Blackhawk Gladius Maximus upgrade. AKA sween1911 mod

knfmkr

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Feb 28, 2017
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157
I wanted to do a mini review of the Blackhawk Gladius Maximus that was sent to sween1911 for an upgrade.

Backstory.....I recently scored a like new (flawless) Gladius Maximus on EBay. I always liked the function of the light and had the gen. 1 (90 lumen) Gladius when it first came out years ago. So I checked out some threads here on CPF looking for some reviews and a possible mod. This is where I stumbled on sween1911 having a thread on his soft spot for the Gladius, having modded some of his own he has collected over the years.

The Gladius itself is a somewhat unique light that was ahead of its time as far as it's function goes. It features a lockout, is dimmable, and has a strobe. Truth be told I'd be fine if the strobe was omitted, but that's just my preference. It had a paltry 120 lumens but that was stellar for its time. This is a Surefire 6P sized light that needs a pouch or holster for carry as it lacks a pocket clip.

So I did some searching here on CPF for some Gladius threads and found sween1911. I contacted him via PM and inquired if he still did mods, and if so what options I had, turnaround time, and cost. My inquiry was promptly replied to and I was given several LED options, and prices. I went for a neutral XPL. I sent the light to him and he worked his magic. I say magic as I'm a knife maker and though I'm a flashlight junkie I have little to no knowledge on modding lights. He contacted me to let me know he had the LED and my light got to him safely. Turnaround time was a day or two at most. The light was sent back with tracking. It arrived quickly and well packaged. But was it worth it? In a word. Absolutely!

The light was returned as flawless as I sent it. The LED was perfectly centered and every function worked perfectly. Even the strobe, but I digress... Output was a quantum leap in brightness over the stock 120 lumen LED. He really brought this light up to today's standards. Every part of dealing with sween1911 was seamless. Great communication, excellent work, very reasonable cost, fast turnaround time. I don't know if he does mods to other lights but he knows his stuff on the Gladius. Anyone looking to mod a Gladius should hit him up via PM. He is worthy of serious consideration.

sween1911's original thread about his Gladius collection.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?440757-Night-Ops-Gladius-Typhoon
 
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