Topic: What trouble lights do you guys use in the shop?

[Johnie]

Just looking for a portable handheld worklight for working under the bike.  Craftsman has the LED's which I have no experience with.  Do not know what to get???  60 LED with cord ($28), 35 LED with AC or DC ($34), 30 LED rechargeable ($35), 30 LED with cord only($25)  What the heck???  What do you guys like...thanks for clearing this up for me.  The kid is looking for a Christmas gift for me and I have no idea what would be the best for light....

[cb650]

I bought a floresent at harbor freight for 10 bucks that is cool.  Havent acually used it to work with so dont know how durable it is. Used it camping a few times is all.  A buddy of mine has the rechargable led with a magnet that is very cool. 

[Deltarider]

I always use a headlamp. Once on your head, you have both hands free and the light  shines always where you are looking.

[HondaMan]

I started using a 1W LED handheld penlight (3 AA battery type) last year, and I'M NEVER GOING BACK! This is the best light I've ever used, period. And, very handy. I'm about to get a little gooseneck fixture to hold it at the weird angles for my next engine work. 

[Jonesy]

I've used flourescent tube lights for years, as they are less prone to breakage (probably the experience of having an incandescent bulb shatter right next to my head after a drip landed on it soured me on them!)

I also got a handy little LED rechargable stick light. Pretty slick little setup!

[Jakoba]

I have 20 ft retractable florescent tube light hung from the center of the ceiling in my garage. That has been an awesom investment.
I also have a head lamp, a 500watt shop lamp and a 15 watt shop lamp.

Geez, maybe I should get my eyes checked


Jako

[Bodi]

I have 2 twin 80W (the 8" tubes) flourescent lights in the shop. This is a lot of light! I use a fourescent trouble light as well, too many bulbs blown to like the incandescent type - even the "super tough" bulbs are just a bit less super fragile. I alwys liked the super-bright light they give for five minutes after a slight drop... grrrr...
Anyway the flourescent works fine for me and it's paid for...
I have a LED battery one in my work toolkit: I work in cinema system servicing so I'm always working in dark places. It is fine and I like not needing to find a plug and having a cord snagging on things. Not as bright as the flourescent though, and of course there's no AC socket on it for a soldering iron or whatever and using rechargable batteries takes the ridiculous cost of duracells off my budget. Probaly newer LED ones are a lot brighter - all LED stuff has improved a huge amount in the last few years.
I carry a 2AA LED Maglite. It's the best flashlight I've ever had except for its low battery trick: instead of going dim they just go out. Suddenly. This is no fun at the top of a cinema screen frame with a tricky climb down made much trickier in darkness. I also carry a lighter - non smoker - for emergency light as well as a heat source for heatshrink tube.

[markjenn]

Costco was selling a cordless LED worklight a year or so ago and I use it all the time.  Once you go cordless, you never want to screw with a cord again.  And the main light has a large 3x10 matrix of LEDs which puts out a bright but defuse light so you avoid the glare and/or the shadow problems that come with a point source.

- Mark