Frequently Asked Questions about BlackHawk Night-Ops Gladius Flashlight and Warranty

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Q: Who is BlackHawk Night-Ops?
A: BlackHawk Night-Ops is the result of the teaming partnership between BlackHawk Products Group a well-known and respected manufacturer of products designed for military and law enforcement personnel and Strategos International. Strategos is the recognized leader in low light environment, tactical training within the law enforcement community.
Black Hawk Night-Ops is chartered to develop and distribute the world’s most advanced tools to prevail in hostile low light environments.

Q: How do I change the Batteries on the the BlackHawk NightOPS Gladius Flashlight? A:This is an imporant issue and several customers have had difficulties here as they are used to installing batteries on conventional flashlights. Aligning the indexing pin on the tailcap/rotary dial is extremely important so as not to cause any damage to the Gladius or create any loss of function.
Remove the tailcap housing by rotating the metal sleeve by grasping the anti-roll flanges (not the rotary dial) counter-clockwise until the housing is released. Install new, high-quality batteries, positive terminal first into the light. Night-Ops recommends Panasonic, Duracell or Night-Ops branded batteries. Carefully insert the housing into the body of the Gladius with light pressure and rotate it using the rotary knob until you feel it drop into its proper position. Then turn the entire sleeve by grasping the anti-roll flanges clockwise until tight. It is important that you ensure the tailcap housing is completely seated and tight so you do not experience intermittent loss of function. Test the light to make sure everything is working properly.
DO NOT REMOVE the Bezel (unscrew the front end of the Flashlight)
This will void your warranty! The glass can be safely cleaned with a soft cloth and lightly wetted with mild window cleaner.
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Q: What type of batteries should I use?
A:Select and use batteries from a high quality manufacturer of 3-volt CR123A lithium batteries. Poorly manufactured batteries can cause catastrophic damage to the light.
The Glaidus has not been specifically designed to accept rechargeable batteries, nor have BlackHawk adequately tested rechargeable batteries in this light. If you put rechargeable batteries into the light that exceed it's maximum voltage load, you do so at your own risk. You will void your warrantee. You can quite possibly damage the circuit thereby rending the light inoperable.
Additionally, Pila brand rechargeable batteries installed in the Gladius will signal the power management circuit that the batteries are low in power. The Gladius will begin to emit a double flash in momentary and constant on Channels, which is the pre-programmed low battery power indication.

Q: How long will the batteries last, stored?
A: Batteries in the package can be stored 10 years and still retain 90% of their original energy. The batteries from a storage point of view should last 2 years once they are placed into the flashlight, the storage life will be reduced as the flashlight draws a nominal current.

Q:How Strong in the Rear Tailcap Switch and Rotary Dial on the Gladius Flashlight?
A: It is durable and will withstand head high drops. It has excellent resistance to moisture, chemicals, solvents and fuels. Salt water will not be a problem.

Q: Why is there no knurling on the tailcap area?
A: BlackHawk Night Ops believes it is not the best design, as Black Hawk wants the thumb to freely slide along the body to facilitate smooth, fast mode switching.

Q: Why did you choose and LED over and incandescent lamp?
A: LED’s are inherent shock-resistant and have tens of thousands of hours as opposed to a high-output incandescent lamp. Black Hawk has created a power\thermal management system that allows the Black Hawk Gladius Flashlight to go toe-to-toe and beyond that of many current incandescent flashlight offerings.

Q: How long will the Black Hawk Night-Ops flashlight run at full-power?
A: With a good set up batteries the Gladius Flashlight will run 90 minutes with no reduction in output.

