Last year Cloud Defensive started a journey to make the best weapon light on the market. It took a year and the light has gone through some significant changes from when I posted about it almost a year ago to the day. Click here to see what it looked like a year ago. Well, I got my hands on a Cloud Defensive OWL thanks to my friend Jason. Let’s take a look at this self-proclaimed Optimized Weapon Light (OWL).

Cloud Defensive OWL Is Simplicity Itself

The Optimized Weapon Light was designed to eliminate the drawback of traditional weapon lights. Earlier, Cloud Defensive built the Light Control System, which is a metal box to house Surefire tape switches. It was a rugged mount that has integrated cable management. Even though this solved problems like mushy tape switches and reduced the possibility of wires snagging or other cable management from failing like zip ties or rubber bands, the Optimized Weapon Light integrates the pressure pad into the weapon light itself.

The Cloud Defensive OWL was inspired by the BE Meyers MAWL laser. It shares a similar design. They both have a centralized offset body with integrated activation buttons. They also have quick change heads and tailcaps that allow for fast ambidextrous mounting. Just flip the head and tailcap positions and you can set it up for right handed or left handed shooters.

The front lens of the light can be replaced by unscrewing the front section of the bezel off. So you can clean it or just replace it if it gets fouled up or in case you break it.

OWL Evolved

If you look at the old prototype OWL, the new production OWL has changed significantly. The pressure pad is flatter and the body size increased. This is due to changing from 3xCR123 batteries to a single 18650. They obviously went with a more efficient LED. According to Sean, owner and founder of Cloud Defensive, they spent a lot of time making sure everything was right. The tape switch feel was one critical area that he spent a lot of time getting right. The pressure pad has to be low enough to eliminate an accidental discharge of light. The mount has to be low enough so you are not grabbing a huge brick. The switch has to be soft enough that it does not take a lot of pressure to activate but has a positive feedback when pressed.

They designed the OWL to clear most of the front sights available on the market.

While they did not try a Wolf A1 upper, it clears the front sight without an issue.

OWL All The Things

Since the Cloud Defensive OWL is a stand-alone unit, it can attach to almost any firearm you can think of.

While the Cloud Defensive OWL was designed to be placed at the 12 o’clock position of a rail, the MP5 does not have a top rail you can attach it to. But if you mount it to the right side, it positions the pressure pad similarly to a SureFire 628 handguard weapon light. This is surprisingly rather ergonomic.

The rear tailcap of the OWL is machined to be a tool for tightening the mounting screw of the OWL. However, there is a slight issue when mounting the OWL onto a quad rail. If you have rail covers, they can get in the way of the rear tailcap tool.

The OWL clears the rail cover on my WOLF A1 upper quad rail.

But if I try to use the tailcap to tighten or loosen the OWL, the rail cover gets in the way. I have to remove the rail cover or use a different tool to unscrew the OWL. I would prefer a slot to be added to this mounting screw. It would not affect the light in any way but just offer an alternate method of loosening or tightening the screw.

Another area I would like to have changed is the knurling on the rear tailcap. Look at the photo above. It is rather flat and not pronounced. Sean told me the anodizing affected the knurling but I feel they could machine deep grooves all along the tailcap. Rather than try to get more aggressive knurling to be rough like sandpaper, they need gouges that you can get your fingers to grab onto.

The tailcap is mostly recessed into the body of the OWL. This reduces the amount you can grab onto and twist the tailcap on or off. Add to the fact that the tailcap pressure and detents are rather significant, I find that I have a tough time removing the tailcap. Especially when it is on a handguard. There is very little to grab onto with just my thumb and index finger. I don’t mind the high tension nor the stiff detents that keep the tailcap in place. But the knurling is too smooth. If your hands are slippery from water, sweat or other fluids then it would be almost impossible to remove the tailcap.

For battery changes, it is easier to remove the head since I can grab more surface area and the head is more exposed than the tailcap.

Is the OWL Too Big?

There have been some people who think the Cloud Defensive OWL is too big. While it is bigger than your run of the mill SureFire Scoutlight or even the Streamlight Protac Railmount HLX. It is a better light than those two.

Size is relative. 10 years ago the SureFire M952 was the weaponlight of the military. Size wise it similar but performance wise only the M962 with KX9T turbo LED head can compete with the OWL.

Next to the SureFire Hellfighter, the OWL is puny. There is always a bigger light. But the Hellfighter is not a practical light for a carbine.

Another concern is the weight of the OWL. While it is heavier, it is not a deal breaker. It weighs similar to the MAWL or the 3x CR123 old school SureFire.

Remember the old 90-degree vertical grip Surefire light? It can use the KX9T head but it weighs a lot.

However, nothing is as heavy as the Hellfighter.

 

But You Can’t Use The OWL With Lasers

The Cloud Defensive Optimized Weapon Light was designed to be a stand-alone rifle light. It is for duty rifles where they do not use lasers or night vision. However, I was curious about what it would take to use a laser with the OWL. It can be done but with some compromise.

You could mount a MAWL at the 12 o’clock position and the OWL on the side.

Activating the laser requires reaching over the OWL. While activating the OWL involves shifting your thumb to the side and down.

If you use an unconventional weapon like a Chiappa Rhino, it is possible to mount both the MAWL and OWL.

