Milwaukee Tool has launched a new Packout-compatible M12 battery-powered accessory, officially the “M12 Packout Flood Light with USB Charging,” model 2356-20.
As the name indicates, this is a Packout-compatible M12 battery-powered LED worklight.
But, there’s more to it – open the lid to access a 3-compartment organizer.
Advertisement
Here, you can stash parts or accessories, such as screwdriver bits, nutdrivers, and fasteners, or tools such as utility knives and markers.
The light also features built-in USB charging ports.
There are USB-A and USB-C charging ports. From the online user manual, the USB-A port delivers 5V at up to 2.1A, and the USB-C port delivers 5V at up to 3A.
The larger compartment is big enough to fit [most if not all] modern smartphones.
The light head is adjustable, with 300° of horizontal rotation, and 180° of vertical rotation.
When placed on top of a Packout tool box tower, you can aim the light upwards to brighten up your task area.
Advertisement
You can also aim it downwards. The wide adjustment range allows users to aim the light where they need it, without having to first remove the light from its place on a Packout tower.
You can also remove it and place it on a flat surface in either horizontal or vertical orientation.
The removable bins can be swapped with those in Milwaukee’s low-profile organizers, allowing for quick loadout changes.
The carrying handle can be folded down to save space.
Milwaukee also shows that the light has a pivoting battery holder, which makes it easier to install and remove any M12 battery. This also helps the light maintain a low-profile form factor.
Key Features & Specs
- 1400 max lumens
- 3 lighting modes
- High: 1400 lumens, 4 hrs runtime w/ XC 4Ah battery
- Medium: 700 lumens, 7 hrs runtime w/ XC 4Ah battery
- Low: 350 lumens, 12 hrs runtime w/ XC 4Ah battery
- TRUEVIEW “high-definition” light output
- IP54 rated dust and water protection
- Packout-compatible (top-stack only)
- Impact resistant
- USB-A 2.1A output
- USB-C 3A output
Price: $129 (tool-only)
ETA: February 2023
Discussion
This is not Milwaukee’s first Packout-compatible lighting product – they previously came out with an M18 Packout worklight with built-in charging.
The new M12 flood light with organizer compartments and USB charging looks to be less than half the size of the M18 model, but not without compromises.
As a top-stack-only Packout product, you can attach the M12 light and USB charger on top of any Packout tool box, organizer, or base accessory, but cannot place anything on top of it.
This looks to be incredibly convenient, and the price seems fair. I think it’s going to be very popular with M12 cordless power tool users, whether they use Packout system tool storage products or not.
Is this something you are likely to buy?
Frank D
If I had MW PowerTools, this would be a must order.
Jared
Pretty cool. I’m not a Packout user, but if I were I can see where this might be a “must have” since it adds some interesting utility.
Those are pretty decent lighting specs too.
John E
That’s a lot of plastic to carry around for a few screws and a few bits.
Bonnie
I assume the light in the primary purpose, the rest is just filler to fit the footprint.
DRA
I would say the 2 pockets are for a few different sizes of screws, not just one per bin. Self tappers of different lengths and then drywall/deck screws of different lengths(indoor & outdoor use). I would use that, and can see it being useful for anyone doing repair work at home or as a job(handyman anyone?). I work in an odd industry and this would make my job a ton easier so I’m not digging through my other packout boxes/drawers.
Nick Clancy
The main reason i use the packout system is security and mobility, they lock up decent and with all the weight in mine the wheels are nice. Plus ive had my packouts in the back of my truck through 3 winters and still no leaks. I now have a box truck but they held up in my opinion.
Mike McFalls
I agree. for that price, the more versatile Rocket light is a better purchase. Keep in mind the Rocket light only has two fixed positions, either fully extended or not. Milwaukee should have put stops for varying heights. I have resorted to using a large spring clamp and stick to set the height where needed.
Jeremiah
Except you have to carry the rocket light and can clip this one to your other Packout gear.
King+duck
Yeah but then you need to have your light on top of your stack or laying on the floor. My M18 rocket light had a sling to carry it over your shoulder
Jaime Chacon
Sounds like the Dewalt Tower light is a better option , you can adjust the height on the tripod.
OldDominionDIYer
Niice! Not sure I will get one but looks handy!
Ryan
Now offer one of these with a fan in the place of the light.
