Tough Tech: 20 Rugged Gadgets That Take A Lickin' And Keep On Tickin'

Let's start things off with a bang -- or at least a hard drive capable of shrugging one off. You can dunk the ioSafe Solo in 10 ft of water for three days or burn it at 1550 degrees for half an hour and it'll still pony up your data. We've tested out the ioSafe's durability on video.

With a name like "Toughbook," Panasonic's line of rugged computers better deliver. Fortunately, they do, thanks to a magnesium alloy case and the ability to laugh in the face of dust, water and six-foot drops. You can even run it over with a car.

Want to make your wimpy laptop, tablet or smartphone a bit more rugged? Check out Otterbox's Defender series of gadget covers, which combines polycarbonate and silicon to protect against scratches, dust, bumps and shocks. Otterson shows off its durability in a rock-climbing video.

If you need a rugged handset, you might as well pick the mobile phone that the Guiness Book of World Records calls the toughest around. The Sonim XP3300 Force claimed that title after surviving an 83 ft. drop onto concrete. Scroll halfway down the page for the video.

Japanese manufacturer Asahi Glass created Dragontail Glass to be a Gorilla Glass killer. Check out this video of Dragontail glass getting scratched, bent under 60kg of pressure, and hit with a hammer with nary an ill effect to be seen.

Sometimes, a standard mouse just won't cut it. Whether you need the TPX-PM (pictured) and it’s "Vandal proof, Abrasion proof, Dismantle proof, Indestructible!” build or the Nema 4, 4x and IP56 environmentally sealed Hula-DT, Stealth Computer's line of industrial mice hang tough even in the worst environments.

DSE's MSMVR Rugged Military Display series is made for the roughest environments around. It's certified for scads of durability standards and "engineered to withstand extreme battlefield environments with extended temperature options, extreme shock and vibration, explosive atmosphere, NVIS, and high altitude avionics."

Not content to supply only a fire- and water-proof hard drive, ioSafe demonstrated the shotgun-defying toughness of the ioSafe Rugged Portable Hard Drive during the "Hard Drive Shoot Out" at CES this year. This beast still worked after five direct shotgun blasts. It couldn't cope with a direct shot from an M16, though.

Thinking more tablet than Toughbook? The AIS Fully Rugged Tablet PC boasts IP65 and Mil-810F certification and can handle water, extreme temperatures, shocks, and "transit-drops."

Did we say extreme temperatures? The Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Alaska Project (say that three times fast) is a beefed-up version of the Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch worn by astronauts. The Alaska Project was built for dark side o' the moon traveling and works in temperatures between -235 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tough environments call for a tough SD card. The Hoodman RAW Steel SD line boasts a steel lining underneath its hard plastic exterior, plus an epoxy-filled interior that makes the card both rigid and waterproof.

Of course, a badass SD card doesn't do much good in a wimpy camera. The Olympus Tough 8010 is no wuss. It'll survive 33 ft. water depths, 14-degree cold, and 220 lbs. of pressure, all while shooting hi-res 14-megapixel images. Image from Lenstip.com.

No other flash drive comes close to matching the sheer stoic toughness of the LaCie Xtreme Key. Just check out the spec sheet (and LaCie's demo video): the Xtreme key still operates after 16 ft. drops, 333 ft.-deep waters, extreme heat and cold exposure, and being run over by a ten-ton truck.

Motorola's Defy may not be quite as death-defying as Sonim's XP3300, but it's one of the toughest traditional phones on the market, resistant to dust, scratching, impact and water (meeting IP67 standards). Motorola even beat the Defy up to prove the claims.

After hearing about the awesomeness of all these rugged gadgets, you might be getting worried about your plain-Jane non-rugged tablet or laptop. G-Form's PORON XRD material-sporting Extreme Sleeve eases your troubles. We're not sure what PORON XRD is, but the Extreme Sleeve lets run-over iPads live to see another day.

Nintendo's Game Boy is a workhorse designed not only to be held in your hand, but also dropped by your hand. We've dropped ours down countless stairs and in numerous puddles and it still works, 20 years down the road.

Stealth Computers makes crazy durable keyboards to go along with its crazy durable mice. Or, in the case of the Stealth KYBX-400, to replace them. In addition to sporting a trackball, the KYBX-400 offers NEMA 4, 4X and IP65 environmental resistance inside of a tough vandal-resistant stainless steel exterior.

While Intel's rugged Classmate PCs can't handle the desert like AIS's tablet, it can take anything your child can throw at it. These pint-sized PCs pack an anti-microbial, waterproof keyboard, bump and scratch resistance, and the ability to survive a drop from desk height.

We're not sure if LaCie's Rugged USB 3.0 External Hard Drive can withstand 1550-degree flames or repeated heavy arms fire, but it can survive a 7 ft. fall thanks to "a unique scratch–resistant aluminum shell, internal anti–shock absorbers, and a shock–resistant rubber bumper." Plus, it's cool looking.

Yeah, it isn’t a PC or electronics product, but the Total Blender is TOUGH, and Blendtec founder Tom Dickson proves it on "Will It Blend?" IPads, iPhones, Chromebooks, the Xbox 360 Kinect and more all fall to its wrath. Two things to survive; Chuck Norris and that tough-as-nails Sonim XP3300 Force mentioned earlier.