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Posted: 1/27/2005 6:20:12 PM EDT
[#1]
Ken, sounds like you've been doing your homework. 80 lumens from a LED is more painful to look at when I compare it with a comparable incandescent. The cooler temperature ( our eyes are more sensitive to the lower wavelength on the spectrum) is a big factor on light perception. Is the LED being driven much harder on the strobe mode? I would hope you would drive it harder since the duty cycle is less and therefore, the LED will be able to tolerate the relatively short pulsing. This strobe mode is going to be the deciding factor on me getting this light. I've seen a lower power light with strobe (an Arc4 driven at about a watt) and it is pretty uncomfortable to look at when you are dark adapted. |
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Posted: 1/27/2005 7:43:26 PM EDT
[#2]
Luxeon V, harder to focus and color temp is not as nice for the purposes of this light as the 3 watt Luxeon III. cmm: In strobe mode, let me say we are hitting it much harder than 1 watt! Try closer to 5. We have a cool proprietary circuit/software that allows this to occur. |
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Posted: 1/28/2005 3:51:02 AM EDT
[#3]
Not to mention the 500 hour lifespan of the Luxeon V Portable will make issues for warranty liability. For maximum light intensity, the Lux III will focus much tighter than the Luxeon V. |
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Posted: 1/31/2005 1:01:21 AM EDT
[#4]
Here is a couple of online reviews:
www.imagometrics.com/FLReviews/BH_NO_Glad.htm www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=685 |
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Posted: 1/31/2005 6:54:19 PM EDT
[#5]
Good to meet you Ken and was OVERLY IMPRESSED with your torch! I look forward to getting these in stock!  C4 |
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Posted: 2/1/2005 4:23:17 AM EDT
[#6]
tag
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Posted: 2/1/2005 7:57:37 AM EDT
[#7]
Grant,
I glad I finally had the opportunity to put the face and personality to the board name. It is going to be nice to have you onboard given your overall knowledge of all the illumination tool options that are out there. I believe the Gladius is a good start, but as we spoke about, it is just the beginning. Looking forward to your input for improvement. Best to everybody. |
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Posted: 2/1/2005 8:32:28 AM EDT
[#8]
It is always good to put a face with a name and you and your crew (and light) do not disappoint! I would like to share my "strobe" experience with the rest of you. My wife and I went into the dark room for some "live fire" exercises. The instructor was about 6 feet away from me when he turned the strobe feature on. By the time I had realized that the strobe was turned off, the instructor was standing behind me! Not only did I NEVER SEE HIM MOVE, but I also NEVER heard him come behind me (kind of freaky). It seemed to me that the strobe was running a long time when in actuality it was only directed at me for about 1-2 seconds. My wife even commented that she didn't see him move behind me as the strobe had blinded her and she was standing to the side of me!  With all the features (and reasonable price) that the Gladius brings to the table I am confident that this will make all other handheld (and some weaponlights) torches obsolete!  C4 www.gandrtactical.com |
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Posted: 2/1/2005 8:35:10 AM EDT
[#9]
What is the maximum Lux reading for this light? I am fascinated that you are able to achieve 80+ lumens out of a Luxeon III. Does that mean 80+ “bulb” lumens or 80+ “torch” lumens, as in 80+ lumens out the front of the flashlight, with all electrical, reflector and lens losses accounted for? You had responded to a question of mine in a previous thread that you were using “S” and “T” bins for the LEDs. How many milliamps is your converter/regulator feeding the Luxeon III? What are the milliamp readings on both “high” and “strobe” settings? Do they differ? If the strobe function has a higher mA input, is it where the 80 lumen rating comes from? Thank you, Stainless |
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Posted: 2/1/2005 8:48:14 AM EDT
[#10]
Ken,
Never got to speak with you personally (busy dude), but I was also very impressed with your light. I can't wait to get my hands on a few. These babies paired with Mark's, Marty's, or Eric's mounts will be great for weapon lights. |
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Posted: 2/1/2005 4:09:07 PM EDT
[#11]
Here some pics of the LaRue Tactical flashlight mount. This is NOT the final production model. I apologize for the crappy pics. The mount is canted down so that you can reach it with your thumb (if you were using a VG)...
