BLACK+DECKER Leaf Blower Cordless Leaf Vacuum and Mulcher Combo Kit, Battery and Charger Included, 40V 120 mph Air Speed, 6-Speed Dial, Built-in Scraper with Collection Bag (LSWV36)

I now have three pieces in the Black+Decker "Max" Li-ion series - the string trimmer, the hedge trimmer, and this blower/vac. I love 'em. And the synergy across the set is excellent. It's super convenient to have two (or more) batteries. Keep one on the charger while you're using the other. It takes only a moment to swap them and "bingo" you're back to work with a fresh battery. Li-ion is totally the way to go for household use. It keeps it's charge and it's always ready to go. This blower is a dream. It is so light and convenient to use. Not quite strong enough to blow (or suck) big leaves off the grass or out of the bushes, but an absolute dream on concrete. Perfect for a quick clean up on the driveway or sidewalk. Ideal for cleaning up after using the string trimmer to edge the lawn. Just grab it and go. I like it a lot! Initially I was unimpressed with the vacuum on this tool, but the more I use it, the more it like it. Like the blower, it works best on concrete. Around the pool, it's better for me to vacuum up leaves and debris rather than blow them around. It's very easy to switch between blower and vacuum, no more than 30 seconds once you get the hang of it. Nicely designed.

After a search in our local Lowe's, Home Depot, Ace, etc....I was looking for a leaf blower/vacuum that is MOSTLY made in America. All I'm looking for is a quality product. Cost isn't my thing, although this was on the more expensive side. The unit is small, compact and after charging the battery to full, as indicated on the charging LED, started to shut off after about 20 minutes of use. I purchased to clean my up my Mesquite, and Bougainvillea leaves in my Arizona yard. Two of the lightest leaves known to man kind. First: The Blower function, worked well for these two types of leaves, I would think leaves that are any heavier would be a real PITA. My first thought when turning it on was 'most people fart a stronger wind than this!' My first battery operated yard tool and maybe it's my lack of experience and my expectations were too high. None the less, after blowing my mesquite leaves into a neat area of the yard, I added the Vacuum attachment. Second: The vacuum attachment actually worked pretty well with the light weight leaves I was using it for. This unit is easy to use and very light weight. After vacuuming up the leaves for about 5 minutes, the unit shut down, my first thought is that the bag was getting full and maybe there's an override mechanism built in. I took off the battery, put it back on the charger for 20 minutes, emptied the only half full bag and then re-attached the battery. It fired right up and then after only a few more minutes it shut down again. My apologies to any of my neighbors who may have heard me cuss this unit with a 'wtf' and 'pos'. If I lived in a condo and my patio had a layer of dust, this might do the job, but if you have anything larger than a 10x10 area to clean, try another product, My search goes on. :/

This seemed to be the prefect tool to keep the leaves picked up around the pool before they end up in the pool. I looked at all the big box stores and never found a battery operated light weight leaf vacuum. The first one I ordered said it was light weight but when you added the 2 batteries it took to operate it the weight was so much more than I could manage. This uses 1 battery weighting 1.4 lbs. and the Blower Vacuum itself weighs 6.9 lbs. in the vacuum mode. Mulching did a great job and reduced the leaf waste. The description says it is hand held and there is no body strap. But, if I find I need one I will figure that out. I had wanted a leaf vacuum with the wheel on the vacuum tube but because this tool has a grab handle on the mulching bag I found I did not need the wheel and it's added weight. I would say this tool is best on hard surfaces like a patio or pool deck. Best features: Rechargeable, light weight, easy to handle, work saving, has 6 speeds, easy to empty, and prefect for older users. It worked best on leaves that were not already blown into a big pile. I already own from Amazon a light weight leaf blower so this tool will stay in Vacuum mode. Some reviews said the battery doesn't last long and maybe they were trying to do an entire yard. For me I finished the job and put it away and still had battery life left. Well it did work the first use and now will not vacuum up any leaves. I have cleaned the mulching area repeatedly (once I removed to battery for safety) and see no clogs but there were clogs in the mulching gears that took a really long screwdriver and tweezers and some strong arms to pull the mulch collection bag off to reach clogs in the curved section of the vacuum. Turns out it hates tiny - small pieces of sticks and really doesn't like acorns. So I will give it a try again. This time being more careful to just grab leaves.

