Corsair announces new Flash Survivor drive

Corsair has introduced its latest flash drive, the 64GB Flash Survivor, proclaimed as the “most rugged” high-capacity flash drive available to consumers.

The actual flash drive is protected by an aluminum casing made out of aircraft-grade aluminum.  Furthermore, it is designed to be water resistant up to 200 meters, utilizing a shock-dampening collar and EPDM seal.

“The new 64GB Flash Survivor takes the industry’s most popular rugged USB drive and takes it to the next level, with a huge amount of storage space, plus best-in-class performance,” said Jim Carlton, VP of Marketing for Corsair. “The 64GB Survivor is ideal for storing and transporting your music, videos, pictures and other important files, safe in the knowledge that your data will be safeguarded inside the Survivor’s protective shell.”
There are currently 8GB, 16GB and 32GB versions of the Flash Survivor USB drives available to consumers.

I’ve had experience with the Flash Survivor before, and attempted to put it through scenarios a bit more extreme than the usual everyday threat a flash drive faces.  I threw it into a swimming pool and pond, ran it over with a Ford F-150, put it in the freezer, and burned it.  The only damage sustained happened when I hit the USB key with a baseball bat, propelling it into a brick wall.

The Flash Survivor drives have been popular among PC enthusiasts, though general consumer demand for such devices remains unknown.

These customized “rugged” flash drives are mainly a niche product, as the majority of PC users don’t need such a carefully-designed device.  If you have information that you need to store on a portable drive that can withstand virtually any everyday abuse scenario, then a drive such as the Flash Survivor may be something for you to consider.