Hands On: Stanley’s Maxlife Mini-Tripod Flashlight
By Sean O'HaraIn Use
We would’ve preferred to ease into testing with the Mini-Tripod — you know, a bit of light housework here, a look behind the desk there. But as fate would have it, there were no other shop lights in the Toolmonger test garage at the moment. Maybe that’s because I dropped and broke our normal light and we’ve been too lazy to go by Sears to pick up a spare bulb. Hey, it happens. Suffice it to say that the Mini-Tripod immediately pulled front line automotive duty with me.
Did I mention I’m hard on flashlights?
The tripod stand actually does a nice job of staying put in most situations, unless you put it on a hill too steep. Then it falls over. In those cases, you can just close the legs and lay the light on the incline. You get the same light, and it works fine.
While the three LEDs are bright, you won’t mistake this for a flood light. Areas not directly in the path of the beam are not lit – at all. Though to be fair, anything inside the beam’s effect is sufficiently illuminated. In short: use this to light something you’re working on — as opposed to an entire area — and you’re good to go.
The pivoting light head is quite loose, and we grew a bit weary of it flopping around, but the hinges held remarkably well. We’d have sworn they’d break off, but even after some serious abuse, they’re holding fine. And again to be fair, the head never came out of position in our test without us deliberately moving it — though it was simple to flip into any mode with the flick of the wrist.
At the end of our testing — which lasted several long days and included time under the hood, under the car, and inside computer cases -– the MaxLife was still running on the first set of batteries. It’s been repeatedly dropped, sat on, rolled over, kicked, and even briefly used to pry on a dashboard. The result: not so much as a scratch on it. The bottom line: it’s tougher than it looks.
Conclusions
The Mini-Tripod’s modern look and packaging doesn’t really display its true grit. It’s a rugged little adjustable LED flashlight that also happens to be plastic. This is not a sin. It wasn’t designed to be a nightstick or a club, so if you’re looking for a solid, decent little flashlight complete with its own built-in stand, it’ll work great for you. If you need some sort of weapon for personal protection, you might want to look elsewhere.
It’s $25 price tag is as much or more than the popular “felony beat down” aluminum models lining the same shelves at the local big box. However the Stanley unit does sport an attractive design and flexibility that those lights lack.
Maxlife Mini-Tripod [Stanley]
Street Pricing [Google Product Search]
Via Amazon
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July 28th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I bought one of these as an impulse buy just before my trip to Americade this year. My father was with me and laughed at me and made fun of the MaxLife flashlight. Well wouldn’t you know it, we had some problems on our trip and this little thing came to the rescue over and over again. We used it for hooking up our tow trailer, in our cabin, in the car, you name it. My father admitted that it was a great buy before the end of the week. I did manage to pay considerably less for mine at BJs. It only cost $12.99. Over all this is a great flashlight to keep in your car or get a mini version for your motorcycle. $4.99 at BJs.
July 28th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
It looks like they’ve been updated since I bought mine, but my two-year-old torn one of the legs off of mine inside of 20 seconds. Maybe he’s gifted with superhuman strength, but more probably he’s not. Something, anything, with the Stanley logo on should not come apart in the hands of a toddler.
And “bipod flashlight” just doesn’t have that same cool vibe.
July 30th, 2007 at 10:29 am
I bought 2 of the standard sized ones (9 AA batteries) and had similar mixed results. The first one’s leg tore off just by playing with it. With Captoe’s comment, this sounds like a quality problem.
The second one has lasted me camping trips, under the desk, under the hood, and under the sink for about a year now with no problems. My only complaint is that both the magnetic latch on the legs and the swivel head are too loose for my tastes.
July 30th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
I work on HVAC equipment all day and the tripod and swiveling head were great. I also found the light to be plenty bright. Unfortunately, about a month in to use, the legs somehow shifted downward so the tripod would not latch anymore, and two weeks later, one leg completely broke off.
I intend to return the light for a replacement, and try out another. If that fails, then i’ll probably just go back to the trusty maglite.
Great ideas, but work on quality!
January 16th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Ive had the stanly tripod flashlight for about 2 months. Paid 50.00 for it and as far as im concerned its not worth all the batteries you have to purchase for it. It looks good but thats it. It will not take any serious tradesman handling. Its already giving me trouble. It just sits there cause you never know when its going to lite, depending on how and were you have to tap it to light. Big 50 dollar mistake on my part. Thanks
February 14th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Got it for Christmas. Now it’s February and this thing started dimming and flashing a red light in front of the on/off switch, so I figured I’d change the batteries. 2 slid out. One didn’t. And after repeatedly shaking, hitting against the garage floor, poking with needle nose pliers; it still won’t come out. Now I’ll drill out the battery. First time I ever had to do something like this for a flashlight.