Toughest edc

[bltkmt]

My muyshondt aeon is pretty tough.

+1...I would put my Aeon (or a Nautilus) up against an HDS for toughness.

[BarryG]

Here is the thread mentioned about the Haiku and the fire.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...from-the-ashes
Thanks to Don on bringing the Haiku back to life.



Barry

[The_Driver]

A lot of lights have a reputation, but some lights inherit that reputation as a birthright.

This means that people GET a light because it was supposed to be tough, and then when it fails, they consider it to be an exception, rather than representative.

When someone ELSE'S light fails, they consider THAT to be representative, and therefore reinforcing their opinion that THEIR light is tough, and so forth.


I have the same Surefire fans telling me how if their lives depended on a light, they'd want their SF...because they light up "first time/every time"....and at the same time, talking about how often they had them fail and sent back for (free) repairs....

...and they never notice that the light failed them. (It doesn't count)


Same with some other lights.


The fact is that a thick enough body and a good AL, etc....will protect a light regardless of who made it, and most of the lights are using electronics somewhat on par with their prices....and either pot them or don't, etc. Add enough thread overlap and some O-rings, and you have a tough light for the money.

So, the ones that are LESS reliable have less thread overlap, thinner bodies/inferior AL grades, cheaper drivers, no potting, cheaper switches and fewer O-rings, etc.


The ones that check all the boxes are going to be reliable all else being equal.

The ones that skimp are going to be proportionally less reliable, and so forth.


Making a tough light that is ALSO bright, is harder....making a tough light that doesn't need to contain a lot of cells or a large head/lens is a lot easier.


Make the head bigger, and the lens, as well as the rim of the more exposed AL, is proportionally more vulnerable.

Making the body fatter or longer increases the forces that can be applied to it, and makes those forces harder to resist.


The engineering to make a little CR123 powered 120 L light tough is no where as involved as making a TK70 sized light AS TOUGH.

IE: Drop an ant off the cliff, and it doesn't really hit the ground as hard, proportionally, as the dog hits when dropped of the same cliff. The bigger they are, the harder they fall is true for lights too.


So if you make lights small and dim enough to essentially be a small aluminum billet with a light in it, it can be tough as nails. When you need more LIGHT, and therefore need more cells, or larger cells, and a larger head to throw better, and so forth...the light's vulnerability to damage goes up due to the physics involved.

Add more weight for heat sinking materials required to make a higher performance light, and to resist the forces exerted on longer lever arms, etc... and a tough large powerful light becomes too massive to carry after a point.



So, for some people, the small, dim, but hard to break little light works, as they simply don't NEED more light than that...it works for them.

For other people, its just not enough LIGHT, and they need to make compromises to have enough light, and also be ABLE to use it on a practical basis.


That's where the RELATIVE toughness comes into play.

Makes sense
Thats why we need HDS to make a 2000+lumen light. Imagine all the features he could put in there. It would probably wheigh 10lbs though

[AZPops]

I wasn’t planning on adding anything to this thread since TEEJ pretty much covered the Topic’s question.

However, somethng happened tonight (third time, so the problem is now verified) so I'll share my thoughts regardin my HDS Rotary’s Achilles heal. I figured if anything would fail or be compromised in the Rotary, it would be either the Rotary mechanism (including all parts that make up or is apart of it), it's programming software, or the electrical switch.

While Henry was helping me program my Rotary, he told me that it seemed to have a problem in it’s software. Which he instructed me to send the light to him. Which I did.

I use my Rotary every night, throughout the night. In fact I click the light on (either constant or momentary) conservatively somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 times within the first hour of starting my night. I utilize the Rotary to check the key’s entry position into a lock to see if the lock is unlocked or locked, as well as using the light when I’m walking the perimeter fence of a 12 acre property. As you can see it gets a lot of use!

What happened is I’ll be sending Henry an e-mail this evening to let him know I’m sending the Rotary to him for warranty repairs because the switch is malfunctioning.

So in this light, yes a HDS Rotary maybe tough, but not reliable imo since it’s making two trips for warranty repairs within only 8 months of purchasing the light from ledfiretorches on October 14, 2011. I’ve used a Sunwayman V10R for (I'll verify the exact date I purchased the V10R when I have more time, but it was) approximately 5/6 months prior to the Rotary, and it has not given me the slightest hick-up! Even after dropping in on asphalt and concrete more then a half dozen times.

However, I love the way the HDS feels in my hand. The exterior design (or ergonomics) of the Rotary is the reason why I feel I haven’t dropped the Rotary like I do when using the V10R.

