According to specs my
Armytek Predator Pro v2.5 (NW) is the most durable light I have:
- drop resistant up to 10 metres
- submersible up to 10 metres
- it can run on constant max output (600+ lm) till the battery dies and you won't fry the emitter
- according to my cold weather testing it has no problem running in -26°C
But is it dependable? Yes and no. The flashlight is programmable so you could program it just to have one mode (e.g 70 lm / 20 h) and then have simple single-mode flashlight. On the other hand you could fail the programming and end up with firefly-only flashlight which you need a manual with to re-program. More about my thoughts on Armytek in the end of this post.
According to this classic video
Olight M22 is the most durable and reliable light that I own. Unfortunately it has problems working in cold temperatures as I noticed during my testing. Dependable? Not during winter.
According to my own experience the best flashlight to take a beating, stand cold weather etc. is my previous EDC,
Thrunite TN12 (2014). As scout24 pointed out, you'll learn what's your most dependable light by using it. My TN12 has taken some so high drops that I was afraid I broke it but it's still working. I replaced it last year with the 2016 NW model. The first one had defect tailswitch though which made me wary. Both versions of TN12 also have their problem with turbo mode since the flashlight doesn't seem to have any kind of thermal protection. Durable? Seems so. Dependable? Well, I did recently depend on TN12 when opening a beer bottle and the tailswitch is still working.
If I was given one light to choose before I was thrown into the middle of a forest, I'd take Predator, steal both TN12's and start running, because two is one and one is none and there are some freaks after me who are trying to throw me into a dark forest :grin:
So what makes a light durable? Its specs. What makes light dependable? You. The light should have so good specs (this includes build quality, what the manual states etc.) that you dare to use it, maybe even test its limits. Once you notice the light can stand a little abuse, you'll start using it more often and after a longer use you can say it's dependable. You cannot just take a datasheet and say, that's a dependable light. The opposite is possible to state though.
===========================
So a little bit about Armytek as so many are talking about them:
I guess QC used to be better at AT few years ago. I have Tiara A1 Pro v1 and Wizard Pro v1.5. I really like them both but Wizard has pre-flash at ff2->mid1 transition and I'm strating to wonder if the voltage meter has broken. It shows 2.9V for protected freshly charged battery, under load though. They've never failed to turn on though. I bought AT Dobermann Pro few months ago. The led seems to be a little off-center (didn't think it's reason big enought to return it because it was last Dobermann the store had and now it's just annoying me) and the max mode stops working in the cold. It's still durable light according to specs and hasn't failed to turn on yet. I also broke the driver in my Partner A1 v1 (the limited edition with clear glass and xm-l2) when it fell from my hand on the floor. The high mode stopped working unless I had li-ion or fresh nimh in it. According to specs it should have taken the drop easily. I got a replacement, dropped it to test the new head and sold it to a friend.
So in my collection,
2/5 Armyteks have had zero problems (Tiara, Predator)
2/5 Armyteks have minor problems (pre-flash, off-center led)
1/5 Armyteks I've broken in normal use, yet
5/5 Armyteks have never failed to turn on
It seems the more complex the flashlights become, the more often you have minor problems with flashlights that still turn on. I think I'll stick to using my old Tiara and Wizard and don't even dream about v2 or v3. Dobermann will be the last flashlight I bought from Artmytek for a while until I hear good news about their QC.
==========================
Jeez, this is one of the longest post that I've typed. Took me 2.5 hours
I should be sleeping already.