tater_salad
Member
Well, I got a Gladius today from a buddy of mine that works at a leather place in Milwaukee. (They primarily supply belts/holsters to local police, security, etc. but also are dealers for many tactical companies) Overall, it seems like a very nice flashlight, but this is my first tactical so I have nothing to compare it to. The coating is pretty impressive; I thought it was weak when I scratched it with a fingernail and it left a mark - until I wiped the mark off and realized that it scraped my fingernail with it's coating. 
Light output is pretty impressive at full power (I have no way to do calibrated tests, but the fact that I'm still seeing spots in a brightly lit room tells me it works just fine.) I also thought the 'strobe' function would be more of a joke then practical, but I'll tell you that it works well. Between the bright light and the strobe action, if it's getting shined in your eyes you either have to shut your eyes or turn away. The dimming function is pretty nice and fairly intuitive too, just hold down the button any time and after 1.5 seconds it starts to dim until you let off or it gets all the way to low (.8 lumen), then it stays at that level. If you need it back up to full brightness quickly, just click the button twice and it's back on full power. There are some other modes for dimming as well including a memory mode, but I won't get into that here.
Some things that I don't like so much about the light are the tailcap and button, they're just cheap (appearing) plastic. I guess I was hoping for rubberized. I also hope there's some gaskets or O-rings in the tailcap area as well as I can wiggle the tailcap around and see about 1/32" gap to the inside, I don't think it will be a problem though as they are waterproof to some depth, and I don't dive. The button is another issue, every now and then it will hang-up halfway depressed, and then if you push a little harder it will make a clicking noise like it was hung up on something and will then depress fully and activate the light. (This only seems to happen for the constant on setting, the strobe and momentary settings do not seem to do this)
Their lockout is kind of odd as well, insted of just making it another click on the rotary dial to lock out, you have to push the button down half-way, and then turn it one more click. (I can understand the reasoning behind it, but every now and then I'll accidentally push the button a little too far and it will be locked out with the light on, and I'll have to take it off lock out, turn the light off, and then do it over again. None of these seem like major problems (save the button hanging up, which I'll call night-ops if it gets worse) just little quirks, which every new product has.
Overall I am very impressed with the light, save a few quirks. I bought this light because It was my first light, and I couldn't decide between a couple lights, which is where I think this light excells. I think that the best thing this light has going for it is that it is a great comprimise between light technologies. At 80+ lumen, it has output that surpasses many 6v xenon lights, and because it's LED it is inherantly more impact resistant and the bulb has much longer life. Combine that with battery output regulation circuitry as well as the ability to dim the light to whatever output you need easily, it makes for a pretty complete package - a great combination of features. It is solidly built and seems like it will hold up well, and the design looks like it would be easy enough to operate under duress. I look forward to seeing future products from Blackhawk/Night Ops.
Light output is pretty impressive at full power (I have no way to do calibrated tests, but the fact that I'm still seeing spots in a brightly lit room tells me it works just fine.) I also thought the 'strobe' function would be more of a joke then practical, but I'll tell you that it works well. Between the bright light and the strobe action, if it's getting shined in your eyes you either have to shut your eyes or turn away. The dimming function is pretty nice and fairly intuitive too, just hold down the button any time and after 1.5 seconds it starts to dim until you let off or it gets all the way to low (.8 lumen), then it stays at that level. If you need it back up to full brightness quickly, just click the button twice and it's back on full power. There are some other modes for dimming as well including a memory mode, but I won't get into that here.
Some things that I don't like so much about the light are the tailcap and button, they're just cheap (appearing) plastic. I guess I was hoping for rubberized. I also hope there's some gaskets or O-rings in the tailcap area as well as I can wiggle the tailcap around and see about 1/32" gap to the inside, I don't think it will be a problem though as they are waterproof to some depth, and I don't dive. The button is another issue, every now and then it will hang-up halfway depressed, and then if you push a little harder it will make a clicking noise like it was hung up on something and will then depress fully and activate the light. (This only seems to happen for the constant on setting, the strobe and momentary settings do not seem to do this)
Their lockout is kind of odd as well, insted of just making it another click on the rotary dial to lock out, you have to push the button down half-way, and then turn it one more click. (I can understand the reasoning behind it, but every now and then I'll accidentally push the button a little too far and it will be locked out with the light on, and I'll have to take it off lock out, turn the light off, and then do it over again. None of these seem like major problems (save the button hanging up, which I'll call night-ops if it gets worse) just little quirks, which every new product has.
Overall I am very impressed with the light, save a few quirks. I bought this light because It was my first light, and I couldn't decide between a couple lights, which is where I think this light excells. I think that the best thing this light has going for it is that it is a great comprimise between light technologies. At 80+ lumen, it has output that surpasses many 6v xenon lights, and because it's LED it is inherantly more impact resistant and the bulb has much longer life. Combine that with battery output regulation circuitry as well as the ability to dim the light to whatever output you need easily, it makes for a pretty complete package - a great combination of features. It is solidly built and seems like it will hold up well, and the design looks like it would be easy enough to operate under duress. I look forward to seeing future products from Blackhawk/Night Ops.
