Today we’re taking a look at the Milwaukee M18 FUEL 16″ Chainsaw powered by Milwaukee’s new high capacity 9.0Ah or 12.0Ah batteries.

Stuff Lawyers Made Us Say: We’re are continuing our partnership with The Home Depot to provide candid reviews of tools from a wide variety of manufacturers. The Home Depot is both providing the tools for free and compensating us; however, the opinions we express here are our own. Remember, we’ll always be up-front with you when we’re receiving a free product, compensation, or both. And of course, we always strive for objectivity in our reviews.

Is a Battery-Powered Chainsaw a Tool, or just a Toy?

It wasn’t long ago when a battery-powered chainsaw seemed like a non-starter. There was simply no way to obtain enough power or run time from a reasonably sized battery to make a battery powered unit a serious option for anything other than incidental use. In the last 5 years, though, battery technology has experienced many incremental improvements. Milwaukee’s new high output 12.0Ah RED LITHIUM batteries make this chainsaw not only a real tool, but a contender for folks who use a chainsaw on a daily basis.

What Comes in the Box?

Milwaukee sells the M18 FUEL 16″ Chainsaw as both a kit and a bare tool. The kit comes with the chainsaw, high output 12.0Ah battery, and charger for $449. The bare tool comes only with the chainsaw for $299. The only thing neither comes with that you’ll need to use the chainsaw is bar and chain oil, which is a few bucks at your local Home Depot.

Performance Review – We Try Out the Milwaukee M18 FUEL Chainsaw

Test #1: We first tested the Milwaukee Chainsaw equipped with 12.0Ah battery by cutting discs off a 6″ diameter log in our shop. The chainsaw went through a whopping 83 discs before we ran out of log to cut! The 12.0Ah battery was still reporting 2 bars (out of 4) remaining when we finished. Milwaukee says the M18 chainsaw can provide “up to 150 cuts per charge” on the 12.0Ah battery. Given our experience on a 6″ diameter log, we think their claim is reasonable.

Test #2: Next, Aaron and I compared the Milwaukee chainsaw against our tried-and-true Stihl gas-powered 30cc chainsaw. In this test, Aaron and I raced to see who could cut 6 discs off a log fastest. We YouTube’d that portion of the review and you can see it by clicking the picture below. Spoiler: The Milwaukee proves a bit faster at this task due to not needing to be started.

Test #3: For our third test, we used the Milwaukee to cut down downed trees in the forest by our house. Again, the Milwaukee performed great, easily slicing up downed tree limbs in quick fashion.

Battery Power vs. Gas Power

The clearest advantage of a battery-powered chainsaw is the elimination of the cost and time associated with obtaining, preparing, and storing gas/oil mixture for the saw. This makes the Milwaukee a clear winner for occasional users who don’t want to have to keep a separate fuel mixture in their shed. The battery powered saw also doesn’t require multiple pulls to start. Simply pop in the battery and it starts instantly, every time.

There are a few drawbacks to battery power, though: the saw isn’t as powerful as the most powerful gas chainsaws on the market. If you are regularly cutting multiple 12″ discs (or more), a high-cc gas-powered chainsaw will serve you better. Also, if the battery runs out, you can’t simply pour more gas in the chainsaw, you’ll need to wait for the battery to charge, or own multiple batteries you can swap-out.

Who’s the Chainsaw Right For?

The Milwaukee M18 FUEL Chainsaw is right for DIYers, Tradesmen, and landscaping companies with low-to-moderate chainsaw use requirements – including clearing the occasional small tree or brush from a property, pruning branches, etc. The saw will also work for those using a chainsaw all day, but expect to buy several high output batteries and a multi-charger for those batteries.

Price and Where to Buy

Milwaukee’s chainsaw as well as spare batteries are available at the following links from The Home Depot:

• Milwaukee M18 FUEL 16″ Chainsaw (bare tool) – $299
• Milwaukee M18 FUEL 16″ Chainsaw (kit w/ 12.0 Ah Battery) – $449
• Two 12.0Ah Batteries + Charger Kit – $249

There is no substitute for good lighting in your workshop or on the jobsite. We’ve seen many manufacturers focusing in on mobile stand lighting over the last few years and today we’re taking a look at Milwaukee’s M12 12v Dual-Power 1400 Lumen ROCKET LED Lamp.

Stuff Lawyers Made Us Say: We’re are continuing our partnership with The Home Depot to provide candid reviews of tools from a wide variety of manufacturers. The Home Depot is both providing the tools for free and compensating us; however, the opinions we express here are our own. Remember, we’ll always be up-front with you when we’re receiving a free product, compensation, or both. And of course, we always strive for objectivity in our reviews.

Key Features of the M12 ROCKET LED

• Runs on Milwaukee’s M12 12v battery-line or on 120v AC (standard outlet)
• Outputs 1400 lumens of directed, white (daytime) light
• Max standing height of 5’8″; collapses to 31″ when folded
• Smart tripod design is very stable, even when fully extended.
• Built-in handle design makes carrying easy when folded and prevents accidental unfolding.
• Weighs less than 7 lbs.
• 5-second setup and tear-down (we verified it – see the video below)
• Light rotates 210 deg. in each direction and 270 deg. around, providing virtual 360 deg. lighting capability.

Our Take on the ROCKET LED Light

We really like Milwaukee’s ROCKET LED Light. It folds up tight. It’s very portable. It’s easy to break out and and to put away. And it’s plenty bright to illuminate a dark work area.

At 1,400 lumens, if you’re working in a big room you’re going to want more than just one of these. But for the electrician or plumber who is working in a confined space and needs to illuminate a small work area very brightly, this light works perfectly without taking up too much space.

