Typhoon II Vs. Gladius

Anyone have both ?

Is the Typhoon II worth getting Vs just having my current original Gladius

I have both. I'm assuming you are talking about an unmodded Gladius. For me, the Typhoon 2 is definitely worth getting -- the extra output is great. An example of the difference -- the Typhoon 2 does not "wash out" under city street lighting as the Gladius does. The low output is still very low. With the exception of the output and the graphics, the light is physically pretty much the same as the Gladius, it's just brighter.

I really like the Typhoon 2 (I really liked my old Gladius also, except for its battery drain issues and the old ceramic finish which wore out with great rapidity) and I edc it on my belt. It is my favorite of many, many, far too many some have said, flashlights.

So the Typhoon II doesn't have the battery drain problem of the Gladius?

-LT

The steep battery drain was only a problem with the first rounds of manufacture for the Gladius. They solved that problem so new manufacture Gladuis' dont have the issue. It was a problem with the tailcap I believe in the old ones. Both lights will drain batteries over time becuase of the memory of remembering the channel one modes. The problem was some with defective tailcaps drained much much faster. I think these lights all have the best UI ever. Very practical and easy to operate.

fletch31 said:

The steep battery drain was only a problem with the first rounds of manufacture for the Gladius. They solved that problem so new manufacture Gladuis' dont have the issue. It was a problem with the tailcap I believe in the old ones. Both lights will drain batteries over time becuase of the memory of remembering the channel one modes. The problem was some with defective tailcaps drained much much faster. I think these lights all have the best UI ever. Very practical and easy to operate.

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If the battery drain is by memory function, then it happens even when turned off?
So, does it mean if you don't notice the bat draining for long term unused, then your gladius is OK?

octaf said:

If the battery drain is by memory function, then it happens even when turned off?

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Yup.

So, does it mean if you don't notice the bat draining for long term unused, then your gladius is OK?

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Should be. But why take chances? Pull the cells if you don't plan on using the light for a long time. My Gladius sits mostly unused. 80 lumens just doesn't seem to cut it anymore.

Monocrom said:

Yup.



Should be. But why take chances? Pull the cells if you don't plan on using the light for a long time. My Gladius sits mostly unused. 80 lumens just doesn't seem to cut it anymore.

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80 is pretty ok unless you compare with other bright one side by side.
There's an upgrade kit for gladius, are you planning on one?
Is it worth?

octaf said:

80 is pretty ok unless you compare with other bright one side by side.

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That's just it.... I definitely have brighter lights, in the same size.

There's an upgrade kit for gladius, are you planning on one?
Is it worth?

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To me, it's not really worth it. But like I said, I already have brighter lights. Even if I upgraded mine, it still wouldn't be able to compete with my Surefire C2 w/ Malkoff M60 drop-in. (Plus, I love clip-carried lights).

But many CPFers feel the upgrade is worth it. And if the Gladius is going to be your main light, then more output is definitely worth it.

fletch31 actually posted instructions on another thread, as to how you can perform the upgrade yourself. PM him. He might be able to provide you with a link to that thread. But if you don't own a Gladius already, a better solution is to just buy a Typhoon II. It comes standard with the upgrade, for usually less money than buying a Gladius and then buying the upgrade package for it.

fletch31 said:

The steep battery drain was only a problem with the first rounds of manufacture for the Gladius. They solved that problem so new manufacture Gladuis' dont have the issue. It was a problem with the tailcap I believe in the old ones. Both lights will drain batteries over time becuase of the memory of remembering the channel one modes. The problem was some with defective tailcaps drained much much faster. I think these lights all have the best UI ever. Very practical and easy to operate.

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My Gladius has the drain problem, it's been retired. I liked the functions but not the dead batteries.

-LT

The rapid drain issue that I, and a number of others (described in detail in a thread here and in another forum) was not a tailcap issue. I, and those others received replacement tailcaps which did not solve the problem. The solution, which took some more than one iteration of return for service apparently was to replace the IC in the light. "Steep" or "rapid" actually feel a bit like understatement to me -- in the case of my Gladius, the light would drain brand new Surefire batteries in three days. "Precipitous" feels more apt. I took to removing the tailcap when not carrying the light. By means of this expedient I was sometimes able to get nearly a week of battery life. Some of us with the issue went through a protracted cycle with Ken Good (a great guy) to get to where CS was servicing the issue and getting the lights to work. There was also a tailcap issue which was apparently far more common and for which a fix apparently appeared quickly.
As for being restricted to "first rounds" of manufacture, I suspect there are a few people I know who might dispute the terminology, so I guess it depends on what you mean by "first rounds." If "first rounds" includes runs sold more than a year after introduction and after the change in the finish from ceramic, I guess that characterization might fit.
As for mods, some of the reasons I like the Typhoon 2 are that it carries a factory warranty, and that the delivery time for the one I got was 2 days. Moreover, the Typhoon 2 had a very reasonable price, far far lower than what I paid for my Gladius.
As for the brightness, in the wholly subjective anecdotal un-instrumented side by side tests I have run, it is similar to my new E2DL, but is tighter at distance. I have discovered that with lumens it is almost never the case that anything I've owned did not leave me wishing at least a tiny bit for more. This is particularly true here where you have a user settable level available as well as full intensity available at a turn of the tailcap. But I would hasten to add that the output of the Typhoon 2 is great and, as I noted above, by far my favorite and most used light. Without the battery drain issue and its associated being grateful when new batteries lasted nearly a week, the battery life of this Typhoon 2 seems almost miraculous.

