Or, based on the picture, maybe this post should be titled Flashlights In Space! Now I like flashlights as much as — or probably way more than — the average Toolmonger, but the mPower Emergency Illuminator that I recently saw on Gizmodo is a bit much even for me. Porsche Studios designed it, and mPower, a wholly-owned consumer products division of mPhase Technologies, uses its parent company’s AlwaysReady Smart NanoBattery technology to produce a two-tubed flashlight with two standard CR123 batteries in one tube, and an unactivated NanoBattery in the other. The NanoBattery side has a minimum 20-year shelf life with no power dissipation until activation. It’s to debut at CES in January, and should be available in March 2010 for a mere $250–$300. For that price you do get a “high power” LED  and an accessory USB connection for charging cell phones and PDAs.

Think there might be something better in the next 20 years?

AlwaysReady Smart Nanobattery [Manufacturer's Site]

OK, so it’s actually called the Black & Decker V-3 Million Power Series rechargeable spotlight. But after a good 10 months of carting this sucker out for late-night grilling, hooking up trailer hitches in the dark, and finding a lost hitch pin in deep grass, we just call it the “vampire light.” It’s incredibly bright. In fact, it’s so bright it has a trigger guard to keep you from blinding yourself.

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This might make the perfect gift for a brand-conscious tool friend this holiday season. This flashlight and knife kit (on sale at Costco this weekend) includes all the necessities: an aluminum barreled, xenon-bulbed two-AA light, a miniature AAA model, and an aluminum-bodied folding knife — and, of course, the Snap-on brand prominently on display.

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Laugh if you like; it looks like a holiday gimmick. We yukked it up when we received an early sample last year. But after a few weeks in the shop the truth came out: We argued over the sample and ended up heading to the store so we could each have one. This hydra-headed flashlight actually works — and simplifies work tasks by putting light where you need it.

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Cooper Lighting’s Might-D-Light (a.k.a. model LED130) is an 80-LED rechargeable worklight. It comes with both AC and DC chargers, folds for easy storage, and, for hands-free use, has built-in neodymium magnets and a nylon swivel hook. Fully charged, its NiMH batteries should last two hours. As you can see in the top picture above, it also has reflective strips on the back. You can pick one up for around $39.

Might-D-Light [Manufacturer's Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

The latest issue of Milwaukee’s Heavy Duty News alerted us to their upcoming LED replacement bulb.   Not only will this bulb upgrade your M12, M18, and V28 lights to LED, it should be able to upgrade most other flashlights that use similar sized bulbs running on 9.6V to 28V.

Milwaukee claims the bulb will give you 3X the run time and last 50,000 hours over the standard bulbs.  Being solid state it, has the added bonus that if your flash light can survive a fall, the bulb should too.

No wording on the price yet or when the bulbs will be available.

LED Upgrade 49-81-0090 [Milwaukee]

Everyone needs a flashlight. Seriously. If it’s dark, you need light to see. And we see tons of flashlights here in the Toolmonger offices, lights in almost every flavor ranging from candy coated (gimmicky) to chicken (simple and useful for everything). Over the last year or so we’ve discovered a few favorites and thought we’d share. Here’s our fourth favorite: the four-cell Maglite.

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If you bought one of the Halloween-themed flashlights pictured above from Target recently, you should “immediately stop using the flashlights and return the product to any Target store for a full refund.” The CPSC reports that these flashlights “can overheat and melt, posing a burn hazard to consumers.” So far the manufacturer has heard of eight such incidents, “including one report of burns to the hand.”

Or hey, better yet, skip the Halloween-themed gear when it comes to the important stuff. If you want to give your kids a flashlight to carry during the yearly loot-fest, why not go with a tried-and-true quality flashlight? Bonus: it’s far less likely to end up in the trash can once we move on to Turkey day and X-Mas.

Halloween Flashlights Recalled Due to Burn Hazard [CPSC]

I just replaced my trusty but annoying 3AA Maglite with the incandescent bulb and twist-on lens. I’ve never been too much of a Maglite fan, but it’s hard to argue with the sheer number of them out there. They work, but now there’s a new hotness in my roll cab’s top drawer.

