I have an OKW its basically a light saber.

I compared it to my friends PLHv2 just last week when we were hanging out drinking beer one night. We were shining the lights on a steel popper 250 yards away. PLHv2 has much more spill and doesn't have that "Oh shit I've never seen that before" effect that OKW does.

For indoor/close range stuff I would get PLHv2. For outdoor/distance the OKW is a beast.

I have the PLHV2 and it crushes my m600df.  No comparison.   It’s plenty for outdoors unless you need PID at extended ranges.   The PLHV2 gets me PID at night as far as I can PID behind a red dot during the day.

I went with the OKW because of the range, but also even though it's such a focused hotspot, it spills plenty of light around that for indoors structures searching.

I went with PLHv2.  I like the spill vs the OKW.  Realistically for my purposes more spill is more important than PID at 250 yards.  The PLHv2 is pretty impressive at distance compared to most other light offerings.

I just ordered the PLHv2. I have a half a dozen SF Mini-Scouts which are fine for most of my rifles, but hopefully I'll like the Modlite better for my HD/SHTF rifle. I was unimpressed with the 300 series Arisaka light I had. For some reason it would flicker every time I fired my rifle??? Pawned that off on my BIL. It's his funeral!

Some bad news. You're going to start to dislike the SF more and more once you see the Modlite. You'll probably pawn a few off to your BIL.

As someone who's collected two of everything these past 6 months I added 2 Models Each from Modlite - two of each color as well. My "Personal" advice is obvious to put the Longer Modlite on the longer rifle and vice versa. Also, Ive used the ModButton and on each. Im also one who puts the Light Mounting System on the Right Side of the rifle as well. All a matter of personal preference folks!

HOWEVER  - Modlite is the Cats Meow!!

After a recent training course I’m a Modlite fan now.  Picked up a surefire dual fuel and it was way better than what I had.  Then got experience with the plhv2 and bought that head the next day.  Man it’s crazy how nice it is and how much more effective it is.  The OKW is a light saber but the PLHv2 is more practical for what I need.

How does the PLHv2 compare with a Streamlight Protac HL-X?  The HL-X has an impressive amount of spill and good range.

I currently have the Malkoff E2HT head and, while it has great throw, I would like more spill even if I give up range.

Here is your answer.
https://youtu.be/JPB8COBBxHE

That was one of the best light comparison videos that I have seen.  I like how they did more that just a 100 yard treeline.

At the longer distances out in the open, I found myself thinking why would I ever need a light with the candela punch?  A high lumen light with more spill is more useful indoors and at short distances outside.

The Surefire M600DF and Streamlight HL-X had such a wide throw, that at shorter distances there was not a lot of panning around needed to see a wide area.  For instance, on the car, illuminating the car itself threw enough light to see if there was anyone by both the front and rear at the same time.  With the longer throw lights, the beam would need to be moved around to see the same area (i.e., front, passenger compartment, and rear).

But the one testing area that got my attention was seeing a person inside of a room through a doorway.  Yes, the M600DF and HL-X lit up more of the porch, but there did not appear to be sufficient light penetration into the house through the doorway.  The longer throw lights, which more precisely focus the light, had no problem illuminating someone inside off the house.

So throw versus spill seems to be the question.  And for most sub-100 yard and indoor use, the M600DF and HL-X are probably the better choices.  Unless at 30-50 yards you need to see who is inside of a structure, then the candela lights shine (sorry, that really is the best word to us!).

I am interested in what other people think.  I have another thread where I was not satisfied with the indoor performance of a Malkoff E2HT head and thought that a simple inexpensive HL-X did a better job.

Corey

Actually that was not the YouTube link that I was referring to.  

Here is the one that I was talking about:

She looks super thrilled to be getting blasted in the face with all of those lights.  Lol

PLHv2 is the way to go.

@Hydra-shokz

Tell your BIL to tighten down the tail cap then back off about 1 or 1.5 full turns to resolve that issue.  Or tell him to tighten the tail cap all the way, then go into a dark room and unscrew the tail cap a 1/4 turn at a time, and let the bolt slam home (hard!) between each turn until the flicker goes away.  These are instructions from Arisaka and it fixed the same flicker issue I was having.


That said I’m still underwhelmed by the 300’s brightness and I’m in the market for the Modlight options.  This thread is relevant to my interests.

I played with a bit. He'll never know. Lol.

The REIN from cloud defensive mitigates battery bounce very effectively with the batteryjack.

just my $.02, worth what you paid, but I would go with more spill and less throw. I do not have a need or requirement to light something up past 100yds. So the longer punch, while cool, is not practical for me.

Now if I was a rural LEO out in the sticks, Desert ,etc... or lived out there where there was lots of wide open spaces....Then I would want that longer punch.

