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NEMO COOL FACTOR
Night-Ops
Gladius
An
Illumination Tool Like No Other
When
it comes to flashlights, I personally, am not picky as there are a lot of
high-quality flashlights available. And,
until recently, I have never been a huge fan of LED lights as I have
always preferred an incandescent light source.
The last couple of weeks, I have been field testing Blackhawks!
Night-Ops Gladius and have found it to be exceptional.
For ease of evaluation, I’ll break it down into the features that
I personally enjoy.
FEEL:
At
first glance, it looks like any other light that I have tried over the
last few years. Upon picking
it up, I immediately noticed that it was far more comfortable to hold and
operate than my previous lights. The
light fit into my hand perfectly, and weighed far less than I anticipated.
For me, the weight itself is a huge factor as I normally have it
stored in a pocket. While in
my pocket, there was no feeling of extra bulkiness, annoyingly slapping me
in the leg.
Since I have small hands, it has not been easy for me to find a
light that I truly enjoyed shooting with.
This light has that problem fixed.
It is far more comfortable to shoot with than any other light I
have used in the past. I have
tried numerous shooting positions with this light and all were comfortable
and easy to adapt to.
LIGHT
OUTPUT:
This
is the area that I have never been 100% satisfied with LED.
This LED light has completely changed that.
I have used it both indoors and outdoors and am pleased with both.
Indoors the only way to describe this light is by saying it was
amazing. I was mostly
interested in the output of light in a totally dark room, since if the
room were lit I probably would not need a light.
The room I tested in was a large living room and it lit the entire
room with equal light and clarity. I
was truly impressed. If I were
searching for someone or something in the dark, this light would surely
uncover their location. After
the indoor test, I decided to see the performance outside, with and
without streetlights. Once
again the light did very well. With
and without streetlights, this light performed beyond my expectations.
SPECIAL
FEATURES:
The
features available with this light are exceptional.
With just the slight turn of a knob, you can go from strobe, to
constant on/off or to momentary on. The
strobe was probably my favorite out of the settings.
I had a volunteer allow me to use the strobe on him and he was very
disoriented. I do not know if
that was the intent of that feature, but it is the reason I would use the
strobe. After some practice, I
am now easily able to switch settings with one hand and keep my eyes and
focus on the target/threat. Without
a doubt, the features are handy and practical to law enforcement.
(PHOTO BY JUSTIN ROMITO)
There
are many other features with this light that could be talked about, but
the ones I mentioned are my favorite.
I believe the price that BLACKHAWK has listed for
this light is $249.99. This
flashlight is well worth the asking price.
Most people would be hard pressed to find a light that can perform
with this light for the same price, whether that price be lower or higher.
BLACKHAWK has once again impressed me with their product.
Justin Romito has been
in law enforcement for 4 1/2 years. He currently is a
Detective with the Lake Ozark Police Department and also the Department's
Firearms Instructor. Prior to his civilian law enforcement career,
he was assigned to Security Forces in the United States Air Force where he
was trained in Air Base Defense, Military Law Enforcement, Physical
Security, M.O.U.T Tactics and other skills.
He can be reached at officerromito@lakeozarkpolice.com
or jpromito@yahoo.com.
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