Luke
For real. The amount of times I’m wheeling a full packout into a dark room is completely dwarfed by how often I’m working somewhere uncomfortably warm.
Jeremiah
Get the Milwaukee fan and add the Packout Cleats.
Plain+grainy
I have the M-18 model, came with a battery in a sale. I wish they would have made this M-12 a little taller. Then have a padded compartment for a full size tablet( plus case). Then still have the top area the same. With a charging port in the side tablet compartment.
Plain+grainy
I also wonder if the top compartment is large enough for a spare M-12?
aaron+s
This makes me wish that Benjamin had some kind of adapter/attachment to link the telescoping Tower lights that they already make. I’d way rather just tie the existing more versatile light to the stack.
I can see that this product would solve a specific problem for a group of packout power users but they’re missing what seems like a bigger opportunity to integrate products.
Mike McFalls
I like this idea of an adapter for the Rocket light. Keep in mind the Rocket light only has two fixed positions, either fully extended or not. Milwaukee should have put stops for varying heights.
Mars
Great idea!
Ct451
In the first picture of the guy working, you really need the light coming from above. Hand shadows and blinding yourself all the time is odd setup for that picture. Have him work on the ceiling or something.
Better yet take some plastic off and add a hook or a socket for a pole you can fit into it and you’ll be better.
Blocky
“Must have” is a little clicky.
Maybe Milwaukee will release a large power-bank that fits into that well, giving it insane runtime and some pure sine wave outlets to boot, the beginning of a mobile office Packout paradigm.
DXE
Good idea!
DXE
Love the mobile office concept.
Trevor
I also agree. Tstak has a clipboard but taking that and mobile office further would be a good idea. Being able to incorporate tablets, phones, laptops and all the paperwork together and organized would be so helpful.
Luke
What all needs pure sine wave power to function?
Josh
Almost anything with a computer chip controlling it. Motors will run fine on dirty power from a regular generator, but add a computer to it and dirty power often makes nothing happen or could even damage the chips.
People with pellet stoves learn this, my washer and dryer were the fancy computerized ones and dirty A/C made them not functional. My older style with a timer work just fine
Luke
That’s interesting, as that hasn’t really been my experience at all. I’m in IT and pretty regularly use the M18 power supply to power a 32″ samsung smart display. I’ve also used it to power iMacs and Dells without issue. Though I have noticed a high pitched whine while powering the monitor.
frampton
Milwaukee’s rollout of packout integrations is fantastic. They seem to be following the Festool/Tanos model.
Collin
I don’t understand why handheld flashlights are hitting 100,000 lumens peak and excess of 20,000 lumens continuous while expensive jobsite lighting “solutions” that have thermal masses multiple times that of handheld flashlights have an order of magnitude fewer lumens.
When will they finally upgrade to some modern LEDs?
What’s the hold up?
It really seems to me that for lighting, the best cordless solution would be one of those handheld 75,000-100,000 battery flashlights pointed up at the ceiling. No shadows, because the light is being reflected from the ceiling down towards you. Not to mention TWO orders of magnitude more lumens.
I have a Milwaukee 6,000 lumen rocket light, a Makita 10,000 lumen light, and an Ego 10,000 lumen light and my preferred lighting setup is aiming the Makita 10k at the ceiling for some bounce lighting, the Ego 10k at the ceiling for additional bounce lighting, and leaving the dim by comparison Milwaukee off or charging my batteries.
Jeremiah
Because you are talking about two different tools for two different jobs. These are used for interior work lights, typically in a flood pattern. We don’t need extremely bright, focused lighting.
But a flashlight of the power output you mentioned is used outside, for longer throws. Go checkout Milwaukee Tool’s M18 Search Light for something that has a 750 yard throw. Or look into the MX light tower if you need a large area extremely well lit
JR Ramos
I mostly agree but there are reasons, from Milwaukee’s point of view and that of many device manufacturers. They err strongly on the side of long term reliability and battery run time. This means using the little flat csp emitters that have low forward voltage and decent efficiency, but not overdriving them to get more output and the need for better heat dissipation. These lights are mostly in a “mule” format…which is even more floody than typical flashlight flood, but that wastes a lot of lumens and makes the stated output seem like a whole lot less than it is. Benefit is that in close quarters it’s super smooth and even lighting.
