Cerakote on a flashlight: Dale's Official Review - Test - Contest thread (no more contest entries)

DISCUSSION
So, I have been discussing Cerakote on the forums. I have Cerakoted all of my firearms and a few of my flashlights. Several people have approached me to Cerakote their flashlights. For those that haven’t seen or participated in the conversation, you can find it here.

Cerakote is a spray on 2 part heat cured ceramic paint. It is usually pretty durable. I will say that It is harder to spray flashlights compared to firearms. It goes on thin so it doesn’t affect threads, but it doesn’t conduct electricity so it can’t be used on contact points for flashlights. That means a lot of taping off and plugging and just general pain in the butt procedures so that the light will still function after being Cerakoted. This also means it is hard to control transition areas from Cerakote to no coating as flashlights aren’t generally smooth like firearms. They have lots of little small ridges and heatsinks that make it all the more difficult.

This isn’t necessarily to sell my services. I just wanted somebody to independently test Cerakote compared to the standard anodizing on budget flashlights. That way it is unbiased and people that want their lights Cerakoted will know what to expect.

TEST
That being said, I wanted to send out a sample of my work to somebody to evaluate and test before I offered to Cerakote somebody’s light for them. The forum unanimously nominated Dale to do the testing. I have already mailed off a pair of cheapo SK68’s to Dale. One is regular anodized and the other is Cerakoted. I will add, I was in a rush to Cerakote the light and there are a couple small imperfections. I didn’t have time to blast them back down and respray them. If I didn’t get to mail them off yesterday, I wouldn’t be able to complete the lights for another 2-3 weeks (my dad is having surgery), so I opted to send them out as is. Dale is in total control of the testing. PLEASE DO NOT POST TEST REQUESTS IN THIS THREAD!!! You can make requests here, but ultimately it is Dale’s decision on what he wants to do. I’m sure he will some up with something inventive. These tests are to compare Class I or II anodizing to Cerakote, not the function of the light. Anodizing may win some of the tests and Cerakote may win some of the tests. They are two totally different types of finishes, and there are no indestructible finishes out there. At the end of the tests, Dale will decide if he were to get a custom flashlight, would he want the standard anodizing or for the light to be Cerakoted. What Dale bases his opinion on is his choice. It can be looks, durability, or whatever. I’m giving Dale full control to test what he wants and decide what he wants.

CONTEST
Dale will make a decision which he prefers, anodizing or Cerakote. Dale’s decision is the deciding factor in the contest. You will post which one you are picking. Those that choose what Dale picks, will go through random.org for selection.

To be eligible for entry, you must have been a member before 6-1-2015 and have at least 10 contributing/question posts (only posting entries in contests or want to sale/buy forums doesn’t count). If you only come here to sell stuff or enter contests, then you need not post! Your first post is the one that counts. All others after that will not count toward the contest. Entries will be stopped 6-20-2015 or once Dale tells me he is ready to start posting test results, whichever comes last.

The winner will receive a free Cerakote job with return shipping by me. If you win, I will let you know the colors I have available. Send me a picture or a model of your light for approval. Lights with deep fins that are close together are damn near impossible to spray and get adequate coverage, therefore I need to approve the light to ensure that I can spray it. Ship me your light, and I will spray it and pay for return shipping (see note below)

I was going to initially limit this to US residents only, but I will open it up for the international peeps with a couple of stipulations. I will pay for return shipping, but you will need to pay for insurance. My fear with international shipping is you sending me your favorite light and it being lost in transit. My suggestion is that it would probably be cheaper to buy a host or light from Mountain Electronics or somewhere else and have it shipped to me. I will then spray it and return it to you. International shipping will already be 2-4x the amount of domestic shipping, so in an effort to keep it fair between international and domestic as far as cost of the Cerakote and shipping, I ask that you cover the cost of the insurance. If you choose to not insure the package, I will not be held responsible for any lost or damaged packages/lights.

Also, if whoever wins does not wish to have a flashlight coated with Cerakote, you can choose to be the designated winner but pick an alternate of your choice to have a flashlight coated.

If I left something out or you have any questions about the contests, please post them in your comment (after your pick).

