Years ago, after I'd ruined a cheap plastic flash drives because of rough treatment on my keychain (getting dropped, etc.) I went to Cruzer Titanium (encased in titanium) after seeing a PC Mag review where they threw it down, stomped on it, drove over it, etc...

Now I see a rubber encased one that supposedly "has been shown laundered, baked, frozen, boiled, dropped, and even run over by a SUV"

... titanium is stronger than rubber, but rubber is more shock absorbing.

Which would you choose for best overall protection in a rugged flash drive: Strength of titanium or shock absorption of rubber?

Thanks!

To my mind I'd go with rubber. Your previous experience has shown you that the drive failed because of shock, not bending, crushing, etc. Rubber would protect against shock, titanium would be of no use. The only question is, is there enough rubber to make any real difference. Assume there's some height, above which, an unprotected drive will be damaged and another height, above which a rubber protected drive will be damaged. If the first height is pretty high, like 6 feet, then rubber gets you nothing special. But since your drive broke previously from short falls we'll assume that it's probably about 2 feet. If the second height is too low, like 3 feet, it will offer some protection but not really enough to make a noticeable difference.

Net effect, I'd never pay extra for titanium and I'd probably pay a few extra $ for rubber thicker than about 1mm or 2mm. (just guessing on the 1mm, seems like less wouldn't be enough)

They both have their advantages.

I think the rubber would serve you a little better, in the end. The place that I work, shock testing is a big thing, they have big vibrating machines to ensure the electronics don't break. I think an even better idea would be to wrap the titanium one in bubble wrap :) or cloth of some kind?

Yeah, seems titanium for crushing incidences, wrapped in rubber for shock damage protection would be the best of both worlds.

I must admit: My Cruzer Titanium has really taken a beating in the 2 years I've had it and it's never failed.

I did just notice one thing about the rubber one that makes it less appealing. It has a cap. On the Cruzer there is no cap; the usb connector is retractable.

... decisions decisions...

PS - the rubber one (http://www.corsairmemory.com/corsair/flash_memory.html#fv) does not say how thick the rubber is.

... at this point I'll probably stick with the Cruzer... but bummer that 4GB is the biggest. The rubber one is up to 16GB

... decisions decisions... :)

Since a flash drive has no moving parts (its an integrated circuit) shock would seem to be a minor concern. However, the rubber does prevent ceertain types of damage as well.

Well the rubber will take shock and absorb the force while titanium or any metal or platic, will simply resist the force until the force is too great and it will deform the case and crush the circuits inside. So I would take the rubber one as it can deform and go back to the original shape. It would be interesting to see which would break first.

But yes, if your using it normally either should resist being knocked around in pockets or a fall from a few feet.