This is the STKR LED light mine, a hands-free task light with 12 magnets for flexible aiming.
Aside from the brand name – STKR used to be Striker – the light mine doesn’t seem much different from when I first learned and posted about it 12 years ago.
The light mine features a 15 lumen LED, on/off switch, and runs on LR44 batteries. It’s about the size of a golf ball.
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STKR says that you can replace the batteries, but it requires an abundance of care. It can be difficult to open the housing, requiring a slotted screwdriver to depress the locking tabs – but not too hard or you can break the tabs.
The included batteries are shrink-wrapped for isolation, and you’ll need to replicate that with shrink wrap, electrical tape, clear packaging tape, or other means, as long as you leave the contacts exposed at both ends.
Price: ~$8-9 each, $21 for 3, $31 for 5
There’s also the Light Mine Pro, which is larger (baseball-sized), brighter (250 lumens) and powered by 3x AAA batteries. It has a red light, and 11 magnets for convenient mounting and positioning.
The Pro has 4 lighting modes – low power spotlight, high output floodlight, red light, and blinking red light.
The Light Mine Pro is made by Risk Racing, which is a STKR (formerly Striker) sibling company.
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Price: $21.49 each
Both products seem to have mixed reviews. I don’t know why Striker changed their name to STKR, but both light mine versions have been on the market for more than 10 years.
I revisit the products every now and then. They look cool, but I’m never convinced as to whether they’d actually be useful for lighting tasks.
I’m not thrilled that the golf ball-sized Light Mine’s batteries aren’t easily replaceable, and the baseball-sized Light Mine Pro seems a bit larger.
And so, I haven’t bought one yet, and probably won’t – at least not anytime soon, but the lights still seem cool enough to talk about.
Curiously, I can’t seem to find any 3D-printed versions online. I’d think this would be a good candidate for something like that.
Mikedt
I got one of these as a gift over a decade ago. I can probably count the number of times I’ve used it on one hand. About the only use case I can think of for it where it might be better than a normal flashlight is roadside emergencies. In any other use case I’d rather have a flashlight with magnetic base.
John
Cool idea, but battery replacement problem is a deal breaker. Pro model’s 3 AAA batteries are easy to replace, but baseball-sized form is too big for me.
When they come out with a small and USB rechargeable version, I’m in.
Skye A Cohen
Way cool form factor but I agree with everyone so far, it’s a solution to a common problem that’s already better solved by lots of products out there.
Also I find it reckless and in poor taste to make a flashlight with a bunch of rare earth magnets that will be thrown away after the battery runs out, at least in most cases.
MM
At first the idea seems pretty useful: A small worklight that can be held nearly anywhere with that wide array of magnets all over it. But that is also its disadvantage. With this thing being studded with magnets I imagine it will collect metal filings, swarf, cotter pins, E-clips, and other small magnetic objects that tend to occupy workshops like nobody’s business.
Stuart
The manufacturer advertises it can also be used as a pick-up tool. 😄
TomD
I misread this as something to use at the bar to impress the ladies, and got severely confused.
All in all it looks like a refresh using a Lithium battery 🔋 and a usb charger would be the way to go.
Bonnie
It seems to be solving the same problem a magnetic or clip-on gooseneck light does… But not as well.
JoeM
I have a few questions about this product, actually.
One) What other products to these companies make, other than this light mine? Specific Industry/Gimmick like these, or a wide range like we would expect from SBD or TTi?
Two) Could STKR be the name of the division that has now been devoted to making magnetically attached lights and other tools? That would change the pronunciation from “Striker” to “Sticker” and make some sense of the name change.
Three) How do they activate/deactivate? Do the magnets double as on/off or mode switches? If so, I can imagine this being handy for when you have kids who, inevitably, get that “Monster in the Closet” phase going, and you don’t want to wire an entire, fresh, light system for the closet at night. For that phase, just… stick one of these above the door frame on the inside, so that a closed door activates, or deactivates, it. When the phase passes, they get removed.
