Corsair's Survivor GT 8MB flash drive is made to take all kinds of abuse. Resembling a metallic cannister like the capsules used to carry top-secret "chips" filled with spy secrets on Bond movies, the 3.25-inch-long flash drive is made of aircraft-grade annodized aluminum. You unscrew the cyllindrical cover to access the drive; the spots where metal meets metal are protected by a rubber seal that's water-resistant up to 200 meters.

We took water-resistant to mean that it could stand being totally submerged in water - but that it probably shouldn't stay there for more than a few minutes. So, after loading it with almost 400MB of photos (which took about 25 seconds per 100MB), we screwed on the cap and dropped it in a measuring glass full of water, letting it stay underwater for about 5 minutes.

The Survivor GT measures 3.25 inches long and looks tough to boot.

After two dunkings over the course of the afternoon, the drive and its data were unharmed. After each dunking, we dried off the outside with a towel, unscrewed the cap and felt inside the cap and on the USB connector itself - bone dry. We also dropped it repeatedly from a height of about 4 feet onto a concrete floor; then, when that failed to make a dent, we threw it with some force about 20 feet onto the same concrete floor. This put a couple of tiny dings in the drive's metal cap, but the data remained secure. A 250-pound Mac|Life editor stood - and even stomped on - the drive too. It lived up to its name.

This is your data underwater.

Where durability is concerned, the Survivor is a champ. It behaves like any good USB flash drive, flashing a blue light when it's connecting or disconnecting with your Mac. Our only complaint is its form factor: When used with a MacBook or MacBook Pro, the cyllindrical end of the drive is too deep to plug in directly to one of the 'Book's built-in USB 2.0 ports. Corsair has thoughtfully included an 18-inch USB connector, which comes in handy.

At $129.99 for the 8GB model (the 4GB drive costs half that), it's a lot to spend for a flash drive. But if you are rough on your drives, or have a job that takes you out into the wilderness or other punishing elements, the drive is certainly worth a look.

www.corsairmemory.com