Am sure you have seen those "real-life" torture test for Zebralights in CPF and similar stuff like that (actually i subjected my $9 Tank007 to much worse stuff).
Also am sure you'd have come across a couple of really impressive Elzetta M60 being shot by buck shot and whacked repeatedly, Jetbeam/Fenix/Olight. But this brings it to another level. Very Impressive torture test! 35m 10 storey drops! Who says budget lights cannot make it?
It would have vented if it really was damaged. Check youtube. The lens survived the first drop but not the second. The good news is, replacement lenses from DX,KD or UCL is abundant.
I own several high power firearms and would volunteer my services shooting your flashlights. I am always looking for something new to hunt. Is there a limit and do they taste good in Gumbo?
Dropping from a building is impressive but it's still a statistical sample of one. If it doesn't land on the tailcap or lens it's likely to fair better than if it does.
Repeated long-term exposure to vibration is something not being tested either (although one time g force shock certainly is) :)
It doesn't really matter if it can survive a 10 story drop if vibrating around in your car for a month causes it to malfunction :) It's the same with buckshot as well. Those tests are dramatic but aren't the usual failure points for flashlights.
I agree that you have a point, but I believe in reality it does not happen that way and the converse is true, that's my experience.
My belief is that a 10 storey drop already means that the whole light was subjected to extremely extremely high G forces which would propagate through the light. It was 2 x 35m drop, no joke. Vice versa, lights could easily survive months of regular usage in a car but then fail with 1 single extremely sharp impact like being dropped while hiking a hill. I am sure most people have lights in their glovebox. I have 2 lights (not even worth mentioning) and they do work after years in the glovebox.
Same for my TK-703, months of EDC and using it almost daily to check cables and no issue. After subjecting it to falls and kicking around and 300+ Gs in the washing machine, it's still working but the switch is a wee bit flaky. All vids are here: https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/3678
Another practical example would be the metal tube HIDs that we are using in Indonesia (forest and trees/hills, wide rivers) for a few months. Constant switching off and on did nothing to it (people who have no experience in this often quote this as HID's disadvantage to LEDs). It took just a single roll/drop of just a couple of metres to realise that that they are mechanically sensitive and we needed regular LEDs as backups as it is not fun to be stuck in pure blackout conditions with a cellphone's LED to guide you. <<-- seriously if not for this usage need by our family business' workers, i'd not have been interested in this "hobby" nor would i want to spend the $$$.
These high G-shock examples involve high impact, in reality that is usually indicates that it is used in an outdoor environment involving heights, usually in a critical environment that you'd want the light to work and not fail (even though you would backups, coz there is no telling you may drop the light > once/twice). In my photography wedding assignments, there are rare moments that lighting does strike twice. Drop the cam (hands) + tripped on a step and fell sideways (legs).
But of course, from your point of view it could also be true, a light can survive a 20m drop thrice (impressive), but mechanically/electrically fail after 500 clicks for the switch (changeable anyway). In this case, not much of an issue, just change the whole light if there is a need.
I guess what you mean is that some usual points of failure include the tailcap switch (mechanical). But most are good enough, take this Fenix for eg, the failure was due to tailcap switch but that's not before some pretty hardcore abuse.
Sure they do test for vibrations as well (with the Xeno F7).
