A great old friend, and the wear it's recieved!

[mrlysle]

Hi all. thought I'd post a few pics of one of my favorites. The Zebralight SC60w. I ended up buying more than one of these because I like them so much. You all know the great UI and nicely spaced levels, so no need to dwell on that. The SC60w also uses my fav cell format, the venerable 18650. That being said, I've carried this particular light a lot! It rides clipped in my right front jeans pocket. (ligh inside the pocket, just the clip and tailcap showing) I don't know what the hell it is with blue jeans, but any light I carry this way gets more than it's share of wear and tear! lol I wore the AITin coating (in a few places) off one of my HDS bezels in a matter of a week or two! No, I don't play in the sand, and I don't work in a dusty, gritty, environment, that would have any abrasive type "grit" embedded in the fabric. Just can't figure it out! Anyway, someone will occasionally ask for some pics of a members "well used" flashlight, and looking at this poor light made me think to post some. Here 'tis.

As you can see in the pics, the bigger wear marks on the head have actually created a pretty big "flat" in the aluminum, one you easily feel with your fingers. It's crazy. The rest of the natural ano has held up extremely well, but where it rides against the jean material? Looks like it's been layed on a sheet of sandpaper and worked back and forth! Like I said though. This is a light I wouldn't trade for nothing! It's been a good one, and the tint on ZL's "w" models is super. Glad I have some new in the box for backups, but at the rate this little jewel is going, I may never need to break a new one out! I've actually thought about sand blasting this one, then maybe follow up with a "bead" blast, just to see how cool it would look naked! lol If I decide to romove the rest of the ano, I'll post some new pics! Enjoy my well worn companion. :naughty:

 

[logikal16]

Thanks for sharing, it looks to be in pretty good shape. How long have you been carrying around this particular light?

Oh, and if you want to trade away any of your HDS lights, I'll take one

 

[Colonel Sanders]

I've always been a big fan of the SC60w. I keep an extra too. I also keep extra SC30Ws and H31s. When the SC600W looks to be nearing the end of it's run, I'll probably pick up a couple more of them too. Nothing wrong with a few extra Zebras in the cabinet!

 

[mrlysle]

Thanks for sharing, it looks to be in pretty good shape. How long have you been carrying around this particular light?

Oh, and if you want to trade away any of your HDS lights, I'll take one

Thanks logical. Been carrying this particular light I'm thinkin', a year? On a sad note, I won't be trading ANY of my HDS lights! lol :devil:

 

[GarageBoy]

That's wear? See the pics in the most used lights thread

 

[pjandyho]

mrlylse, I have always enjoyed reading on how other users really put their lights to use and your's is no exception. I am puzzled though, how did you wear your SC60w if all it does is sit on your jeans? Zebralight has got very good anodizing and some of my ZL has been with me about 3 years with no sign of wear at all. I am not doubting you at all. I am just wondering if this could be a case of your jeans material being too rough? I wear jeans on a daily basis and none of my lights have seen such severe wear from just sitting in the jeans.

 

[mrlysle]

mrlylse, I have always enjoyed reading on how other users really put their lights to use and your's is no exception. I am puzzled though, how did you wear your SC60w if all it does is sit on your jeans? Zebralight has got very good anodizing and some of my ZL has been with me about 3 years with no sign of wear at all. I am not doubting you at all. I am just wondering if this could be a case of your jeans material being too rough? I wear jeans on a daily basis and none of my lights have seen such severe wear from just sitting in the jeans.

Hi pjandyho. You tell me. I haven't got a clue how my jeans wear my lights like this! Last year maybe, I posted some pics of the AITin coating on one of my HDS bezels wearing off in certain spots. I couldn't believe it! Carried it exactly the same way as any of my lights. Bezel down, INSIDE my right front jeans pocket, just the clip and obviously the tailcap showing from above. Wore the coating right off. Very strange. Most said it was probably a bad batch of coated bezels, and I should let Henry know. I did, and he said no, it shouldn't wear off that easily, and sent me a new bezel. Same thing. Wore the coating off. The little Zebra actually has wore the aluminum to the point there's flat spots on it! I guess I'll never figure it out, but that's all there is to it. Carried in my front jeans pocket. It's never been dropped, and I take very good care of all my lights. Only reason I posted the pics was for just for the interesting wear my lights get carried in my pocket like I do.

 

[mrlysle]

That's wear? See the pics in the most used lights thread

I wasn't implying it was wore out, or even worn terribly, just pointing out how bad certain spots were worn from just carrying the lights in my front jeans pocket. Wasn't trying to get it in the hall of fame. Just posting because I can't figure out how my lights wear as bad as they do the way I carry them.

 

[nbp]

Question and suggestion:

Q: What else do you keep in that same pocket?

S: Switch to a titanium EDC and never wear out a light again. :devil:

 

[AusKipper]

Question and suggestion:

Q: What else do you keep in that same pocket?

