Cloud Defensive MCH Micro Review
This has been an ordeal. I got this light for my birthday two years ago in December of 2024 and sorting it out took months and months. The original did not work consistently the minute it dropped out of the box and over time it stopped working entirely. I have had this happen before with lights, my Edoluc Golden Arrow is a brick as is a light from Reylight that didn’t even make it into production, but this one, given the country of origin, was something I had hoped could be replaced quickly. It wasn’t. Before I get to the review, I want to recount the entire ordeal (note that this was taken from a previous article that I wrote but never published and that all this occurred in 2025; things might be better now).
Just the email timeline here is terrible. I got the light for my birthday, opening it up on December 6. It had issues starting about a week later. I then contacted Cloud Defensive via email, as directed on their website. That occurred on December 14. I received an automated email saying customer service requests are responded to within 48 hours. On December 18 Hannah, from Cloud Defensive, emailed me back and asked me to take a picture of the inside ring on the clicky end of the flashlight. She also asked for a video demonstrating the problem. On December 18 I told her I would send a picture and video when I got home. I sent both on the morning of the 19th and asked about next steps. I did not hear from Cloud Defensive for a while. I emailed on December 26, January 2, and January 6. They are short polite emails (“Just tapping you on the shoulder about this”). Not a thing. So let’s do the fair thing—it is not reasonable to expect a response during Christmas time, so 21-25 is out. Now, most retailers are opening and working on the 26th, but let’s give them that, so from 26-2 they are out too. So I emailed on the 2nd, which was a pretty reasonable thing as lots of people reentered the world on that day. But let’s give them two full weeks off. That puts us at January 6, when I emailed them again. This is 6 days from this taking more than a month to resolve.
This is terrible and unacceptable. I wanted a Cloud Defensive light because it was made in America. I wanted to pay more for the domestic production and special attention and support I could get. None of that happened. Why bother with a light this expensive if I can get just as good a light AND customer support from an overseas company (I had a problem with an oLight and they just sent me a new one—they didn’t even ask for the old one back)?
The ordeal continued on after that. After the fifth follow up email went unanswered, I started a new customer service slip. The same person answered that one and promised that they would ship out a return box. That was January 13. As January 17, I had received nothing—no confirmation email, no quick note saying it is on its way, and no package. It was also not clear if I am getting a box to send to them or a box with a replacement. After no response for a few days I started a third customer service slip. This time it started out as the same person, but after my first complaint-type language (“this customer service is atrocious”), a different person, Trenton responded and said he would take care of it. He said he sent a new package and this time I got an email confirmation (which lacked a tracking number or any way to track the package). This was on January 22. As of the 9th of February it had yet to arrive. Additionally, I am not sure what is in the package, but it appears to be a new light. On the 9th of February I sent a Consumer Protection Letter via email to Cloud Defensive as is suggested by Massachusetts law. On the 10th, I received notice of a package deliver. On the 11th, I received a new light. The package indicated that the light was sent overnight. This indicates to me that the original claim of a shipped package was untrue, though I cannot prove this. No other package ever arrived.
Their 48 hour response time is apparently measured in months. And it is a shame—the torch, when it works, is awesome with the throw of a Surefire EDC1 DFT in a package that is smaller and can tailstand. I had hoped that this torch would be the sign of a new wave of elite American-made lights, but so far the light and the customer service have been woefully underwhelming. If the light worked, it would be superb. But then there is this. I am not the only person having customer service issues with Cloud Defensive. Search the net and you will find complaints like this everywhere. Even on my video comparing the Micro to the HDS Rotary. This is a real bummer. Super sad face.
Maybe things have improved at Cloud Defensive, but I am not the only person with serious issues. Here is one Reddit forum post. Here is another. When you add to this the really poor presentation of the Chicro, the other Cloud Defensive light I have reviewed that is a portmanteau of “Chinese Micro” and arrived in a faux Chinese food container, there is a lot of excess “non-product” drama that I try to avoid.
But here is the thing that makes all of this more complicated—the light itself is actually pretty good. If the product was garbage I could see the vitriol and ill-feelings online, but the light isn’t bad at all. It’s basically a smaller version of the Surefire EDC1 DFT, which is one of my very favorite lights out there. So here is how I am going to approach the MCH Micro review—make you aware that there are some issues with the brand, but focus on the product. Of course, as always, remind you of the subtext for all product reviews: caveat emptor.
Here is the product page. There are two versions—the black version and the tan version. Both have identical internals. Here is a review post from Reddit of the MCH Micro with the hilarious subtitle of “I am disappoint” whatever that means. Here is a review of the full sized MCH (which is identical but for the large body tube designed to accommodate an 18650 battery). This is a pretty generic review that follows the click-first rules. If you scroll through a few paragraphs you can find the reviewer’s actual opinion. Here is my MCH Micro which was a gift for my birthday:
TDLR: Good light, nice throw, smaller than most “tactical” single cell torches.
Design: 2
This is a weird sized light. It is significantly smaller than most production tactical lights, echoing the size of the HDS Rotary more than some new offering from Surefire, oLight, Klarus, or Fenix. It is girthier but around the same size as the excellent Surefire EB1 Maxvision Backup. During shorts season I have basically stopped carrying lights of this size for around the house/around the town EDC. They tend to be too bulkier and are real pocket pendulums. But when I am on a hike, going for a night walk, or when it is a bit colder out, these lights are okay. Its more throw than something like the FourSevens Mini Turbo, but not quite as much as the Surefire EDC1, with a more pocketable body tube. If you have a duty belt or always wear pants, I can see this light having a lot of appeal. It is plenty hardy, quite compact, yet it throws quite a bit, like 60-75% as much as the Surefire. Micro’s design makes it a good sized tactical torch and a doable stretch for a true EDC.
