Practically synonymous with keychain LED lights, the Photon series (and all of LRI’s other products) are made in Oregon. The Micro-Light II improves on the original by offering a small switch that locks it on for hands-free lighting. It’s not as bright as a full-size flashlight, but as with any “every-day carry” item: the best tool is the one you have with you.

And for convenience, the Photon can’t be beat, especially since it’ll set you back less than $20.

Photon Micro-Light II [Laughing Rabbit Inc]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What's this?]

We’ve often advised you to stay away from black Mag-Lites because a) they’re easy to lose in the dark, and b) everyone else has one, so they can easily steal yours.  Here’s a Mag-Lite that you probably won’t find elsewhere at work: silver with a waving flag.

Note: In competition with our friends at The Hardware Aisle, we’re posting lots of patriotic tools today and tomorrow.  Look for a post on Wednesday (the 4th) where you can vote for your favorite.  And don’t forget to submit your favorite patriotic tools!  If your suggestion is the reader favorite, we’ll send you a tool from the test pile — something nice.

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When I see the words “saber” and “Light” together I get very excited, and I’m sure that’s what ATD had in mind when they named their 30 LED rechargeable work light the Saber Light.  Sadly, this is a device more suited for Chad Vader than Darth Vader. 

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I learned this the hard way with my portable recording rig.  Picture this: I’m squatting at the back of a dark theater setting up my rig in almost complete darkness.  I really need to see to hook up the power, so I grab my trusty (black) Mini Mag-Lite.  But before I can turn it on, I drop it.  It’s black, the floor is black, and for that matter, everything is black.  It’s gone.  Doh!

Look, I love Mag-Lites as much as the next guy.  But buying a black flashlight strikes me along the same lines as painting your bush plane green with leaf-shaped brown spots — it’s just a bad idea.  Buy the silver ones!  Or blue.  Or red.  Just not black!  Black flashlights sort of defeat the purpose of having a flashlight; if you can’t find it, you can’t use it.

Maybe this is just silly, but I couldn’t help posting it: of all the LED flashlight deals I’ve seen in the last motnh, this one totally tops the LED to price ratio.  With twenty-freakin’-eight LEDs, this light from Dealextreme sells for just $3.59.  The specs claim the LEDs are good for 100,000 hours.  YMMV.

28 LED Flashlight [Deal Extreme]

From the Sears’s clearance pile: a Craftsman 18V 3-piece drill/saw/work light combo (#11591) for $90. The drill is a two-speed piece with a 24-position clutch, 3/8″ keyless chuck, and a bubble level for straight drilling. The trim saw delivers 4500 rpm for fast cuts and features a safety lock-off switch. The Work light’s claim to fame is a 180 degree adjustable head. Also included: two batteries, a charger, 2 bits, and a 5-1/2″ Blade.

Craftsman 18v 3Pc. Drill/Saw/Worklight Combo [Sears]

Besides the red lens – which is definitely useful for keeping your night vision intact — we’re a little skeptical about the Brinkmann Rebel’s other colored lenses: a blue light for “shining through glass” and a yellow light “to penetrate fog.”  They seem more Stayin’ Alive than MacGyver to us, but we’ve been wrong before.

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We’ve posted about dozens of ‘em ranging from single LED bulb-replacement upgrades to multi-LED monsters, and we’ve heard arguments for and against from friends and neighbors.  But we want to hear from you, our fellow Toolmongers.

What do you think of LED flashlights?  Is it time to stop buying bulb-lit lights and tools, or should we stick with the tried-and-true?  Let us know in comments.

Sears is currently offering their Craftsman 13-watt fluorescent work light with 10′ 16 gauge cord (#73941) for $9.  The offer is good until April 21st.  The light illuminates from both the side and the top, and it includes a top hook for hanging as well as a bottom hook for keeping the power cord out of the way.  There’s also an additional 12 amp outlet to drive a power tools off the same cord — though we’d be careful running a motor-driven tool off that 16 gauge cord.

