zespectre
Flashlight Enthusiast
Real World Review - Night-Ops Gladius
ZeSpectre's "Real World Reviews"
11/07/2005
Yes ladies and gents, it's time for another infamous Real World review.
Although very interested in the Gladius I had some concerns that I aired on a previous thread (anyone who wants to follow the history of that discussion can see http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=95176 )
The combination of responses on the thread and the way Mr. Good handled himself as a representative of the company went a long way towards eliminating my concerns so.... this week timing and finances were right and I picked up a Gladius (sniper grey in case anyone was wondering
).
At this point my Gladius has 2 nights of use. Between the constant-on and intermittent use the light has a total of approximately 3-4 hours on the clock. Thanks to the power conservation abilities of the lower light levels I am still on the original batts that came with the light.
While I understand that the Gladius was designed to be a tactical light for law enforcement work, I wanted to asses it's capabilities for back-country, trail, and even possible SAR use. With this in mind let's proceed to the review.
The Gladius was used for two nights while camping and hiking at Caldonia Furnace park in Fayetteville, PA. The weather was cool (low 50's dropping to high 40's) and clear. The light was used in a campground, in & around a 4 person tent, in open areas exceeding 200 yards, and densely overgrown backcountry with visibility sometimes limited to 7 ft or less. There was no rain but cooling temperatures at dusk cause a brief bit of very light ground fog both evenings. I brought several other lights along for comparison purposes but used the Gladius as though it were the only light I had available.
The first dusk was spent reading the manual and then simply playing with the light (all the functions, loading and unloading batteries, etc). Originally I was very concerned about the durability of the selector dial and switch because they were loose and sloppy on the demo I had played with, and gave me an impression of cheapness. I was also extremely concerned about the "index pin" issue where the light could possibly be damaged by incorrectly re-installing the tailcap.
Interestingly enough the light I actually bought has a VERY different feel from that earlier demo I toyed with in the store. The selector dial is very precisely fitted (doesn't rattle at all), and operates very smoothly with just enough detent to accurately click from "channel" to "channel". I have also laid to rest my concerns about damaging that "index pin" now that I fully understand how the tailcap is supposed to be installed. Those of you who gently repeated "it's just a matter of reading the manual and then practice" were right. Thank you for being patient with me
. Some people aren't fond the relatively long throw of the switch itself. I did not find this to be an issue at any time and think that might be a simple matter of preference.
So by now it was actually dark and I decided to compare the Gladius to my favorite trail light the Surefire L2. I set the Gladius to "Channel 3" and "Mode 3" (which means the light comes back on at the last light level) and futzed with dimming a bit until the Gladius was running pretty equal to a Surefire L2 on low. This gave me an L2ish ability to be in "low" for power savings or with a flick of the dial I could go to "Channel 1" and use the momentary setting and blast up to high power, then flick the dial back to "Channel 3" and go right back to the lower powered setting. Honestly, it's not anywhere as confusing as it sounds written down!
Off to the trail where I quickly found that the Gladius suffers a bit in close-up "rough trail" use due to the tight focus of the beam. Don't misunderstand me, it is still a great light and the sidespill is more than adequate for this use but you do wind up "sweeping" the light some so you get a bit of that "follow the bouncing ball" effect from the hotspot. For unpaved trails I have a distinct preference for the nice flood of the L2 (see it all at once and move my eyes not the light) and I personally would like to find some kind of easily removable beam shaper to widen out the beam for this type of use.
On the other hand, the Gladius really showed it's strength when I had to peer through dense overgrowth while trying to find a trail blaze (marker). It also stomped the L2 when I came to an open field about 40-50 yards across and had to find the trailhead on the other side. With the L2 on high I was pretty sure I could see the marker. With the Gladius on high I was certain of the marker's location. The Gladius also seemed to have no particular trouble penetrating the light ground fog whereas the L2 did it's usual Hollywood special effect of just lighting up all of the fog.