Q: How long will the flashlight run on its lowest setting?
A: Approximately 400 hours emitting .8 lumens of light

Q: What is lumen?
A: Lumen - Measurement of a quantity of light as perceived by the human eye.
As a light source's color temperature increases, less light is required to achieve comparable brightness and visual acuity. The international unit to describe the quantity of light (also called luminous flux). – That is why several manufacturers use this as a standard benchmark for their illumination tools.
Candle Power (Candelas) Used by lighting designers to calculate the foot-candles illuminating a surface (C.P./distance in feet squared) or Lux illuminating a surface (C.P./distance in meters squared)
Foot-candles -Measurement of light output in candela per square foot. It derives from the early English unit of foot-candle defined as the illuminance on a surface placed one foot from the standard candle. 100 foot-candles is generally considered enough light to perform most tasks.
Lux - Measurement of light output in candelas per square meter. One lumen per square. 10 lux is generally considered enough light to perform most tasks.
These terms are useful to assist in determining the "signature" of the illumination tool you are speaking about. No one term will fully describe the overall usefulness or quality of the emission.
For instance, you can have a light with a tremendous candlepower rating at one point in the pattern, but the rest of the pattern in not useful. I.E. dark spots, splotchy, and/or weak.

Q: What is the lumen rating of the Gladius Flashlight?
A: The BlackHawk Gladius Flashlight has not yet been tested in an integrating sphere to determine this. When this data is obtained it will be post. Black Hawk is estimating 80+ lumens.

Q: How are you going to rate your lights?
A: A lumen rating will be presented. It is a good starting point. Current plans are to rate the light in terms of intensity at various distances and clearly define the beam pattern in terms of Hot Spot diameter and Corona diameter. Color temperature will also be stated.

Q: How long does the LED on the Gladius Flashlight last?
A: This is defined in terms of lumen maintenance – The manufacture states that the LED will deliver on 70% lumen maintenance at 50,000 hours of operation based in independent test data. This projection is based on a constant current of 350 mA operation with junction temperature maintained at or below 90 degrees C.

Q: Is BlackHawk going to come up with other variants of the Night-Ops Gladius Flashlight?
A:Yes. Black-Hawk are going to do some body changes as well as material changes.

Q: Is the BlackHawk Gladius Flashlight weapons mountable?
A: Yes. It is more than rugged enough to be mounted on all standard small arms. The Gladius flashlight body is 1” is diameter is so a plethora of current mounting solutions in available to the user.

Q: What pouch do you recommend to carry the Gladius Flashlight for Duty Use?
A: The best options from BlackHawk Products Group are BlackHaFlashlight Holder w/ Mod-U-Lok Attachment, BlackHawk Duty Gear Gladius Pouch, and another BlackHawk Night-Ops Gladius Flashlight Pouch .
Blade-Tech offers an excellent duty holder for the Black Hawk Gladius - Select Night-Ops Gladius.

Q: What type of finish is on the Gladius Flashlight?
A: It is a ceramic based coating and Mil Spec hard Annodized. It maintains excellent bond strength even after exposure to extreme high temperatures. Other performance properties include high chemical and corrosion resistance, unmatched hardness, and outstanding UV resistance. Uses include clear protection, performance motor sports, industrial coating applications, firearms coatings, gas turbine engine coatings, and decorative performance coatings. Additionally Black Hawk can color match exactly as well as maintain excellent part to part color uniformity.

Q: What other certifications does this light have?
A: To date, FCC and CE

Q: How hard is it to change Modes on Gladius Flashlight? (Momentary, Strobe, Constant ON and Adjustable)
A: Exceptionally easy and intuitive.

Q: How about changing Modes under duress?
A: The professional challenge for BlackHawk in developing this tool was packing the most USEFUL power/options into an interface and that one under duress could reasonable expect to operate given a moderate amount of familiarity with the illumination tool; say one set of batteries worth of personal training.
With the additional options, Black-Hawk highly recommends that you become familiar with the flashlight by using in conjunction with other tools and tactics prior to deploying it operationally. Manipulating the flashlight rotary dial when doing other mundane tasks will also help in becoming familiar with the fast action and Mode locations of the dial. Learn to use just your thumb for all mode switching. It will become second nature relatively fast.

Q: Will the Gladius Flashlight slip in my hand if it becomes wet? A: The light has excellent retention when it becomes wet. The body of the light was specifically designed to have an excellent balance and feel. Particular attention was paid to the retention issues as well as creating a design that would have maximum flexibility in terms of flashlight\handgun techniques.
Using the light for administrative, navigational, or stealth purposes is generally a more time forgiving situation. Remember, the light can virtually instantaneously be brought from the lowest level to its highest level using a couple different methodologies.