C4 www.gandrtactical.com  
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Posted: 2/1/2005 7:06:40 PM EDT
[#12]
Whoa! When is that Larue mount going to be available? I thought they were only interested in making a millenium mount.
Can we get some pics of it mounted? Let's see where it puts the light! |
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Posted: 2/1/2005 7:15:51 PM EDT
[#13]
This thread has a graph on lux not generated by us, but by someone we sent the light to: www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=845677&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&fpart=1&vc=1 I am not going to give out specific milliamp ratings at this time. Momentary and Constant on/high channels are lower than the strobe which is being hit harder. We are estimating 80+ lumens from the momentary and constant on/high. We certainly could be wrong as I have stated this is an estimate and the light has not been put in an integrating sphere. To be perfectly honest I could care less from an operational point of view, because I can see what I need to see within the parameters for which this light was orginially intended. When compared to illumination tools that have a known rating, the Gladius is more than holding its own. |
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Posted: 2/2/2005 4:53:55 AM EDT
[#14]
LT is going to make both types of mounts (one for the SF Mill. weaponlights and one for 1" lights). I do not have this mount on hand so I can't get you any othe pics at this time (sorry). This mount put the light somewhere around the 4 o'clock position (perfect if your running a VG). C4 |
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Posted: 2/2/2005 5:08:03 AM EDT
[#15]
that is an great product, going to have to show the father in law that video and see if he can use it at work. (Sheriff)
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Posted: 2/2/2005 5:36:51 AM EDT
[#16]
Awesome.... thank you for the info. I really appreciate it. have a good one. Stainless |
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Posted: 2/2/2005 3:43:24 PM EDT
[#17]
Any rough time line until the weapon lights are available? I'm interested in this design on a Benelli M4. So, it has to be pretty tough. Taxman was generous this year.
-Steve |
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Posted: 2/2/2005 4:38:41 PM EDT
[#18]
Dedicated systems are pretty far down the road.
Although I am pushing for a much faster solution. Drop in Gladius type modules that will replace your SF incandencents on dedicated systems. |
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Posted: 2/4/2005 3:41:42 AM EDT
[#19]
Awesome (read: Revolutionary) light Ken!!! Maybe it's just me, but I noticed that while a fast strobe rate maybe easier for the operator to navigate through dark areas, a slower strobe rate seems to be more disorienting to the target. With the slower rate, the target is allowed to adjust his night vision more (pupil dilate more) when the light is off, but then is forced to immediately readjust to the bright flash when the light is turned on again. It takes a little less than 1 second for the pupil to fully constrict and dilate in response to light. With a fast strobe rate, the pupils aren't allowed to dilate and constrict as much in between pulses so they are almost used to the bright light. Also, it seems like the fast strobing light can be tracked more easily by the target, kinda like a laser in a smokey room. I strobe my light when I search buildings but the only feedback I've ever gotten was during a practice house clearing drill where the target was so disoriented by my slow (approx. 3 flashes every 2 seconds) indirect flashes (he was inside a room and I was flashing the hallway), that didn't notice me passing in front of his door. Obviously, I wasn't able to strobe as fast as the Gladius so I don't know how that would have affected the same target. What do you think? Am I totally off base?
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Posted: 2/4/2005 7:10:34 PM EDT
[#20]
I don't think you are off base at all. Different rates, intensities, distances, and ambiant light sources are all going to make any individual encounter different. I don't think it is going to be clean matrix.