Who This Light is Right For

If you’re already on Milwaukee’s M12 battery line, this light is a great addition to your tool kit. If you’re on Milwaukee’s M18 line, they also make a set of ROCKET LED Lights that run on the larger 18v batteries. Other brands also make these lamps so if you’re committed to another brand’s battery, you’ll need to decide whether you want to expand your collection to include Milwaukee tools going forward. Since this isn’t sold with a battery, we think most people who buy this will already be on the Milwaukee line or plan to grow their Milwaukee collection.

Price and Where to Buy

The Milwaukee M12 ROCKET LED Lamp is available from Home Depot as a bare tool (i.e., tool only; no battery) for $149.00.

Today we’re taking a look at another of Makita’s battery powered nailers – the Makita LXT 18V Lithium-Ion 2-1/2″ 15GA Straight Finish Nailer. This review is a part of our continuing #PROSpective partnership with The Home Depot.

Stuff Lawyers Made Us Say: We’re continuing our partnership with The Home Depot to provide candid reviews of tools from a wide variety of manufacturers. The Home Depot is both providing the tools for free and compensating us; however, the opinions we express here are our own. Remember, we’ll always be up-front with you when we’re receiving a free product, compensation, or both. And of course, we always strive for objectivity in our reviews.

Key Features of the Makita 18V LXT Finish Nailer

• Drives 16 gauge, 1″ to 2.5″ nails – pretty typical for the category.
• Compact Center Height – at just 4-1/8″ across the top, it’s easy to see around the base of the nailer to the nose tip when fastening in tight spaces.
• Built-in LED Light – one of the notable advantages of battery over pneumatic is the addition of a light – very useful when working inside cabinets or in dark corners.
• Tool-less Depth Adjustment – it’s easy to adjust depth drive without the need for a hex wrench.
• Tool-less Nose Tip Cover Opening – makes clearing jammed nails a little easier.
• Killer Battery Life – Makita claims the nailer can drive up to 1,000 finish nails on a single charge with a 5.0AH battery.
• Convenient Trigger Lock – includes simple, one-handed operation.
• Anti-Dry Fire Lock – helps prevent firing blanks and limits the tools ability to engage when unloaded.
• Two-mode Nailing w/ Selector Switch –  allows you to switch between “trigger activated” and “push activated w/ trigger down”

Why Choose Makita’s Finish Nailer?

1. You need the portability of a battery-powered finish nailer that will work for most applications.
2. You are already on Makita’s 18v battery line or you are willing to start a Makita 18v collection.

By far the #1 advantage of a battery-powered finish nailer over its pneumatic counterpart is eliminating the compressor, pneumatic hose, and the associated need for 120v electric power on the job site. Trading in your pneumatic nailer for a battery powered unit will save you the considerable time required to drag a compressor on site, charge it up, and stretch hoses across your work space. But these added benefits do not come without cost. Like all 18V nailers, Makita’s 16GA Finish Nailer is more expensive than its pneumatic counterparts. It weighs 8.2 lbs. w/ 5.0AH battery installed vs. about 4 lbs. for the average pneumatic. And it’s not quite as powerful, which could make a difference depending on the application. While the tool will work in many situations, for the toughest jobs you’ll still need a pneumatic back up.

Our Impression of the Makita 18V, 16GA Finish Nailer w/ 5.0AH Battery

We spent a few hours with Makita’s nailer testing it on a variety of materials. The most common use for this tool among contractors and avid DIYers is fastening baseboard, crown moulding, and other trim to studs. Additional uses might include building furniture, working on the first or last few boards of hardwood flooring, installing board and batten wainscoting, or any other application where a countersunk nail is desired.

Overall, the grip feel on the nailer is excellent. It’s well-balanced and easy to hold, if not a little hefty.

We found that for trim work, the Makita nailer was more than sufficient for driving 2″ finish nails through baseboard into the edge of 2×4 dimensional lumber while also producing the desired countersink.

Here’s a picture of us testing the nailer by driving 2″ nails into baseboard and an underlying 2×4.

We then put this nailer to a tougher test – driving 2″ finish nails through 3 pieces of stacked 3/4″ plywood. Again, the tool had no problem producing a countersunk nail head with a nail driven all the way through the material.

Finally, we put the Makita to an even tougher test – one that we faced several years ago when installing our hardwood floors — top nailing 3/4″ Ipe hardwood flooring (also known as “Brazilian Walnut”) into a 3/4″ underlayment. This test proved to be too difficult for the nailer, leaving our 2″ finish nails about 1/2″ proud of the surface of the wood after repeated attempts. Remember: Ipe is 3.5 times denser than oak and is the hardest of the commonly-installed exotic woods. This is a very tough test.

We would love to report that the Makita was able to power through the 3/4″ Ipe, but that will have to wait for a future model or more powerful batteries.

In all of our tests we experienced the occasional dry fire — which surprised us given the anti-dry fire mechanism on the tool. We did find that it is important to keep firm pressure on the nailer when driving to prevent leaving nails proud of the surface, but even with firm pressure applied we sometimes (though rarely) ended up with finish nail slighter above the surface, especially in more challenging applications.

Is the Makita 18V Finish Nailer Right For You?

Based on our tests, if you tend to use finish nails primarily in trim installations or other applications and you’re on the Makita 18V battery line, the LXT 18V Finish Nailer may be right for you. It saves on the setup and cleanup time associated with charging and emptying a compressor, which is easily 15 minutes worth of work. If you’re in the minority of folks who are installing exotic hardwoods or building furniture with exotic woods, you’ll still need to have a pneumatic finish nailer for that situation. (Fortunately Makita makes a pneumatic version of this nailer which will do the trick.)