Presently I’m questioning the Rotary’s reliability, or to be specific it's software and elec switch!

FWIW, IMO it doesn't matter how tough a flashlight is, or how tough you think your flashlight is. If you're gonna be in a remote location, take a back up.

So presently I have three new unproven (in regards to myself/use) lights on my person, a Fury, LX2 and a T1A on my key ring (but the T1A has been taking a beating since it arrived, which makes me feel confident that it'll prove it's self to be a tough reliable light).

[P_A_S_1]

When I brought my HDS I did so because I wanted a new small tactical light and started researching what was getting good reviews. HDS came highly recommended on various review sites with particularly high marks for durability. That plus its good runtimes is what steered me to buy one. Now that I've had it for a while, 2 years, the only issue I had to date are 'mis-clicks'. They are rare and when it happens I always wonder if I just didn't completely press the button. I like the versatility of the clicky switches but prefer the 'piston' style switch of my 6P for simplicity/reliability. My 6P is 19 years old and works like it did when I bought it. Over on the HDS thread you read about lights going back for warranty. I often wonder what the majority of these issues are, I would assume switch and software like stated above. I hope my HDS lasts as long as my 6P.

[TyJo]

I wasn’t planning on adding anything to this thread since TEEJ pretty much covered the Topic’s question.

However, somethng happened tonight (third time, so the problem is now verified) so I'll share my thoughts regardin my HDS Rotary’s Achilles heal. I figured if anything would fail or be compromised in the Rotary, it would be either the Rotary mechanism (including all parts that make up or is apart of it), it's programming software, or the electrical switch.

While Henry was helping me program my Rotary, he told me that it seemed to have a problem in it’s software. Which he instructed me to send the light to him. Which I did.

I use my Rotary every night, throughout the night. In fact I click the light on (either constant or momentary) conservatively somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 times within the first hour of starting my night. I utilize the Rotary to check the key’s entry position into a lock to see if the lock is unlocked or locked, as well as using the light when I’m walking the perimeter fence of a 12 acre property. As you can see it gets a lot of use!

What happened is I’ll be sending Henry an e-mail this evening to let him know I’m sending the Rotary to him for warranty repairs because the switch is malfunctioning.

So in this light, yes a HDS Rotary maybe tough, but not reliable imo since it’s making two trips for warranty repairs within only 8 months of purchasing the light from ledfiretorches on October 14, 2011. I’ve used a Sunwayman V10R for (I'll verify the exact date I purchased the V10R when I have more time, but it was) approximately 5/6 months prior to the Rotary, and it has not given me the slightest hick-up! Even after dropping in on asphalt and concrete more then a half dozen times.

However, I love the way the HDS feels in my hand. The exterior design (or ergonomics) of the Rotary is the reason why I feel I haven’t dropped the Rotary like I do when using the V10R.

Presently I’m questioning the Rotary’s reliability, or to be specific it's software and elec switch!

FWIW, IMO it doesn't matter how tough a flashlight is, or how tough you think your flashlight is. If you're gonna be in a remote location, take a back up.

So presently I have three new unproven (in regards to myself/use) lights on my person, a Fury, LX2 and a T1A on my key ring (but the T1A has been taking a beating since it arrived, which makes me feel confident that it'll prove it's self to be a tough reliable light).

What is the specific malfunction?

[AZPops]

What is the specific malfunction?

No problemo, my Rotary has acquired a malfunction in it's switch. It been acting erratically at times when I click it on, as well as the light at times will either not turn on or off (very similar when an electrical sysytem acquired a loose connetion). Last night it got to where I clicked the light two, may be three times before it'll turn on, or off.

Another issue is, when I turn the light on after changing the battery (I use only AW RCR's), it would do a two output, lower then high cycle.

[tolkaze]

I don't know about everyone else but I want to see what this light looks like after that kind of abuse

I will post an image when I get home from work, It was taken about 9 months ago, but still looks nicely beaten. It really doesn't look much different now, maybe a few more dings and scratches

[Edi]

Just bought the HDS 170! Now the wait.

[AZPops]

I don't know about everyone else but I want to see what this light looks like after that kind of abuse

Here's couple of bad photos of my V10R after being dropped (as mentioned) on asphalt, concrete, and banged on a metal gate (don't know how many times).









The V10R presently sits on my desk (since my T1A took it's place on my key ring) ready to go when it's needed!


PS I have to go back to find out what "this light" means! ... lol

[EspionageStudio.Com]

That Sunwayman is looking great! I love to see a well used light. I have one coming in the mail soon, not sure I have the guts to "use" mine so well ;-)