Craftsman Worklight #73941 [Sears]

No matter how hard we try, we always seem to end up in front of the BBQ after dark.  And while night-’quing makes it easier to see if the charcoal’s fully ignited, it makes checking the state of the food a bit tricky — unless you have a BBQ light.  H. Wesley wrote in to tell us about the LED light pictured above, which we fully intend to add to our grilling arsenal.

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Ever notice that when you drop a bolt or socket under the hood it always ends up somewhere both hard-to-reach and dark?  Harbor Freight’s offering a tool right now that kills both those birds with one $7 stone.

David writes: “Harbor Freight now has a cheap and functional fix for this problem in the form of a magnetic light on a stalk.  Nestled into the end of the flexible stalk is a high-power magnet and in the middle of the magnet is a white LED light.  The stalk bends smoothly and stays in place while you’re maneuvering it toward your intended target, and the bright light helps you see what’s going on so you can nail it the first time.  The handle doubles as a Mag-Lite-style battery compartment with a sealed on-off button.  I’ve had no reliability problems with mine, and I’m a happy customer!”

Flexible Magnetic Pickup Tool [Harbor Freight]

Toolmonger wrote about this Weeble-ish light last summer, but I’d never seen one in person until I hired an electrician to replace some wiring in my cellar.  I can attest to its self-righting capabilities after accidentally kicking it a couple of times.  They’re normally quite expensive, but I noticed that Toolbarn is selling the 27″ 150W model for a reasonable $56 right now

It’s made from tough polycarbonate, has an additional outlet for tools or more lights, and, of course, is counter balanced to stand back up when you trip on it.

Wobble Light WLJ150I [ToolBarn]
Wobble Light WLJ150I [Wobble Light]
Street Pricing [Froogle]

From Comments: “If you’re near a Meijer store they have these on clearance for $45.” — Scott

If you spend much time under a car or inside equipment cases, it’s just a matter of time before you finally give in to your inner geek and try a headworn flashlight.  You’ll quickly discover that they’re sweet — if you get a good one.

After all the interest lately in inexpensive LED lighting, Stuey wrote in to tell us about Petzl’s headworn lamps — what he considers the best ones made because of their quality materials and solid build.  And his favorite Petzl?  The Zipka Plus, pictured above.

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Sizod’s back with another kick-ass deal: “Perfect for hands-free illumination, and by adding the coupon code “HW21502066OFF” you can drop the price from $10.99 down to $4.99 so the price is perfect, too.”

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After spending so much time in the shop lately under and inside vehicles I have come to be very fond of lights.  Any kind of extra light that can be brought to bear on a project is aces with me, with extra points for taking a beating.  The Husky Tough Brite lantern looks like it’d live up to its name.

This rechargeable lantern is rugged in design — made of tough plastic wrapped in a durable rubber hide that raises its survivability factor in the shop many fold.  Another advantage: weather resistance (read: slightly water resistant).

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Mike R. writes, “Since cheap LED flashlights have been popular, here are 10 for $4.70 shipped from a reliable webstie.  They’re very bright for their size, and at less than $0.50 each, they’re basically disposable.  Black and clear are available at the site.  The only downside is that the shipping time is about two weeks.”

Well, it looks like we’ve finally hit bottom in terms of LED light pricing — unless anyone out there finds someone who’ll pay us a few bucks to take a dozen.

White Flashlight Keychain 10-Pack [DealXTreme]

Sizod — henceforth to be called the King of deal-finding — sent in this sweet sale today: a 2-pack of 9-LED aluminum pocket flashlights for $6.  Hell, we thought we’d found a deal when we saw some LED flashlights for $4 each at HF.  Compared to this, HF is price gouging.

From GoldenGadgets.com, these lights are powered by 3 AA batteries, and 3-3/4″ long by 1-3/16″ in diameter, and feature aluminum bodies.

Damn.

2-Pack of 9-LED Aluminum Pocket Flashlights [GoldenGadgets.com]