I misread my trail map and wound up in the edge of the picnic area of the park so I walked over to the edge and just as I was turning up the road to the camping area I was stopped by a ranger who apparently saw the light and wanted to make sure everything was all right. I told him about my wrong turn and he grinned at me and said "well I figured you weren't up to no good, 'cause you weren't exactly stealthy walking around with that bright light" and we both had a good chuckle about that. For the record, even on the lower setting I had it at, the Gladius makes a 2D maglight look pretty sick.
So now back to camp where I sat around the fire enjoying the evening and found that Raccoons, who only ever just stared at my L2, do NOT like the strobe of the Gladius
.
Eventually I went to bed and waking up at about 2 am I needed to answer nature's call. The lowest light setting was very nice to my completely dark-adapted vision and was all I needed to find my shoes, etc. inside the tent. Mid-brightness was plenty to make my way past other tent sites and to the bathrooms without disturbing others.
The second night really just re-enforced the opinions I had developed on the first night. Look, I admit it, I'm a convert. Now I can't wait until the U2 passaround gets to me so I can compare the lights!
Final Comments and Summary:
I HATE the lockout. I have tried and tried but I can NOT lock the light out with one hand. I also struggle with locking out the tailcap with two hands and easily 50% of the time I wind up locking the light ON not off.
The beam pattern of the Gladius clearly indicates it's LEO design focus. It has very good throw and a distinct hot spot that drops quickly into a decent amount of side spill. There are other lights that might be a little better for "rough trail" work, but this one has the flexibility to do pretty much any job.
The dimming function is great for conserving your batteries and saving your dark adapted eyes. Because the majority of my runtime was in the lower light levels, I still haven't had to replace the batteries.
I really thought I'd hate the "Star Lug" on the tail end. In fact I found the opposite to be true and with a lanyard on my wrist found myself naturally carrying this light in the "cigar hold" as I walked the trails.
Once I learned how to program the different "modes" for "Channel 3" a whole new level of usefulness opened up for me.
OUCH, the price made my wallet hurt, but this really is a "top-tier" light.
ZeSpectre's "Real World Reviews"
11/07/2005
Yes ladies and gents, it's time for another infamous Real World review.
Although very interested in the Gladius I had some concerns that I aired on a previous thread (anyone who wants to follow the history of that discussion can see http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=95176 )
The combination of responses on the thread and the way Mr. Good handled himself as a representative of the company went a long way towards eliminating my concerns so.... this week timing and finances were right and I picked up a Gladius (sniper grey in case anyone was wondering
At this point my Gladius has 2 nights of use. Between the constant-on and intermittent use the light has a total of approximately 3-4 hours on the clock. Thanks to the power conservation abilities of the lower light levels I am still on the original batts that came with the light.
While I understand that the Gladius was designed to be a tactical light for law enforcement work, I wanted to asses it's capabilities for back-country, trail, and even possible SAR use. With this in mind let's proceed to the review.
The Gladius was used for two nights while camping and hiking at Caldonia Furnace park in Fayetteville, PA. The weather was cool (low 50's dropping to high 40's) and clear. The light was used in a campground, in & around a 4 person tent, in open areas exceeding 200 yards, and densely overgrown backcountry with visibility sometimes limited to 7 ft or less. There was no rain but cooling temperatures at dusk cause a brief bit of very light ground fog both evenings. I brought several other lights along for comparison purposes but used the Gladius as though it were the only light I had available.
The first dusk was spent reading the manual and then simply playing with the light (all the functions, loading and unloading batteries, etc). Originally I was very concerned about the durability of the selector dial and switch because they were loose and sloppy on the demo I had played with, and gave me an impression of cheapness. I was also extremely concerned about the "index pin" issue where the light could possibly be damaged by incorrectly re-installing the tailcap.