Q: Why doesn't the Gladius Flashlight start off in the lowest level of light when placed in Channel 3 (Constant On/Adjustable) - Mode 1?
A: The light is primarily designed to be used in confrontational situations. As these situations can unfold extremely quickly, the designers of this light ensured no matter what Channel you select, the user will always have enough light at the onset to correctly identify and potentially engage hostile threats with a sufficient level of light in a close-quarters situation.

Q: Although this is the factory default setting can I change it?
A: Yes. Through a series of relatively easy to remember, yet almost impossible to duplicate by accident, the operator can change this channel so that the light starts off at the lowest level and works it’s way up. This is referred to as Mode II.
Additionally the operator can set Channel 3 up to “remember” the last level of light and return to that level upon tailcap switch activation. This is referred to as Mode III.
All Modes can be interchanged, but only one Mode can be selected at a time.

Q: What is the procedure to change Modes when the Rotary Dial is on Channel 3?
A: Instructions for User Initiated Channel 3 Mode Changes:
Note the Mode changes are cycled in a set sequence:
1-2-3-1 and so on.
To change from Mode I (factory default) to Mode II, press and HOLD the tailcap button when the rotary dial is set for CONSTANT ON-OFF operation until the light blinks twice (approx. 10 seconds). Repeat the process. The next time you activate the tailcap, the light will start off in Mode II
To change to the next Mode, Mode III, initiate the same sequence.
To change from Mode III back to Mode I (factory default), initiate the sequence again.
Note: If you are a member of a team that carries the Gladius, having several different configurations of lights (different Channel 3 programming) within that team could lead to confusion. Please consider this when changing the factory default settings for this channel.

Q: Won’t the auto-shutdown feature on the BlackHawk Gladius Flashlight compromise me tactically?
A: No. The thresholds are such that the light will slightly dim if the light is left on full-power for X amount of time (ambient temperature dependent) and becomes too hot. Remember, Black Hawk is pushing this LED hard and this “dim” is still very bright and completely tactically useful.
The next step is an actual shut-down. This will not happen unless the light is confined and becomes dangerously hot. Even then, a quick cycle of the switch will bring it back on for a 15-second period.

Q: What carrying methods are available for the Gladius Flashlight? A: BlackHawk has several Nylon Pouches that are designed for the BlackHawk Gladius Flashlight. The bezel diameter is such that if you own a SureFire V70 duty flashlight holder, the Gladius Flashlight will snap right in bezel down. Night-Ops is developing its own proprietary holder.

Q: Can you use a Lanyard with the Gladius?
A: Yes. There is one provided with the flashlight and there are small holes drilled in the anti-roll flanges to accept the lanyard.

Q: Why strobe the light mode?
A: Strobing light is particularly difficult to look at and orient to. It will ultimately lead to lower levels of force and better officer safety in many hostile encounters. The strobe function on this light is not a toy and it should not be used as such.

Q: Is this light going to put people into a seizure when I use it to deal with a threat?
A: This is an important question and the phenomenon is known as photosensitive epilepsy.
If the subject is being hostile, then any number of less lethal alternatives can be selected to handle them. All have downstream consequences if deployed at the inappropriate time or manner. The use of light is clearly at low end of any disruption protocol.
A certain percentage of the population can experience extreme reactions to strobing light; be prepared for severe disorientation and even seizures in some individuals.

Warranty and Repair Issues - For the BlackHawk Night-OPS Gladius Flashlight

Night-Ops Illumination Tools are warranted to their original owner to be free from defects in parts and workmanship for the life of that owner.
This limited lifetime warranty DOES include the LED housed within the illumination tool.
Blackhawk Products Group will repair, replace or refund the purchase price of the Tool.
Excluded from this warranty are batteries, bulbs, and the associated electronics. The electronics are covered by a one year warranty with proof of purchase. The following conditions and exclusions also apply: Disassembly of any part of the light other than for battery replacement (as described in the instruction manual) will void the warranty as will alteration, misuse, battery leakage or lack of maintenance. Normal wear is to be expected under this warranty.
For each light submitted for warranty consideration, you must first obtain a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) number from Blackhawk Products Group.