from ArmyTek re Anodising;
” Hello! All Armytek flashlights are covered with electrochemical anodizing ”
Sounds like marketing bullshi~ I mean marketing hype.
Read the first line on this page
With the existence of Google one would think that the word anodizing would be searched for what it means and how it is done, but I have noticed some reviewers say “the flashlight is painted” which is a mistake to mix up painting aluminum and anodizing aluminum, for aluminum it is better to have it anodized, now of course there are various levels of anodizing, not all are identical in various aspects.
Some cheap anodizing jobs chips easier than paint, while proper anodizing like found in zebralight, surefire and armytek lights will dent with the aluminum before coming off.
I have used my armytek wizard for many years and after numerous drops and lots of abuse the finish still looks pristine. Jetbeam lights with the shiny anodizing in the other hand, 2 days of keychain carry and I can see the bare aluminum. Maybe it’s marketing BS, but there’s no doubt their anodizing is one of the best out there.
It’s a weird way of saying it has Type III hardcoat ano.
I have to agree that all anodizing isnt equal. It takes money and equipment with someone that knows what they are doing to get proper growth.
I have DIY aluminum anodizing before with good results but the hardness is nowhere near that of quality anodizing.
Its a growth like growing plants. You ever see some of those world record sized tomatoes or pumpkins. These people have studied it and experimented to gain knowledge that allows them to grow world record size vegetables. Anodizing is not that much different in terms of you need a proffesional and proper equipment to do proper good hardness anodizing.
Maglite has decent anodizing type II. Cutting it on a lathe with cardide tools it acts like your cutting rocks. It will cut but it comes off like dust instead of chips.
They have been anodizing for a very long time so I guess they have got the cost to quality pretty well figured out exactly where they wanna be.
If a light has been proper anodized with good growth and good hardness your gonna pay for that with extra cost. It simply cost the maker more to produce unless they are like maglite and have done it a million times. I wouldn’t consider maglites anodizing the greatest but for the price point its pretty good.
Kinda like “thermoelectrically separated copper” mcpcbs? 