S: Switch to a titanium EDC and never wear out a light again. :devil:

Stainless Steel works too, I have a Fenix LD01 SS that has been on my keys (the toughest environment for lights I own) for.... at least a year, it must be 2 by now, and it looks, well, brand new lol

My Anno "Aloominum" (yanks...) lights that see pocket duty all get beat up reasonably fast cosmetically, but I dont mind, its just cosmetics

 

[Zeruel]

If your jeans can wear down a screw head like that, it's time to change your jeans or else the light will disappear eventually.

 

[yifu]

The above post made me LOL. Disappearing might take some years... Maybe it's time to change to titanium lights? Maybe a McGizmo? Titanium is much harder than Al and when it does get scratched you can polish it right down to make that scratch invisible! And either way, scratched Ti looks much better than Al with anodising scratched off. There's something strange about the regularity of the wear, must be something wrong with your jeans!

 

[Cataract]

WOW... What kind of jeans wears a light like that in a year? I'm thinking you must have really tough skin . LOL

 

[mrlysle]

Hi all. I have lots of lights, and several in Titanium. I could carry any of them, and do carry all of them at different times. But I really just like the SC60w, so it's one I ALWAYS have with me, even though I might be carrying 3 or 4 others as well. Here's a couple shots of one of my favorite pairs of jeans, (have had and wore them for awhile now ) I took the photos of the right front pocket, where I carry the SC60w. As you can see, the light has done it's fair share of damage to the jeans as well! lol All the wore out spots you see are from the little SC60w, right where it sits on the top of the pocket. Standing up, sitting down, carrying things, holding them against my hip, many, many, times, plus removing and reinstalling the light, is what has caused this wear. Crazy as hell? Yea, but truth is often stranger than fiction!

There's actually a flat on BOTH clip screws, on the outside edge. The sharp edges where the clip is screwed to the body did the top edge of the pocket, and the once sharp ribs on the tailcap did the watch pocket. The wear on the tailcap is very uneven because when I turn the tailcap to lock it out, I guess I never turn it exactly the same amount each time. Like I sad, just thought it was so interesting that a peice of fabric could eventually wear away ano'd metal like this, but it is what it is.

 

[nbp]

I still think there's more to the story. I can't see any conceivable way fabric alone could do that kind of damage. Not even the PLASTIC stuff in my jean's pockets wears away like that.

 

[mrlysle]

I still think there's more to the story. I can't see any conceivable way fabric alone could do that kind of damage. Not even the PLASTIC stuff in my jean's pockets wears away like that.

Nope, sorry nbp, simple as that. I knew there would be naysayers, but that's fine. I know I don't do anything to my lights but carry them and use them. I totally don't understand how they're wearing like that but they do. Oh well.

 

[nbp]

The part that protrudes from the pocket I can understand. That part gets rubbed and hit from outside objects. I can't understand how the head can get flat spots worn in it, unless there is other stuff in the pocket with it, rubbing against it. Especially since the wear spots appear to be on the sides of the head more than the front and back which is where the heaviest contact with your thigh and the pocket liner would be. Are there holes worn through the inside of the pocket?

I am tempted to take a light and a pair of jeans and just sit and rub the light on the pant leg for a couple hours and see if I can wear off any anodizing. Man would that blow my mind!

 

[pjandyho]

I am tempted to take a light and a pair of jeans and just sit and rub the light on the pant leg for a couple hours and see if I can wear off any anodizing. Man would that blow my mind!

Don't bother. Like I said in my post above, I have been EDCing my lights in my jeans for months and I don't see any sign of wear on the ano. If anything, it just somehow made some of anodizing a little shinier from the constant polishing action.

 

[Hondo]

I see no reason to doubt mrlysle, what reason would he have to make this up? It is an interesting phenomenon, though, and I see why he thought it worth showing. Here is what caught my attention:

"Standing up, sitting down, carrying things, holding them against my hip, many, many, times, plus removing and reinstalling the light, is what has caused this wear"

Now THAT is the kind of work that would get to a light carried in this manner. How much of that do you do in your daily job, mrlysle?

It still seems odd that the light loses to the pocket material, just cotton, I would expect holes on the inside as well. But also, how many other pairs of jeans has this light ridden in over this time?

Anyway, glad you like the light, I love mine too, and it is too bad they are not made any more, and baffling that they have not sold out yet.

 

[nbp]

I have an HDS Clicky with an AlTiN bezel like the OP's. For a while I carried the Clicky and a Haiku for work. They were both clipped next to one another on my front left jeans' pocket. All day long, while I stood, sat, walked, carried boxes, etc., the Clicky rubbed against a chunk of titanium (the Haiku). Inspecting the Clicky, there is no visible damage even to the anodizing or the AlTiN coating, much less the alu underneath.

How cotton could possibly do more damage to this light than a chunk of titanium is beyond comprehension to me. I do not doubt that this wear occurs as a result of EDC, many people are hard on their lights. But my experience posted above leads me to believe that there MUST be some additional source of friction and wear on the ZL during normal use that is not being accounted for.

At any rate, well worn lights ARE cool, and I think the abrasion on this light DOES add some interesting character to it. It's good to see well-loved tools.