Titanium Grade and Pocket Wear

Hi,

Curious about experiences with commercially pure vs 6alv4 titanium (grade 1 vs grade 5) flashlights pocket carried for a long time: how do they wear?

I have a 47s quark mini ti AA, which I believe was commercially pure titanium that I have carried for many years now. Burnished: yes of course. Dings: none, I do not think I ever dropped it onto concrete. Edges rounding: yes. Machined edges around business end are still crisp, but around the split ring end there is some rounding. Barely noticeable unless you look closely.

What have you found?

Thanks, Keith

Some info here ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_alloy

Looks like, with regard to use in flashlights, CP Ti may be softer but have better thermal conductivity, while Grade 5 (Ti6Al4V) is the opposite.

Note that factors other than base material composition may also play a significant role, such as heat treat (if any), thickness of stock, anodizing / coating (if any), geometry of parts and machining, etc, etc ....

to add to what arch said: Some builders also use a "lower grade" for tooling & thermal conductivity reasons. Softer to tool is obviously easier on tooling. Therefor helping lower the time and costs involved. One famous customer builder once said on the topic of High grade vs Lower grade Ti: "were making a flashlight, not a fighter jet".

Now for Ti pocket wear and tear. They all eventually wear out my wallet & pocket before my wallet or pocket wear them out.

Well said Str8!

When I saw the topic, I was also expecting a question how to prevent the wear of pockets and clothes. To which I would like to say: avoid sharp knurling. Also, avoid other sharp ("tactical") protrusions.

One of my AAA lights has uncut diamond knurling. It could be used as file, I almost scratched my engagement ring when I used it the first time. Haven't used it since.

titanium albeit strong is soft. Even mil spec titanium can marr and dent. At least titanium is hypo allergenic