It’s Dorcy’s 160-lumen, 3AA K2, model number 41-4297. I’ve had it for about six hours, and I have no idea why the switch took me so bloody long. It’s a pocket rocket; I’d swear it’s brighter than a lot of car headlights. At about 5″ long, it’s pretty compact, though the flared lens housing makes it a little uncomfortable in one’s pocket. It’s a small price to pay, though, for swapping my peashooter for a tactical nuke. The switch on the rear is translucent, showing a battery status light that stays green until the battery life drops below 20%, then it switches to red.

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What’s a modern mini-Li-Ion cordless tool kit without a flashlight to let those awesome little batteries go to work brightening up the dark spots? Nothing, that’s what. So we’re glad that Craftsman’s NEXTEC set includes one. But rather than heading down the single-bright-LED path, Craftsman hung a left, opting instead for 24 (!) individual light sources.

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We’ve covered faucet lights that change color with water temperature before, but what’s even cooler about Sylvania’s ECOlight is that it provides both temperature indication and shower illumination without batteries or electrical wiring — water pressure provides the power for this self-contained unit.

The ECOlight has an LED that glows blue when the water is cold and red when the water gets warmer.  It uses Sylvania’s high power golden dragon LED to provide light so you don’t need to turn on any extra lights on when you’re showering. There’s an on/off switch if you don’t want to use the light.

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We’ve covered lighted pickup tools here and here, but you may not want a magnetic head sticking to every metal surface as you fish it. If you just need to shed some light on a hard-to-see place, a single purpose tool like Steelman’s 16″ Bend-A-Light might work a little better. It’s simply a high-intensity bulb with a flexible brass shaft connecting it to the battery case.

The Bend-A-Light ships with 2AA batteries and a protective cover that doubles as an extension handle.  It’ll run you about $17, but if you need a replacement bulb you’ll shell out at least another $7.

Bend-A-Light [Steelman]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

“Light saber” work lights are cropping up all over the place nowadays, and there’s a good reason for that. Light-emitting diodes are durable, cheap, and very bright, making them perfect for a hard service life. Fluorescent tubes, on the other hand, are fragile, fairly dim, and notoriously power-hungry. LED lights draw so little power that even a cordless trouble light with a hundred of them can run for six hours on a charge.

Jack’s Tool Shed has a $35 trouble light available, which is a pretty low entry price for one of these beauties. It’s a bit sketchy, since the manufacturer isn’t listed (unless “Professional Mechanic’s Ultra-Bright” is a maker I’ve missed), but having laid hands on similar units, they’re plenty good for occasional use. If online tool purchases aren’t your thing, you can find similar units all over the place, right up to trouble lights with multiple modes and three-digit price tags.

Mechanic’s Ultra-Bright Cordless 100-LED Work Light [Jack's Tool Shed]

Smith and Wesson’s Galaxy 4-in-1 flashlight/flasher/lantern package includes three AAA batteries, a white lantern filter, a red lantern filter, and a carabiner clip. The tailcap has a magnet for attachment to flat metal surfaces. Turning the flashlight and then holding the “on” button for three seconds activates a flashing mode good for emergencies, especially with the red lantern filter. Right now Buy.com has a special on the package for $16.99 (about 30% off street pricing) — with free budget-level shipping.

Smith & Wesson 4-in-1 Flashlight [Manufacturer's Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Nite Ize [Manufacturer's Site]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Mag-Lite [Manufacturer's Site]

Carabiners make everything better, right?  That seems to be the mantra of SnapGate, a company who builds a carabiner into products like tape measures, flashlights, and pens. They sell both plastic promotional products and a few real tools.

One of the real tools is an 6″ aluminum flashlight they claim to be waterproof (non-submersible) and shatterproof. Two AA batteries power the flashlight’s krypton bulb. The other real tools are the tape measures which they manufacture in 16′ and 25′ lengths. Both tapes feature a rubberized coating over an ABS plastic case.

If you’re into snapping things onto your belt loops, the tape measures will cost you either $7 or $9 shipped while the flashlight will set you back $6 plus shipping. Check out SnapGate’s contact information on their website if you’re interested in their promotional products.

SnapGate [Corporate Site]
Flashlight [Campmor]
Tape Measure [Harbor Freight]

Normal flashlights tend to have narrow-angle beams that are usually more useful to the person holding ‘em than to anybody else, but for less than $30 you can buy Bayco’s Night Stick NSP-1136 flashlight, which gives you not only the traditional narrow spot beam but also a floodlight that illuminates a much wider area. (more…)