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RuggedKey USB 3.0 Drive Survives 100m Drops

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LaCie does it again with a brand new, ultra rugged USB flash drive.

If you're a clumsy person who tends to drop your USB flash drives off of skyscrapers, you may need to get yourself one of LaCie's "RuggedKey" USB 3.0 sticks. Designed to protect your data from the forces of water, extreme temperatures and heights, the device features LaCie's signature orange cushion that wraps itself around the actual drive.

According to the company's release, the RuggedKey features transfer rates of up to 150MB/s using USB 3.0. As far as actual speeds go, a couple of tests run by Engadget reveal an 850MB video file transfers from the drive to a Retina MacBook Pro at the advertised rate of 150MB/s. Write speeds on the other hand, weren't as impressive clocking in at 40MB/s.

Although we can't imagine too many situations where most people would need a drive this durable, it doesn't hurt to be too cautious. Especially if the cost for that caution is relatively cheap. With a price tag ringing in at $40 for a 16GB drive or $70 for a 32GB drive, the RuggedKey is a great choice for anybody looking for a USB 3.0 flash drive.

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Tuan Mai
Tuan Mai
Tuan Mai is a Los Angeles based writer and marketing manager working within the PC Hardware industry. He has written for Tom's Guide since 2010, with a special interest in the weird and quirky.
21 Comments Comment from the forums
  • CaedenV
    falling on grass... with no moving parts... I bet my Corsair flash drive would be fine for this test as well. Dropped on concrete... that may be a different story.

    I imagine the hardest part is finding your flash drive if you drop it from 100m without having spotters looking for where it lands.
    Reply
  • rohitbaran
    Meh. My Corsair Survivor USB drive can survive that too.
    Reply
  • mrmaia
    It kinda looks like a mini orange grenade in the 2nd photo. I wonder what happens if you walk with one of those in an airport.
    Reply
  • house70
    caedenvfalling on grass... with no moving parts... I bet my Corsair flash drive would be fine for this test as well. Dropped on concrete... that may be a different story.I imagine the hardest part is finding your flash drive if you drop it from 100m without having spotters looking for where it lands.I guess that's why it's orange.
    Anything that's lightweight, has no moving parts and is wrapped in shock-absorbing foam will survive that fall. You could take your USB drive and wrap it in something like this and voila, you have a shock resistant drive without the price premium.
    Reply
  • freggo
    You could have dropped it from 10 miles up with the same result.
    The little bugger will reach 'terminal velocity' after a fewseconds and than continue falling at a more or less constant speed; and landing onto 'grass' is of course cheating. How about a nice parking lot ? :-)
    Reply
  • Xenturion
    With something as light as a Flash Drive, I'm fairly certain there's a great number of them who could survive such a fall, even onto concrete. Sure, it may crack the cover and case, but I'd bet you they'd still work.
    Reply
  • festerovic
    I've been waiting/for a girl like you
    To come into my heart/With USB 3.0 speed

    can I run over it? Can a fat man step on it? Also does not look 2 year old proof (no slidey thing)These are more important than dropping off a 10 story building.
    Reply
  • lamorpa
    Yes, but can you drop a 10 story building on it? That's the real test...
    Reply
  • burmese_dude
    A great product for clumsy Superman.
    Reply
  • burmese_dude
    I should say... A great product for clumsy Superman who download pr0n.
    Reply