Cloud Defensive might just be my favorite weapon light company. They are competing to be the top dog in the market by producing extremely powerful lights that have an extremely high lumen and candela count. The OWL was their first creation and it was well-received, but the 12 o’clock design was not beloved by all. It did not accommodate lasers and night vision nerds want their lasers y’all. Cloud Defensive took that feedback and created the Rein and Rein Micro.
The Rein and Rein Micro are more traditional in their design and feature a rounded body and traditional mount. This gives users the ability to mount the light in coordination with laser units of all types. The Rein and Rein Micro keep the ideas that made the OWL so popular. That being a massively high lumen and candela count. These lights outperform most on the market, including the lights from companies you love like Surefire and Streamlight.
Rein and Rein Micro Specs
Rein
Candela – 60,000
Lumens – 1,400
Run Time – 120 minutes
Length – 6.172 inches
Weight (With Mounts and Switch) – 8.54 ounces
Battery – 18650 rechargeable only
Rein Micro
Candela – 55,000
Lumens – 1,300
Run Time – 35 minutes
Length – 4.97 inches
Weight (With Mounts and Switch) – 7.48 ounces
Battery – 18350 rechargeable only
Both the Rein and Rein Micro come with a Nitecore battery charger. Both come with a single battery to optimize power and illumination. Neither light is compatible with CR123s and using CR123s will void your warranty. They will fit, so be cautious of your battery selection.
The lights are field serviceable and have three components for modularity, parts replacement, and future upgrades. Both lights are tough as nails and completely waterproof. They are tested at 100 feet for 24 hours. The Rein and Rein Micro are both shockproof and if you ever want to see what the monsters at Cloud Defensive do to test their lights go to their Instagram. They torture the hell out of them. These are rugged and dependable lights that will take a beating and keep on coming.
Bright Light and Brilliant Ergonomics
Both the Rein and Rein Micro in this review are complete kits that include the remote switch system. The remote switch is ingenious and provides with a unique tail cap that allows the cord to be positioned in one of four different directions. This allows you to pick and choose exactly where you want the light to be mounted on your weapon. The light and switch both come with Picatinny rail attachments, and Cloud Defensive produces various mounts if you don’t care for the included option.
The Cloud Defensive Remote switch includes two buttons. One is a dedicated momentary button and the second is a constant button. Our little constant button can be half-pressed to kill the light until the button is released. The constant button is also textured so it’s easily identifiable in the dark. Cloud Defensive’s remote switch is integrated into the tail cap, but the tail cap also has a click button for a third means to activate the light. The remote switch has a 5-inch cable.
At 8.54 ounces the standard Rein is 1 ounce and some change heavier than the Rein Micro. Weight-wise there isn’t a huge difference, but the Micro Rein is over an inch shorter and easier to fit on smaller rifles and PCC-like platforms. Neither light is excessively heavy and both are lighter than the OWL’s 11-ounce weight.
Light performance
Holy crap are these things bright. The Rein and Rein Micro both offer some serious performance. The Rein hits you with 60,000 candela and 1,400 lumens. The Rein Micro blasts out 1,300 lumens backed by 55,000 candela. Both lights are industry-leading for their size and category.
Numbers are great, but what does that mean for practical use? Well, first and foremost the light is so powerful that it’s best paired with a magnified optic. My home range tops out at 100 yards and I can easily see dark-colored targets. I have an old grey and black steel target that’s beat to hell, but I can see it with absolute ease with the Rein and Rein Micro blasting away at it.
With the lights dismounted I shined them down a quarter-mile dirt road and with a pair of 4x binos I could make out a street sign, a gate, and fence posts. At that 400 yardish range it wouldn’t necessarily be possible to establish positive identification on a threat, but you could make out a person at that range.
The combination of blinding lumens and a massive amount of candela presents a ton of useable light downrange. Inside of 300 yards or so you could tell if a threat was armed, or the difference between animals. Within 200 yards you are dominating your target with light and anything closer will be downright uncomfortable.
The Rein and Rein Micro in Action
The Rein and Rein Micro are making me want to go out and take a low-light class this year. I haven’t done low light training in years and feel it’s time for a refresher. Shooting at targets in the dead of night at my 100 yard home range is too much fun. Combining the Rein with an LPVO allows for rapid shots on fast targets. Working timed drills at night is an entirely new challenge, especially when you are trying to keep the light on as little as possible while scoring good hits.
The Rein and Rein Micro are perfect for duty and home defense, as well as LARPing as an own the night operator. Cloud Defensive has knocked it out of the park with these two lights and I’ve been beyond impressed with their performance.