Had a corded blower/vac years ago and hated it. Was a little nervous about spending the money for this one, but really glad I did. No, it doesn't take the place of my Shop-Vac, but I also don't have to spend the time to out the extension cord and drag the vac around and then put everything away. I find I'm willing to clean up leaves off my patio surface and between my planters more often because it only takes a few minutes. That will save me a TON of work in the spring when I really do need to get out the Shop-Vac. This doesn't have so much power that it sucks up rocks like my corded one did, so they don't jam. If it does need to be un-jammed, it's easy to do--but it has only happened once with a small plastic bag I accidentally sucked up. Also I can use it to suck leaves, etc. out of the planters themselves, as it doesn't have so much power it harms the plants. The blower is great and powerful for sweeping fast. There's also a speed control on the handle, so if the sucking is too strong for the plants, or blowing is too powerful for my gravel paths, I can turn it down. Great feature! I have a love-hate relationship with 2 liquidambar trees over my patio. They give great shade in the summer and are beautiful in the fall, but they're always dropping stuff and they discolor the tiles if I don't clean leaves up before they get wet. Then there are the stickery balls....upside, birds love them and they make great kindling. Downside, they're lethal if you step on them. So I try to keep them swept up, but can't use a regular broom because they get stuck in it. The old blower/vac would suck them up and get them jammed in the impeller and I'd have to disassemble the whole unit to get them out. The Shop-Vac sucks them up, but they tend to jam in the hose and have to be pushed out with a broomstick. This unit will suck them up, but not into the impeller. I just turn it off, and they fall out. So when they're mixed in with the leaves on the patio or between the pots, they're not a problem. The leaves get mulched, and the balls drop out. PERFECT!!! The assembly directions are less than clear, but we figured it out. Jamming the tube pieces together took some muscle, but they won't fall apart. I've used this about 6 times in the past 10 days, and I'm really happy with it. Lightweight, easy to swap from sweep mode to vac mode, and battery life is excellent---I now have two tools that use this battery, so I have a spare available. All in all, glad I got it. Does the jobs I need and makes them much easier to do. What more can I ask? Update 11/11/13: Seems as if most of the negative reviews of this unit say it doesn't have much power, which is NOT something I have experienced with my unit. Wondering if the power dial on their handles may have accidentally been pushed to a position that's less than full. It doesn't "click" into position, and I can see where someone might push it without knowing. Power levels are from 1 to 6 and I nearly always use it at 6. I've been using mine nearly every day since I got it. The only additional issues I've encountered are that long fibrous leaves that aren't completely dry will jam in the impeller, and it will NOT vacuum up persimmon leaves---but I didn't really expect it to. They're thick and retain a lot of moisture for a long time, and this works best on fairly dry leaves. Still very happy with it, and still give it 5 stars after a month of using it

I owned one of these before but discarded it because the 36v battery died and was no longer available. now it's a "40" v battery device -probably the same but who wants to take a chance with the wrong Li Ion charger these days? The device is fine, quite suitable for my limited needs vacuuming cut leaf maple leaves from my city courtyard. (No place to blow them so leaf vacuum required. This is not a powerhouse, but inexpensive, effective leaf vacuum for city courtyards and small decks. It cleared my 30' by 15' deck of live oak leaves with no problem but struggled with Magnolia leaves - 20 minutes and 2/3 battery. Light and easy to use. I have a huge Stihl gas blower and both 18v models of Milwaukee battery blowers, so I knew what to expect. Being an Amazon return (reduced price), I knew something would be broken/in need of repair. In this case the blower nozzle was cracked and the catch to retain it to the main blower needed repair.

I have only used gas powered up until now and I really like where the battery powered yard tools are at this day in age. Pros: -extremely lightweight compared to my 32cc gas blower -really quiet compared to my old gas blower -plastic and build seems right on par with the build of the gas blower(it's definitely not industrial strength) -easy to set up -adjustable air flow -comes with the charger -battery life is really really good. I think I've only charged it 3 times in the past few months and probably didn't have to do that. Cons: -air flow is definitely not as powerful but I have had this for a few months now and I haven't ran into anything that it can't handle. -the bag for vacuuming is not nearly as large as the gas powered one but I don't know how much I plan on using it so that didn't matter to me. -the intake for the blower is on the inside for a right handed person which leads to sometimes loose clothing getting sucked onto the intake causing that suction noise and reducing the power. This is more of a nuisance than anything. I was trying to think of a way they could have put the motor and I don't think with this type of motor that it could have been any different. I'm fine with this. I don't really have any complaints and I will update if anything goes wrong or if in a year or so it is still running strong!

Why did you pick this product vs others?: This is a useful garden tool - when it works. It seems to have a mind of its own. Sometimes it works when you turn it on, sometimes it doesn’t. There must be a loose connection somewhere as it’s nothing to do with the battery. When it does work, it does its job pretty well, vacuuming fallen leaves and mulching them. It doesn’t work on damp leaves nor very large leaves which won’t fit into the tube. Changing from blower to vacuum is a bit of a faff but not the end of the world. The battery lasts a decent time (at least 20 mins), enough for a small garden. A spare battery is always a good idea. I have other Black and Decker cordless items (hedge trimmer, pole chainsaw, blower) but the batteries aren’t switchable. This battery is a different series, which is quite annoying. This isn’t a professional quality piece of kit but fine for everyday tidying up.

The battery-powered tools from Black and Decker are liberating and they work. Instead of the carbon-producing, smelly blowers of the past, or the restrictive corded models, this tool is amazing. I bought it to clean my courtyard and patio after our landscape company stopped servicing our neighborhood. They all use noisy, smelly, gas-powered blowers that tend to blow dust onto our doors and windows. So, I bought this and the B&D battery-powered hedge trimmer to do my own maintenance, and keep my wife happy by not getting our doors so dusty. What a difference! Not only is this thing quieter, but no smell, no carbon emissions and no hassles with a cord. (I've owned a corded trimmer and its frustrations.) The blower/vac is more powerful than you'd think, and I had to dial the power back to avoid sucking up rocks along with the debris. The adjustment is a surprise feature and a plus. The short charge-life of the 40V battery was also a surprise and not so much a minus as a consideration: definitely get the one with the battery and consider a 2nd battery (I have a 2nd one with my trimmer and it was a necessity to finish my clean-up). What I like: portability, light-wight, adjustable power level, easy to exchange blower and vac components, battery level indicator, quick charge. What I'd like even better: longer battery life-it lasts about 15 minutes of steady use (hey, you can hope, right?), a little longer tube (I'm 6'3" and have to bend a little), an option for a shoulder bag and a larger bag to hold the debris.