What I find interesting regardless is the fact that the discussion has in the case shifted to strobe rate and the various effects and possibilities associated with the rate. I have had quite of few folks at the SHOT Show (selling brands X,Y,Z) telling me strobe is not a desired or useful thing in a tactical environment. Well, I respectfully beg to differ & hence the introduction of the Gladius. We will see & time will tell. Keep in mind, you have both capabilities with the Gladius. In momementary you can flash the light at whatever rate your thumb can handle for X amout of time. We have talked about making the strobe rate user variable and we can still do that. But once you set it, you would not be able to change it on the fly. It would be an offline procedure. BTW. We have re-programmed the production models so that in fact you can change the Constant ON/Adjustable channel offline from its factory programming of High to Low. This is Mode I Mode II will be Low to High Mode III will be "memory" - That is the light "remembers where you last left it. Then it can be adjusted from there. This is the beauty of a truely digital programmed LED light. We can make the 3 channel User Interface do exactly what we want it to do. Simple or Complex. Again, this modality change will be accomplished offline by initiating a fairly easy to remember sequence but nearly impossible to do by accident. I do have a note on our FAQ's and instruction manual that if you are in a team, individuals in that team should consider that uniformity has its advantages. Everybody's light should function the same. |
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Posted: 2/4/2005 7:33:01 PM EDT
[#21]
The part in red just blows my mind. Apparetnly they didn't get hit with it! C4 |
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Posted: 2/6/2005 6:08:17 AM EDT
[#22]
Slightly off track of this thread but regarding the strobing, is there any field experience with strobe lights on animals and in particular, is it a deterrent to dogs?
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Posted: 2/6/2005 12:47:35 PM EDT
[#23]
Well, of course not. The Earth is flat and eveything orbits around us. Gladius aka Christopher Columbus.  I saw the strobe demo at the Blackhawk booth and even in the light, showed a lot of potential. It was also explained that underwater, the pressure switch would equalize and wouldn't self-activate at ~30' or lower, betraying a diver's location, was interesting. It showed a lot of thought went into the R&D of this light. |
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Posted: 2/6/2005 11:30:00 PM EDT
[#24]
I checked out the Gladius at SHOT (since you guys were right across from Gemtech, where I hung out a bit.) I was impressed with the light, but I thought the tail cap selector felt a little "flimsy." The rest of the light felt real solid, just not the tail cap. Maybe because they are pre-production models? I think the one on Larue's table was messed up, as I could turn the tail cap without getting any "click" feedback. The other issue was the High to Low dim, but I see where you've addressed that already. Anyway, just an observation. It will be nice to finally have some serious competition to Surefire available.....
I missed out on meeting Grant and Ken, just too busy looking around. I know Grant stopped by Gemtech a few times, but I always managed to miss him. DarkHelmet was working the booth a lot, and got a card for me. Grant, we need to talk! |
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Posted: 2/7/2005 3:48:38 AM EDT
[#25]
Scott,
I agree with you on these switches. These runs were the first production runs (a limited run) on an new switch mold. The pre-production ones were out of machined Delrin are/were really nice. Full Production will not suffer from that ugly feel. I was not happy to say the least when given these lights for the SHOT Show. They are actually quite strong and the switch on the inside is supported/recessed with the body. |
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Posted: 2/7/2005 5:20:29 AM EDT
[#26]
Sorry I missed ya! I was at the GEMTECH booth several times and have a good convo. with KEL... C4 |
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Posted: 2/7/2005 7:39:44 AM EDT
[#27]
Counting the days! What I really liked was the fact you all offered support training for the light. That will go a long way to help promote the light to all the SWAT and Fast Reaction team guys who come in. I hope to set something up with my rep ASAP!
