I'm torn between getting the modbutton and modlite 300 series or a cloud defense owl. I don't like wires but the owl is heavy and tall on the rail if you don't have their rail.

Input?

Edit: Suppressed sbr, home defense gun.

Edit: Or a modlite 300 series  mounted on the left side with a momentary button cap and pushed out to clear the suppressor. Lightest option yet. Probably 7-8oz.

Owl is 11 ounces with battery. That's a far greater concern to me than height above rail. Not saying it's a bad light, but damn, 3/4 of a pound on the front of your rail.

Im estimating the modlite to be 3-4 ounces lighter than the owl when the modlite has the modbutton and what not. I could be way off but the modbutton is 2.7oz the tail cap is .4 I think and the 300 series modlite im estimating 4oz with battery. So if I round up, one is 8oz the other is, 11oz.

However one has no wires to be torn out and is really simple. I can sacrifice the rail space that's no issue. But with the suppressor the gun is front heavy already.

Also id need to mount the modlite further out because of the suppressors probably adding more weight. This making them both the same. The owl is going to save me $200 at least. I think I've made my dicision.

I would rather put more effort into cable management than have another 1/4 pound or so on the end of my rail. I can always find a better way to route and secure cables, but that weight's not going anywhere unless I spend more money to drop it. Just my opinion though.

I went with the Modlite PLHv2 18350 with the modbutton.  I was going to go UE07 with the Cloud Defensive mount and Arisaka in-line mount, but the Modbutton makes the entire setup easy to move rifle to rifle.  I haven’t received the Modbutton yet, I’ll weigh everything out once the Modbutton arrives.

The OWL strikes me as heavy and bulky, but I do appreciate the simplicity of the setup.  Running a suppressor there isn’t a way to shift the OWL further forward like could be done with the modlite.  Lanbos Armory has a great price of $311 on the black OWL of someone wants one.

https://lanbosarmory.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=109&products_id=51819

My home defense rifle (8” 300 suppressed) wears a Streamlight HLX on a BCM mount with the switch up top.  It’s a pretty tight setup that clears my suppressor with a HAD cover on it.  The flood of the HLX seems ideal for in the house compared to the PLHv2.  If the streamlight switch goes to shit I’ll get the adapter to run the SureFire switch.

On a sbr or pistol build I don’t mind the weight of the owl but the pad operation is something to think about.  A quick press turns it on and it stays on a long press is how the strobing feature is used.  You definitely want to train with it or accidental activation could be a problem.  I like my owl and I’m not getting rid of it but I love my Modlite Okw and if and when I buy another light it’ll be a Modlite.  Way to many mounting possibilities with Modlite and can be configured to work on any weapon.

I went with the modlite phlv2 and a modbutton.

In the end I almost went with a modlite with an arisaka momentary cap only but I cloudnt wrap my head around how I'd active the light from my weak side while against a barrier with my hand.

I really like the owl especially for my sbr setup I don't think the weight is enough to keep me from getting it. Maybe the weight would be more an issue if I had to use it long term. But the button sits so high on the rail my thumb is almost in the way of the dot with one eye closed when I switch to my weak side it is s even worse. The position of my gas block does not allow me to use the cloud defense rail either. Maybe they need a second offering, one that's not as tough but is half the weight with a much lower button.

So from what I gather the OWL's buttons are that bulky that they interfere with handling/get in the way of optics? I was essentially settled on the OWL for my home defense 11" 300BLK suppressed because I shoot with a c-clamp grip with my thumb on top of the rail, and I figured the OWL would support this. Is it simply too big for a comfortable grip?

Another questions is how does the Modbutton compare to the Unity Tactical Hot Button? To me the Modbutton makes more sense for the above reason of being able to keep my thumb on top of the rail but I want to hear opinions and comparisons to the Hot Button if there are any. Thanks.  

I don't mind the weight of my OWL and I shoot with a c-clamp grip. Button placement is exactly where I want it. Perfect for my SBR

I like the idea of the OWL and hopefully they can streamline it in future iterations.

Inforce will be coming out with something similar called 9ZERO and FORTY5 with interesting design.

Hot button looks promising as well, but I haven't tried one. Seems pretty straight forward though. It's all about the kinesthetics baby!

I have a couple of the modlite modbutton, trying them out and I really like them. I have one mounted on the 3 on my mp5 clone and works perfectly.

This one is on my Triarc.

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I probably wouldn't run an OWL on a carbine, but I probably wouldn't run anything but an OWL on a shorty.

If you do a C clamp grip, the OWL isn't uncomfortable.

OWL on a short gun makes the weight much less of an issue. Running it at the end of a 13" or longer rail does make balance a bit awkward. The performance of the light is fantastic though and it's completely idiot and bombproof. The applications for it are a bit more limited than Modlite given the flexibility the form of each offers.

I never found the OWL to be too tall, but I guess that depends on your grip and rail.

I don't think you can really go wrong with either, especially on an SBR.

All great advice, thank you all.

I got my Modbutton today and installed it.  First impression is that the bottom is smaller than I expected.  I’m very pleased with the position of the light on the rail compared to other mounts I tried.  The total weight of the PHLv2 18350 with DS00 and Modbutton weighs in at 6.8 ounces.  I think I would prefer the 18650 battery so the light was another inch farther forward, but I’m pleased with the total weight.  I could see going with the lower profile regular rear cap to lose a little more weight, but I’ll probably keep it as is.  I do wish the Modbutton was QD.  The other issue on a 9” rail was mounting the front sight, there’s not enough rail in front of the modbutton, so you can see I moved it back.