Does anyone know of any brand that comes close to a hard wearing finish as Maglite does?
Seriously my mini maglite is the best part of 30 years old and suffered a ton of knocks and scratches but still holds up well, now compare that to the likes of my lumintop, convoy or nitecore lights and they all show wear, so much in fact that im not even sure how the marks have gotten there in the first place, even just keeping in the same pocket with your keys and you have to be careful.
I would like to see another brand step up the mark and bring out lights with the same hard wearing anodizing as maglite uses, I know there are several different anodizing processes available, i think maglite uses whats called “bright” anodizing, if convoy could introduce this as an option, I would be happy to pay more.
I haven’t found Mag-lite anodizing to be particularly durable. It’s not Type III hard anodize, just Type II, but the geometry of the light is smooth and without sharp corners, which helps. Anodize does not form properly on sharp edges, and chamfered edges take more damage from impacts than rounded or radiused features.
I believe Zebralight uses Beskar.
Perhaps maglite is not the hardest anodizing around, but it certainly seems to hold up alot better than the majority of chinese lights on the market.
I am not surprised. Maglite likely has more advanced manufacturing processes and quality control standards.
I believe they use a similar kind of anodizing just a lot thicker. Some engraving folks have said to be 2-3x thicker than chinese lights.
Back in undergrad I EDC’d Maglites for years. The anodizing was very thin Type II and wore through quickly. They looked awful after just a month or two of EDC.
I remember when I got my first light with Type III hard anodize. It was a small Fenix light that replaced the Maglite as my EDC. I was amazed at how much more durable the anodizing on the Fenix was compared to the Maglite. After a year of EDC in my pocket with my keys the Fenix still looked brand new with no nicks or wear marks of any kind.
If you want a light that doesn’t look like its gone though a sandblaster after a bit of EDC use, look for ones with Type III hard anodize. Type III is considerably thicker and should last longer. However, like any anodize it may still wear, but should last longer than Type II.
Some lights with Type III hard anodizing include Zebralight, Jetbeam, Nitecore and Fenix.
If that still isn’t enough for you, perhaps get your light in polished Titanium. It’s heavier, but there’s no finish to wear off. Titanium looks fantastic even after multiple years of EDC in your pocket with your keys.
Add to your list: Malkoff, Cloud Defensive, Modlite, Elzetta, HDS. These all have type III as well.
Thanks, I will keep a look out.
I think the other thing might be that the matt texturing is more common on many torches these days.
Maglites are more polished and shiny, so likely let objects slide over them more easily perhaps?
Your right about titanium, its far more hard wearing, i know that titanium can be anodized too, but not so common to find that.
Malkoffs have a very smooth hard anodizing you’d probably like quite a lot
I’m my opinion, bare metal lights (brass, copper, titanium, stainless) age better in rough conditions than anodised lights, I only keychain carry stainless or a brass light, they still looks good after 4+ years.
Unfortunately the Sofirn SC01 and the Brass DQG Fairy have been discontinued.
Not necessarily.
My understanding is aluminum anodization is a process by which acid and electricity is used to build a thick coating of aluminum oxide on the surface of the metal. This oxide layer is like swiss cheese. Dye is then added and a sealing layer put on top.
Hard Anodizing is a slightly different process that I vaguely recall involves using chilled acid and is more expensive. It results in a considerably thicker oxide layer. Since the oxide layer is the anodizing, hard anodize can withstand much more wear before the bare aluminum below wears through.
Hard Anodizing (also known as HAIII, or Type III) can be glossy, but is often quite matte. Much more so than the relatively delicate glossy anodizing on Maglites.
Any light with HAIII hard anodizing will say so on the package. It’s considered a premium feature and is a selling point.
Brass will easily outlast any human being.
I would like to see more lights with a hard anodizing.
I am aware that there are quite a number of different anodizing processes too, I sent some car parts to an anodizer once and they told me they could not get the identical finish as factory as that process was an older type that used toxic banned chemicals, not too sure how true this was.
Personally I like the shiny finish of the maglites and the range of colours was quite good too, i need to grab a photo of my mini maglite to show how well its stood up. I know that solitares dont fare so well being on keychains, so perhaps their finish is not so hard wearing as i thought, but it still appears better than most lights ive owned in recent.
Convoy is about the only thing that comes close to maglite in the range of colours that I can see.
I have to say my old lenser P7 has stood up well to my surprise but have no idea on what their finish quality is like.
Fortunately it is also relatively straightforward to strip the anodizing from aluminum as well. All you really need is some strong alkaline fluid (sodium hydroxide, oven cleaner, etc) and some rubber gloves.
There’s procedures for it online, they’re relatively easy to follow.