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Posted: 2/10/2005 10:39:04 AM EDT
[#28]
I agree with you regarding the ability to manually strobe at a slow rate. I do the same thing when clearing buildings. What I am really looking forward to with Ken's light will be the ability to use the rapid fire strobe mode in the same manner as I do now manually strobing. Does that make sense? Short blasts of rapid fire strobe. Now you can still have the benefit of the pupil contraction/dilation with the disorienting effect of a rapid strobe. I pre-ordered mine a few weeks ago and plan on mounting it in rapid fire strobe mode as a secondary light on my AR. I have a 9v M961 on the way for primary use. Hopefully I can sell the Team on these lights. Can you imagine a whole entry team strobing through a house? Many Thanks to Ken for bringing such a useful product to the market! Brad |
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Posted: 2/10/2005 1:59:06 PM EDT
[#29]
Brad,
You got it! The ability to intermittently strobe (at a rapid rate) is particularly difficult to read downrange. Especially in a team environment. Just wait and see (or not see if you are on the receiving end) Who knows, this might be your primary! It is a very bright light. Although I appreciate you calling it "Ken's" light. I would like to shut that off as soon as possible. Did I have a strong influence on it. Yes. That being said it has been a enourmous team effort. This light (and the ones in the pipeline) is ultimately the result of many individuals influence over a long period of time. I just happend to find myself on a very dark ship for many years and had to focus on the realities of working against return-firing adversaries. It has been a journey not without bumps to say the least. We have an absolutely kick-ass team of mechanical and electrical engineers that are very excited about making leading edge tools. Without them, my ideas are merely conversations and sketches on paper. Hopefully we can step up the plate and continue to make things that make sense for those that go in harms way. We hope to remain a listening bunch. Best to everybody. Ken J. Good |
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Posted: 2/10/2005 2:33:11 PM EDT
[#30]
You certainly have my attention. This light is probably the most exciting product to come out of the tactical flashlight industry since the industry emerged. I look forward to seeing what else you and your team come up with in the future. |
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Posted: 2/10/2005 4:00:09 PM EDT
[#31]
+1 C4 |
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Posted: 2/10/2005 4:48:44 PM EDT
[#32]
Definitely possible. I'll have to play with it for a while first.
Sorry about that. My apologies to the entire Gladius team. I will rapid fire strobe myself 1000 times for my insolence.  Now send me that damn light so I can get started!  Brad |
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Posted: 2/11/2005 8:49:15 PM EDT
[#33]
I still haven't heard anything about availability! When will these things be on the market? I wouldn't mind pre-ordering one but don't want to wait till September to get it. Also, what about special features such as pressure switches?
Thanks...PB |
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Posted: 2/12/2005 6:19:23 AM EDT
[#34]
Late March and I am taking back orders on them! The Pressure switches will be realeased at a later date.C4 www.gandrtactical.com |
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Posted: 2/13/2005 10:50:20 AM EDT
[#35]
I am impressed. I have waited until now to make my weapon light purchase, so I can wait a month or two more for the Gladius to come online.
Looking forward to it :) |
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Posted: 2/16/2005 11:25:57 AM EDT
[#36]
+1. Insights Training Center has been teaching an "improvised" strobe for their low light tactics for quite some time. Their recommendation is to use a standard light but "develop a twitch" in your wrist so that the light beam goes in/out of the subject's eyes in a poor-man's strobe. I like the Strategos strobe. Can't wait until they come out with an E2-sized version. 
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Posted: 2/16/2005 12:38:17 PM EDT
[#37]
The wrist twitch is really cool/effective at close range, no doubt. When done correctly the receiver gets the exact effect of a strobe light. We call it oscillation as that is precisely what you are doing with the light.
It is never really going on/off, just appears that way as the brain is trying to integrate the picture. At range the electronic strobe will give an additional set of capabilities. We affectionately now call it “visual distortion”. It's all fun and games until somebody gets an eye poked out by an ocillating light in the hands of an over euthusiastic operator...Then it is hillarious....
