Orb Raw NS - toughness of finish

I've just purchased a used Orb Raw NS (thanks MCMC!). I'm very pleased with the performance of the light and would like to put it on my keychain, but I am wondering about the durability of the finish. A couple of other lights I have carried show serious wear after a few months.

Does anyone have first-hand experience with this? How bad does yours look after six months on your keychain? Can the scratches be easily polished out? Any other thoughts or suggestions? Thanks for your input.

The NS is a bare metal. It will wear with keys rubbing against it. The lens may also get banged up a bit.

IMHO whatever you decide to put on your keychain must be written off as a light which is going to get banged up. It will look like it has been on a key chain in a very short time.

Personally I have an ARC AAA (no lens to smash) on my keychain. It has been there for years. it still works. It doesn't look pretty but i works as well toda as it did when I put it there several years ago.
I have yet to find a flashlight which maintains it pretty finish once on a keychain it just is not going to happen.
I have many small "keychain" flashlights. The only one I am willing to "let go" is the ARC. I have a back up ARC AAA standing by for when this one dies.
The problem with the ARC is the terrible tint of the LED.
I can live with that in exchange for a last ditch light which I know will work when I need it.
My ORB RAW NS will stay safely in my watch pocket when I carry it.
Good luck.
Yaesumofo

bdudley said:

I've just purchased a used Orb Raw NS (thanks MCMC!). I'm very pleased with the performance of the light and would like to put it on my keychain, but I am wondering about the durability of the finish. A couple of other lights I have carried show serious wear after a few months.

Does anyone have first-hand experience with this? How bad does yours look after six months on your keychain? Can the scratches be easily polished out? Any other thoughts or suggestions? Thanks for your input.

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Thanks Yaesumofo, I appreciate the info. BTW, an ARC AAA-P is my current EDC.

Just curious, are you the same Yaesumofo that is (or was) the iron-fisted moderator over on the Yaesu VX5 Yahoo Group ?

I put my P1D-CE on my keyring. After only a few days you can see tiny silver points on the knurling, and a thin spot in the black.

My old OM2 camera shows brass through the black from contact with fingers, clothes, strap, case. I quite like it. Just looking at it you can tell I got my money's worth out of it.

I want the torch in my pocket, tied to a load of heavy junk I use all the time that I'll miss quick if it goes missing.

I kind of envy people who can keep their stuff pristine, and then again I kind of don't.

Anal retentive I think they call it...

w

I keep my NS in its tube in my pocket. Aside from needing a polish it is in great shape.

I think almost every light will show some wear after putting with keys for several months. So I never put my lights with hard objects and my lights always look very fresh even after years.

I'd say go for a Stainless steel light - maybe Exolion? SS tends to be hard enought to stand up to pocket carry and keychain use as it's a lot harder than keys and such and it is naturally shiny. Did Orb have a SS light too? While Titanium is very hard it will show little marks if you look close whereas SS doesn't seem to show little marks as much.

I've just received the Exolion SS and am carrying it on my keychain and I don't think it will get scratched up like some lights due to the hardness of the SS. Personally, I don't worry that much about scratching something up as I think it gives it character and does not impact on its usefulness.

Mine is on my Gladius lanyard, for neck carry. This will be transferred on Monday, when Parcelfarce bring my Atwood mini-son-of-prything, which is also setup for neck carry, and will ahve the Raw NS transferred to it.

Esp. since the NS doesn't have a coating, even if it picks up nicks and scratches, it'll look nice, unlike anodized lights that will look very much 'worn' with even only a small bit of the anodize missing. I think this was part of Rob's intent in building up this light.

Glad you enjoy it, cbdudley =) It's a very pretty little light.

Nickel silver is a relatively soft metal alloy (copper/nickel/zinc) noted for ease of machining and finishing. If it is easy to machine, then it is also relatively soft and easily scratched, though as noted above, the scratches are the same color as the base metal. It is a popular material (again, due to its ease of machining and finishing) on custom knives to make bolsters, finger guards, ferrules, and escutcheon plates. It will no doubt scratch easily.