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Posted: 9/16/2005 3:50:40 PM EDT
I received my Gladius back today from Night Ops... no problem with the install of the tail cap - it gives a very positive "click" when in the right position to tighten down However - now the tailcap won't go into the lock out position - - just grinds when turning it...  no problem with the other three positions or indexing but when you try to turn to far left just a grinding sound and turning... thoughts before I send it back 
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My guess is that Ken Good will be along in a bit to post comments to you on this. They really are working on getting these lights just right. Give him a couple of days and see if he posts. If not, you can get him at Strategos...here www.strategosinternational.com/ |
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heron163: Well that is not good is it?  Drop me an email at: [email protected] Send Mailing address & color of the Light. I will ensure you get a tailcap without any issues ASAP. Needless to say I appreciate your extreme patience in this matter. |
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I've had my Gladius for a little while now & must say it's my favorite. I've tried them all. Had/have over a dozen different SureFires, Arcs, HDS, Pentagon, etc. Love the Gladius. Ken, y'all really did a great job on this thing. I had no problem at all properly indexing the tailcap/keyway upon initial receipt, as I'm quite familiar w/ aircraft avionics & understand the "only goes on one way" thing. Well done; I'll end up w/ another one I'm sure. |
| It looks identical to the Cerkote Gladius in black in pics. You have too look close to see a difference in real life. I dropped mine in between the drivers seat and console and lost it for about 4 hours and was frantic. I moved the seat to look under it nad heard a scrapping. The Gladius had some finish damage where the metal was gouged but there were no scratches where metal was not physically displaced. |
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Thank you for the positive commments. As you know, the introduction of the Gladius has been a process. I speak for the team at Night-Ops we appreciate everybody's support and patience as we work the kinks out... We will get there, we will take the top of the hill!!!! Oh yes, we are looking for more "warrior" names for our next soon to be released 6-volt & 9-volt incadescents....Swords, knives, anything cool. (By the way, they will outperform the other big guys standard lamps on several fronts  )We have been batting about quite a few names. Tell ya what, E-mail your suggestion if you have one: If we use select it, I will send you a Gladius. Nothing official here, just me trying to solicite some cool names and give you the opportunity to get your name forward. Please email me at: [email protected] Don't do the public thing as my buddies on the other side of the isle are here too... |
I just helped name the new Night OPS light! Don't ask me the name, as I am sworn to secrecy! |
Thank you, Sean |
| I own a HA model and it wont look any different in pics. You can only tell in person with close inspection its a different finish. The anodisation is that good. Several retailers have the HA model and all black being delivered the last couples weeks have been and will be HA finish. |
THank you night ops for fixing my tail cap issue! The new cap does really drop right in and finding the "half-cocked" position with the button is easy Old cap inbound Looks like my ceramakote gladius will be a collectors item Now that I am getting more time on the Gladius, I really am appreciating the design compared to the U2. Its nice to be able to control everything from the tail cap, particularly brightness. I could see this being a big advantage in a tactical situation Although I did know a guy who could rack the slide of a 1911 one handed (a story for another time ), most of us would need to hands to do that or adjust brightness on a U2.good job guys and cant wait for the tail cap extension - hopefully it will retrofit onto my collectors item Gladius
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heron163: Glad you are a happy camper. atkamano: Incandescents: I will try and get some type of timeline this week. I am in Wash D.C. at the AUSA convention. Dealers/Distribut/Operators that have seen the protos are looking forward to this things getting out there. My personal satisfaction with these lights is that they really take the best of breed in almost every other light out there in this category and pack it into one light. Jarhead_22 That is beauty of digitial regulation. Pay more on the front end, but the battery life is crazy good on the Gladius with a quality set of batteries. |
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For all those asking if the Gladius has come out with HA finish yet...I will attest to it has. My second Gladius arrived yesterday with black HA anodizing. I have not had much time to beat it up yet so no real review yet on the durability. I will say that the finish is more matte that the other finish. I will update after this week. Matt P.S: Thanks Ken. P.S.S: What did you think of the names for the incandescent lights I sent you? |