Price and Where to Buy

The LXT Finish Nailer retails for $325.58 as a bare tool (which means it doesn’t come with a battery or charger).

This puts it relatively close to other high-end tool manufacturers’ prices, but above discount providers like Ryobi. We haven’t tried another manufacturers’ 18V 16GA finish nailers for comparison yet. When we do, you’ll see the review and we’ll draw some comparisons with this Makita.

Happiness is… a brand new Husky Heavy-Duty Deep-Drawer Tool Chest Workbench for your garage or workshop. We know, because this new tool chest put a huge smile on our faces when Ethan and I uncrated it for the OPC/TBO shop.

First Impressions – It’s Built Solid!

Normally our first impressions of a tool come when we unbox it in the workshop. But not this Husky tool chest. This chest is a special order from The Home Depot, which means it has to be delivered to the store and picked up. Our first impression: it’s four hundred pounds! That’s heavier than even two of us together could handle. In order to move this beast we needed Ethan, four Home Depot workers, and eventually a forklift to help us get it into our van. Here’s some of The Home Depot’s super helpful crew making it happen!

We had to remove the back two rows from our 12-passenger van to fit this bench, and negotiating it into the van without damage was a feat. (Mad props to Home Depot’s forklift operator!)

At home, we had to get creative getting it out of the van, but essentially we just slid it out. Because both Ethan and I were involved in getting it out of the van, there wasn’t anyone to photo journal the spectacle for us!

First Impressions on Unboxing

There are two things we loved about unboxing this tool chest.

First, the chest is essentially fully assembled underneath all that cardboard. The only thing that has to be added is the handle on the right side of the chest, which affixes with six hex-head screws (allen wrench included). This means the chest is up and running in about 5 minutes.

The second is that Husky includes black foam pre-cut drawer liners for every drawer in the chest. Adding drawer liners is a must in any toolbox. They keep your tools in place when opening drawers or rolling the chest around, which significantly quiets operation. Liners also prevent scratching the paint on the interior of the drawers, making the tool chest look nice for years longer. I’d guess the pre-cut liners save about 30-60 minutes of set up time. It’s way faster for the factory to cut perfectly sized liners en masse than it is for every individual tool chest buyer to do it themselves.

Everything Else We Love About Husky’s 66″ Tool Chest Workbench

There are several really stand-out features about this particular tool chest that drove our decision-making in selecting it for review.

21.1″ Deep Drawers – Our existing tool chest of another brand sported 16″ and 12″ deep (front to back) drawers. While these are plenty functional, large tools sometimes had to be stored either at an awkward angle or not at all. The 21.4″ deep drawers on this chest feel simply massive — especially the extra large top drawer, which is next up on our list.

61.4″ Wide Top Drawer – We love that Husky elected to put one massive 61.4″ x 21.1″ top drawer on this chest, rather than dividing it into two. This extra-wide drawer means you can store all your most commonly-used tools in one easy-access location, and you can even store tools that normally have to go up on pegboard or sit upright in the corner – like a 4′ level. Even after storing several of our favorite husky hand tools, we’ve still got a ton of space left in this top drawer.

Extra Height Bottom Drawers – Both the left (5.8″ high) and right (9.1″ high) bottom drawers on this chest are taller than the others. This extra space means you could store your entire collection of cordless hand tools in the bottom of this chest. We were very pleased that the right bottom drawer is even tall enough for our cordless circular saw.

100 lb. Drawer Capacity and Tight Close Drawers – Given the width and depth of the drawers, it’s good to know that Husky has rated the slides for all drawers at 100 lbs. We can’t think of an everyday use application for these drawers that is likely to exceed this 100 lb. requirement. One nice thing about the slides on this chest is that when a drawer reaches about an inch from being fully closed, the slides suck in the drawer for a tight close. This also prevents accidental openings when sliding the chest around your shop.

Heavy Duty 5″ Casters – Husky says this tool chest can support up to 1,800 lbs. That’s very impressive and not surprising given the six large 5″ x 2″ casters that mobilize this bench. The leftmost casters are fixed-position, while the center and right set swivel 360 deg. to enable mobility. The right set of casters locks to keep the bench in-place on non-level surfaces. We’ve had no trouble moving this bench around our garage shop.

A Stunning Rubberwood Top – One of the reasons we chose this chest among other options is its 24″ x 66″ wooden work top. It’s so nice looking, in fact, we’re a little worried about the damage our projects might cause! (Featured below with one of our Husky tool totes – not included with this chest…).

Key Lock Access (1 Lock for All Drawers) – A lockable tool chest wasn’t high on our list of needs in our own home workshop. But those considering this bench for a more public location, such as an employer’s shop floor, will certainly appreciate the locking capability. While the mechanism doesn’t feel strong enough to deter serious criminals, it does add extra peace of mind that a less determined “borrower” won’t lift your tools without you asking.

Return-ability & Warranty

This product can be returned to Home Depot within 90 days of purchase for a refund. In addition, Husky stands behind this product with a 3-year limited warranty. (Details here).

Price and Where to Buy

Like all Husky products, this Husky’s Deep Drawer Tool Chest Workbench is available exclusively at The Home Depot. Currently priced at $649, we think this is a very solid buy for your shop that will last a long, long time.

Up first this month in our ongoing #ProSpective tool review partnership with The Home Depot is the Husky Virtually Unbreakable 500 Lumen Flashlight!

