HDS Ultimate 60 vs. Gladius questions

Hello. I have bought about 4 flashlights since finding this site about a month ago, and my most recent purchase was a HDS EDC Basic 42 XR. I really like this light, and was wandering how the Gladius would compare to the HDS Ultimate 60? I was strongly thinking I wanted a Gladius, but it seems that the HDS 60 would do almost everything that the Gladius does except for the strobe. Since it looks like the HDS EDC's are all going to be gone soon, I thought I should get the 60. My uses will be for law enforcement, walking the trail at night, and just wanting to have another quality light. I can read about the throws and outputs on both of these, but seeing them work in person and being able to compare them side by side is not an option for me. So if someone has both or can help me make a decision about which one I should get, I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thank you. --Tim

P.S. ( When I first found this website, I saw a lot of the comments people make about holding onto your wallet and flashlights getting to be an obsession, and thought it was just kind of funny. Now that I am getting more into this, I know that they are actually being serious! I am really glad that others have this NEED to have flashlights also and I don't feel like a freak for starting to acquire a collection! I sure know the wife wouldn't understand this hobby!)

Hey Sloppy:

Just a few quick thoughts. The Gladius is 2x as long as the HDS, has nice infinitely variable (more or less) dimming, can remember - if you want - the last light level used, and of course the strobe. It'll feed on a rechargeable battery like the Pila 168S (now 600S), but the low battery indicator blinks every 15 seconds when on a Pila. It throws well and has plenty of useable spill. I like the strobe a great deal, and have used it for example to blast a driver who was backing out toward me (a pedestrian) in the parking lot. Big attention getter. Used it on an attacking chihuahua once with good effect.

The HDS excels in being small, built like a tank, with 4 pre-set levels on the Basic flavor. Will eat a standard CR123 or rechargeable RCR123. On low, its very low, which I like. Low enough to use in a movie theater without disturbing. Really low. But the Gladius dims pretty low too. Nice "primary" level for most applications, with high output only a press (or click-press) away. But you know this stuff, right?

Going up to the 60 I dont think is that much of a gain. The "Ultimate" over the "Basic" would be nice, but again, not that big of a deal if you are happy with the way the Basic works. I have a Basic 60.

Kydex belt holsters are available for each.

Since the U60 is not that much different that what you have, Powernoodle recommends a Gladius.

cheers

Ok, thank you for the reply powernoodle.

sloppyfoos said:

Since it looks like the HDS EDC's are all going to be gone soon...

Click to expand...

I thought only the 42 models and the XR models were discontinued. As far as I know the Basic 60, Basic 60 LE, Ultimate 60, and Ultimate 60 GT are still available and should be for quite some time.

Unless someone else has other news...

I have a 60, and love it. The advantage it has over the 42 is that the 60, besides getting up to 60 lumens, should run at 42 lumens for much longer. That said, not much reason to have both a 42 and a 60, I'd go for the Gladius, which is a different light entirely and has some cool features.

HDS 60 is too similar to HDS 42. Since you want to use it for law enforcement, I vote for the Gladius too. Of all my lights I can activate the Gladius the fastest. I guess that might be important in a critical situation.
I EDC both a HDS U42 and a Gladius, since they cover different lighting needs for me.

Thank you. I appreciate your opinions! -- Tim