have both. IMO, the TII is a big improvement in brightness over the Gladius.

my TII is the the "straight" tailcap model. i thought that it would be easier to carry in the pocket. it is. however, while i NEVER had difficulty replacing the tailcap on the Glad, at least 50% of the time, i need 3 attempts (sometimes even more) to get the TII straight tailcap aligned properly b/f i start to screw it down.

this was not even once an issue w/the Glad. i could rotate it and feel it drop in place.

right now, i'm blaming the flimsy straight skirt used on the TII straight tailcap for not providing the "feel" to easily align the tailcap pin in the slot. the skirt rotates independently of the rest of the tailcap. to help solve this issue i've scribed alignment marks on the skirt and tailcap-proper to make pin alignment easier. since doing this, while the "feel" of achieving alignment is NOT as good as on the Glad, i can, using these marks, properly align the pin in the slot/groove in one or two attempts. a nice improvement, IMO. all this said, it should also point out that i'm a bit of a klutz, so this may account for my difficulty in performing this otherwise simple mechanical operation. YMMV.

Monocrom said:

Yup.



Should be. But why take chances? Pull the cells if you don't plan on using the light for a long time. My Gladius sits mostly unused. 80 lumens just doesn't seem to cut it anymore.

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Then, I think my gladius is OK.

Cause, I had batteries in it more than a week, and it's there always.
I don't notice any drain in mine.

Thank you for the answers. I do have the Gladius original. I love the light but there are so many new higher output LED's available I was thinking of getting the Typhoon II and use it as a duty light.

If you are a LEO you may have a better source for a new Typhoon II but I have bought three lights from this guy's store on Ebay and had great service from him. He is a quick shipper and provides a receipt too for your warranty.
http://stores.ebay.com/Practically-Stealing

You can get a Typhoon II for 155.99 shipped from him that already has the Seoul factory installed or you can get the original Typhoon that is the same as your Gladius for $133.00 shipped.

I prefer the tailcap on the Gladius and original Typhoon with the scalloped ridges that keep the light from rolling and aids my different grips instead of the straight one on the Typhoon II. Because of that, I bought two regular typhoons and upgraded them myself with new Seoul U bin emitters. You can do the upgrade yourself on your Gladius or a new Typhoon for 10 bucks or so in about a half an hour, particularly if you can unscrew the head easily. My first and second one were able to be opened just by hand with a little effort. The third one I bought had to be boiled in a zip lock bag for a few minutes and then cooled in order for me to open it. It opened rather easily after that.

The mod is really easy. Here is a link to the write up I did fairly recently that Monocrom was refering to. Its down the page a little bit:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/202054

YGBSM, thanks for clarifying the source of the drain issue on the original Gladius lights. I was indeed refering to the hit and miss drain problems with the some older lights with the ceramic finish. I understand the newer ones to be problem free in that regard.

fletch 31 -- Very cool thread on modding. Truly excellent modding guide and accompanying photos. I think I'm going to try it on my old ceramic finish Gladius -- got to work a bit on my "sense of adventure and can-do-it attitude" ... and find my soldering iron.

fletch31 said:

If you are a LEO you may have a better source for a new Typhoon II but I have bought three lights from this guy's store on Ebay and had great service from him. He is a quick shipper and provides a receipt too for your warranty.
http://stores.ebay.com/Practically-Stealing

You can get a Typhoon II for 155.99 shipped from him that already has the Seoul factory installed or you can get the original Typhoon that is the same as your Gladius for $133.00 shipped.

I prefer the tailcap on the Gladius and original Typhoon with the scalloped ridges that keep the light from rolling and aids my different grips instead of the straight one on the Typhoon II. Because of that, I bought two regular typhoons and upgraded them myself with new Seoul U bin emitters. You can do the upgrade yourself on your Gladius or a new Typhoon for 10 bucks or so in about a half an hour, particularly if you can unscrew the head easily. My first and second one were able to be opened just by hand with a little effort. The third one I bought had to be boiled in a zip lock bag for a few minutes and then cooled in order for me to open it. It opened rather easily after that.

The mod is really easy. Here is a link to the write up I did fairly recently that Monocrom was refering to. Its down the page a little bit:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/202054

YGBSM, thanks for clarifying the source of the drain issue on the original Gladius lights. I was indeed refering to the hit and miss drain problems with the some older lights with the ceramic finish. I understand the newer ones to be problem free in that regard.

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Lets just say I have sources that allow me to get one for a bit less than what you listed

madecov said:

Lets just say I have sources that allow me to get one for a bit less than what you listed

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haha why would you say that and not tell us anything else?!

I have the upgraded H2X and the original Gladius. I bought both used -- and in absolute mint condition -- so I never had a technical issue, as both owners had time to play with them... :thumbsup:

loszabo said:

I have the upgraded H2X and the original Gladius. I bought both used -- and in absolute mint condition -- so I never had a technical issue, as both owners had time to play with them... :thumbsup:

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Smart move!