This made my day. You may remember the Gladius flashlight that was first introduced by BLACKHAWK! Products Group. The Gladius had a unique user interface in the form of a rotary switch that made it useful as both a “tactical” light and an general purpose light. It was able to seamlessly move between both functions in a way that I don’t think any light has matched since. I still regret selling mine even though it has long been surpassed in efficiency by more recent LEDs. It was an amazing light.
The developer of the Gladius, former Navy SEAL, Ken J. Good has gone on to design a new light that improves on the great switching system of the Gladius and a leverages newer, more efficient emitter (Cree XM-L2 U2) to pump out a sunburn inducing 1000 lumens.
The “Estrela” LED Flashlight has the rotary switch that made the Gladius so successful as an all purpose illumination tool. The rotary switch provides a way for the user to quickly change the entire behavior of the light. It has 4 positions: a lockout, 2 tactical modes, and an admin mode. The lockout disables the light for transportation. The tactical modes include a full brightness, momentary only setting and a full brightness, momentary only strobe setting (the Gladius was one of the few lights to be created with a proper “tactical” strobe function). The final position can be used to provide nearly infinite adjustability from 3-1000 lumens of light and has a constant on function.
This light can be powered with 2 CR123A lithium batteries or used with the included Rechargeable 18650 Battery (a wall charger is also included). The Estrela is made from aluminum and features a hard anodized finish. It is manufactured for Night Reaper Systems by ThruNite who are known for their excellent quality lights.
It is great to see the Gladius style user interface back on the market with a more modern emitter! Check out the “Estrela” LED Flashlight from Night Reaper Systems.
