You know what really bugs me about aluminum lights?

When the anodizing starts getting nicked before I even get the optional clip and A/R lense from FlashlightLens in the mail. Bugs the crap out of me. Anodizing is supposed to be strong; there's no point in using it at all if it gets nicked that easily.

I think you are confusing anodizing with HARD anodizing.

Anodizing is simply oxidization (aluminum "rust" if you will) that does not change the hardness of the aluminum. It can change the color, however.

Hard anodization is an actual coating that will increase hardness and add durability. Unless you have a light with hard anodizing, you will not have anything more durable than bare aluminum itself.

I'm not confusing them, I'm just ignoring "soft anodizing" altogether; I wouldn't buy a light that didn't have HA3 anodizing.

The light in question is a Jetbeam RRT-0, but the complaint applies to every aluminum light I've bought except for the Arc6.

Wow. I have never had any problems with HA3.

Then again, I use my lights and if they get "dinged" I believe it just adds some character and shows it is not a shelf queen. But I have never had a light with HA3 that I would describe as getting nicked "easily".

That's why I prefer "raw" metal lights, whether it be Al., Ti, Brass or AluBronze.

shane45_1911 said:

Wow. I have never had any problems with HA3.

Then again, I use my lights and if they get "dinged" I believe it just adds some character and shows it is not a shelf queen. But I have never had a light with HA3 that I would describe as getting nicked "easily".

Click to expand...

On the one hand, the nicks I'm talking about are barely deep enough to feel with my fingernail, and are located on the edge where nicks are most likely to show up in the first place. On the other hand, the nicks I'm talking about were caused by sliding a handful of Ti and SS pocket tools across the tail of the light as I was putting them into my pocket.

From a manufacturing perspective, the potential for nicked edges could be avoided by beveling all edges instead of chamfering them (i.e. rounded cuts instead of 45-degree angles), so I'm a little disappointed that the RRT-0 just happens to have a chamfered ring around the tail. Plenty of lights do, though, so maybe I'm just being too picky. I dunno; when I nick a Ti light the color doesn't change, that's all I really care about.

Another option would be to replace the aluminum ring around the tail with a stainless steel tail-bezel, but I realize that would increase the price significantly. :sigh: I wish I could have everything I wanted for a dime a dozen.

easilyled said:

That's why I prefer "raw" metal lights, whether it be Al., Ti, Brass or AluBronze.

Click to expand...

Indeed. The RRT-0's Ti cousin has been my EDC for a few months now, no complaints whatsoever. I picked up an RRT-0 to see if it's good enough to gift to people I know who really could use a flashlight in their pocket or shoulder bag. Considering that, I have to say the revised RRT-0 is every bit the game-changer that the TC-R2 was, perhaps even more so considering it's half the price and a regular-production item. Nicks aside, my only complaint is it's tricky to get the right kind of screws to attach the Nitecore EX11 clip to it, but it's worth the effort.

fyrstormer said:

From a manufacturing perspective, the potential for nicked edges could be avoided by beveling all edges instead of chamfering them (i.e. rounded cuts instead of 45-degree angles)

Click to expand...

Exactly. A hard edge really has little surface area for the anodization to adhere to. On the other hand, people would complain about knurling that was not sharp and clearly defined. People tend to equate hard, crisp edges with good machining and tolerances. Hard to win this battle...

I have quite a few lights with missing HA3 in spots (maelstrom G5 for example). I baby most of my lights and yet the HA3 is missing. I also have some lights that I have been really hard on (Fenix LD25 for example) and they still look great. My Malkoff MD2 and Valient concepts VME head/body are other examples of lights that still looks great.

I am not sure how to put this forward without sounding like a fan boy but I am going to try. Most of my lights are of reputable brands either made in the USA or designed and sold in the USA, of which in my unprofessional opinion, those I find spotting the toughest HA would be those from Surefire and HDS. Unless I drop the light on a hard surface, there's no way I would see any wear on the HA at least for a few months of hard use. A Surefire M2 I have since 2002 still has it's full HA coat on with only a small nick on the bezel where I last dropped it. To be fair, I holster carry the M2 instead of putting it in my pocket with all the coins and keys.

Some lights made by the Chinese manufacturers exhibit, again in my unprofessional opinion, some of the poorest HA around with some wearing off even from normal use. My Quarks have been kind of iffy if that's the right word, some of the Quark's HA seemed to last quite well whereas some wears off just in a few days of usage. I wasn't expecting a miracle for the price I paid. I am just stating what I had experienced. Zebralights however seemed to be very well made. I have trashed them in the bag with some hard objects like fork and spoon plus other camping peripherals and they seemed to hold themselves quite well. Wasn't too impressed with Jetbeam but I can't say that I had bought enough Jetbeams to give an unbiased opinion of them. Nitecore seem to have one of the worst HA I can find, more like type 2 anodize instead of type 3. I am not sure what are the experiences some of you might have but these are what I had felt and experienced with these lights.

I think the level of durability from hard anodize very much depends on the brand of flashlight. My Quark AA-2 has bits of chipped of anodizing, while my Zebralight has held up amazingly well even after being dropped, nicked against many surfaces including the edge of a knife, etc.

I got the same impression. I have used my little twisty as a edc for over a year at work. Everytime i give it a good wash in aceton im supriced over how well it still looks. It won't scratch. My quark mini aa got lots of dings/scratches atfer ONE day at work in the same pocket..

That's why I prefer "raw" metal lights, whether it be Al., Ti, Brass or AluBronze.

Click to expand...

Raw aluminium is dirty, wouldent have a bare alu light in my pocket.