is the NItecore D10 really 7075?

I wonder about this because Mine took a fall from 4.5 foot to a concrete floor. The light landed right on the bezel with enough force to deform the bezel such that the front o-ring was squeezed and cut. It is sort of hard to explain but after the fall there was a bit of o_ring hanging from an area of high compression.
I have lots of lights most are aluminum and have never seen a bezel hit cause the o-ring to squish out before. I believe that either the D10's bezel area is just delicate or the material is weak. Or both I sent an enquiry to 4x7 and got no response.

To be frank I am a bit disappointed. I am pretty sure that the head on this light is no longer water resistant. I am concerned that the material used is either an low grade 7075 Which should still be a strong material or 6061...The thing is that I have lights made from 6061 which appear to be more robust...
Anybody else have a similar experience with a nitecore light landing on it's bezel in a accidental drop or fall?
Please post experience.
Yaesumofo

The bezel lip is ultra thin so it will deform if you hit it just so. This is one of the reason the light is so small - the walls are much thinner than most other lights, and the bezel lip is pretty much cosmetic. Fortunately the LED lens is encapsulated in a thicker portion of the bezel so that won't crack under most falls.

When I compare the ultra thickness of my L1D versus the D10, I can tell the L1D will be much tougher. But for EDC purposes, I prefer the much smaller size of the D10. Maybe if the bezel lip was made thicker and not thin out like it currently is, it won't deform and will stand up to these freak falls. Maybe a crenelated thicker bezel lip for version 2.0?

Sorry to hear of your light's fall. Mine have been dropped from a much higher height but landed in such a way there was virtually no scratches. It all depends on where it hits and how hard I guess.

PS I have a nice little scratch on the bezel lip from a fall, but it's not deformed.

I am sorry to hear about your D10 drop. I dropped my slippery Fenix L2DCE last year bezel first on concrete from about four foot coming down some steps. The only damage was a few small chips in the finish. The D10 feels tougher to me, than the Fenix lights but the Fenix lights are thicker. Where are the torcher testers.

7075 might not be the best material.

A softer alloy might deform more locally, as in a dent, cushioning the impact. A much stiffer but thinner material may be more likely to have far less local deformation, but then the mass and thinner wall give to a structural deformation.

I agree that it is not much of a fall for that to happen. The worst drop on my Fenix L1D was about 8' on tile over concrete. You can see the dent on the bezel to the right side in picture, but seals and everything look intact, and it still works fine.

A few-foot drop onto pebbly ground (pebbles cemented in, not loose) and my D10 has a pretty good dent in the tail (as well as other, smaller ones). I can take a photo if anyone wants it.

It could be low quality 7075 but there's a very important piece of information missing. The heat treatment is very important. 7075-T6 is just a bit stronger than 6061-T6. If you use 6061-T7 it's stronger than 7075-T6. I was looking up this information a while back. I couldn't find what the treatment is for the NC series. You can assume for majority of "Aircraft/ Aerospace grade" aluminum flashlights that it's 6061-T6 which is strong but still fairly soft. I'd like to see more 6061-T7 flashlights it's got better properties for a flashlight than 7075-T6 but it's expensive.

FYI for those of you not using the DIY water cap diffuser yet, you should really spend the 2 minutes to make one.

It provides great benefits:

1. The diffuser light is REALLY REALLY useful. I use it a lot.

2. The diffuser cap protects the lens from scratches when it's in a pocket.

3. The diffuser cap protects the bezel as well should it suffer a fall. The plastic fits right over the thing bezel lip, thus taking the brunt force of any fall.

Really consider making a DIY diffuser. It makes the D10 the ultimate EDC, because of this feature, along with trits / clips as well!

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Sounds to me like it's a matter of the bezel being simply too thin relative to the mass of the light (which isn't insignificant). Regardless of the unknown temper, i think it's safe to assume it has either equivalent or slightly better strength than 6061, as it wouldn't make sense (economically) to use an inferior temper grade of 7075 instead of 6061 (except if used for its "marketing value").

Wasn't there a drop test mentioned somewhere in D10 specs?
What happened to Yaesumofo's D10 most definitely isn't a cosmetic issue - the functionality got impaired here. If there's a guaranteed drop height stated somewhere, you should be able to get a warranty replacement, right?

While I can't tell you much about the material, you might find it interesting that my new D10 GD+ has a thicker lip on the bezel. I'm guessing this is due to the longer reflector used for the GD+. The knurling on the head is longer so the "sharp" lip is missing. Again it's a guess but it would seem this was done to maintain the same length. I wonder if this will have an impact on the durability?

With this information noted it might be good if Nitecore could figure out how to add an SS bezel to the D10 like they have on the EX10.

A thin "crown" made of SS that screws in on the very top (like Arc6's, only without the crenelations and made of SS, not titanium) would probably do the trick. But i'd bet it would make the light look a bit uglyish and would probably complicate things in the lens & o-ring department.

I sent 4x7's an e-mail regarding this and I received no reply. That is why I created the thread so that we might discuss the issue in an open forum.
I hesitate to but the Golden dragon version because of this very issue. I like the GD emitter but I need to feel that the light will be more durable before buying into it. Besides I have not heard what I would call glowing reports on the new light yet anyway. I wouldn't mind sending the head to the fenix store for replacement but they have not offered this option or even responded to my e-mail yet.

I doubt that a stainless bezel is practical. it would require a complete redesign of the light. A beefy bezel design in a D10 2.0 would be a good idea.
For now I will shelf the light.
Yaesumofo

Well it is a Holiday weekend so I would not expect an answer right away. Maybe sometime next week.

yaesumofo said:

I sent 4x7's an e-mail regarding this and I received no reply. That is why I created the thread so that we might discuss the issue in an open forum.
I hesitate to but the Golden dragon version because of this very issue. I like the GD emitter but I need to feel that the light will be more durable before buying into it. Besides I have not heard what I would call glowing reports on the new light yet anyway. I wouldn't mind sending the head to the fenix store for replacement but they have not offered this option or even responded to my e-mail yet.

I doubt that a stainless bezel is practical. it would require a complete redesign of the light. A beefy bezel design in a D10 2.0 would be a good idea.
For now I will shelf the light.
Yaesumofo

Click to expand...

I emailed them asking for a couple of spare orings for my D10 (I used up my spares while trying different lubes) and was told that they would send me some with my next order. When I explainded that I only needed the orings (I offered to pay in my original email) I was told that they were out and that they had to be careful about giving them away because they don't get very many. If I place an order, however, they'd be happy to send a couple. I was kind of bummed about the customer service but from the sounds of it most others get good service. Maybe it's because I've only bought a couple of lights from them?

My D10 has been dropped and, while it didn't dent, it seemed to take a chip out of the metal on the tail end (it's deeper than just the ano, some metal is missing). The light still works fine...............

I sent the message well before the holiday weekend started. Anyway this is OFF TOPIC. Lets keep the conversation focused on the material durability of the D10.
Thank you.
Yaesumofo

Light Jaguar said:

Well it is a Holiday weekend so I would not expect an answer right away. Maybe sometime next week.

Click to expand...

yaesumofo said:

I sent the message well before the holiday weekend started. Anyway this is OFF TOPIC. Lets keep the conversation focused on the material durability of the D10.
Thank you.
Yaesumofo

Click to expand...

And here you are talking about emails and reports on the GD emitter.............................relax man, he was just talking about what you were talking about.