Which brand do you think is most durable? Your life depends on it and so does your family.

Voted “other”. Convoy or MagLite. Simple & reliable in my experience.

lol no not at all, don’t worry! I knew it was an impractical test… lol it was just cool to watch it crushed by a car in a block of ice…. this is a totally impractical test but because it looks cool it must be worth something! :smiling_imp:

lol anything to help justify yet another light purchase to the misses!

I’d go with Zebralight. I’ve never had one fail, and they’re solid with potted electronics.

I might also say Armytek, because they use massive amounts of metal. But although mine are fine, I’ve heard too many stories about them suddenly dying.

Though for reliability, I’d rather go with two budget lights than a single expensive light. The chances of both failing at the same time is a lot less than a single failure of an expensive brand.

lol you opened Pandora’s box!

I think most of us here will agree to one simple answer:

Write down every light suggested in this thread, buy them all and carry them all on you at once and you’ll never worry about durability EVER

PRIMARIES ARE THE ONLY CELLS I TRUST MY LIFE ON. CR123A CELLS for life critical applications only.

I do have a few dozen AAA Energizer Ultimate Lithium primaries for my Surefire Titan and Surefire Titan Plus. I run Eneloop pros in them now.

I can also replace the (2) Li-ion cells out of my Olight M3XS-UT (and use (3) or (4) CR123A cells in it.)

In my Olight S1 Baton, I can replace the Li-ion and use (1) CR123A cell in it.

In my Olight S2 Baton, I can replace the Li-ion and use (2) CR123A cells in it.

If there were less than optimal other charging solutions.

Only my Olight X7 and my Emisar D4 XPL-HI have me locked down to 18650 Li-ion cells. All other lights I own run solely on CR123A cells. Due to the fact they are WML’s or hand held tactical lights.

You can actually do the entire house for about a grand…….IF you are building new.

Believe it or not, use paper backed aluminum sheet that can be found in industrial supply houses. Put it between the gyproc and the studs. Down side, the cell phones are useless.

I never only have one high quality light on me so redundancy can be thrown out of this equation. I carry at least 3 Surefires on me when I am out, and sometimes the M3XS-UT depends on what I am doing. I am not looking for a single light to carry only one light. That is already a WML. And I carry others also a D4 and 2 more Surefires. If those 3 Surefires and the D4 all goes out, EMP hit.

I like carrying several more expensive reliable brands at once, less chance of them failing then two cheapo lights.
Ordering an Elzetta Charlie finally after I thin the Hinderer knife herd. Unused knives are worthless like unused lights or any other tools.

Hahahahahhaaha, OR just but Surefire Elzetta and Malkoff lights and never worry again. Not that I do my Surefires have been thrown 25 feet into the air to land on cement several times they work fine. :+1: :beer:

Thanks for the advice sir. I am well versed… DARPA. :wink:

Fenix is very durable and dependable.

The good ones: Thrunite is a tank. Zebra is also reliable. And my M43s from Hank.

All lights fail in ANY circumstance at ANYTIME. Break down in choice selection is the Engineering Design, build material components, quality control, pricing, etc……

I have done some high impact, and other extreme tests on some of my reviews. I will give insights here.

Sofirn : GREAT

Maglite : WORTHLESS

Bushnell Pro : TOTAL JOKE

Wuben : GREAT

Klarus : GREAT

Thrunite : Decent

Olight : Decent

Fenix : Decent

Powertac : GREAT

SureFire : TOTAL JOKE ( friend gave me the Defender version) Cracked body one it hit hard concrete floor

Plus quite a others. Too long to list.

But to give you basic insight. Just because higher price point DOES NOT MEAN DURABILITY or BETTER QUALITY.

When my daughter went to Uganda for 3 years I gave her a Zebralight H502 and a Fenix AA. Both held up under rough conditions so I would not have any hesitation in depending on them on myself for critical situations.

i have dropped both my Jaxman triples many times on driveway and they keep on tarking

Be careful…there are people who believe that peanut cost “just in case” are only for crazy preppers.

Nonsense, just because i have a 3-4 month supply of food without “stepping down” our eating habits….or designing a house that is as safe as possible without making it look like bunker….is just crazy talk.

IMO, the only cells I trust to still have usable capacity left after 10 years are Eneloops 1900mAh and lithium AA/AAA primaries, along with 18650s being the prime choice for off grid use.
Actually, I would consider 18650s to be the prime choice for long term emergencies if you take care of them and have a capable charger along with a renewable power source(solar panels).

Why Eneloops? Well, Eneloops 1900mAh are absolute beasts, and have extremely low self discharge. I would trust my life with them, no problem, even after 10-13 years of storage.

Why lithium primaries AA/AAAs? As long as I don’t use them once, they will last 20 years. These are for absolute emergencies. I have 8x primary AAs in their package since I’ve bought them.

Why 18650s? They have high energy density, and most importantly, their charging efficiency is super high, above 99% even at high currents(2A+), and if charge to 4,0V, can last for a very long time.
That is very important if you don’t have access to a stable power source, so 18650s are prime when you have access to a renewable power source.

If the zombie apocalypse comes then you don’t want to be hampered by ‘what battery is suitable’……

:laughing: :laughing: :innocent:

I am a longtime Malkoff fan and have never experienced any issues. All of Gene’s work is beyond compare in my book. I EDC an MDC daily and would gladly put my trust in any Malkoff in my collection.

I still have a couple Surefires, (a G2 and a 6P) no doubt they are durable & simple, but in the case of your question redundancy is more important. A single flashlight can be lost or broken no mater of the brand. I did drop a Nitecore MT2A from 3 stories up on concrete while it was still on, and it stayed on & never broke. for flashlights any of the good quality time-tested light models by Fenix, Surefire, Streamlight, Nitecore, Olight, Pelican, Zebralight, Thrunite, Klarus, Jetbeam, Maglite, etc will do the job. I just make sure i have 2 or 3 lights in emergencies, long camping trips, or remote areas.