Actually, if you mount the MAWL on one side and the OWL on the other side of the quad rail, you can have both on a gun and it is slightly more useable. You will have to adopt a side squeezing activation style handgrip as opposed to a c-clamp style which the MAWL and OWL were designed for.

It is not ideal and I rather run the Cloud Defensive OWL on a different gun by itself while running the MAWL with a Scoutlight. That way I can place both the OWL and MAWL at the 12 o’clock position as they were intended.

There are some weapon lasers out there that can be compatible with an OWL. I borrowed my friend Kyle’s Holosun LS117G as a proof of concept and I was right. The laser is small enough to clear the OWL. What helps is the laser is not offset. In fact, it sits directly above the barrel. And since the latch and battery are all on the left-hand side, this frees up the right-hand side of the LS117G for the bezel of the OWL to sit right next to it.

The only downside to this setup is that the LS117 series of lasers do not have an activation button. Instead, there is a selector switch on the back. You can have momentary activation using a pressure pad tape switch and the LS117 lasers are compatible with Insight plugs like the ones used on the L3 ATPIAL. But now you have to put that tape switch somewhere.

As I said earlier, a laser can work with the OWL but there will be a compromise somewhere.

Downrange OWL Performance

There is a small problem when using very powerful flashlights. It is the atmospheric conditions in which you use the lights. Some areas I went to test these lights were clear and crisp. Others have some particulates, aka photonic barriers, that obscure or bounce the light back at you. Sort of like high beams in fog.

During my initial testing, I found these particles in the air have a significant effect on the lights I used. I am not sure if it was dust or moisture. I assume moisture because it had recently rained – a couple of days before my test. The OWL has a warmer tint which is supposed to help with photonic barriers but I did not notice it in my limited testing.

The problem I had was trying to capture on camera what my eyes were seeing. The photonic barriers here made it difficult for me to see anything past 100 yards and that was even when I used a scope. It truly was like high beams in fog. It helped a bit if the light was off axis so that I am not directly behind the cone of light. That way I am not trying to see through all the brightly lit particulates. In the test below, I still struggled to see the light illuminating a hillside 200+ yards away even though the camera picks it up. Strangely the SiOnyx Aurora was able to see through the photonic barriers as you can see below.

This is actually an issue I noticed years ago when using my SureFire Hellfighter. If I have the light anywhere near my gun, it is hard to see long distances. But if my friend holds the light and steps to my side a few feet, then I can see out to 600+ yards with the Hellfighter.

I tried the OWL again in a different location and saw better results. There were much fewer photonic barriers and I was able to see out to 200 yards.

I used my Nikon D3300 and a 50mm prime lens to capture what my eyes were seeing. I apologize for the bad focus but you can get an idea of what it looks like with the OWL vs my SureFire KX9T.

The two photos below were taken with my iPhone 7+ with auto exposure and auto focused locked.

Below are photos taken looking through my Primary Arms PLx8 Raptor M2 zoomed in at 8x.

The SureFire KX9T looks extremely similar when looking through the Cloud Defensive OWL in terms of throwing light down range at the target. My friend was wearing a black jacket but I can clearly see his pants and helmet.

I was not impressed with 100 yards since Scoutlights can illuminate that far. So I had my friend walk back and then walk 200 yards behind me to see if the OWL could light him up. It did.

See the little light way off in the distance? That is my friend with a flashlight so you can see how far away he was. And that was only 200 yards away.

In my haste to get out of the cold wet field, I did not have a photo of the SureFire KX9T through the scope but I was able to see my friend with that light as well. Both were a little tough to see with my eyes even though the camera clearly shows them. Your eyes may be different than mine and might be able to pick up people at the distance. Both the OWL and SureFire were able to illuminate my friend but not as well as I would have liked. I was only able to see him because I knew where he was. If I had more magnification it would have been easier for me.

SureFire is my benchmark. I have used it a lot to light up targets 300 yards away even though it is only 1k lumens. I do not know the candela of the SureFire but the OWL is rather high at 1500 lumens and a candela rating of 50,000.  For those that do not know, candela is the luminous intensity in a given direction. Lasers have high candela because it is concentrated light. So a light with a tight hotspot can have good candela with lower lumens. The SureFire KX9T reflector is well designed for long range throw. But the Cloud Defensive OWL beats it with the warmer tint and just more light in the areas outside the hot spot. I can see more of the surrounding areas with the OWL.

The OWL took a while to get right. They did some significant but somewhat unscientific torture testing of the OWL.

They did submerge the OWL at a simulated depth of 230 feet for 4 days and no issues.

There are more than a few impatient customers who pre-ordered the OWL a year ago and I can understand some of their frustration. I had to horse trade with my friend Jason to get this OWL for review. But I am impressed with the Cloud Defensive OWL. It is big but only compared to the popular lights available now. For someone like me, who has been using weapon lights for over a decade, it is not that big or heavy. Some people are having sticker shock at the price of $399.99. However, the KX9T, when it came out was over $400 just for the LED upgrade head. It is all relative.

If you can live with having just a white light on your gun and want something rugged that is nigh-bomb proof then the OWL is a great choice. The Cloud Defensive OWL is a fantastic light with a specific purpose as a stand-alone rifle light. It just so happens to outshine the competition and right now there is very little that can beat the OWL. LED technology is always evolving and changing and someone may be coming up with a light to knock the OWL off its perch but time will tell. For more information on the Cloud Defensive OWL go to their website.

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