The word “waterproof” on a product page is not a specification. Nobody defines it, nobody tests it and nobody can be held to it. The IP code is the version of that claim with a standard behind it — IEC 60529 — and it is worth ten minutes to be able to read one.
Reading the code
An IP rating has two digits after the letters. IP68, for example.
- The first digit is protection against solids — fingers, tools, dust. It runs 0 to 6.
- The second digit is protection against water. It runs 0 to 9.
An X in either position means not tested, not not protected. IPX7 means the water side was tested to level 7 and the dust side simply was not submitted. This is routine and not a red flag; testing costs money and makers only certify what they intend to advertise.
The water levels that matter for a torch
| Rating | The test | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| IPX4 | Splashing water from any direction | Rain. Survives being caught out. |
| IPX5 | A 6.3 mm water jet | Heavy rain, a hose at a distance. |
| IPX6 | A powerful 12.5 mm jet | Deck-washing conditions. |
| IPX7 | Immersion in 1 m of water for 30 minutes | Dropped in a puddle, a sink, a stream. Retrieved and still working. |
| IPX8 | Continuous immersion beyond 1 m, to a depth the maker states | Deliberate underwater use — but only to the stated depth. |
Two things surprise people here.
First, the levels are not strictly cumulative. IPX7 is an immersion test; IPX5 and IPX6 are jet tests. A device certified IPX7 has not necessarily passed a pressure-jet test, which is why you occasionally see a product listed as IPX5/IPX7 — it was submitted for both.
Second, IPX8 is meaningless without a depth. The standard leaves the figure to the manufacturer. “IPX8” with no metres attached is marketing, not a rating.
Why IPX7 is the sensible threshold for a pocket torch
Think about how torches actually get wet. Almost never by being taken diving. Nearly always by:
- being used in rain or snow;
- being handled with wet hands;
- being dropped — into a puddle, a gutter, a sink, the edge of a stream.
IPX4 covers the first two and fails the third, which is the one that ruins a torch. IPX8 covers a scenario most people will never be in, and usually costs weight and money. IPX7 is the point at which weather and clumsiness both stop being a problem, which is why it is the rating most serious everyday-carry torches are built to.
Three things that quietly void the rating
An open cover
Every rating assumes the device is sealed as designed. A torch with a rubber flap over its USB-C port is rated with the flap shut. Left open, it is a tube with a hole in it. Press it closed before the torch goes anywhere wet — this single habit accounts for most “waterproof torch died in the rain” stories.
Age
Seals are rubber or silicone. They harden, compress and pick up grit. A rating describes a new device, not a three-year-old one. If a torch matters to you, look at the O-rings occasionally; a smear of silicone grease keeps them supple.
Hot to cold
The tests use water at roughly the same temperature as the device. A warm torch plunged into cold water contracts, the air inside contracts faster, and the resulting pressure difference can pull water past a seal that would otherwise have held. This is a known limitation of the standard rather than a defect in the product.
And what it does not promise at all
No IP rating covers salt water, which corrodes contacts long after the device has dried, or chemicals and solvents. Neither is in the test. Rinse anything that has been in the sea with fresh water and dry it.
In short
Ignore the word waterproof and read the code. For a torch you carry every day, IPX7 is the line worth holding out for: a metre of water for half an hour, which covers essentially every accident a pocket torch has. Then shut the port cover, because the rating is only true when the torch is closed.
The RavenTorch EDC flashlight has a stainless steel body sealed to IPX7, with a cover over the USB-C port. Rain, snow, wet hands and a drop into a puddle are all within what it is built for.