Strategos Intl Flashlights

[jthuang]

Looks like Ken Good's outfit is finally off the ground with respect to their new line of tactical flashlights.

http://www.strategosstore.com/store.asp

I like the new color finishes and especially the new strobe capability. All the low light training I've undertaken has emphasized the use of an improvised strobe effect to enhance the defensive light.

The price is a bit rich but I'm hoping they'll come out with lower priced models in the future. Keep in mind that these are LED lights, not regular Xenon bulb lights.

Marketing through Blackhawk Industries. I hope BHI's over the top marketing department doesn't mess up the image of Ken's quality products.

http://www.night-ops.com/

 

[NMshooter]

Should provide SureFire with some serious competition.

 

[gudel]

The price is a bit rich

if it's the same as surefire, i'll get surefire instead. duh.

 

[tarrigoni]

I think they're actually MORE expensive than surefires..

 

[jthuang]

Yeah, MSRP is $250!

 

[Teufelhunden]

The Tac-Store/skateboard/surfing store owner (he's a guy with many interests ) down here that I give my money to was interested in one of these until I looked up the price online. He was just going to buy one to sample before he decided to stock them, but once he found out about the $250 price tag, he backed off. They seem like a great light, but whiz-bang features aside, when it comes down to the business of actually shining a beam, what does this light do that a Surefire half of its cost doesn't?

The light seems interesting, but I don't know how many line cops are going to be able to (or want to) afford one. I thought about my Surefire 9AN for about 2 years before I finally got it and couldn't be happier. However, that 9AN is rechargeable and the sun comes up when I press on the tailcap.

I'm sure they'll sell to the Air Force and other agencies with money to burn, but I don't see them being a huge seller to individuals--and that's coming from a self-professed gear guy.

-Teuf

 

[jthuang]

Agreed. I have a slew of Surefire lights and I don't think I can stomach shelling out $250 for a hand-held light. I've done it for weaponlights (e.g. the M500A) but not for a hand-held.

I'm hopeful that they will come out with smaller (and cheaper) lights. I'd like to see an E2 Executive sized model with the strobe.

 

[NMshooter]

As more companies jump into the flashlight game and competition increases prices will drop to affordable levels.

May take a year or two, though.

 

[Ken J. Good]

Hey guys,

Was doing a Google search and found this thread.

Thought I would stop by and clarify a couple of points.

I am fairly aware of the SureFire product line as I worked directly for them for several years having direct input in the product development area as well as formulating the tactical doctrine to deploy these tools.

I am performance driven as opposed to spewing out a bunch of marketing hype.

This light is not a SureFire also-ran or clone.

- It is waterproof to 50 meters
- It has a fully adjustable light output
- It has digital thermal management, digital controlled output, and low battery indications
- The light is USER Programmable for function change if desired
- It has a fast acting Lock OUT/ON feature unlike the competitions that is actually useful for tactical applications
- It features an extremely disorienting (to the threat) Strobe function (first in a small tac light)
- Greater LUX (intensity at the hot spot) than any of the SureFire LED's that we have measured so far. You can go to this thread and see some of the beam-to-beam comparisons that also include some comparisons to popular incandescent lights:

http://strategosforum.com/phpBBx/viewtopic.php?t=4699&start=0

- The light is at Motorola for independent testing/publishable results right now.
- Weapons Mountable
- 50,000+ Hours on the LED (lifetime – no longer have to be concerned about lamp breakage/replacement)
- Different finish
- Different Glass (better optical performance)

The closest thing SureFire has to this particular product is more expensive, larger and less feature rich/capable.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not bad-mouthing SureFire. I have and will continue to use many of their products. They are excellent, combat proven tools. The Gladius is simply a different product in many regards.

We have other lights in development, including lower priced variants.

This particular tool is certainly not for everybody as it is pricey, but to date was have pre-sold our entire production! So more that one individual thinks we are close to a useful mark. These are not military units. Military folks are just getting around to understanding that this tool is even available.

If you have some time on your hands there is some serious technical discussion about the lights found at:

http://candlepowerforums.com (Search Gladius) and read the reviews.

An opinion….Albeit a biased one!!!

Best to everybody.

Ken J. Good
Strategos International
http://strategosintl.com
Night-Ops Brand Manager
http://night-ops.com

 

[tarrigoni]

See, this is why I love the internet.

Where else could we have been discussing a product with people from all over the world and then have the designer chime in?

This is great.

 

[Ken J. Good]

It is powerful medium for sure.

A couple of other things. We have a really awesome team of creative designers, mechanical & electrical engineers making our concepts become reality in real world. I want to give THEM full credit as it is due.

Strategos International is providing the product trajectory guidance so to speak. We liaison with a wide variety of folks that go into harms way. We want to listen to them. I also personally believe as you do, the Net is a fantastic way to get the accurate pulse of what is going on, and determine what peoples objections are to certain approaches.

We cannot please everybody, not even going to attempt that one.

Some want price point that is it (Therefore companies go off-shore to meet that objective)
Some want pure performance, price is no object
Some want only US made products and but will loudly complain about price
And various combinations along the spectrum

We are endeavoring to maintain and end-user driven focus as opposed to an engineering driven approach. We are not looking to making something wiz-bang for technology sake, but want to make a real difference for those that need professional grade tools.

I look over the landscape of illumination tools and I see lots of choices that were simply not there a couple of years ago.

Look at Pentagon Lights for example. In my mind generally speaking a knock-off product, but they are really well made from everybody we have spoken to and coming in under the price point of those they knocked off.

One of the things I own is a “General Store†Although we are going to develop our own lights through Night-Ops, I am going to sell Pentagon at the Strategos Store. I think they are something end-users would appreciate.

We are not exclusively looking for a giant array of knock-off products through Night-Ops. We want to move the light industry/tools forward where we can. A much more rewarding journey from my limited perspective.

 

[homeka45]

Ken, Thanks for chiming in and clearing things up. I really appreciate your input and confidence in your products.