The Milwaukee Rover Pivoting Flood Light isn’t the most attractive design at first blush. It looks a little awkward sitting next to their flashlights and pocket flood lights. A closer look reveals some ingenuity in the design and the possibility of being a better fit for some jobs than Milwaukee’s other lights. Let’s see if there’s a reason to make room for it next to the other lights in your toolbox.
Pros
- Broad beam to light up small areas
- Integrated carabiner clips to your bag or pocket
- Magnetic base also stands on its own easily
- Hanging notch gives you an overhead beam option
- Consistent, artifact-free beam
Cons
- Relatively short 2-hour runtime on high
Recommendation
This light will do its best work in small areas. Its ability to stand, hang, or stick to a steel surface gives it a lot of versatility for electricians, plumbers, MRO, remodelers, and virtual any tradesman who works in tight spaces from time to time.
Milwaukee Rover Pivoting Flood Light Feature Set
Pivoting design gives you ~120º of rotation- Stands up on its base
- Sticks to steel surfaces with magnets in the base
- Clips to bags or belt loops with integrated carabiner
- Balanced hang from the notch in the clip
- Replaceable and rechargeable li-ion battery also works in other RedLithium USB products
- Charges via Micro USB port
- IP54 rating offer dust and water resistance
Pivoting design gives you ~120º of rotationLight Output and Quality
The Milwaukee Rover Pivoting Flood Light gives you 3 modes to work with – 550, 250, and 100 lumens. That kind of output is going to do its best work in smaller spaces like under cabinets, in crawl spaces, and next to electrical boxes.
The beam is optimized for that kind of work as well. The light casts a very wide beam nearly 5 feet wide from just 1 foot away.
For such a small light, the quality is impressive. The beam has no artifacts that I picked up and it’s a very even brightness without much of a hotspot. The color accuracy is excellent and it even maintains its temperature through the sidespill where many lights start to stray a little on the orange side.
Runtime is on the low side, but understandable given the balance of the Rover’s output and single lithium-ion cell power source. You’ll get roughly 2 hours on high, 4.5 hours on medium, and 11.5 hours on low. If you need to work in medium or high modes frequently, a spare battery or a battery/charger starter pack can help you get through the day.
In the Field
Since the entire purpose of any flood light is to light an area, it’s critical that you can position it where you need to. My main bases are covered here: it stands easily on a flat surface and has magnets in the base to stick to a ferrous surface.
While it lacks keyholes for a screw or nail, you’re able to hang it from the cutout in the base. It looks a little odd at first, but the slightly offset notch is actually balanced at the weight center. Hanging the light from there gives you an overhead beam option when you need it.
I love the carabiner design. Whether I’m hoofing it outdoors or just working the 9 to 5 (does anyone really just work 9 to 5 anymore?), every bag I carry has some sort of MOLLE type strap that I can hook the light to. It means I don’t have to dig in a pocket to retrieve it.
When I’m not carrying a bag, the fold up design still fits in my back jeans pocket or clips to a belt loop.
I’m a bit OCD about any of my cordless tools and since lithium-ion batteries don’t have memory like Ni-Cad, I put them on to charge after every use. Whether it’s because you didn’t charge the light or you just want to check your status during the day, a color-coded system gives you some feedback. When you first turn the light on, it will move from green to yellow to red and give you a rough idea of where your charge stands.
Price
The Milwaukee Rover Pivoting Flood Light will set you back $69 and comes with a battery, job site tough USB cord and a 2.1 amp wall plug for charging. Like we often see with Milwaukee’s lineup, there’s not a lot of direct competition in this design. One of the closer models is Bosch’s 420-lumen light. It slides onto an 18V battery that it doesn’t come with and offers a lower output for $49. Between those two options, Milwaukee has the better overall package if you’re just looking at its attributes as a light.
The Bottom Line
I wasn’t in love with the Milwaukee Rover Pivoting Flood Light when it first arrived. But like other lights in Milwaukee’s personal lighting category, the more I used it for jobs in its wheelhouse, the more valuable it’s become. If Milwaukee keeps this up, they’re going to need to offer a Packout container that has a custom insert to store each of the lights for me.
Milwaukee Rover Pivoting Flood Light Specifications
- Model: Milwaukee 2114-21
- Lumens: 550/250/100 lumens
- Height: 0.65″
- Width: 0.65″
- Length: 5.39″
- Weight: 0.14 lbs.
- Warranty: limited lifetime
- Price: $63.50
