Which of your lights seems to be the toughest? Least tough?

HighlanderNorth

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Which of the lights you currently own, or have previously owned is/was the toughest and most durable. Which is/was the least tough and durable?

Also, which light you now or previously owned did the best job of dissipating heat on the higher settings, and which light(s) didnt do a very good job of dissipating heat?

I havent had most of my lights for a long time, and have not put them through any "torture tests". I just found my previously lost Jetbeam BC-10 on Friday, which had been lost for 9 days. I found it at a client's home hanging on a branch of a Rhododendron. It's lanyard got caught there when I walked by it when planting bulbs there.

Anyway, I have been carrying the BC-10 in my pocket every day, and its anodizing has held up well, considering its been rubbing up against my keys and pruning shears in my pockets every day for 8 months and its been dropped repeatedly, gotten wet, etc. Thats the only light I have extensive work experience with.

I own 10 other quality LED lights, but none have been through the ringer like the BC-10. I have taken better care of them. Plus they are newer. But I did notice the Eagletac G25C2 handles heat well. I left it and my Sunwayman T20CS on turbo for 25 minutes non-stop, and the Eagletac never got hotter than about 95 degrees F, whereas the Sunwayman T20CS got up around 13-140 F and was still getting hotter when I shut it down. They both have the same specs and U2 LED's, so I was surprised a bit. But the ET G25 C2 is much thicker in most places.

What about your lights. Which is the toughest/weakest? Which handles heat best/worst?
 

HotWire

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I made a ROP out of a really beat up Maglite 2D and it has stood up to everything I throw at it. No torture tests, just lots of use. Good bright light. Sturdy and tough. There is no single light, however, that I would take deep into a cave. It's been a great light, inexpensive and useful. Weakest? I've made dumb purchases of cheap Chinese lights. Some have been okay, but several lasted only a week. I don't recommend them.
 

silentlurker

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Toughest? The Photon Light II on my keychain takes the most beating and still works after nearly ten years. My Petzl headlamp keeps on working after constant abuse (maybe 5 years old) and so far my Surefire G2X proves reliable, though it's only about a year old.

Least reliable? Probably the Xeno E03. I have two, and one of them doesn't work reliably. Sometimes it won't turn on when I click the tailcap, and it seems to drain batteries more quickly than the other E03 I have. Even though the other E03 works well, 50/50 reliability is no good when you need a flashlight.
 

AardvarkSagus

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As far as toughest goes I'd have to say that crown goes to either the Elzetta ZFL-M60, or the venerable Fenix E01. both are insanely tough, and nearly impossible to kill. entirely different intended uses though.
 

Echo63

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My Oveready bored/anodised 9P with SS bezel and moddoo triple is easily my toughest light

I dropped it from shoulder height onto tiles once - there is a little flatspot on the tailcap - it didnt even break the Anodize
it is the one light i would grab when the zombie apocalypse starts

The TI Muyshondt Aeon is a solid indestructable light too - its more likely to be lost than broken

As for weakest light
i have refrained from buying cheap junk - so all my lights are pretty solid
there may be a few cheap plastic incans a long way in the past that would be the weakest
 

davyro

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Sep 23, 2011
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Durham,England
Toughest either one of my HDS lights or my haiku,my weakest would probably be my Xeno E03.I also have a jetbeam BC10 & i agree it with the OP it is a tough little light just not my toughest
 

RobertM

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Hmm...judging how tough any of my light truly are is difficult since I tend to take extremely good care of them (SureFire, HDS, Peak, etc.).
Most of my lights have never even been dropped once. Except for one...I have Fenix E01 on my work keys that has taken a beating. It has been dropped numerous times from various heights. No problems whatsoever from it.
 

Nyctophiliac

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Feb 22, 2006
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Buckinghamshire, UK
Toughest? - my Ra Twisty 85Tr - hands down. Thickest walls to the body and top - thickest window - least amount to break on the outside, i.e. no clicky - battery cushioned by two springs inside.

Honourable mention to Arc's, Peak's and Surefire's.

Least tough? Any light with a cheap clicky and poor QC - Probably of the no name Chinese/Korean copy type. Very few of these last even with moderate use!
 

ScottFree

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My 4Sevens Quark 123 was my primary EDC for two years and I took that everywhere with me, including sometimes my washing machine. Dropped it so many times I've lost count, the biggest height was a three storey building down onto concrete. Stepped on it a few times, nearly had it run over, tripped and fell on it and it still holds up. The only problem I have now with it is that I've lost it somewhere in the house.
 

pjandyho

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It's hard to quantify how tough a light can be if the user takes good care of his lights and has never, or hardly ever dropped or abused his lights. How can I claim my HDS is the toughest if I don't abuse or drop it? That said, I agree with RobertM's viewpoint.

I think the toughest light I have would be the Surefire T1A. This light has been dropped more than 20 times easily and all it has to show are only a couple of minor dings. Rotary action still remains smooth after all these drops and glass window was unharmed. Not that I have jelly fingers. I always have the T1A in the small little pocket of my jeans, the one meant for coins and lighter, and whenever I unzipped my pants the weight of the T1A would bend the pocket downwards and occasionally it would drop out.

The other light that have sustained quite a substantial amount of drops would be the neutral white SS Preon ReVO. Attached to my keychain, it frequently gets dropped with the whole bunch of keys when I am selecting a key to open the door. As stainless steel is a pretty hard material, there isn't any sign that it has been dropped at all.