I think they could use some good standard domed emitters – the newer Nichia 519A would be a fantastic choice and they could match their “true view” color and tint (or make it even better) with those, at a very small cost increase. That would give just a bit better directional lighting while still being pretty floody even if they stuck with the same white plastic diffuser thing. It would be nice to see one of these with some floody reflectors, however, that would give even better reach without turning it more into a flashlight type beam. And they could surely drive them just a little harder without any risk due to heat and it wouldn’t be terribly bad run time, either. But I think they’ll likely stick with “enough to do the job for at least a half day’s work” and you can just buy more units if need be. Ha.
By the way, the legit flashlights that put out those mega lumens only do so for a minute or less before stepping down – way down – due to thermal constraints and/or voltage sag even with boost drivers. Nobody has a light (flashlight) that will do 20K continuous. I think currently the best continuous is around 6000 lumens or a tad more, but that’s also with a very short total run time on four 21700 cells. That said, there are several that can do 1500-2000 lumens for awhile, and in a typical flashlight reflector or TIR that’s quite useful, even more light than needed many times. Most light hosts get heat saturated at these lumen levels so quickly that it just isn’t sustainable, even the meaty ones. Plus the cost of those like Imalent, Acebeam, and the handful of other superlights like this is just not very competitive for most “work” users when these job lights from the majors work ok and for half or less cost (other than the batteries I guess). The BLF/Sofirn Q8 was pretty popular with a lot of guys doing remodels and painting, when put on a tripod and with spare cells on hand. It’s inexpensive but still very good quality.
If you’re into modding and can work with emitters, some of the cheapie work lights with small reflectors on each emitter look like good candidates for changing to better emitters. Been meaning to give that a whirl myself sometime since they use standard cells, which I have lots of. Off the shelf most of those use the ugly super cold white emitters that end up looking blueish but they’d be easy to swap.
After trading emails a bit with Milwaukee, I think they are set solidly in place as far as their approach to lighting/engineering is concerned and they will likely not change a thing in this regard – unless someone else does it first and they have to catch up.
Joatman
If you needed to move the light you’d have to move the whole stack…or you’d need to detach it from the stack and hope that you’d have a surface to put on. The storage compartments seem to almost be an afterthought…..just something to fill in the gaps. Personally I think I’d rather have a larger bin and just throw a light in there….such as the Rover. I do like the pivoting battery terminal….it would be nice if it was a feature on the M12 Rocket. Getting a 4.0 or larger battery out of that thing can be a challenge.
I do like the innovation of the integrated light. How great would it be if they integrated that light into the side of the M18 2Gal compact cordless vac. Maybe not quite as powerful though due to power consumption …..or even a separate M12 battery terminal inside the vac body to power the light…..like the M12 powered vac brush attachment. The light would be positioned on the bottom of the canister underneath where the hose comes out. You can aim the light at your subject while vacuuming. Of course there would be a separate on and off switch for the light, too.
Mike McFalls
They could’ve just manufactured the light with a packout cleat and allowed you to remove and store it inside the paclout versus the hinged solution. Storing another packout on top of this one now runs the risk of breaking the light.
Jeremiah D
Its designed to only go on top of a packout stack
Jeremiah
These things are quite durable. I doubt it will break that easily.
Jeremiah
It pivots and rotates. That gives you the ability to focus the light and nit necessarily need to remove the light.
John Blair
When I first read about it, I read that the onboard charger, light and storage it was a definite “YES!” I was under the mistaken impression that it had a power cable that would charge an M12 battery and provide light. If that is what it did, I would have bought two of them. Combining the features would mean I would always have a charger at the top of the stack and always have a light handy. But since I already carry lights and chargers inside of drawers, it stopped being a must have.
Its not an “all caps”, pre order now, exclamation mark level of excitement, but I will probably buy one. In the mean now, now I am thinking of making my own combo unit that combines all my existing stuff into a 3d printed monstrosity that uses Packout compatible feet.
blocky
Make it any shape you want because nothing should stack on top of it. Didn’t almost stop anyone at milwaukee.
Plain+grainy
Must haves are probably a hand saw, tape measure, hammer, hand drill, pencil. Anything else are options that make you more accurate, repeatable, efficient. That being said. The ability to custom make things yourself, priceless!
