Foursevens Mini Series - Body Wall durability

OrionLight · Dec 19, 2013

Hey guys, I've thought about getting a Foursevens Mini MA as a nice ultra-compact EDC, but I've seen it mentioned a few times that the body wall seems to be fairly thin. I know it's still made of aircraft grade aluminum which would survive scratches from being a keychain, but how durable would it be from a drop test and even a light crush test? I noticed they don't have some ANSI ratings so I was hoping some experienced owners would be able to tell me what they think. Thanks!

TEEJ · Dec 19, 2013

Most good keychain sized LED lights are reasonably good at dropping and not breaking. If you accidentally step on it, it won't hurt it. If you run it over with a steam roller, you will hurt it.

OrionLight · Dec 19, 2013

TEEJ said:
Most good keychain sized LED lights are reasonably good at dropping and not breaking. If you accidentally step on it, it won't hurt it. If you run it over with a steam roller, you will hurt it.

Haha. Well, then I guess I should return the steam roller I rented for crush testing.

But I will have it usually in my backpack and I can't guarantee it will be free of getting sat on or even possible stepped on while inside my bag. Just wanted to be sure it could hold up to basic everyday stuff like that because I've never seen someone commenting on body wall construction and being careful especially in this day and age with the new aluminum LED lights until I came across the minis. I really do like the compactness and simple styling.

scout24 · Dec 19, 2013

I think most small lights are tougher than they really need to be: I drove over a Fenix EO1 10 times with my car, and also a couple times with a 46,000 lb water tanker truck, all on blacktop. It did have a battery in it... I still carry that light.

Gotravelling · Dec 19, 2013

scout24 said:
I think most small lights are tougher than they really need to be: I drove over a Fenix EO1 10 times with my car, and also a couple times with a 46,000 lb water tanker truck, all on blacktop. It did have a battery in it... I still carry that light.

wow, Fenix, a good one, very impressive, it seems that they did a good job

OrionLight · Dec 19, 2013

Gotravelling said:
wow, Fenix, a good one, very impressive, it seems that they did a good job

Yeah, I've got an E01 too and it's been through a fair amount of dropping from being on my keychain. Superbly made little keychain light.

So... the Mini MA measures at 0.7 inches in diameter at the head (which looks slightly wider than the body), and a standard AA battery is between 0.53-0.57 inches... leaving the body wall of the Mini MA to be only 0.13-0.17 inches thick. Probably less since the dimensions given are measured at the head.

BillSWPA · Dec 19, 2013

I specifically asked about durability during drops in the FourSevens forum on CPFMarketplace, and the response from FourSevens was that all of their lights are designed to survive 3 foot drops, with some variation depending on the light.

One user who I know has dropped a Quark Tactical twice onto concrete from a height of five feet, with no apparent ill effects. The MLR2 on my keychain has been dropped onto hard surfaces numerous times from a height of about 3 feet with no apparent ill effects.

TEEJ · Dec 19, 2013

The really little lights have so little mass, that dropping them just doesn't do much damage. As for being in a pack, no, they can take that with ease, even if you step on the back pack/toss the pack into the back of the p-up truck, etc.

The smaller the diameter of the tube, the less thick the walls need to be to resist crushing. Its like arches, if they are small radius, they can hold more weight for their size than a large radius, and so forth.

jimboutilier · Dec 19, 2013

I have a lot of tiny lights and among those several foursevens minis - MA, ML in both aluminum and titanium.

I don't find the minis fragile at all, they seem very well built. Sitting on one or sitting a book bag of books on one will not bother it at all. Dropping one from a modest height is unlikely to hurt it but you can always have bad luck if it's a hard surface. Aluminum ones will show wear after a while if mixed with keys or other metal objects. The titanium ones are very tough and wear better.

Foursevens has a full 10 year warranty for a reason - they build good stuff. Hope this helps.

OrionLight · Dec 20, 2013

jimboutilier said:
I have a lot of tiny lights and among those several foursevens minis - MA, ML in both aluminum and titanium.

I don't find the minis fragile at all, they seem very well built. Sitting on one or sitting a book bag of books on one will not bother it at all. Dropping one from a modest height is unlikely to hurt it but you can always have bad luck if it's a hard surface. Aluminum ones will show wear after a while if mixed with keys or other metal objects. The titanium ones are very tough and wear better.

Foursevens has a full 10 year warranty for a reason - they build good stuff. Hope this helps.

Thanks! This helps a lot.

shelm · Dec 20, 2013

watch the whole video

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-vs-Fenix-LD22-(incl-drop-test!!!)&highlight=

MojaveMoon07 · Dec 20, 2013

Regarding my MiNi AAx2, I accidentally dropped it on about four separate occasions about four feet onto concrete. In addition to that, there was a fifth time that I dropped it while walking; not only did it drop about four feet but it was accidentally flung, too, since my arm was in motion. After all those drops, the only damage to the body is a ding at the base of the flashlight. The flashlight operates as well and as reliably as it did on day one.

the.Mtn.Man · Dec 20, 2013

Some of the early promo pics of the Minis showed them being run over by a car with no damage to the body, so they should hold up to pretty much anything the average user will put them through. Aircraft grade aluminum is incredibly strong stuff.

Foursevens Mini Series - Body Wall durability

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