I Just order Gladius today !!!

I just order Gladius from Ebay. Woohooooo. I can't wait to get my hands on it to do some testing. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/paypal.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

Why did you get it through E-Bay?

I got cheaper price which includes shipping. strategos price is too expensive.

Both of mine are do to arrive tomorrow

Let me know what you think of the light Picard....
I sent you a email also..

ok, it will arrive on july 19. I will do test of it at night on the beach. I don't have digicam. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif I can provide a more detail description of the test. stay tuned folks.

Mine came this week. HOLY COW THIS THING ROCKS
Incredible throw. very bright on full power. I have it programed to remember the last setting used in continuous mode. I have continuous set up at about 20% ouput, perfect for minor administrative tasks and walking around the house at night.

Strobe function will be tested once I get back on duty. However I can see civilan use as a signel beacon.

Fit and finish are superb. The switch has the best tactile feel of any light I have handled.

I'm going to find a duty belt sized holster for it so I can carry it on duty full time. This is the first LED based light I've handled that actually is bright enough to use in a duty environment versus incan.

what do you guys think of Maxexpedition H1 waist pack? do you think it will hold the Gladius?

1 )what do you guys think about the coating? Is it as tough or tougher than HAIII?

2) Is the tailcap rattle minimal?

1. The coating is weaker I think. I already have a few scratches on my Gladius. It went into my pocket together with my KL4+Aleph body and when they came out, the Gladius lost a lot of it's coating at the edges around the body. I know that's normal... but the HAIII on my KL4+Aleph body was okay.

2. I don't notice the rattle in my tailcap during normal use.

1. I think the finish is not as tough as HAIII.
2. Rattle? what rattle?

Incidentally, if someone else would like to see a Gladius before buying, I still have slots available in the Gladius Passaround II.

I wouldn't really call it a rattle.
Sounds kinda like a bb in the tailcap.
I can only hear it if I'm concentrating.

The Gladius is really sweet.

Gee, I think you should have ordered the Gladius from Strategos. Strategos is where you ask the most questions and get the most informative answers about everything.

I just receive my Gladius this afternoon. The LED flashlight is much lighter than my Wolfeye M90 turbo head. The aluminum thread of Gladius is not engineered well at all. It doesn't close smoothly like Wolfeye. The LED is orange peel when I look directly at it. You can't see the orange peel if you look sideways. The lens is very clear. I will post review of beam tonight.

ok. this is my detail review of Gladius.

1) The hot spot is as bright as strategos claim. The beam reach 160ft not 166ft. I don't have my digicamera to take picture. sorry folks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

2) It produces 80lumens instead of 90 lumens. The beam has wide corona as my wolfeye 9M turbo head. My wolfeye still produce over powering light compare to Gladius abeit it looks a bit yellowish at distance. Wolf eye produces wider beam as compare to Gladius that has consistent narrow beam.
3) My wolfeye has thicker aluminum body and stronger tail cliky. wolfeye tail clicky has thick textured rubber. Wolfeye has solid click when I press down the tail switch. I know it made solid contact.

4) Gladius must redesign the tail clicky to match quality of wolfeye. Gladius tail is made of cheap plastic. There is no solid click when the button is pressed down. The Aluminum body is a bit thin and fragile. Gladius should be made to run with 3 or 4 CR123 batteries. It doesn't produce enough lumen. The electronic of Gladius is good. I was able to modify the light intensity. Strobe works great. The locking tail to maintain steady beam works as advertised my strategos.

The tail cap on the Gladius is a totally different design
The Gladius is designed for the true "operator"
The Wolf Eyes is a completely different concept, I do own both.

The Gladius switch is not all that fragile even though it is plastic. It is also designed to allow function changes. I think it is probably the best designed switch available for a light that is the first truly pragrammable, computerized ,multi function illumination device.

The Gladius aint just a flashlight

[ QUOTE ]
picard said: 2) It produces 80lumens instead of 90 lumens.

[/ QUOTE ]

unless you've got access to an integrating sphere, don't think you could accurately measure actual lumens output.

think my Gladius is closer to 60 lumens out the front end. which is not a slam, but a compliment

60 lumens from a 3watt is pretty solid output

I just came in from trying my Gladius again. I could light up a curb 300 feet away well enough to see that the owner of the house left his black trash can out tonight.
This is significant because behind the black trash can is dark weathered redwood fence. I was shining my Gladius downhill to illuminate this can and could dimly see it against the concrete curb. I could not see it's outline against the fence. At 275 feet I could barely make out the outline of the black trash can against the weathered redwood fence. At 250 feet I could clearly see the outline of the black trash can against the weathered redwood fence.
There are no street lights on my street, but tonight there are some clouds out providing ambient light which is significant because the can is in the dark under a large pine tree. On a real dark night I can clearly see when the neighbor leaves his can out at 300 feet. I should also mention that I do have pretty good night vision which helps when trying to identify dimly lit dark objects in the distance.

What test did you do to determine 160 feet?

I personally think the Gladius switch/plunge mechanism is a stroke of genius, from its function right down to the plastic that is used. There is a very plain and logical reason for the plastic, which is not cheap plastic by the way. The purpose for it is to provide a measure of safety for the light itself. If the light happens to get enough impact to damage the switch/plunge mechanism the plastic will break FIRST while enabling the switch/plunge mechanism to still properly function. I would rather have a broken plastic cover and a functioning switch/plunge mechanism then an entact cover and a bent and unusable switch/plunge mechanism.

I generally use mine for 0 to 150 feet. If I know I will be looking at objects in the 200 to 300 foot range I will use my Elektrolumens Tri-Star Phazer.
Beyond that and I pull out my spotlights.



Remember this light is made for close quarters combat.
It has plenty of light output for close quarters combat.
The switch can be easily, quickly, and effectively operated by one hand.
I hope Night-Ops does not change anything, except maybe adding an emergency SOS mode at some point. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/aaa.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/aaa.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif

I forgot there is one thing about my light I would like to change. I would like to get a green Gladius, my current Gladius is black /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif

Rather then edit the last post I will touch on two other points.
Thin does not necessarily = fragile. I believe the aluminum is 6061 treated to T6. In other words think light, hard, and strong.

Also, I was recently talking with a mechanical engineer friend of mine on a different but related subject. It had to do with some ceramic coating he had done on a project because he needed more wear resistance then HAIII. Whether the Gladius could use a thicker ceramic coat would be an issue worth looking into for Night-Ops. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif

I like the Gladius because it produce nice hot spot with no donut hole. The reflector and glass are very well made. The light is pure white. The strobe feature is really cool and will come in handy as self defense tool. The ceramic finish looks good. Now I just have to find a suitable holster for it and my wolfeye.