After nearly two years of real-world use, the SeeSii 40V cordless leaf blower has become one of the rare Makita-battery-compatible tools I actually prefer over Makita’s own version. The Makita is slightly more powerful, but the SeeSii gives me substantially better runtime, better balance, excellent trigger control and a useful turbo mode for a fraction of the price. Mine has also held up remarkably well after almost two years of use. The one major downside is noise—it’s incredibly loud and sharp—but everything else has exceeded my expectations. If you already own Makita 18V batteries and want an affordable cordless blower, this is one of the few off-brand alternatives I can recommend based on long-term experience.
Olight could have simply anodized this thing a generic orange and called it a day. Instead, Amber Orange has considerably more depth to it. Sometimes it looks orange, sometimes more copper, and under different lighting you get that amber tone coming through.
The ICARZONE UR1000 looks and feels like a premium OBD2 scanner, but in my testing it failed basic repair tasks on two trucks that the cheaper MUCAR 682 handled without trouble.
Is Metabo HPT still worth buying? After four more years of using and following the brand, I still think Metabo HPT makes some excellent cordless power tools, and the MultiVolt platform remains one of its biggest strengths. The problem isn’t tool quality—it’s the lineup around those tools. Aging drills, impacts and saws, limited outdoor power equipment, a shrinking retail presence in the stores I visit, and newer HiKOKI tools that haven’t made their way to the North American Metabo HPT lineup make the platform harder to recommend as a complete cordless ecosystem than it was when I first covered the brand in 2022. Metabo HPT is still making good tools, but four years later, I expected the lineup to have grown and evolved considerably more than it has.
A 26-year-old Tacoma isn’t reliable because nothing breaks. It’s reliable because when something does break, I can usually fix it myself without spending a fortune
The weirdest thing about being a long-time Makita owner in 2026 is that I still love the tools — I just barely buy them anymore. LXT feels stagnant, CXT feels forgotten, XGT is expensive, and the Makita tools I already own refuse to die.
My 2022 GMC Sierra kept displaying ‘Shift to Park’ even though the transmission was already in Park. The problem was a failing microswitch inside the column shifter — and on my truck, two zip ties fixed it without replacing the entire assembly.
This launch includes the M18 FUEL™ 6 Gallon Wet/Dry Vacuum, M18 FUEL™ 9 Gallon Dual-Battery Wet/Dry Vacuum, and the M18 FUEL™ 12 Gallon Dual-Battery Wet/Dry Vacuum, designed to outperform 3.5 to 4.25 Peak HP corded wet/dry vacuums while maintaining the most durable wheels and hoses for maximum durability and is the most versatile wet/dry vacuum system on the market today.
