I've always hated the various flashlights that were part of rechargeable tool lines. They always seemed to be dim, cheaply made, and it always made me feel insulted...like the company was trying to bolster whatever drill they were selling me...2 tools, really? oh...you're counting the flashlight? Jerks. That's like counting the cost of the bow when giving a present.

My old attitude was: thanks, but I'll use my Maglite. Well...Milwaukee shut my mouth with this one. This little lantern is so simple and effective...and because it's a lantern, not a flashlight...it is dramatically more useful.

One of the things that I always loved about Maglites was that you could unscrew the head and get hands free ambient light...but there was always the issue of standing or hanging the thing.

Not this bad-boy. Milwaukee's lantern stands on two feet and uses the battery as a third. Two side-hooks on the top of the tool provide a way to hang it in pretty much any way you can imagine. It has 180 or 360 capability provided by a twist barrel that moves two of the three LED strips either into a line or triangle. And it is BRIGHT. It has 3 settings, and usually I set it low. Frankly, I've only used the high setting twice, working outdoors at night, where I had better than a 10' radius of wokable lighted area when hanging it at 7' height.

Best of all...it has an integral USB charger! In my opinion, this is the crowning achievement of this particular tool. I think everything should have a USB charger.

Milwaukee touts all kinds of special info about it: 400 lumens on high, 200 lumens on medium, 40 lumens on low. They claim that is has exceptional true to color representation...but seriously...are they selling it to interior designers? I'm a guy and I love technical info...but when push comes to shove...all I care about a tool is if it helps me get the job done faster...And this one DOES!

Strange as this may sound...if I could only own one “portable lighting device”, this would be it.