ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working
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Go-Anywhere Ultra Rugged Portable Hard Drive
Go-Anywhere Ultra Rugged Portable Hard Drive
At CES 2011, ioSafe demonstrated the durability of its Go-Anywhere Ultra Rugged Portable Hard Drive by letting reporters shoot it with a shotgun. I had a chance to take a few shots myself.
I apologize for the graininess of some photos. I shot them with my iPhone 4 in less-than-optimal light.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Shooting Range
Shooting Range
The shooting range was only a few minutes car ride from the Las Vegas Convention Center where CES 2011 was held.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Range setup
Range setup
ioSafe had reserved a section of the range for the demonstration.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Demo-lition
Demo-lition
ioSafe dubbed their event the CES Demo-lition 2011: Hard Drive Shootout.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Testing setup
Testing setup
ioSafe had a MacBook Pro and external monitor that they used to prove that the drive was working both before and after the demo-lition.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Drive before being shot
Drive before being shot
Before the shooting began, the ioSafe representative took a few pictures with a digital camera and copied them to the drive. The ioSafe drive enclosure is milled from a solid piece of aircraft-grade aluminum.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Custom USB 3.0 connector
Custom USB 3.0 connector
The drive has a custom USB 3.0 connector.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Squeezing the drive in a vice
Squeezing the drive in a vice
ioSafe says the drive provides “crush protection up to 5,000 lbs.” The first durability test was putting the drive in a vice.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Submerging the drive in water
Submerging the drive in water
According to ioSafe, the drive provides “immersion protection up to 30′ for 3 days.”
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Displacing the water with alcohol
Displacing the water with alcohol
The first step for preparing the drive after being submerged was to squirt a little isopropyl alcohol in the port.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Blowing out the port with canned air
Blowing out the port with canned air
After the alcohol, came a little canned air to clear the last drops of water.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Still working
Still working
The drive still worked after being squeezed in the vice and submerged in water.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
First shot
First shot
The ioSafe tester was the first to take a shot at the drive. He’s using a Remington 870 shotgun on full choke from about 30 feet away.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Drive after first shot
Drive after first shot
After shooting the drive, the ioSafe tester reconnected the drive to the MacBook Pro. The drive worked. You can see the indentations made by the pellets from the shells.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Connected to the computer after a single shotgun blast
Connected to the computer after a single shotgun blast
After showing us that the drive was still readable by the computer, it was time for everyone else to take a shot–including me.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
After five shots
After five shots
Here’s what the case looked like after five hits from a Remington 870 shotgun.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
It still works
It still works
After five shotgun hits, the ioSafe drive still worked.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Not designed to be bullet proof
Not designed to be bullet proof
As the ioSafe tester reminded us, this drive isn’t designed to be bullet proof. And after the shotgun test was over, they let us have a little fun with an M16.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Drive after shot from an M16
Drive after shot from an M16
After a single hit from a M16 round, the drive if finally dead. After
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
Drive with bullet hole
Drive with bullet hole
here you can see how the bullet passed through the enclosure and the drive inside. After looking at the dead drive for a few minutes, we all got a chance to try our aim with the M16. I was able to hit the drive with several rounds from a single full-auto burst.
Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
Caption by: Bill Detwiler
