Aleph VS Gladius

Looking to get a Gladius and I was wondering how it compares to the Aleph 1. It seems like they both have the same reflector and LUX III, so what would be the benefit of buying a gladius when I already have an aleph with the same beam profile. Of course the gladius has the strobe and electronics, but I'm not too worried about that.

Any opinions? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/whoopin.gif

I think don was a beta tester for gladius. He would give you
a striaght up honest answer for you. I don't own one, but i would say the giz LE setup will offer a very broad
base for beam, power and throw/spill, runtime. I love the idea of the gladius, but I also love the mcgizmo stuff, and have been reseaching it a lot.

But as i said in one gladius post, i am into 1X123 light's and would lean to don's stuff because of that but if i were to buy another 2 cell light would give both a hard look. VDG

mrandychen,
I commented in the Gladius thread where you asked for beam shot comparisons. I appreciate voodoogreg's vote of confidence in my ability to answer honestly and indeed, this would be my intent but given my vested interest and likely bias, my comments could and should be suspect to some degree.

That said, the Aleph 1 is clearly superior to the Gladius as it has a stranger name and I had my hand in its design! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif

The truth will set you free and lies will bind! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nana.gif

OK, in terms of beam and output, the reflectors are close enough in photon redirection that any significant differences will not arise from them. (McR-27 is better; watch my nose. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif ) The beams from these lights will depend much more significantly on drive current to the LED (or duty cycle in the case of the Gladius) as well as the bin and performance of the specific LED's.

The Aleph 1-2x123 is considerably smaller and shorter than the Gladius and it has considerably fewer functions and features regarding the light output itself. The Gladius is a professionaly manufactured light with presumed unlimited availablity and a warranty program. The Aleph 1 is very finite in number and will no longer be available at some point. It does not have any expressed warranty beyond the builder standing behind his work.

If the additional features and differences are not significant to a current Aleph 1 owner, it would seem that adding a Gladius to one's quiver would be of questionable benefit beyond the mantra of "buy them both". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

If one were in the market for a 27 mm based light and did not have anything similar, then the decision might be a bit tougher and the features provided by each of the lights as well as their strong and weak points would all need to be factored in. In addition to the Gladius, there are other lights hosting the IMS 27 including the LionHeart. One might also want to consider the Pelican M6-LED whose predecessor with its 27 mm reflector gave birth to the McR-27. Availability of the choices would also have a bearing.

Don, you're everywhere man. Thanks for your input. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif
I have both the Aleph and Pelican M6... so now it's a matter of being a flashaholic. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif And we know what they would do....

Back to the topic at hand. Seeing that I do have the Aleph and PM6 LED, one would think that I wouldn't need the gladius, however, I'm going on the notion that the gladius has a slighly larger hot spot than the Aleph, but is just about as bright Lux wise. I'm going to look around to see if someone has a lightmeter, but I'm pretty sure my Aleph is a real catch because it's much brighter than an Inova X03 and those are marked at around 2400 Lux.

You're right when you say a lot will ride on how the drive current and bin turn out, but I'm pretty sure the people over at blackhawk have that sorted. So, in essence, I'm just concerned over the throw and size of the hotspot.

I could also be finding an excuse to buy another light....which is most likely the reason why I'm asking these questions. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

Cones has some nice reviews and if you look at his sight he did some lux readings comparing these lights. This could answer some of your questions.

The Aleph is smaller, has a somewhat better beam quality (better reflector), is easier to use, can be customized to your needs and is part of a big modular line of lights.

The Gladius has much more features including a strobe (seems to be much appresciated by the LEO folks), has a "clicky" switch (it's a uC switch in reality) and can accept the PILA 168A cell where the Aleph takes 168S cells (or 150S for the record).

The Aleph is a general illumination tool whereas the Gladius is a rather specialized law enforcement tool. Difficult to compare, as the criteria are somewhat unrelated /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

If it helps ... I am an Aleph-guy, but when the civilian version of the Gladius will eventually be available, I would want one, too, finances beware /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

bernie

[ QUOTE ]
McGizmo said:
The Aleph 1 is very finite in number and will no longer be available at some point. It does not have any expressed warranty beyond the builder standing behind his work.


[/ QUOTE ]

OH no!! I still am saving my pennies for an aleph! an II for sure and been looking at the 1 and three for later.
Say it ain't so! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif acutually I would go for a good
EDC II and a III for major throw. ( i am still learning about Lux V's and throw, i would want a specialised throw monster, with a big beam just need to learn more about V's and mcgiz's In general too. VDG


But the next Is a chop mod (Exe) and then an aleph II head followed by a 1x123 bod, and eiter a trim or SFT. VDG