Maelstrom falls 10 feet to concrete driveway

This should be subtitled "Stupid Flashaholic forgets to use lanyard, drops new light". I was up on a ladder over a friend's concrete driveway, and somehow dropped the light from a height of 10-12 feet (not sure of my hand height at the moment of dropping.) I thought I had ruined the light, especially when I saw that the bezel ring and top part of the head was noticeably flattened and the anodize was chipped off in many places. (I had replaced the strike bezel with the black bezel ring).

I was surprised that the lens was intact and the reflector didn't seem deformed. I clicked on the Maelstrom, which I had previously set to Max, and out came that marvelous "mini searchlight" beam, apparently unaffected.

Two conclusions from my experience:

1) ALWAYS use your lanyard
2) The Maelstrom (at least this one) can "take a licking and keep on ticking".

Brightnorm

I'm glad it worked out fairly well but...

Glad to hear it's ok, but in my experience you never enjoy the light the same after something like that, even if it seems to work properly. I don't know, maybe that's just OCD on my part.

I find it to be the opposite...the way it makes me feel, is now that it has some dings and scratches, I don't have to worry so much about using the light, and scratching it up. This is providing the light still functions properly.

But I can totally relate to the sick feeling you get in your gut after your nice new light (or even older, but pristine light) hits the pavement, and for quite some time after it happens. :sick2:

Wow, that's a serious fall... I always find the first scratch/dent to be the hardest, after that you can give it some serious use I agree with the "always use a lanyard" even though I barely ever use one myself... I find they clutter up your pocket/holster. I only use a lanyard when i'm somewhere that dropping the light would be catastrophic (climbing on roofs, trees, on a boat).
Glad to hear it's okay, and glad you didn't jump after it

This actually convinced me to buy one of these. I just ordered after reading your post. Thanks.

I agree with others in that the first ding hurts the most. I already posted about my first dings in my lights and though they were *very* painful at first, I've gotten over them. Like others said, now they're usable lights.

That's a great unintentional durability test for the new Maelstrom. :thumbsup:

I recall there is a friend of mine who used to throw his incand E2D like how one would throw a grenade. He would have the light switched on and throw it as far as he could shouting "Grenade!". Miraculously, for the so many times he did that the incand bulb never quit working. Of course his E2D suffered many scratches and dings but not once did it fail to work.

Now if I get this ding on any of my flashlight, I might do the same as what my friend did.

Your a very lucky person, I find that the best looking torches are the ones that are banged up and still working, instead of those pristine shelf queens :nana:

Now that you have gotten the first drop out of the way, you can go ahead and use it like it should be without babying it anymore!

I can hold any POS thing and never drop it but give me a new gear item and I got butter fingers.

robertt931 said:

This actually convinced me to buy one of these. I just ordered after reading your post. Thanks.

Click to expand...

This was just a particular Maelstrom that fell in a particular way. There is no way to know if its survival was typical of Maelstroms in general, or simply a fluke. However, it does suggest that the Maelstrom is a durable light.

I tried touching it up with black Magic Marker, but the ink isn't a true black. Does anyone know of a marker that is a "real" black?

Brightnorm

ebow86 said:

Glad to hear it's ok, but in my experience you never enjoy the light the same after something like that, even if it seems to work properly. I don't know, maybe that's just OCD on my part.

Click to expand...

Definately OCD, I can't enjoy my lights until they have their first ding.

brightnorm said:

I tried touching it up with black Magic Marker, but the ink isn't a true black. Does anyone know of a marker that is a "real" black?

Brightnorm

Click to expand...

Try some black killrust.

I don't own a malestrom but if I had to take a guess I would bet that the weakest part of that particular light is the tailcap switch, from what I gather from other threads this seems to be the weak link with a high failure rate on quark lights.

I replaced my Maelstrom tailcap with one from a Fenix TK-11. It's a perfect fit, looks great and most importantlly, has a lanyard hole.

Brightnorm

Hey brightnorm, congratulations on you're first beauty mark. Those are the kinds of lights I like best, the ones that have got some wear and maybe a couple of dings. I love em!!

At least you didn't do what I've done in the past. Early 90's, working on a fuel barge in Alaska, and dropped my new prized surefire 6P in Bristol Bay!!! Of course I replaced it.....but what a knot in my gut. Hate that feeling. I'll take dings and scratches any day over loosing one of my torches!!

Terrible to actually lose a light!

I'm getting one of these in hopes that it will touch-up the Maelstrom better than a conventional black Magic Marker.

http://www.jetpens.com/search.php?q=Copic+Sketch+Marker+-+Special+Black+

Brightnorm

I'd still love to see some pics...

I only just bought my first 4Sevens flashlight (Quark AA), they had it at our local Mountain Equipment Co-op. I had been trying to justify spending more than twice as much on a Surefire, but happy that I bought this one when I did. I was looking at the Maelstrom but the site has a comment that it will be awhile until it is ready to ship. Already, however, I have dinged up my Quark (tossing my climbing pack around the rocks). Quark does make a tough product, I am happy with it. If your Maelstrom can take that kind of abuse I am really sold

.michael

I love lights with character. Now you won't be afraid to use it for *everything*.