Interestingly enough the light I actually bought has a VERY different feel from that earlier demo I toyed with in the store. The selector dial is very precisely fitted (doesn't rattle at all), and operates very smoothly with just enough detent to accurately click from "channel" to "channel". I have also laid to rest my concerns about damaging that "index pin" now that I fully understand how the tailcap is supposed to be installed. Those of you who gently repeated "it's just a matter of reading the manual and then practice" were right. Thank you for being patient with me
So by now it was actually dark and I decided to compare the Gladius to my favorite trail light the Surefire L2. I set the Gladius to "Channel 3" and "Mode 3" (which means the light comes back on at the last light level) and futzed with dimming a bit until the Gladius was running pretty equal to a Surefire L2 on low. This gave me an L2ish ability to be in "low" for power savings or with a flick of the dial I could go to "Channel 1" and use the momentary setting and blast up to high power, then flick the dial back to "Channel 3" and go right back to the lower powered setting. Honestly, it's not anywhere as confusing as it sounds written down!
Off to the trail where I quickly found that the Gladius suffers a bit in close-up "rough trail" use due to the tight focus of the beam. Don't misunderstand me, it is still a great light and the sidespill is more than adequate for this use but you do wind up "sweeping" the light some so you get a bit of that "follow the bouncing ball" effect from the hotspot. For unpaved trails I have a distinct preference for the nice flood of the L2 (see it all at once and move my eyes not the light) and I personally would like to find some kind of easily removable beam shaper to widen out the beam for this type of use.
On the other hand, the Gladius really showed it's strength when I had to peer through dense overgrowth while trying to find a trail blaze (marker). It also stomped the L2 when I came to an open field about 40-50 yards across and had to find the trailhead on the other side. With the L2 on high I was pretty sure I could see the marker. With the Gladius on high I was certain of the marker's location. The Gladius also seemed to have no particular trouble penetrating the light ground fog whereas the L2 did it's usual Hollywood special effect of just lighting up all of the fog.
I misread my trail map and wound up in the edge of the picnic area of the park so I walked over to the edge and just as I was turning up the road to the camping area I was stopped by a ranger who apparently saw the light and wanted to make sure everything was all right. I told him about my wrong turn and he grinned at me and said "well I figured you weren't up to no good, 'cause you weren't exactly stealthy walking around with that bright light" and we both had a good chuckle about that. For the record, even on the lower setting I had it at, the Gladius makes a 2D maglight look pretty sick.
So now back to camp where I sat around the fire enjoying the evening and found that Raccoons, who only ever just stared at my L2, do NOT like the strobe of the Gladius
Eventually I went to bed and waking up at about 2 am I needed to answer nature's call. The lowest light setting was very nice to my completely dark-adapted vision and was all I needed to find my shoes, etc. inside the tent. Mid-brightness was plenty to make my way past other tent sites and to the bathrooms without disturbing others.
The second night really just re-enforced the opinions I had developed on the first night. Look, I admit it, I'm a convert. Now I can't wait until the U2 passaround gets to me so I can compare the lights!
Final Comments and Summary:
I HATE the lockout. I have tried and tried but I can NOT lock the light out with one hand. I also struggle with locking out the tailcap with two hands and easily 50% of the time I wind up locking the light ON not off.
The beam pattern of the Gladius clearly indicates it's LEO design focus. It has very good throw and a distinct hot spot that drops quickly into a decent amount of side spill. There are other lights that might be a little better for "rough trail" work, but this one has the flexibility to do pretty much any job.
The dimming function is great for conserving your batteries and saving your dark adapted eyes. Because the majority of my runtime was in the lower light levels, I still haven't had to replace the batteries.
I really thought I'd hate the "Star Lug" on the tail end. In fact I found the opposite to be true and with a lanyard on my wrist found myself naturally carrying this light in the "cigar hold" as I walked the trails.
Once I learned how to program the different "modes" for "Channel 3" a whole new level of usefulness opened up for me.
OUCH, the price made my wallet hurt, but this really is a "top-tier" light.
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