Harbor Freight Tools that don't suck

[Rock Crawler]

I almost bought them for the pavilion we have near our pond, but the number of reviewers who would not recommend them due to not working out of the box, very dim light, or flickering in the slightest breeze scared me off.

Glad yours are working out.

So far they all work out of the box, brightness is exactly what I had hoped for... we have just enough ambiance light coming from them to safely move around and see what your doing.

My buddy ran up and bought 2 of them to replace his 4 year old pair that is around the railing on his back porch.

I wasn't expecting nor wanting overly bright light from them, I strung them overhead at about 7 feet high purely with hope that they will provide just enough dim lighting that you could make out the ground and see just enough to do things like hot dogs and what not without needing to use a flashlight. Based on what I'm seeing, they will serve this function perfectly. I'm also really hoping that they can last at least a year even if left in the trees all winter. If they make it a year or better yet...2 years... for $8 each I'll be ecstatic.

I guess the user opinion of them can vary greatly based on what each person's original intent and expectation is. If i wanted brighter lighting to do more than just dimly light up the walking/working surfaces, i would be less than satisfied.

 

[Diggin It]

^^ I'll be more curious to hear what you think of them six months from now. I've bought a number of low dollar solar lighting items and invariably they have failed or degraded in that time. I thought about getting this string a few times, but wanted to see some more reviews come in.

 

[PhysAssist]

I took a couple of the small wooden dollies and used the casters on two moveable shelving units I made. Seem to work well and cost less than buying the casters separately.

I have done similarly- also did so with some of the small ones from Northern Tool- it all depends which of them has them cheapest.

Similarly, I'm going to be buying 2 of the 6' Baker scaffolds from Northern Tool for use in my barn initially, and then for sealing our log house, once I get the deck extended around it- I'm done with using ladders for the hours that takes...

The HF ones are $20 less on a super coupon, but the weight rating on the NT ones is slightly better, and more importantly, I can use a couple of coupons I have to get 20% off the top [I got them for signing up for NT's version of the inside track club], AND get them shipped to my house for free.

 

[PhysAssist]

Got some of the solar ropes up at the camp all ready. Tomorrow night is the grand opening of the newly renovated beer camp for fall of 2018.View attachment 570057View attachment 570058View attachment 570059

Hey RC,

I DO like the idear of Beer Camp!:drink:

How bright are those solar ropes?- I know it's a hard question because of the relative frames of reference, but i have confidence in you!

 

[Rock Crawler]

Hey RC,

I DO like the idear of Beer Camp!:drink:

How bright are those solar ropes?- I know it's a hard question because of the relative frames of reference, but i have confidence in you!

I tried really hard to take pictures just to show you guys, but the problem is that the phone adjust itself for the lights themselves and blacks out the rest of the area. So the phone camera would not make it so that you could see what my eye sees as far as ground lighting. But I do promise you, that these do put off plenty ample lighting for the purpose of providing suitable ground lighting for drunken safety. I'm going to post the pictures that I did attempt to take so that you can see them, but I promise you that these images do not give you my view nor properly answer what you're asking. But I'm extremely happy with the light output of them, the question that remains to be answered is will mine last multiple years like my buddies did at his house?

 

[Rock Crawler]

By the way, based upon recommendation from this very forum here, I ran to Harbor freight today and lucked into a set of the silver and Deming drill bits in the wooden case that are normally $35, on clearance with one drill missing for $13.98. And no, I did not forget to grab my free tarp to add to the stack of free tarps that I have in the basement. I know have 4 of the Harbor freight free tarps in active use on wood in the my drinking camp, and now I have 7 more on stock in my basement. So it's fine if they don't last more than a Winter, I will have plenty stocked up to go for years at this rate.

Harbor freight should be listed in the medical journals as an official addiction for some people!

 

[PhysAssist]

I tried really hard to take pictures just to show you guys, but the problem is that the phone adjust itself for the lights themselves and blacks out the rest of the area. So the phone camera would not make it so that you could see what my eye sees as far as ground lighting. But I do promise you, that these do put off plenty ample lighting for the purpose of providing suitable ground lighting for drunken safety. I'm going to post the pictures that I did attempt to take so that you can see them, but I promise you that these images do not give you my view nor properly answer what you're asking. But I'm extremely happy with the light output of them, the question that remains to be answered is will mine last multiple years like my buddies did at his house?View attachment 570522View attachment 570523View attachment 570524

Thanks!
PA

 

[dragoneggs]

Besides the free blue tarps, I am stockpiling the free small moving blankets. Use them to drape over my shop tools to keep the dust off. Used to use plastic but like the blankets better. Plus they make a good throw down on the garage floor when on my knees or back.

 

[rbstern]

Besides the free blue tarps, I am stockpiling the free small moving blankets. Use them to drape over my shop tools to keep the dust off. Used to use plastic but like the blankets better. Plus they make a good throw down on the garage floor when on my knees or back.

We use them for dog blankets. The dog likes to lay on one on the front porch. Also use them to cover the backseat of our vehicles when the dog is riding back there. Hadn't thought about using them as tool dust covers. Good idea.

 

[Rock Crawler]

I've got Harbor freight's free blue tarps all over my property. I figure I go to Harbor freight and I by something that I either want or that I need, so I may as well grab the Dang torps wollam their. And there's no end of uses for tarps when you have equipment scattered about your place.