My mom has killed several iTp A3s and now a 4Sevens Preon1 neutral white. I need to find her a light that can handle keychain duty. Something with potted electronics. I would prefer neutral white.
Any suggestions?
Wk21?
No lithium cells.
Maybe she might consider going the other way and attaching her keys to a flashlight? If she's going to destroy lights like that, it might just be better for her to do a larger flashlight, like a 1xAA or 2xAA, put a split ring on the lanyard hole, and carry the keys that way.
Maybe put one of these on the split ring:
and that way she can remove the keys and doesn't have to have the weight of the light hanging from the ignition. Carry it like a kubotan/keychain combo:
but instead of the striking thing, have a flashlight.
Stainless, something in stainless
What does she do to them? A swivel and a snap clip might help.
SS Fenix LD01 fairly indestructible.
i protect my lights with heat shrink tubing. with this measure any AAA light will survive much longer. you got warranty on iTP and 4Sevens, just get the FREE replacement from them ;)
She does keep a ThruNite Neutron 2AA in neutral white in her purse. Also, just like in the second picture, there will be a Volvo key on there, haha
But, that is far too large for a keychain. I was thinking about something like a XENO. A little bigger but not too big.
I have thought about something like that. Maybe some rubber held on with shrink tube. I have also thought about potting the electronics myself before putting the light in to extreme duty. If I can get 4Sevens to warranty this light, I will definitely heat shrink it to see if that helps. If anything it will protect the finish.
keychain lights have a diameter of 14mm (iTP A3 and knockoffs) and i still look for rubber tubing. if you got tight rubber tubing, then no heat shrink tubing is needed. the advantage of rubber tubing is: it doesnt slip on the smooth surface of keychain lights (SS finish, anodized finish) and it protects even better against shock/impact/drops. The advantage of heat shrink tubing is: it is easily available (ebay, 16mm diameter) and cheap, very thin on the torch and tight, and suffices as protection against drops.
The only disadvantage i see: the shrinkable wrap loosens a little after a while because it expands due to the warmth of your inner pockets. (rubber wraps will loosen too this way btw!).
So some head (or bezel) designs are better suited for shrinkable wraps (LD01, Tank E09, MiX6) and some arent very much (iTP A3, Worm: too smooth!!) so rubber tubing would be the way to go.
Where can i get (or buy) rubber tubing??
Good luck KLowD9x, I'll be watching this thread with interest. I'm glad it's not just me who can't find a tough enough keychain light, and I imagine they have an easier life living with your mum's keys than with mine. I'm beginning to think that their really isn't a torch that will last more than a year at most; in fact, if I get that long out of one I'd be pleasantly surprised.
FWIW many BLF-ers have great faith in the DQG Tiny AAA. I've just bought one but I'm not actually using it as I'm waiting to hear back from the seller about a quality issue (rough threads). Can't say it seems particularly robust to me, but as I say, others here swear by it. I honestly think I'll just end up buying several 10-packs of this type http://www.dealextreme.com/p/black-flashlight-keychain-22000mcd-10-pack-1253 or similar. Then I can just replace every month (even every week wouldn't break the bank) and not care..
Auto parts stores should sell rubber tubing in various sizes. Same for hardware stores. Of course, I don't know how things work in Germany as I have not been yet. I would like to think you have those two common retailers available to you.
thx!
ha, i found something PERFECT for it. Your idea combined with my finding:
longish party balloons (i got some at home haha) are perfect for your purposes. so first we put over these balloons, then we use the shrink wrap on top. perfectly thin. and if the rubber melts, it has nowhere to go. most importantly, the shrink tubing cant slide away anymore.
kreisler, you're an ingenious bloke and you deserve success at this. I thought about it when you first mentioned the idea in another thread, but the truth is I just can't be ar$ed to faff about with all that. Seems to me a bit too much like paying good money for a pair of trousers (pants to our friends across the pond 
) and then having to use a safety pin to stop the zip coming undone.
Don't you find that your protection method interferes with operation? (I can think of other rubberized protection methods that do this, but this is neither the time nor the place )
EDIT
Klow, when you say your mum has destroyed her lights, do you mean they look awful (ano worn off etc), or do they end up actually broken, i.e. no longer work? Or keyring anchor point shears through?
I have had one of these on my keychain for a year now and it still works fine. However the anodization will wear off.
http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Gear-Zipper-Keychain-Flashlight/dp/B003V06MNK
Strangely, they look fine. They just stop working. I'm sure it's from being dropped.
If my ItP A3 titanium (xp-g r5) ever dies "just like that" from a dead driver, i swear i will never buy iTP products again. For sure i would report when such a thing happens to my specimen. i had paid 31US$ for it, and for this money i expect it to live long. In any case it doesnt get much use because of the EDC rotation and therefore even more so it should never die.
we will see..
She has had four iTp lights fail. They weren't even that old, about three months old.
;)
now we're getting naughty haha
btw, i've updated my thread. and i am thrilled how well this works!! i love my balloons! and no, it doesnt interfere with operation. many people use heat shrink tubing on their lights (cpf)..
i will report if the new tubing system loosens "again" after days in my hot panties ;)