Reserved for contest

Cerakote:

  1. DavidEF
  2. Halo…
  3. pyro1son
  4. djozz
  5. AlexGT
  6. Pregulla
  7. Henk4U2
  8. JohnnyMac
  9. KawiBoy1428
  10. IndyArcher
  11. ryansoh3
  12. southland
  13. mhanlen
  14. keengeorge
  15. ruffles
  16. pilotdog68
  17. devman
  18. vinte77
  19. Rufusbduck
  20. MRsDNF
  21. CyrusAM

Anodizing:

  1. Old-Lumens
  2. lionheart_2281
  3. Kloepper Knife Works
  4. MauiSon
  5. cone

I think Dale will pick Cerakote. If the ano were HA III, we might have a harder time picking the winner. But, I think it would be difficult, if not impossible for cheap ano to beat Cerakote. I hope I’m right!

Edit: In your original Cerakote thread, you mentioned that the blue seemed “too blue”. What did you mean by that? If I win, I might want a light Cerakote’d with that “too blue” Titanium blue, for my daughter. Maybe her Courui D01. She already loves that light. If it were blue, she’d be overjoyed!

Yep, I’ll go with Cerakote.

Cerakote, hopefully the colour options will say Dale’s opinion :wink:

Cerakote he will choose!

If I win, it will probably be a S8 host that I want Cerakote'ed in some nice colour :-)

I think Dale will pick cerakote over regular anodized finish but will decide against it on hi power flashlights due to poor heat transfer (speculation on my part) from the metal to the air.

Cerakote wins!

I’ll join the Cerakote team.

About two years ago Going Gear had a small batch of Cerakote’d EagleTacs made. They sold like hell! Just before I went on holiday, all lights were sold but one.
I decided (stupid!!) to order that light after my return. Needless to say it was gone. Hopefully things change for the better.

I think Dale will choose the Cerakote. :)

It’s no contest? Cerakote for the win!

Guess I’ll be the goat: Anodizing.

LOL! Who am I trying to kid?! CERAKOTE hands down!!

I love the Cerakote on my two Sig’s. An amazing look and finish! 8)

Quick research seems to show that Cerakote is on par with type II anodizing, but is more easily damaged than type III ano. I think the application process has a lot to do with the coating’s durability.

I vote for Cerakote. :slight_smile:

I have read the contest rules and decided NOT to read the rest. I clicked the REPLY button upper left of the OP, (never even knew it was there!) so that I am not swayed by the comments.

I have a Wedding to shoot on the 20th, with rehearsal on the 19th, so I’ll have to get this wrapped up before then. I’ll sit down today and read requests for testing, put my noggin to what the mean old real world would be likely to do, and figure out what settings and how to go about it, in least destructive to most destructive order so the tests will be as indicative as possible.

I might choose to limit tests to a number, like 10, depending on how destructive I think the later tests might be. I might also make a list of more than intended, such that I can choose alternate tests if a test proves more destructive to the finish than I’d anticipated. I wouldn’t want the results of one test to skew the results of the next, would I? So I’ll get this sorted out today or tomorrow at the latest and get on to the real testing and video’ing and picture taking and oohing and aaahing. :slight_smile:

First, of course, the lights have to get here. So I hope to have the plan nailed down by that time and pounce on the poor little beasties when they arrive.

Oh, I DO intend to build the lights so I can find out for some of the tests whether or not the light might still be expected to work afterwards. :bigsmile:

Is this the one? The colors are beautiful! However, without the manufacturer's logo, it looks kind of organic.

So if you aren’t reading the comments so you won’t be swayed, does that mean we can make fun of you and you’ll never know? :wink:

Read the comments all you want. You should only be swayed by the results of your tests. Whether somebody chooses cerakote or ano has no bearing on the outcome. As we discussed in the other thread, cerakote will likely lose to true class III ano as half it’s thickness goes into the metal. I think class II ano is only 30-40% in the metal but it’s a much thinner coating. That’s why to be compared in a relatively fair manner, cerakote should be put against class I or II ano. After all, Cerakote is just an expensive high tech paint when it all boils down to facts. It sits on the metal and not in the metal.

Just let the tests do the talking. I know you will probably complete the tests before the 20th as you said, but keep the results to yourself. We will give this a week for entries, and after that you can start posting up the results a day at a time. I like suspense!

What?! You’re going to make us wait?

What?! You didn’t read the OP?

:bigsmile: :wink:

Sure it does. But to me that’s part of me liking it. It looks so innocent 0:)

I didn't read any of this thread or the last one.

I vote for Anodizing. Nothing is tougher than Anodizing, for Aluminum, as far as I am concerned. Any coating is just that, a coating. Anodizing is an electrochemical process that converts the metal surface into a durable, corrosion-resistant, anodic oxide finish.

I don't want to win anything, so don't count me in. Pretend I wasn't here. I'm not really here.

Good luck with the testing and the contest.