I like the dual fuel concept as It is nice to have a rechargeable 18650 in my light, but also have three sets of CR123 in my SOPMOD stock as a back up.
Running a completely different type of battery to get the extra lumen and candela is not a good trade for the logistics for me.

Spot on.  100%.

There are tons of people that are pushing the OKW without any real clue what its for.  Plenty of these people also live in urban environments where the throw really doesn't benefit them beyond being able to impress their friends.

Light at night=data.
Spill plus throw=More data

There is a balance to be had and the PLHV2, for 99% of civilian and law enforcement needs beats out candela and the cool kid light of the week.  I very quickly ditched my OKW head after realizing how horrid it was for gathering data for anything other than long distance, wide open shots.

Other people also love to cite how the OKW is great for controlling subjects.  Yeah, ok, so its a PLHV2, the Rein, OWL or any other modern light...

Yeah I mean I really want an OKW but I just don't have the long sightlines here in my neighborhood to warrant it.

Review of the PLH but the OKW companion is in there as well; should help some folks out...

Thanks. Like you mention in the video, the camera kind of makes it hard to tell much of a difference between the okw and the plh other than the size of the hot spot.

It's hard to get on video but very noticeable in-person. I have a plhv2 and compared it to a buddies OKW - the OKW punches out to the 200 yard berm with a very tight Hotspot. The plh provides a much broader spill and imo, is superior for 90% of applications.

If you live on a 500 acre ranch with huge lines of sight, the OKW could be useful. But for "I need to see what's making that noise out by the garage" pid, the plh is the best thing going.

After receiving both and barely playing with them I'd agree that the plh2 is probably best for most situations and has plenty throw. I'm glad I asked because I was originally going to grab 2 okw's but don't get me wrong the okw is by far superior for scopes or if you have property or need to see inside of say a vehicle 100 yards away.

They both are pretty sweet.

My question is does the mod button or mod button lite really better then the surefire tape switch? Because I have 2 surefire DF set ups complete with switches and mounts and would love to just buy 2 more modlite heads and be done?

I've heard the SF switches can't support the full output of Modlite heads. I have mine setup with a Hot Button on one and a TAPS on another.

I think I have a spare SF switch in the spare parts pile and can test it over the weekend. It would just be visual, not scientific or anything.

that is how stupid I am why didn't I just test it. I don't know if maybe I'll be missing something as far as long term but I can swap heads and see if it's any different.

Have both, prefer OKW on rifle, it spills alot of light indoors from setting the walls on fire. Keeping my V2 for the pistol module thingy, going on glock.

It's on their website somewhere that surefire buttons don't cut it.

Yeah I'm beginning to put together 2 and 2 that surefire switches aren't good for 18650 lights. I love the switch compared to the smaller modbuttons which will take some time to get used to.

^ this

The vast majority of people using a light will never employ them at a range that necessitates the throw of a higher candela at the expense of higher lumen light spill.  There is a benefit to models with the highest candela ratings, but higher lumens still have their place and people need to avoid the pitfalls of these output numbers games.  In an urban or any strictly non-rural LE role, 100yd-and-in performance is the biggest feature, particularly if the likelihood of you using your rifle with a light in a real world situation involves home defense, CQB or vehicle take-down.  In the case of home defense and CQB, the 1500 lumen SureFire M600DF with 16,000 candela is going to provide a much better result than the 680 lumen Modlite OKW, despite it having 69,000 candela.  If you’re shining coyotes at 150yds or potentially identifying a fugitive hiding in a ditch 175yds away in the middle of BFE, it’s the exact opposite.  

It doesn't say that exactly. The product description for their Modbutton says this:


Someone here did a comparison a few months ago of the Modlite clicky tailcap and a Surefire tape switch and couldn't see any noticeable difference in the intensity of the light between the two. I believe he was projecting them against a wall indoors It wasn't a scientific test, but a 15-20% drop in lumens should be noticeable. It may come into play in terms of throw. For me personally, the ergonomics of the longer Surefire tape switch that provides some room for error with hand / thumb position is worth the risk of a small drop in output. I'd really like to see Modlite produce a longer tape-style switch, like 2-3x as long as their Modbutton, and then I'll make the switch over.

I disagree wholeheartedly.  Out here in the West Texas night the 600DF is practically invisible even at 50 to 100m.

I was much happier with a PLHv2 but now have moved to the REIN.

Surefire should be ashamed of their "performance".  They are now much behind the competition.

Boils down to this:

If the rifle you’re putting it on has a scope, okw. If it’s just got a dot, plh.

I was coming here to say this.  The OKW is a niche light head.  If you're running a magnified optic, the OKW is your best option.  Anything else gets a PLHv2.

I have both, and here’s an easy way to break it down in one sentence. If you have an lpvo, okw; if you have a dot, get the PLH.