Jon Barden
I believe this will be greatly beneficial in my enclosed utility trailer on a Packout wall mount to offer some lighting for nighttime plundering. It will also be quickly deployable for light service tasks under a clipboard for a walk-through as well as some tabletop lighting. Most of my basic service tool load out is introduced with the Packout Backpack. Thank you Milwaukee for continuing to provide options and innovation. Also as forementioned, please feel free to bring on the additional Lumens as that would certainly be appreciated.
Mike McFalls
I will give them credit fo moving to USBC. The slow adoption by manufacturers to that standard is frustrating, to say the least.
Wayne R.
It’s odd to me that there are so many doodads beyond phones that need to be charged, and this is tuned up to only one or maybe two phones.
I could see a whole case designed with multiple USB ports for all the flashlights, tape measures, AA/AAA chargers and whatnot that need USB power connections. I’d be into something like that. (For something like this, I think I’d want to see an AC input, too.)
Stuart
Flashlights, AA/AAA chargers, tools, and other devices might be a lot to ask for from an M12 battery.
The M18 Top-Off (https://toolguyd.com/milwaukee-m18-top-off-usb-ac-power-adapter/) has a 45W USB-C port and 12W USB-A port. If that’s not enough, you can plug in an AC USB charging brick to take advantage of the 175W max output.
Wayne R.
A case, to keep the whole thing (devices, cables, guts) closed and intact is what’s ringing my bell. Might have to cook up something on my own, thanks.
Steve
I think the M18 one would be a bit more useful for me. I like the size of this M12 one, but it has to be on top, which is a deal breaker for me. The M18 one is a big too large for my taste, so I’ll pass on both of them. Interesting idea, I’m intrigued, but not biting, yet…
Jack
For comparable situations to the marketing pictures, I would use my M18 Search Light (2354) in flood mode. That search light is highly capable: flood, spot, flood/spot modes; plenty bright (1250 lumens); runs much of the day using a 5.0 battery; very versatile (flex head, stands up); and, rugged (has taken a knock or two). It’s always nearby. I use the M18 Rocket tower light (2131) for the bigger jobs. Agree with the other comments that lighting needs an easy way to lock onto the packout system.
Munklepunk
Nice. It reminds me of something you would get from the JC Whitney catalog, but in a good way.
Ryan+H
OK, I would use something like this for when I build ethernet ends while working in a drop ceiling or other dark place like a crawlspace. The compartment is nice for all the little things and a set of crimpers. A fan model, like someone pointed out, might be nice too.
Of course, I have Dewalt tools, so that kinda blows there…still waiting for an upgrade to the DCB1800B too…sigh.
Jeremiah
The good thing about Packout is that you can put any tool inside of them.
The good thing about DeWalt is that they hold their value and you can sell them and recoup a lot of your money and buy Milwaukee with that cash.
Ryan+H
Agree about the packout storing whatever…I just like the integration with the batteries. I was hoping Dewalts new Toughcase line would have it, but they seem super slow to roll out new items on it.
Jeremiah
For some reason I read “Packout Light” as a smaller Packout system all together. I was thinking that they came out with a bottom roller the size of the half boxes.
If you pit a handle and 2 wheels on the long end, you’d have a nice alternative when you have a smaller car, or just don’t need to haul a lot.https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/Storage-Solutions/PACKOUT/PACKOUT-Tool-Boxes
J-S
I’m an aircraft mechanic and keep my tools in the packout system. This is absolutely perfect for my needs and I pre-ordered one from Acme.
Noah
LOL, I actually read the title to mean M12 packout ‘lite’, as in, smaller and lighter M12 size pack out boxes. Ha.. I got excited for a second because for me, the packout toolbox was so big and heavy that I returned it. I switched to DeWalt tstak and it fits my needs much better. The packout toolbox is like almost 10lbs when it’s empty. Adding tools and batteries to that made it way too heavy for me. I can see how getting the rolling boxes and stacking everything would work for people but I’m just not one of them.
Tom
Nice addition to the pack out lineup, but I’d like to see a 2nd gen version of the 2357-20. Add dual battery capabilities, ac inverter similar to the 2846-20, and one-key functionality for the lighting.
Maybe even do a 3 layer design with more storage and a Bluetooth/fm radio.