We love everything about Husky’s latest entry in the medium-duty flashlight market. This Husky 500 Lumen Flashlight is powered by three C-size batteries that drive a single LED to make 500 lumens of brightness. Just a few years ago a traditional bulb light would require up to 5 D-size batteries to produce the same brightness and would be much heavier to carry. We really like this light because it is relatively light weight, easy to use, and really, really bright.

Key Features

• Ultra-bright CREE LED light w/ 500 lumen output
• Rubber-coated Aluminum Casing
• Rated at 1 meter waterproof and 30-foot drop resilient
• Tail button switches between high/low/strobe/off.
• Lifetime Husky Warranty (One of the best in the business – permanent lifetime exchange if broken).
• Perfect size and grip for a medium-duty flashlight.

The Husky Virtually Unbreakable Flashlight is well balanced and rugged. Husky claims that it can withstand a 30 foot drop. We conducted three tests simulating a 30 foot drop onto concrete. The flashlight held up well and remained functional, notwithstanding a few cosmetic blemishes from the contact with the concrete. We were very pleased that the glass and LED didn’t break after three consecutive drops and the light still worked great. For the average user, the backing of the lifetime warranty eliminates all worry about flashlight breakages due to accidental drops.

Husky also claims the flashlight is waterproof up to 1 meter. We were unable to test this claim but have no reason to disbelieve it.

Quick and Dirty Testing

We tried the flashlight out in several environments with excellent results:

(1) Illuminating a tree line at 30 yards – The flashlight produces more than enough light to see objects clearly at 30 years under a dark night sky.

(2) Lighting up a room in a power outage – The light has no trouble illuminating a room sufficient to play cards or a board game while waiting for the power company to restore electricity.

(3) Conducting an engine compartment repair –  The light is more than bright enough to conduct a nighttime battery swap or to diagnose other problems under the hood of a car.

Price and Where to Buy

The Husky Virtually Unbreakable 500 Lumen Flashlight is available at The Home Depot for $19.95. Given the overall utility of this light, and the fact that it comes with a lifetime warranty, we think this price point is perfect because as long as you don’t lose this flashlight, it’s the last one you’ll ever have to buy.

This tool review is part of our partnership with The Home Depot.

Whenever my serious DIY’ing friends ask me what they should look for in a drill/driver, I always encourage them to shop for two things: A drill/driver with a hammering capability, and a separate impact driver for driving fasteners into more difficult materials. While the cost for a hammer drill is higher than a regular drill, there are a few applications–particularly drilling masonry–where the hammer function is essential. It’s going to save you a ton of work, making the extra cost of the tool (usually around $50) well worth it. If you skip the hammer functionality and buy a regular drill/driver, should you need the hammer functionality in the future you’ll have to buy a whole new tool, which costs a lot more and is going to take up twice the space in your shop.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at Ryobi’s One+ Brushless Hammer Drill Kit (Model # P1813)

Opening the Box

The P1813 Kit comes with the brushless hammer drill, one 4AH battery, a 30-minute rapid charger [love this!], a belt clip attachment, a detachable side handle, and instruction manual.

A Look at the Features of the Ryobi One+ Brushless Hammer Drill

Brushless Motor: Brushless motors have been commonplace among contractor tools for five years now and it’s great to see brushless tools now targeting the DIY line up. While there’s a deep technical discussion to be had around brushed vs. brushless motors, suffice it to say that brushless motors have less internal friction (and therefore less thermal energy loss) than their brushed counterparts. This means more power, longer run time, and longer tool life. The downside to brushless motors are that they are slightly more expensive to manufacture, and so costs are somewhat higher, though that gap has closed considerably in recent years.

Hammer Function: The hammer function is what sets apart hammer drills from their non-hammering counterparts. When the optional hammer mode is selected on the Ryobi, the chuck pulses in and out (very slightly – it feels more like vibration) literally “hammering” the drill bit into the material. If you’ve ever tried to drill concrete block, brick, or stone with a regular drill you know that it’s really tough to get through and requires a lot of user-applied force. A hammer drill cuts your drill time for these applications by 75-85%. That means instead of requiring a minute to drill, the hammer drill lets you complete the job in 10-15 seconds. Imagine if you were fastening a deck to the side of the house and had to drill 60 holes in masonry block – that could be a savings of well over an hour of labor. (And if we’re honest, probably a lot more, since your arms will be worn out without a hammer drill).

High-Capacity 4.0Ah 18V Battery: We didn’t stress test this battery, but based on our experience with other Ryobi tools and 18V/4.0Ah batteries, this battery is going to provide more than enough runtime for all but the most serious DIY jobs. As battery power among contractor-targeted tools gets higher, we’re seeing what were traditionally “high capacity” batteries flowing to DIY-targeted tools. Just five years ago a 20V / 3.0Ah battery was the typical high end for contractor grade tools, and now we’re seeing 6.0 and even 9.0Ah batteries.

Rapid Charger: One thing we noticed right away about this charger is it’s size. That’s probably to give the heat sync and fan inside plenty of room to dissipate heat from the fantastic (but hot) 30-minute quick charge. We love the 30 minute charger because it means you’ll never need more than two batteries, and for almost everyone, one battery will be sufficient. Should you run out of battery power, the most you’d wait for a full charge is 30 minutes, and if you just had to eek out a few more fasteners, you could charge for just 10 minutes.

Side Handle: Since hammer drills are designed to drill through the toughest materials, almost all on the market come with a detachable side handle that allows your non-dominant hand to steady and apply additional down pressure on the drill. Ryobi’s side handle is reversible to accommodate both left- and right-handed people.

