Can Your Hard Drive Survive a Swim in the Ocean? This G-Drive ev ATC Did

I baby my external hard drives. I always wrap them in bubble wrap when taking them from home to the coffee shop, and I even have a little mini-pelican case for longer trips. I couldn't imagine how bad it would be if it happened to get even a quick salt water splash, let alone get stuck in the sand. In this video, watch what happens when this G-Tech hard drive is thrown right into the surf of the ocean.

As you may have guessed from the title of this article, nothing happened. The G-Drive ev ATC from G-Tech worked perfectly, despite some sand in the cracks.

Jaron Schneider, the brave tester from the video above, went on to say in his own article that he didn't expect the drive to survive getting backing on rocks and splashed around in salt water.

Maybe a dunk in fresh water in a controlled environment, but the ocean is a totally different animal. The temperature, the salt and the sand really add another layer of complexity. It shouldn’t survive.

But it did.

If you'd like to learn more, our own Adam Ottke reviewed the G-Drive ev ATC himself, including putting it through both underwater and a drop tests.

While most people aren't working on the beach, I'm sure there are traveling photographers and filmmakers who would appreciate the extra security that these hard drives apparently provide. Doing on-site backups and traveling with data is something that many people do, including myself, so spending the money (aka billing your clients more) to protect project data could be worth it.

[via resourcemagonline]

Mike Wilkinson's picture

Mike Wilkinson is an award-winning video director with his company Wilkinson Visual, currently based out of Lexington, Kentucky. Mike has been working in production for over 10 years as a shooter, editor, and producer. His passion lies in outdoor adventures, documentary filmmaking, photography, and locally-sourced food and beer.

Log in or register to post comments
1 Comment

I've had my fair share of memory cards go through the washer/dryer and come out working fine with no data loss. A harddrive on the other hand...