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Posted: 2/16/2005 6:54:00 PM EDT
[#38]
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Posted: 3/4/2005 7:09:15 AM EDT
[#39]
Okay,
Got the L6 in the mail today. Puts out a good light pattern. Although this particular one has a small dark donut hole in the middle of the beam. It does not show up in the pictures as the camera is metering and filling in the blanks. Disclaimer here: This is just me with a Sony Digital camera, taking shots as the appear. My camera skills are really lacking. The digital pictures make both lights look better than they are actually performing in terms of intensity and clarity of the hot spot. The L6 from my eye's point of view is a more yellow/green and the Gladius is clearly more Blue/Purple The L6 has a brighter but smaller corona than the Gladius. At 10 ft the Gladius' corona is approx 2 ft+ larger. The Gladius has a more defined & intense (slightly larger) hot spot. I estimate the Gladius hot spot is 6 inches larger in diameter at 10 ft. This factor will start to really figure in as the distance to object/person of interest increases. The reflectors on these two lights are radically different and certainly accounts for the different light signature easily seen by the eye, but not as distinct with the camera. From my limited & totally biased point of view the Night-Ops Gladius might be the light of choice because of the additional functions (adjustable light/strobe), smaller package, less batteries to replace, waterproof, & from my vantage point a better light signature, certainly toe-to-toe at the very least. Less expensive to boot. :rolleyes: I may have said this somewhere before; we are currently conducting independent lab tests against a wide array of the competitors lights. The results will be publishable as fact.     Also, I saw the production schedule yesterday. Initial run of lights will be shipping by the end of March, with production ramping up from there. Those dealers that made a commitment first, will be getting lights first based on that initial commitment. Hopefully from March thru May we can get the pipeline filled and folks will not be yelling at me too hard with the familiar, “Where the heck is my light!!!”
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Posted: 3/4/2005 7:27:15 AM EDT
[#40]
Excellent post and pics Ken!
C4 |
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Posted: 3/17/2005 5:08:06 AM EDT
[#41]
I must comment that I saw this light at the shot show and a demo was given to me and a few other LE dudes and all we could say was, "where was this light several years back when we needed it"!! Can't wait to do some "Houdini" tricks wit da bad guys!
Simple AND effective light in a REAL K.I.S.S. package!! Sign us up!! 
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Posted: 3/19/2005 2:40:16 PM EDT
[#42]
Finally....Production has begun...This are first units that will be going to TREXPO West on Tues. The crank is turning to fill the pipeline.
Just a pic of a few sitting on my desk... It looks like we will be delievering product to dealers before the end of March. Into April we will be able to substantially increase the volume.  |
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Posted: 3/19/2005 3:43:56 PM EDT
[#43]
Very nice! Grant us LE types need a few!
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Posted: 3/19/2005 4:56:19 PM EDT
[#44]
Forgot to mention:
I will have a prototype tape switch in hand on Monday. The tape switch module will allow the user to the have the familar rotary dial. It will change the channels to: 1. Momentary 2. Strobe 3. Nav Level of light (User programmable) 4. System OFF We could not squeeze Constant ON in this particular setup due to the switch/chip interface. The cool thing is, if you can program the handheld the way you want, exchange to the tape switch version and the light will "know" that is the tape switch module and seperate the programming memory. Bottom line, the light can differentiate between the handheld and tape switch and how the user setup either switch. Need to test it out and put in into production as soon as feasible. |
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Posted: 3/19/2005 5:10:16 PM EDT
[#45]
How about those of us that placed pre-orders? (especially in the first 20 or so
)  Hi Vic! 
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Posted: 3/19/2005 5:26:35 PM EDT
[#46]
VERY COOL KEN! C4 |
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Posted: 3/19/2005 8:40:42 PM EDT
[#47]
That does it. I want one and a LaRue mount. Guess that means I gotta get a 7.0 from Grant also.
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Posted: 3/20/2005 7:14:28 AM EDT
[#48]
Hi Duff, you keep beating me to the punch! Stop following me! hehehe  Pssss....Who'd you pay-off to be the first twenty in line! Buy two and get me one!
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Posted: 3/20/2005 7:36:52 AM EDT
[#49]
Vic, Strategos of www.strategosstore.com emailed me and I phoned the order in, but I dunno if they will get them sooner than C4Grant
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Posted: 3/20/2005 9:52:41 AM EDT
[#50]
C4 |
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