A few other minor features:

• Illuminating LED light for working in dark areas.
• Magnetic tray for fasteners and drive bits
• 24 clutch set points (to prevent over-driving in softer materials)

Our Experience with the Drill

We don’t have any jobs where we’ll be drilling masonry or concrete immediately on the horizon, so we tested the Ryobi One+ Hammer Drill by drilling through a spare brick with the hammer function engaged and then again with it disengaged. The drill performed exactly as we expected – easily plowing through the brick with the hammer function engaged, and struggling terribly with the hammer function disengaged. The drill bit we were using was also older (not brand new), and we were impressed with how much the hammer function helped out.

Who This Tool is Right For & Price

We are huge fans of Ryobi’s One+ line up for do-it-yourselfers for a few reasons:

• Huge line-up of 70 tools that use the One+ battery line – if you need, Ryobi likely builds it.
• Good balance of features, quality, and price point.
• 3 year warranty on all power tools (just have to register them, and it covers the batteries, too, which is important)

The Ryobi P1813 Brushless Hammer Drill Kit is right for the DIYer or light contractor who is looking for a drill/driver that’s going to provide great capability for a value price. We especially think if you’re a DIYer considering your first drill/driver, you should skip buying the regular drill/driver and jump right into the brushless hammer drill.

Price is $129 – which is an outstanding value for a tool genre that used to only be available at prices > $150.

This review is part of our partnership with The Home Depot.

Milwaukee has really stepped up its game in the few years with a wide variety of smartphone/internet-connected ONE-KEY tools including everything from impact drivers to reciprocating saws. These tools come with built-in microprocessors that connect the tool to a smartphone via the Milwaukee ONE-KEY App which enables inventory control, location tracking, and for many tools, control over the tool’s settings. (For example, the torque and rotation speed presets on Milwaukee M18 FUEL ONE-KEY impact drivers can be adjusted precisely in the app.)

In order to make the Milwaukee ONE-KEY App’s inventory and location tracking features available for tools without ONE-KEY technology built in, Milwaukee invented The Tick — a ruggedized Bluetooth-based inventory tag that works with the ONE-KEY App to enable tracking of any tool (or any thing, really) that you can glue, screw, or otherwise attach it to.

We currently don’t own any Milwaukee ONE-KEY tools, so The Tick was our first experience with the inventory tags themselves and with Milwaukee’s ONE-KEY App. (We used the Android version, available in the Google Play Store, on our Google Pixel phone).

Here’s our experience with The Tick and Milwaukee’s One Key App:

Getting Started: Five Minutes Got Us Up and Running

Getting started with The Tick and the ONE-KEY App was very simple and straightforward. For the app, we searched the Google Play Store for “One Key” and the Milwaukee App was recommended instantly. Download took just 30 seconds and we were presented with a sign-up screen. We were happy to see the App doesn’t require much to get registered (just a First and Last Name, Password, and Occupation). One small improvement on the app side would be allowing a Google-based login as many applications are these days. It tends to be much faster and allows easier login across devices (i.e., phone, tablet, PC).

Setting up our first Tick was equally straightforward. In order to put The Tick in “pairing mode” you take the battery out for 10 second and put it back in. Then you tell the App to start searching for Ticks, and new / unassigned Ticks show up and allow you to assign them to the app (thus making you the owner of that Tick).

Location tracking began instantly.

Assigning The Tick to a Tool

Since The Tick is designed to allow tracking of any tool from any brand, we decided to associate the tag with our Bosch portable jobsite table saw. We occasionally loan this saw out and thought it would be great to be able to track its location. The app makes associating The Tick with a tool very simple, requiring only a brand name, a tool description, and a model number (any of which you could just put in “unavailable” if you didn’t have them). Of course the app also allows you to take a picture of the tool, which is really useful for quick reference in the app.

How The App Tracks The Tick

Like most inventory tracking tags, the Milwaukee One Key App stores data about your tools in the cloud, gaining location information about your tools from the phone (or tablet) that last “saw” the tracking tag. (Tracking proximity is approximately 100′ line-of-sight via Bluetooth). The ONE-KEY app uses a crowd-sourcing mechanism for locating tools, meaning that One Key apps installed on phones around the globe are constantly “listening” for tags and reporting data back to Milwaukee’s cloud database about any tool’s location they see. As more people install the One Key app on their phones, more locations are covered.

This crowd-sourcing feature is how Milwaukee intends for folks to locate lost tools. If a contractor asks each of their workers to install the app on their phone, the likelihood of being able to find a tool’s location goes up considerably (especially in a situation where you are working across multiple job sites).

I asked a Milwaukee representative whether this would allow a nefarious actor to locate a stash of expensive tools. Their reply was that the app does not alert “third party” phones that another person’s tool has been found. It merely passes that information through the phone to the cloud so that the real owner can be alerted. This would theoretically allow a hacker to intercept the tracking data, but it would require some effort and we see this type of exploitation as very low risk. Most people who would physically steal tools are not sophisticated computer hackers.

Rugged Build

One thing that sets The Tick apart from other inventory trackers is its rugged, water-resistant and dust proof build. We ran The Tick under running water and found no issues with its performance. Submersion would likely be a problem, but if your tool is submerged you’ve probably got bigger problems than losing The Tick. Dust resistance is essential for this type of tracking tag, and Milwaukee delivers on that front.

