If my previous posts about tactical flashlights made you want one, you’re lucky that there are literally hundreds being made today. Mine is the Blackhawk Gladius. Like all tactical flashlights, the Gladius is very bright and very rugged. Here’s what I think sets it above the others.
The Gladius has three modes: momentary-on, constant-on, and flashing. Momentary-on turns on the light when you press the tailcap button and turns it off when you release the button. This is useful for a quick flash of light when you’re glancing at something in the dark. It’s also useful in combat, and especially gun-fighting, where constant light might give an attacker something to target.
Speaking of combat, the flashing setting is designed to disorient an opponent. I haven’t found it to be useful for day-to-day use. The flashing is rapid enough that, from the user’s end of the light, the strobing looks effectively similar to constant light. From the other end, the flashing is harder and slower to adapt to than a constant, bright light.
The constant-on mode turns the light on when you press the tailcap and off when you press the tailcap again. This is useful when you want the light on for extended time and don’t want to have to hold the button down the whole time. The constant-on mode has an additional useful feature in that it can be dimmed to preserve battery life (looking for your keys doesn’t require 200 lumens, you know) and to preserve night vision. Additionally, the flashlight can be set so that the constant-on mode comes on at full brightness, at minimum brightness, or at the previously-set brightness level. I have mine set to come on at the dimmest setting. If I want a utility light, I turn it on in the continuous mode and know I won’t blast myself with bright light. When I need maximum light, I switch to momentary mode, or just turn on in continuous mode (at the dimmest setting) and hold the button down to cause the flashlight to ramp up to full brightness.
This might sound a bit complicated, but the flashlight is very well designed. There is a ring around the tailcap button that is used to select between the light’s three modes. The first position is constant-on, the second is strobe, the third is momentary-on. The dial turns easily with one hand, and switching between modes quickly becomes second nature.
Speaking of ergonomics, I’ve held tactical flashlights whose tailcap button was quite stiff. I suppose this keeps the light from being activated accidentally, but it means that your thumb gets quite a workout when using the flashlight in momentary-on mode. The Gladius has a lock-out position on the rotary dial to prevent accidental activation of the light and easy-to-press tailcap button.
A final nifty feature of the Gladius is its power management circuitry. The light moderates the current to the LED bulb to keep light output stable as the battery gets weaker. When the battery is getting low, the light blinks once every fifteen seconds to indicate that you should change the batteries soon, but the light continues to operate at full output right up until the moment the batteries totally crap out. What this means is that you’ve always got a heads-up that your batteries are getting low, but as long as there is any battery left at all, the light is fully usable. Actually, it’s not quite fully usable. When the batteries are low, the constant-on mode is disabled. The idea here is that you are no longer able to use the light in its most utilitarian mode, but if you need full brightness for something important, you’ve still got it. The same power management circuitry monitors the LED’s temperature and reduces light output if the LED gets too hot. Overheating the LED is one of the ways that these flashlights can be damaged. For the record, I’ve never had this happen. I imagine that it must happen when the light is used continuously and/or in a very hot environment.
Some reasons people might choose another flashlight over the Gladius include: It’s not the absolute brightest light out there, for those who are into the numbers game. It doesn’t have built-in rechargeable batteries. Sure, you could buy rechargeable CR123 cells, but their performance is hit-or-miss in many tactical flashlights. And, of course, there’s the cost. $150-$170 depending on where you buy it. It does not come with a strike bezel, so for those for whom a strike bezel is an absolute must, this flashlight is out. Finally, it only comes in one color of light: white. People who want a red (for night vision) or blue (for tracking an animals blood trail) light will have to either buy gels to put over the light’s standard 1.25″ bezel or choose a different flashlight with colored LEDs built in.
A last word: The Gladius is not designed first and foremost as a weapon light, but it is rugged enough to be mounted on a firearm without damaging it, and its 1″ diameter body fits into a standard set of scope rings, for attachment to an accessory rail.
