Corsair 8GB Flash Survivor USB Flash Drive Review

The Bottom Line
I ran the Corsair 8GB Flash Survivor through what it would normally see in daily use from drops and splashes to a full wash and dry cycle in the pocket of my jeans. The Corsair 8GB Flash Survivor made it through all the testing unscathed. You may find smaller and possibly faster flash drives, but few are as sturdy and durable as the Corsair 8GB Flash Survivor.

Pros

* Durable
* Lives through washing and drying

Cons

* Bulky
* Cap can come loose

Description

* Corsair covers the Flash survivor with a 10-year warranty.
* If the cap holing the flash drive in place loosens during the wash cycle your data has had it.
* The drive is significantly larger than most other flash drives on the market.

Guide Review - Corsair 8GB Flash Survivor USB Flash Drive Review

Corsair encased a fairly normal flash drive with 8GB of storage space inside a CNC-milled, anodized aircraft-grade aluminum exterior. The drive is claimed to be water resistant to 200M and be shock and impact resistant as well. Corsair also includes AES encryption software to encrypt sensitive data so your information is safe if it is lost.

Corsair uses an aluminum tube to enclose the flash drive which is a normal looking unit secured to one of the end caps. As long as the lid is secured tightly, the flash drive is water resistant to 200M.

To see if the drive would make it through the washing machine I threw it into a long wash cycle. When I pulled the Corsair 8GB Flash Survivor out of the pocket of the jeans and looked for damage the drive was pristine. The only dampness I noticed was a slight bit around where the cap screws onto the CNC body.

I honestly am not sure if the moisture leaked into the body during the wash cycle, or simply deposited on the neck of the flash drive as I unscrewed the drive. However, when the drive went into the washer, the lid was on as tight as I cold get it. When I removed the Corsair 8GB Flash Survivor from the washer it was looser so the cap did loosen during the wash a bit. This could lead to fatal damage of the flash drive inside if water gets into the casing. In my case the drive worked fine after the wash cycle.

After washing I threw it into the dryer on high heat for about 60 minutes. When I removed the drive it was very hot to the touch. The Corsair 8GB Flash Survivor withstood the heat and tumbling without a hiccup and wokred perfectly. HD Tach showed a 23MB/s average read speed and 20.6 MB/s average write. These speeds down quite a bit from what Corsair promises. In all I was happy with the performance of the Corsair 8GB Flash Survivor and I think most users will be too.