Fit and Finish: 2
I have had two of these lights and the first one wasn’t great. The second one has worked well and taken a few knocks. I think it is fair to ignore the first one (every production line produces mistakes) and say that the fit and finish here is good. The Chicro, which was made by an OEM, was also well made and problem free (well, the light itself was problem-free, the marketing was a bit juvenile).
Grip: 2
The old HDS and Novatac designs were spot on with the use of an hourglass-shaped body tube and the Micro carries that forward with a clearly defined “waist” and good spacing for easy grip. I like the Micro in-hand a lot even with no grip enhancement at all, not even the inoffensive knurling found on the HDS Rotary.
Carry: 1
Its good, but only when compared to the other chonky tactical torches out there. Compared to something like the Reylight Mini Pineapple or the aforementioned FourSevens Mini, this thing is a big boy. Its only real advantage is additional throw, but for most people, that throw doesn’t matter all that much. So I feel like the point ding here is a fair one. Again, if you have a duty belt or pants with storage options, this isn’t bad at all.
Output: 2
Yeah, its plenty bright and does decent on low. I wouldn’t put it among the elite—its low is orders of magnitude brighter (literally) than the HDS Rotary, but this is a good set up for most people, even flashlight enthusiasts. The high, of course, punches above its weight because of the throw seeming brighter and being more useful than most lights of the same brightness.
Runtime: 2
Like with output, the Micro does well—above average but not in Zebralight territory. And not everything has to be the best to be good.
Beam: 2
Well, the last two categories have been stories of something being pretty good, better than average. Here, I think we have something special. Its not the Surefire EDC1 DFT, which is the best compact single cell throw ever, but this is really, really good. The Micro is to the EDC1 DFT what Tom Glavine was to Greg Maddux, a step down but still vastly better than everyone else. I have had a bunch of big cell lights that still don’t throw anywhere near this well. In that regard, the Micro is really, really great.
Battery: 1
I am sure you have noticed over the years, but battery sizes for rechargeables is all over the place. 18350s vary tremendously in size, despite the fact that the battery’s name demands specific sizes (the first two numbers are the diameter in MM, the last three are length in tenths of MM, so an 18350 SHOULD be 18 mm around and 35 mm long). The Micro accepts only the largest of these cells and only button tops. You probably have a half dozen 18350s that won’t work in this light and that is a bit irksome. I understand why they do it (more space equals more energy storage capacity) but it is very bothersome when I am looking for a battery to swap out while the one that came with the light charges.
UI: 1
Ah…the joy of flashlight programming. The light comes in a default mode where the first output is high. I get why they do that—its tactical or something. That’s fine. But the programming mode is incredibly unforgiving. Compared to the FourSevens programming mode, which also requires 10 inputs to activate, this one just has weird timing. I have to watch the programming video in a quiet room and then really focus to get it to work. Other similar modes are easier to do. Perhaps it is the debounce timing on the switch or the input spacing. Whatever it is, you won’t want to have to program this too many times. Its incredibly tedious and even though you only have to do it, in theory, once, its bad enough to result in the loss of a full point.
Hands-Free: 2
Thanks to some delrin spacers around the clicky, the Micro and fully and confidently tailstand. I really, really like this option for those of us that value utility over tacticool. It gives the user more options and that, in the world of consumer products, really matters.
Other Considerations
Fidget Factor: Low
There is not a lot of fidget with here. The clicky, I guess.
Fett Effect: Low
I have carried the review sample for more than two years now and it looks almost brand new.
Value: Low
This light is expensive and very few people are going to drop cash on a light this expensive especially when good overseas made stuff is 1/3 the price. If you are reading a review of a flashlight though, you just might be crazy enough to think this is a good value. Its cheaper than the EDC1 DFT.
Overall Score: 17 out of 20
Every company that makes products releases a bum unit every once in a while. Some companies like Lego do it so infrequently that mistakes become collector’s items. But not every company is Lego and most of the time the error rate is higher than 1 in 13 million. So how you handle bad units needs to be part of your business model. In that regard Cloud Defensive didn’t do a good job. Which is sad, because as the score above indicates, the light they made, the MCH Micro, is pretty darn good. I have struggled on how to score this one for more than a year. For a long time I thought about issuing no score and simply leaving it as a product failure. But the PRODUCT didn’t fail. Then I thought about scoring it and saying nothing. But again, the customer service issues were so challenging, that felt dishonest. In the end, I decided to score it and note the problems in detail.
Competition
The easiest comparisons are to three other lights, only two of which I have used: the aforementioned Surefire EDC1 DFT, the HDS Rotary, and the Modlite OKW. In a lot of ways the MCH Micro fairs well next each light. It is cheaper than the Rotary and the OKW by about $100. It is smaller than the EDC1 DFT with only a bit of a diminution in throw (probably around 1/3 loss of throw). So, in comparison, it’s not bad. But there is the issue—just because something does one thing better than another thing doesn’t mean it is superior. While the EDC1 DFT is a behemoth of a torch for a single cell light, its throw does make it special. If you have a collection of lights (i.e. more than one) I think the EDC1 DFT should be there. It does the one thing it is designed to do incredibly well. Second, while it is cheaper than the Rotary, the Rotary, even more than a decade later, is still a special light with a combination of robust build quality and ease of use. In many ways the MCH Micro is a good jack of all trades, master of none light in this subset of the market. I think you will find a lot to like at much lower price brackets, the Lumintop Tool AA v3 and that light is $160 cheaper, but the Micro is a different kind of light. It’s also suffers as an EDC compared lights like the Tool, the 47s Mini, or the Reylight Micro Pineapple. If you want one light that can do a lot and not be terrible at any of it, the MCH Micro makes sense.
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