Four) Are they rugged enough to stick to the underside of a vehicle in case of emergencies? Blew a tire on the highway, sun is going down kind of thing… stick in the wheel well for some light, and change the tire. That kind of thing.
Five) Just how rugged are these? Could they, say, be loaded in a slingshot, and used to get either pets, or young folks, to do a little late night fetch, catch, or tag games?
I’m just trying to narrow down what the current market has use for these little things. What keeps them going after a dozen years? Especially with all the fine print for using them, like taping batteries together, being extremely delicate with the tabs, and so forth.
Stuart
1) Here’s their Amazon store.
2) No? They changed brand names, with “Striker” described as “formerly” on their website.
3) As mentioned, there’s a switch. The part breakdown photo shows the labeled component.
4) I would think/hope so.
5) Probably not? And due to the geometry, materials, and presumed weight (Pro model), neither should be loaded into a slingshot or thrown at or near anyone.
They don’t have drop ratings or waterproof/dustproof ratings that I’ve see. They’re consumer products presumably intended for light use.
If you want a lighted kid or pet toy, get a lighted kit or pet toy. Repurposing products like these for such purposes are asking for trouble. For instance, what if you hit a hydrant, will the plastic light mine shatter and send shrapnel everywhere?
JoeM
I totally understand, Start. I’m just trying to figure out… what is maintaining this product’s longevity? Did it adapt (as in my first question, a rebranding of sorts.) or perhaps people started using it for resons not originally intended? (Monster in the Closet light, Slingshot, Etc.) or perhaps it found a niche with an unexpected champion for its cause? Mechanics selling it/reselling it to customers as after-sales bonuses in case of changing the tire, or as someone else mentioned, as temporary road flares/warning lights when there’s a breakdown.
Personally, I can see a huge number of tool uses for the Pro, but you said the golf ball sized one is the original… so, I, too, am stumped as to what has kept them going for 12 years? Not in a negative way at all, simply… you pondered it in the article, and you inspired my questions in response. Sure. I could see it used certain ways. But either I lack imagination (which I do, actually.) enough to be unable to see these being more than a flash-in-the-pan product that the industry was done with… or… Somehow, some way, these have an audience we can’t see right now. Someone is still buying these, for some reason, and we have too narrow a field of experience to see them.
Fish Tanks? Cosplayers? Raves of some sort? Fidget Toy culture is doing something with them we don’t understand? The Life Hack culture has latched onto these (no pun intended) for some practical or cheap way to do something in real life they need tons of them to do something with… I don’t know. Though it’s a really good mystery to ask what keeps this object going all this time. It’s one of those items you would not expect to see after 5 years, let alone 12. It’s a secret success story, and I don’t know what to make of that secret.
But I do thank you for the article, and its predecessor from long ago. These are little lights that need a light shone on them from time to time, just to figure out what the deal is. And I’m sorry for that pun… it even hurt to type… I just couldn’t think of a better way to phrase it, pun-free.
Ball_bearing
Never expected to see a bumble ball with magnets.
Davethetool
Purchased one of these becuase if it’s uniqueness around 10 years ago at a trade show. Rarely used it but it looks cool! So many other options now available with other lights I don’t see any advantage whatsoever with these other than the company remarketing them. IMO…goes in the same category as the clap-on light or the shamwow chamois!
RCWARD
Can you say junk?
Jbongo
I was really hoping it would have a motion sensor. Then I would use it as actually light mine while playing capture the flag in the dark… But I don’t know the last time I did that, and it probably wouldn’t be a tool, but rather a ThinkGeek toy.
Russ
ThinkGeek no longer makes anything that cool. GameStop ruined them.
Norm
Wow blast from the past.I remember having one of these.
Eric
I could see a more modern version of the baseball sized version with at least 500 lumens and a rechargeable battery possibly being useful. My biggest concern would be that magnets are very brittle and there is nothing to protect them in a fall. And it would fall.