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All incremental. First of all we have been tightening up our quality assurance & customer service process as we face new issues. Anytime you launch something new, you encounter issues others have not previously experienced or forseen. Lot's of lessons learned on our part. Better tooling for the molded tailcap components creating better fit/feel and eliminating play in the bearings. Better shock-isolation for the Glass itself Changed a chamfer on the Bezel to prevent U.S. quarters from lodging in the bezel Going to Type III HA finish as opposed to Cerakote. In process of changing a few dimensions/parts within the tailcap to reduced breakage if the light is dropped directly on the tailcap when in the Lock-Out position. These changes are also going reduce user breakage if the tailcap is being installed incorrectly. Better instructions/labeling to prevent user breakage on tailcap/battery installation. No internal electronic changes - They have been very stable. |
"You're kidding," I say while looking for quarters. Also, I was bummed out when I heard about the cerakote coating. I really liked its appearance and feel. |
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One thing I've been noticing recently with my Gladius is the LED cooldown period. Due to the effectiveness of the reflector I can easily see that the LED is still emitting faint light for a a second or two after I release the button. It's especially noticeable when I'm using the low-power setting, but maybe that's because my eyes are better-adjusted. It reminds me of coolown period of the 225-lumen bulb I used to have in another light. After turning it off there was a half-second or so of light as the filament cooled. This is way longer. I know I can redirect the light, it's just something I have to be aware of. |
| I broke the safety in my Gladius after about 4 days. I think its better that way though. I used to half to half press the tail switch to rotate off safety. Now I still have to press in half way to get into safety but I can just turn the switch straight out with no depression of the button to get into a working mode. I want to keep it this way. Will it break anything to keep using it like this? |
I'm not sure what you are meaning exactly, but the ones I have and have played with do not require you to push the switch to take the light from lock out mode to any of the working modes.
LED's die almost instantly when you cut power to them. They normally have a super really faint glow (for a few minutes), this isn't like what you described at all. I think what you are seeing is a bleed off of current from an internal capacitor or something. It is amazing how little power it takes to make an LED glow, but you get a diminishing return as you add more power, which is why they are insanely effecient at low outputs. Still, these don't do it as bad as higher output xenon bulbs, at least from what I have seen. |
Mine is a brand new anodised version, it required pushing in to unlock for all of Hurrican Rita, now it does not. Would this version not have the latest tailcap? |
It's the really faint glow that I'm describing. It's not as bright but it definitely lasts longer and with the reflector being so effective... |
Ok, I think we on the same track. the really really faint glow is only really visable with dark adapted eyes and lingers for a while, provided you are looking down the reflector?.? My 5 watt Luxeon lights do it worse, I think that they have a larger emission source over 3 watts. I would argue that this small amount of glowing is a non-issue. If you just used the light, your night vision was probably trashed so lets deploy the light and not let anyone have dark adapted eyes. If you haven't used the light yet, it isn't glowing, so you win again. |
I timed the glow last night, it lasts about 3 seconds. I'm sure you're right though about it not being an issue. |
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Hi Ken On my gladius I need to push the button half way in to lock the tail cap. I don't have to push the button to unlock it. Everything seems to work fine. Ken, can you confirm weather you are required to push the button half way down to unlock the tail cap too. Do I need to send mine in for warranty repair? Thanks....Mike |
The tailcaps do not need to be pushing in half way to get them to unlock. You should just be able to turn it clockwise to get it into the working modes. |
Maybe the tailcap was not on quite right? One of mine seems to be a bit more touchy in the tailcap postioning than the other one. |
Ken had done this and I sent him a couple of names. A week went by and told me his product group had selected a name I had sent in. And I had won a Gladius flashlight. True to his word. I received the Gladius he promised.  In Sniper Grey. I really love this light.  BTW, I did not have a tailcap problem with this one. |
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