Mini-Review: Craftsman 2AA Tool Light

I picked one up at Sears today. It looks sorta like a Mini-Mag clone, but the similarities don't go much further than appearance. IMHO, the Craftsman is easily superior to the Mag. Instead of a twist-on switch, it has a very solid feeling rubber-covered pushbutton switch just behind the head. The light itself feels VERY solid in your hand. The stock bulb that comes with it (there's a spare in the tail cap) is a bi-pin, but it has a rather odd shape; it's only about 2/3 as long as a Mag 2AA bulb, but almost twice as wide. When the light is turned on, it out-performs the Mag in ALL aspects! It is (...using my standard-issue eyeballs as the only measuring device...) easily 50% brighter than a standard Mag bulb, and the beam is much smoother. In fact, this light is brighter than my Mag 2AA with a Nexstar bulb! The light comes in a variety of body colors. It also comes with a set of Dorcy AA batteries, and a belt holster. The holster isn't anything to write home about...not corduron or anything even similar; pretty cheap actually. But for $8.97, this is a VERY good utility light, and I was extremely pleased with it's output and beam quality.

A couple notes...DO NOT feed this light lithium AA's! The bulb can't take the extra oomph. Not a problem though, because the light performs extremely well on alkalines.
I tried a Nexstar bulb in this light, and it wasn't as bright as the stock bulb, and it didn't focus very well.
One drawback to this light is that you'd be hard-pressed to find replacement bulbs due to their odd shape. They're wider than a T1, but narrower than a T1 3/4, and they're shorter than both! If anybody knows what type of bulb this might be and where they can be found, I'd sure like to hear from ya...

PJD

Can you compare the length against MiniMag? I believe the switch mechanism adds at least an inch or more.

Sears also has 2D and 3D lights with built-in battery check indicator LED. 2D is under $10.00 which seems like a good deal. If you can stuff 3C in it, it would be a great and cheap base for Luxeon mod.

- Vikas

I used these lights in a previous job. I have wondered if it is easily moddable to accept a badboy sandwich.

I still have the Craftsman AA, it was my next step up from Mag AA. I like the switch although it does add length and the rubber cover eventually came off. I switched because I was blowing bulbs in the mag on a regular basis.

Any easy LED or LS mods for the Craftsman AA?

Because of the switch mechanisn, the Craftsman is about 1 inch longer than the Mini Mag. I don't know about the badboy, but this light should be easily modded for a single 5mm LED...because of both the switch, and the hole in the reflector should be just about large enough to accomocate a 5mm LED. (I just checked...a little boring of the reflector's hole will be required, but not much.)

PJD

Has anyone compared this light to the Dorcy Excell 2AA light to see if they're essentially the same light? They appear to be awful similar.

the sears 2AA "tool light" that i own is a black rubber coated affair with a push button switch, faceted reflector, and fairly bright pr base bulb. a ledcorp 2 cell white led has taken up permanent residency in my sample and makes for a sturdy, all around "beater" light that runs a good long while on cheap batteries. the whole deal cost me about $18.

this light should be easily modded for a single 5mm LED

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Cool, my first mod. Took the turquoise LED from my old Photon (which now has a white) and popped it in there.

Empath,thery are the exact same light.

I thought so. From what I hear, they're more difficult to work with for mods too.

I have one of the Metal ones with the Bi-Pin bulb.

Yes it is longer than the Mag. But it SLAUGTERS it in light output! It is a candidate for some of that film to smooth the beam however!

I carry neither one, instead packing aa ARCaaa in LF and a Pelican Super Mity Lite 2aa (whoops! 2aaa) clipped in RF. Between cellphone, pager and a fairly substantial gut, I don't have room or desire to wear another belt thing! And I REALLY like the Pelican for output and ease of carry! It rides lense down and doesn't cause any trouble getting to my keys.