Pricing, Who This Product Is Right For, and Where to Buy

Pricing for the Tick starts at $29.99 and goes down based on bulk purchases. Here’s the quantities and price points:

• 1 Unit – $29.99 (purchase here)
• 4 Pack – $99.97 ($25 ea.) (purchase here)
• 10 pack – $219.00 ($21.90 ea.) (purchase here)
• 50 pack – $999.00 (19.98 ea.) (purchase here)

The Tick is marketed to tradesmen who want to keep track of their own tools as well as construction and remodeling companies who need to track a large inventory of tools across multiple job sites. But we think The Tick can also be useful for Do-It-Yourselfers who care about tracking a few key tools they may lend out (especially expensive ones), or to throw on their tool box or tool tote so that if it is left somewhere or taken, they’ll have a decent shot at getting it back.

We’re just going to put this out there: this Milwaukee 25′ Magnetic Tape Measure is the best tape measure we’ve ever used. We love everything Milwaukee’s done with the design of this tape, from the ergonomic grip, to the 4-way magnetic hook, to the clever finger-stop mechanism, to the virtually indestructible case — we think Milwaukee has hit a home run with this tape and are sure you’ll love it too.

Here’s a look at the five features we think make this tape fantastic. Each one of these contributed to our including this tape in our Top 10 Gifts for Father’s Day.

Feature 1: The Guarded Finger Stop

Don’t you cringe when someone lets the hook on a tape measure slam against the housing of the tape? We do too. It’s a surefire way to shorten the life of the tape or create slight inaccuracies in measurement by repeatedly putting force on the rivets that hold the hook to the blade. Most competent tool users have learned to do some variation of the “finger slow down” where you use your index finger to slow the blade just as the hook is approaching the case. Milwaukee’s design for this tape incorporates a cut out for your index finger that gives you precise control over tape retraction speed and even prevents the hook from slamming into your finger. Pretty smart!

Feature 2: The Magnetic 4-way Hook

Like many competitors’ tapes, Milwaukee’s tape includes a 4-way hook that allows the hook to grip in any orientation. But in Milwaukee’s design, the hook also includes a powerful magnet which makes measuring between steel beams or other metal objects quicker–and sometimes reduces it from a two-man job down to one. We found that when affixed to steel, the magnet was strong enough to hold the hook while we pulled the tape away.

Feature 3: Clear, Double-Sided Markings

Of all the great features of this tape, our favorite are the tape’s clear, easy-to-read, double-sided markings. So many times when we’re measuring something, it’s more convenient to have markings on both sides of the tape. On this tape, the back side markings are shown perpendicular to the tape because Milwaukee thinks you’ll get the most use out of those markings when measuring height (i.e., distance from the floor).

Both sides of the tape are marked with all of the standard features including:

• Yellow-on-black labels every 12″ (foot markers)
• Yellow-on-red labels every 16″
• Black diamonds every 19.2″.
• Red inch labels after the first foot.
• Markings down to 1/16″ the length of the tape.

Feature 4: A Ridiculously Rugged Case

Like other premium tapes, the Milwaukee features a five-point connection between the halves of the frame creating a very rugged design. Here’s a short clip from The Home Depot event we attended in April where Milwaukee was showing off the ruggedness of their tape vs. lower-quality competitor tapes using a 20-foot drop simulator:

And here’s an up-close shot of the 5-point reinforcement (note: 1 of the points is hidden behind the belt buckle).

Feature 5: A Price We Can Live With Considering the Lifetime Warranty

The best part about this tape measure is that it comes in under $20 at The Home Depot which is a steal for a tool of this caliber, especially considering it includes a lifetime warranty. The Milwaukee 25′ Magnetic Tape Measure comes in at just $19.98 at Home Depot. Here’s the link:

Additional Features

• Long-life Nylon bond blade protection.
• Architectural markings on the reverse for 1/16 and 1/32 scale measurements.
• Belt Clip

Father’s Day is just around the corner (seriously, it’s June 18. That’s less than a month away!). This year, instead of giving Dad another plaid tie he’ll throw in the back of the closet, how about surprising him with a brand new tool he’ll love and actually use!

Now you may be saying to yourself, “Yeah, but Dad already has dozens of tools. He probably doesn’t need another one.” FALSE. Studies have shown that Dads cannot have too many tools.* And even if your particular Dad already has all the tools on this list, that doesn’t mean he has the latest version of these tools. Is his tape measure numbered on both sides so that it’s much easier to use? Is his jigsaw battery-powered? Is his pocket knife made of D2 steel? Probably not.

Tool manufacturers add new features to their tools every. single. year. It’s a super-competitive market and that means they have to work hard and innovate to stay ahead. It also means there is almost certainly something on this list your Dad wants, needs, and will absolutely love.

Don’t let a sibling steal your glory this year. Buy Dad a tool he’ll love today!

Get in the Spirit w/ 10 Days of Dad Giveaway!

You know what’s even better than buying a tool for Dad? Winning a tool for Dad. (We’re sure Dad would approve!) So we’ve partnered with the tool manufacturers of all the tools on this list to give away one brand new tool every day for the ten days leading up to Father’s Day.

That’s right – this mega-giveaway features 10 free brand new tools! We’ll give away one a day, each day from June 9 to June 18, 2017! All you have to do to enter to win a tool is like our giveaway posts on Facebook.

The best way to keep up with this and all giveaway posts is to Like our Facebook page today. That’s it. There’s no complicated sign-up or anything!

And Now… 10 Tools Your Dad Will Love!

FYI. Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means if you decide to purchase something after following one of those links, we may receive a commission on the sale. We totally appreciate any shopping you do through these links, and we know your dad will, too!