The rest of my lights that have been dropped, but only a few times and not in order of preference, are

1) HDS high CRI clicky
2) HDS Rotary
3) Malkoff MD-2 with M61 HCRI drop-in
4) Quark AA Tactical
5) Surefire E2DL
6) McGizmo Haiku high CRI
7) Surefire UB3T

All these lights only suffered between one to three drops and it would be hard for me to consider them as being toughest.
 

LEDconvert

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Nov 24, 2004
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My Fenix T1 has taken a lot of punishment in the last 4 years, I'd say it is pretty near indestructable.
My Fenix L0D CE has all the signs of a lot of having being bashed about but has never given up on me (in fact, it made it back onto my keychain this week after an absence of a few months)....
 

Captain Spaulding

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Oct 25, 2009
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Sacramento, CA
My HDS lights are of course what I reach for when it must be durable. My SF Z3 with M91W is also solid and has taken a nasty fall down a rocky riverbank before landing in 6 feet of water. (It was dark, cold, and luckily still on so I could see it. Had to strip down and jump in to reclaim it.) Really any of my SF C,Z,P builds are durable. Solid lights but of course show wear marks.

But the light that has taken the most beating without ever showing any even slight hairline scratch or anything was my Ti Killer. It had that amazingly magically durable DLC coating. Dropped many times, thrown down by a mad GF, and carried on my keyring for over a year with never even a scratch. I wish I had the money to coat all my lights in DLC! Not a bright light, but it sure took a beating and still looked new up to the day I sold it.


The light that I actually thought would be a solid light, but broke within a few months was my Titaner ET20 AAA. It was never dropped on anything harder than my carpet. I was excited about it, endorsed the hell out of it, posted pics on here of it. Liked it. Not to mention that they told me that it is a 30 day unconditional with a free 50 year warranty.

Then it stopped working. Emails went unanswered for weeks, finally another CPF member that must have known them contacted them and had them contact me. I sent the light to the address they told me to and 2 months later it was returned to me "invalid address". I contacted them and they verified the address. Stupid me paid AGAIN to send it to China. 2 months later it was returned again for the same reason. By this time I had already paid more than I should have for this light and I contacted them to ask if they would pay to ship the third time and they said they would not and I was stuck. They no longer sell the lights lol.
 

fizzwinkus

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Jul 17, 2009
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my toughest is probably the glo-toob, but that's kind of unfair seeing as they are rated something like a mile underwater.
aside from that, it seems like all my lights are pretty tough. i'd probably say the m30r is the weakest seeing as it's the largest, least volumetrically structural.
 

rickfieldspa

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Feb 6, 2010
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After an Amish neighbor saw my titanium ITP A3 I bought 4 ITP A2's for my Amish neighbors, and 3 more for family. Then I liked them so much I bought 2 A1's for some friends and one for me. So far 4 A2's, the titanium A3 and 2 of the A1's have died. They are fantastic lights but they don't hold up well. I now have a Zebralight SC600 and an Eagletac D25C titanium for myself and will wait at least a year to recommend either of them to the neighbors although the Zebralight does impress me with it's solid overall feel and finish and heft.
 

wordwalker3

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Jul 21, 2011
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Toughest...Maglite 3C, purchased in the late 70's early 80's, recently upgraded with a dropin from Malkoff devices because I just could not bring myself to toss it. Surefire E1E, my son's E2E, any of my Solarforce L2P/L2Tseries, Shadow TC6. My least tough lights, anything from DD or DX...I think I'm cured from low budget lights.
 

ypsifly

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Aug 26, 2008
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Henryfordville, MI
Surefires:

C2 w/M61W
C3 w/M91
Titan T1A

The Gerber Infinity is pretty tough despite the lack of lens.

The cheapest are those dollar store 3xAAA shower heads that friends buy for me because they know I'm into lights.
 

mikekoz

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Jul 19, 2007
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Hard to say for me since I take good care of my stuff, and they do notget banged around too much, but here it goes! First of all, my Maglite's. I own about 7 of them, a variety of AA, D, and C cell varieties, and they have never failed. The simple, no nonsense design is what makes them tough! My most robust light is the Darkops Hellfighter X-12. I bought it with a P60 style incan in it, and have upgraded it with an LED module. The walls of this light are about twice as thick as any other light I own. I used to own three Surefire's, and it made them feel like lightweights! This light is what I would call overbuilt, but I love it! It was also the most well lubed light I have ever purchased. Second in my collection would have to be my Wolf Eyes lights. I own three and they feel like they will work even after getting run over by a truck! I would also like to give honorable mentions to my Gerber infinity, Inovas, and my Fenix E21! As far as least tough, I no longer have them, and that would be the two Ultrafire lights I owned a few years ago that did not work correctly from day one. I no longer buy any cheap lights with a brand name of XXXfire!!;p).
 

firefightergotoguy

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Jul 21, 2012
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Right now I have a Pelican 3715. Its awesome. The Lil Ed LED was tough as nails and when my Big ED broke, I sent it back to the company and they replaced it for free. The Big ED took the most abuse because I had it the longest. I'm a firefighter and I'm extremely rough on my equipment. The plastic bodies hold up great and water and heat and dirt stay out of the lamp.
 
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