Gladius - Is a rattle in the tailcap normal?

Just curious but I got home from work tonight and my new coyote tan Gladius was waiting for me. I am very impressed overall and plan to do a detailed write up soon, the Gladius is just plain great.

However, I noticed the tailcap has a very distinct rattle to it. It seems to be coming from underneath the button itself, it is not a big deal and the light works 100% but is this normal?

Yes, sounds like a small BB in the cap

I do believe it's considered normal. The cap does have BBs or bearings, as MadeCov mentions. I can't remember if the latest ones rattle as much as teh earlier or not, seems I saw something to that nature.

Mine has only a slight rattle. Coyote Tan, sweet. I went with OD. I literally could not pick a color, so I jsut went ofr OD. If I had to do it all again, it'd be tan, though I like the OD just fine!

Mine also has a very faint rattle and I believe this to be normal.

My Gladius has a slight rattle too. Just like a rattlesnake before the bite. ;-)

IIRC, the earlier builds rattle a bit - not a problem

I just now checked mine - it rattles lightly in the tailcap when shaken; you do not have to shake the Gladius vigorously in order to hear it.

Gladius...shaken, not stirred! (just couldn't resist).

Thanks all.

I was not sure about the rattle and wanted to check. It's not a big deal just a slight annoyance but I wanted to make sure it was normal and something that may not lead to a problem down the road.

Usually ball bearings are not supposed to rattle, as this means they aren't necessarily seated very well. I'm surprised that this is normal for the Gladius, assuming this is the case.

yeah but ball bearings are usually load bearing devices. I think the one(s) in the tailcap might be more for centering although I'm not sure as I really have no idea how the tailcap innards look. I have to -really- shake mine to make it rattle and even then it's barely audible.

What is the status of the tailcap revision anyway?

I heard it was going to be redesigned. Or was that just a rumor?

Scott

No idea. Look up Ken J Good in the user list and ask him.

Even if the ball bearings are just used as centering devices, hearing them rattle around means there is a gap in there = there is space for whatever it is they are supposed to be centering to move, so that's not good either.

I'm not saying it doesn't work as intended or designed, nor do I yet own a Gladius, but man, for $250, why are there any shakes or rattles in the light? For that kind of money, you should have a pretty darn flawless presentation, advanced switch design or no.

Again, just my opinion, I'm sure the light is quite excellent, as many folks here who have one are quite impressed with it, and I have no reason to doubt them.

How is everyone's switch holding up for smoothness? Anyone's switch getting rough?

Scott

My black gladius has a slight rattle, no big deal. The tailcap has been holding up pretty fine, that is after almost two months of playing with the tailcap day in day out. I must be twisting it by the hundreds daily with no ill effect

I believe I remember hearing that the gap in the tailcap that is causing the rattling is for pressure equalization when the light is under water. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong in this.