#1 – Bosch GLM 20 Laser Distance Measuring Tool

First up in our list is this very cool Bosch GLM 20 Laser Distance Measuring tool. What sets the GLM 20 apart from traditional long distance measuring tools is it’s lightning fast and accurate measuring speed. The GLM 20 can measure distances up to 65 feet instantly and accurately down to 1/8 of an inch. Dad will love the Bosch GLM 20 because it’s fast, accurate, and a more convenient way of measuring long distances than his traditional tape measure, which is often limited to distances of 25′ or less.

Price: $49.97. Bosch GLM available at this link: @The Home Depot

#2 RYOBI P1832 – 18V ONE+ Drill & Impact Driver Combo

With more than seventy (70!) 18-volt ONE+ tools, Ryobi’s ONE+ line offers a tool for every one of Dad’s projects. The perfect place to start Dad on his journey with Ryobi tools is their  ONE+ Drill and Impact Driver Combo Kit. We love this kit, and Dad will love it too because Ryobi’s drill and impact driver will handle every drilling and driving application he can throw at it, and there’s a seemingly endless supply of additional “bare tools” (ones that don’t come with batteries) that use the same 18V batteries included with this combo kit.

Think about this – you get Dad started on the ONE+ 18V line this year with the drill/impact combo kit, and next year you’ve got another 70 tools to choose from for his next gift!

Price: $99.00. Ryobi ONE+ Combo Kit available at this link: @The Home Depot [free shipping].

#3 – Milwaukee HARDLINE Pocket Knife

Milwaukee designed their HARDLINE Pocket Knife to withstand serious use and abuse. The HARDLINE was designed with contractors and heavy use in mind and houses a D2 steel blade. This extremely hard steel is used for the most demanding jobs, and allows the blade to hold its edge longer, providing wear resistance under the toughest use. The bottom line for Dad: He’ll be able to use this knife for a long time with no hassle or sharpening required. Plus, the black oxide finish on this knife not only looks great, it’s also designed for rust resistance. The blade comes in various lengths and in both a serrated and smooth version (links below). If Dad isn’t already carrying a cutting edge (no pun intended) pocket knife, this one makes a great gift.

 

Price: $79.97. Milwaukee HARDLINE available at this link: @The Home Depot [free shipping]

#4 – Ryobi ONE+ Hybrid Cable Lights

Ryobi’s ONE+ Hybrid Cable Lights are a recent addition to Ryobi’s ONE+ line up and one that Dad is sure to appreciate for mobile or workshop use. These cable lights operate on either a Ryobi ONE+ 18V battery or on electric power and provide 1500 lumens of output to a workshop, outdoor space, or for tailgating at the game. If your Dad already has the ONE+ line up with a battery or two, cable lights are a great add, and they’ll even work for Dads who aren’t in the ONE+ ecosystem since this light set also runs on electric power.

Price: $99.00. Ryobi Cable Lights available at this link: @The Home Depot [free shipping]

#5 – Milwaukee 25′ Magnetic Tape Measure

Milwaukee has put some serious design thought into their recently-released 25′ Magnetic Tape Measure and we love what they’ve come up with. Dad will love this tape because it includes a magnetic 4-way hook that is great for gripping in all types of applications, it has an innovative finger-stall mechanism that allows for accurately slowing the tape during retraction, and best of all the blade is marked on both sides which is useful in oh-so-many measuring situations. Is your Dad’s tape measure magnetic and marked on both sides? If not, this tape is the perfect gift for him.

Price: $19.98, Milwaukee 25′ Tape available at this link: @The Home Depot

#6 – Husky 55 Piece Gimbal Ratchet Set

This Husky Gimbal Ratchet Kit is not your ordinary palm ratchet kit. This palm ratchet’s innovative design provides multi-directional rotation for easier access in hard to reach areas. The gimbal features a 100-tooth internal ratcheting mechanism (unique to Husky’s “Black” series) will allow your dad to engage fasteners (nuts, bolts, and screws) with as little as a 3.6° rotation. The Husky Gimbal Ratchet is great for high speed and low torque applications even in the most confined areas. If your dad has never used a gimbal-based palm ratchet for around-the-house tasks, he’ll love it.

Price: $29.97. Husky Gimbal 55 Piece Set available at this link: @The Home Depot

#7 Milwaukee Low Vibration Framing Hammer

We have never seen a Dad disappointed with a brand new hammer. There’s something so raw and powerful and manly about a quality hammer. With Milwaukee’s latest line of hammers you get two important hammer attributes: excellent balance and low vibration. And for your less-historically-handymanish Dad, the groove on the head means he can drive his nails right where he wants them and never squash a finger! Milwaukee’s new hammer line up offers a wide range of hammers to choose from. If you’re not sure which one Dad will like best, we recommend Milwaukee’s 17oz. Milled Face Framing Hammer. It’s a little lighter than the 22oz and will be perfect for a wide range of applications.

 

Price: $39.99. Milwaukee 17oz. Framing Hammer available at this link: @The Home Depot

#8 Bosch JS120 12volt JigSaw

We’ve been using a Bosch jigsaw for years and absolutely love Bosch’s thoughtful engineering. The latest JS120 Jigsaw from Bosch, a 12V battery powered palm grip jigsaw, is simply fantastic. This saw is designed to be lightweight and versatile – so much so that it can actually be used overhead when necessary. If your Dad is a woodworker or wants to be, this is an excellent tool to add to his tool collection.

 

Price: $98.34. Bosch JS120 available at this link: @The Home Depot [free shipping]

#9 – Ryobi ONE+ 18V Hot Glue Gun

There are literally thousands of projects for hot glue guns ranging from light crafting to serious DIY. What Dad will love most about Ryobi’s ONE+ Glue Gun is complete cord-free use. When you’re sitting at a table doing crafts, having a corded glue gun isn’t all that inconvenient. But for projects where you need to move around the room, a cord can really hamper your progress.

