Rugged flash drives have been a trend these last couple months. Manufacturers see how popular flash drives continue to be and conclude a more durable version is needed for every day use. So along with the never-ending quest of more data storage, manufacturers are developing ways to make UFDs last longer and handle more abuse.

We put the question out there, “What’s the worst your flash drive went through?” and this is what we found:

It’s predictable that our most popular abuse was dropping them. Although it doesn’t sound like a much, it can be. Flash drives - well the memory in them - are sensitive and cannot take large amounts of shock. Many times dropping a drive from your table top is good enough to damage the drive.

I did find it interesting the next most frequent UFD abuse came from submersing them in water. I’ll assume in this case, the most common mistake is forgetting about the drive and accidentally washing it.

Whatever your daily routine, it’s worth taking an extra few minutes to search out the right flash drive for your habits. Rugged flash drives will become more popular as 1) materials drop in price to build a better box and 2) users continue to put more and more valuable information on their flash drives.