual beam pattern. I'm not at all impressed with status symbol lights now.

How is the xtar charger For the Modlite? Or should I opt to get the Nightcore charger?

For rifle light, i switched from Surefire to Modlite and just love it. I am still using X300 Turbo and ultra on pistols as these are 100% compatible with the 6390 and Gcode holsters. For Handheld I am pretty curious for HRT since the spec is good with good price point

While the temperature differential is absolutely a valid concern, I think it's mostly due to user comfort and tolerance Maybe I'm just numb to things I shouldn't be, but I've never been burned or made uncomfortable by my light getting hot, but I will notice the warmth after using it for a minute or two. On an older light the warmth actually alerted me that the light was on in my pocket, I was repairing a deck during the day and used my light to look for some screws that I'd lost under the deck, and when I found them I stuck my light back in my pocket (without realizing it was still on) and after about 15 minutes I realized my leg was sweating and noticed my light was on. While I realize that's a VERY niche scenario, it did "notify" me to some degree that I was needlessly nuking my battery life.

Do you still recommend the modlite over the cloud defensive? I want durability and reliability

Cloud Defensive offers a MCH with 2 output settings, high output and low output. The low output is great for administrative tasks, and situations where you'd need light for extended periods. The low output mode doesn't have uncomfortable felt temperature

Just weighing in for funnies, since I own and have used the OKW, PLHV2, and MCH HC dual output with an 18650. The OKW is great, but I ended up switching to the PLHV2 because it just seemed like a better general purpose light, splitting the diff between bright hotspot and decent flood. My friend and I played some flashlight games with similar photonic barriers to what was shown in the video, and I found the PLHV2 to have plenty enough candela to identify what my friend had in his hands and, if worse came to worse, it's got all the throw I need to make a shot with a handgun at what I would consider realistic ranges (roughly 20 yards for me using a flashlight in my support hand). I ordered the MCH shortly after its release. I waited two months for it to finally ship, and within a week of receiving it I was in contact with Cloud to warranty my MCH's defective tailcap. I had a fun issue where, when activated on high, the light would run at what seemed like less candela than my PLHV2 for two to ten seconds before stepping down to something significantly dimmer between the high and low modes. Cloud got the light back to me with a new tailcap in less than a week. I got the MCH back from Cloud in early-May and I've been using it as my EDC light ever since. With the new tailcap, the MCH has substantially better output than my PLHV2 with a much brighter hotspot and longer throw, while still maintaining decent flood. The low output also makes it handy for admin tasks, though I would have preferred to have the high output as the first selectable mode rather than the low. Battery life with the MCH has also been better than with the PLHV2. At the end of the day, I'd trust any of the lights in this comment to get the job done, and they all still have their roles to fill. The MCH, as mentioned, lives in my pocket, while one PLHV2 stays in my nightstand an all my other Modlites have been reconfigured for weapon-mounted lights.

Hello, this video came up in my feed. I like lights, especially with high CL, but I'm not a tactical guy. Where would one go to find the pocket clips and the round finger grips, not sure what they're actually called, that I see in the tactical community? Thank you.

7:07 309 - 220 = 89 I think

Thanks for breaking these down. It's a lot of money to buy and not like the out put. Is there any that you like that is cheaper? I have a tendency to losing things to my kids. I wouldn't mind having one that they could "borrow" and still keep my good one. With 2 of them being girls I still would like them to see what's ahead of them though.

What happen to Surefire❓

I would love to see a college student budget option. Any ideas?

If I called the shots for a weapon-light maker, I'd say "what's the smartest thing we can make with a single 18350?". Then I'd say "do that... now"

Do you have any contact with Darkstar Gear? Kind of last resort posting in your comments, but your review is what helped me make my decision on ordering a hitchhiker. Ordered April 20th, have yet to receive anything. Messaged multiple times with very little help and the week they said they were going to ship it was the week of June 20th, which was 2 weeks ago. Getting frustrated at spending ~$100 for a holster and still haven't received it going on 3 months later.

Modlight price points are bananas. $300 for a handheld is nut

Cookie cutter for light? Its about 45 cent per click

👍🏻👍🏻☕️☕️

Why didn't you include mch edc head?

Should check out some of the "hobbyist/enthusiast" flashlights. Modlite, Surefire, Cloud Defensive are top tier for weapon systems, but that engineering doesn't always translate to quality when it comes to handhelds. Can potentially start out with Sofirn/Emisar/Noctigon since those are more budget. Extremely high quality emitters, good build, better functionality - just doesn't look as tactical.

Amutorch XT35 is my edc at $50 gets you 100k candela which is blinding in full daylight

Cloud just finally released the stainless low profile clips, you can get them for free just pay shipping if you have an mch. Tons better than the thyrm clips

I find most of the 18650 defensive flashlight still to big for pocket carry. I dont know why anyone doesnt make a slim compact 14500 flashlight. You tested this not close range. A problem with tight hot spat at close can be that its to tight. At 1 or 2 meters distance it should be still big enough to cover both eyes!

2 of the most expensive lights available...I'll stick with my Malkoff Devices lights. Superior in every way.

So........... pricey!!

It looks so big in your hands.

LOL "sHoWdOwN" Laughs in Elzetta 😂

Jesus, better be life changing quality for a 3 digit price tag for a flashlight.

products like this are really where you get what you pay for.

i used butget fkaslight''' better than that light.......okay

Used to carry Streamlight and Surefire. Now I just carry Olight. Yeah yeah yeah, I'm still waiting for it to blow up. 😂

Fun fact, Cloud was sent off to different labs to get tested and they only produce 48k candela, not 71k. Pretty disappointing. they also step down significantly after 30 seconds

you're pretty

over price

I’d happily spend more on a mod to not have cloud problems. My cloud is finicky at best useless at worst. And after the chicro I don’t want cloud to even warranty my mch

People spending $600 on a 800 lumen edc light 🤦‍♂️ people with money to waste will do just that

That’s the first time I’ve heard someone compare punching power with photon disturbance. I really appreciated the fresh outlook 🫶🏻👍👍