While we love the Ryobi ONE+ Glue Gun, this gift makes the most sense for Dads who are already started on the ONE+ line because it is sold as a “bare tool” which means the battery and charger are not included. If Dad isn’t already on the Ryobi ONE+ line, it’s time to get him started with gift idea #2 above!

Price: $29.97. Ryobi ONE+ 18V Hot Glue Gun available at: @The Home Depot

#10 – Ryobi One+ SCORE Bluetooth Wireless Speaker System

We’ve saved the best for last! Surround sound has been around for decades, but with Ryobi’s new ONE+ SCORE rugged wireless speaker system you can give Dad awesome sound for his garage or workshop or even to take along to the jobsite. This gift is on the pricier end of Father’s Day gifts (so if Dad helped you buy a house this year, or paid your college tuition, you owe him this one!) We love everything about Ryobi’s new system – the fact that it runs on electric or battery power, that you can connect up to 5 speakers for enveloping sound, the high quality sound the system produces, and the easy user interface of the system. The SCORE wireless system has been getting excellent reviews around the web and we’re sure your Dad will love it. (In other words, there’s no way your sibling is topping you on this one!)

Price: $199.00. The ONE+ SCORE Speaker Set is available at this link: @The Home Depot [Free Shipping]

*OK. We might have been fibbing on the whole study thing. But trust us. Every Dad loves tools!

It’s been a while since we’ve upgraded our tape measure in our workshop, so we were excited when DeWALT shipped us an early sample of their their new 25′ XP Tape Measure slated for release here in the USA this July, 2017. DeWALT has gone back to the drawing board on this tape to put in features designed to make the lives of builders and contractors a little easier.

Ergonomics, Grip, and Case Construction

The first thing we noticed about the XP is its really great grip. The XP’s case is coated with a black, no-slip rubber material on all four edges that just feels good to hold. It’s also slightly smaller and heavier than some other heavy duty 25′ tapes we’ve used. (We’re OK with the extra heft because we associate that with a high quality, wide steel blade, which the XP has.) The case is constructed with five screws around the exterior perimeter that join the two halves of the blade housing. DeWALT says that this and other parts of the case design make it able to survive drops up to 60′ on packed dirt. (We didn’t test that claim.)

Spring Action for Tape Retraction

In the press release for the XP, DeWALT touts a patented dual-spring system they call Dual Core Technology. The result is pretty fast retraction speeds. We ran a few tests and retracting from a full 25′ extension can be as quick as 1.7 seconds if you let the hook crash against the housing (an activity that, if repeated, we’re sure will shorten the tape measure’s life, so don’t do it!) We’re hopeful that the dual spring technology means we’ll get good retraction speeds for years to come.

Four-Way Grip Hook

The XP improves on the traditional tape measure hook in two important ways. First, the hook stands off of the tape in all four directions allowing the hook to grip material in any orientation. We ran a few tests gripping the edge of plywood sheets and can confirm the hook grips well on all four sides. Second, the hook is attached to the blade with three rivets as opposed to the usual two, which should increase hook life assuming you don’t let it crash against the housing every time you use it like we did in our test above. Around our shop we usually lose tape measures because the hook breaks or the blade gets bent. Any improvements to reduce these issues are welcomed innovations.

Blade Marking and Stand Out Distance

The blade itself is made of carbon steel and is 1-1/4″ wide. The first 9-1/4″ of the blade are coated with an additional clear thermoplastic material designed to protect the most used part of the tape and to strengthen the hook connection. The blade features very large, legible feet and inch numbering and is marked down to 1/16″ the whole length of the tape. It also includes standard visual cues for feet (black arrows), 16″ centers (red boxes with arrows), and 19.2″ centers (diamonds).

With those positives in mind, blade marking is one area where we think the DeWALT could add some additional features. Some competitors are now marking their tapes both front and back, while this tape only has front markings. Back markings would create additional expense in the build, but where DeWALT has the 4-way hook, marking the back of the tape would make the tape more usable in upside down orientations. Secondly, and this is more preference than anything, some tapes have the first 12″ marked down to 1/32″ dashes and include fractional numerical markings for the 1/4″, 1/2″, and 3/4″ lines. Experienced builders and tradesmen may find the 1/32″ dashes and the fractional markings on the first 12″ of the tape to be unnecessary (we suspect that’s why DeWALT omitted them), but more junior users may appreciate them, especially for precise measurements.

One of the nice things about the XP is how far the blade will stand out from the case before it snaps under its own weight. DeWALT claims 13′ stand-out for the XP. We were only able to get the XP to stand out 12’8″ if we provided no additional support to the tape. (That’s still really good, BTW!). Since you can usually provide an additional 1.5′ to 2.0′ of support to a tape with your other arm, the longest we were able to stretch the tape without support was 14′ using both arms, which is a very respectable stand out length that far exceeds our other tapes and makes it much easier to measure over longer distances.

Additional Features

The tape includes a few additional features worth mentioning:

• Lanyard hook for increased security.
• Screwless belt clip (works great – we tried it!)
• Easy-to-use lock button that clicks in place.
• Made in the USA (with Global Materials)

Overall Thoughts & Where to Buy

We already really like this tape even though we’ve only used it on test activities for this review. We anticipate this will be a great add to our shop for years to come and are confident you’d be making a good investment buying this tape!

The XP goes on sale in the USA this July. We’re expecting the 25′ tape to come in somewhere around $25-30. We’ll update this article with some buy links when it’s available!