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)

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 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 product has worked quite well for quick clean up after mowing and edging the yard. I have found the blower to be more useful than the vacuum. The 40 volt (or 36 volt, this is the same unit and battery apparently, just a marketing rebadge) battery is more than sufficient for my yard. I would estimate it gives you about 20-25 minutes of "on" time, so if you turn it off and on as you walk between areas it will last pretty well. I do intend to get another battery, possibly buying another tool in the same system (since the batteries are a majority of the tool cost anyway). It is definitely way more efficient to blow the grass clippings off the sidewalk than sweeping is, cutting down my total yard care time. I just got it mid-summer so I have not had it for a fall leaf season. I don’t see it having the oomph to get through a yard’s worth of fall leaf clean up. I would say this on battery duration and raw vacuum power. The blower function could assist in clearing out mulched beds and getting leaves into a pile, but the vacuum is not powerful enough for bulk pickup. My neighbors have a very large tree that drops leaves about the size of an adult hand (it’s a cottonwood I believe), the vacuum struggles to effectively suck many of these leaves up. Instead I use the vacuum for some minor cleanup around the pool and smaller leaves. During the summer my large dog seems to shed enough hair on a weekly basis that it seems he should be completely bald. He hangs out on the covered back porch a lot creating clumps of hair that clusters around everything. The vacuum works fantastic on this type cleanup, making quick work of ‘sweeping’ the back porch. My one design complaint for this product relates to the blower ‘mode.’ If you look at the product photos for this setup the intake for the fan is on the left side of the unit. This intake actually pops off and is where the vacuum tubing connects. In all the product pictures the users are enjoying nice cool fall weather while cleaning leaves so they are wearing jeans. I am in Texas where right now, in August, mid 90’s are considered a ‘cold front’ I do my yard work all summer in gym shorts or similar. I also happen to be right-handed. The intake is perfectly positioned to suck your loose shorts up against it, blocking airflow and requiring you to tug the unit away. The grate over the intake prevents anything from happening, but it is an annoyance requiring you to hold the blower out to the side or front of your body and to be careful when swinging it back and forth. I don’t think there is a way to fix this as on the opposite side of the unit the motor body sticks out 4”-5.” My suggestion is that perhaps the removable cover could be a 90 degree directional port pointing forward or backward or a swivel that lets the user decide. Overall I am very happy with the usability of this product, its light weight, and does what I need. For quick yard cleanup work the lack of a cord is very convenient. If you live amongst a large number of trees and need to regularly pick up leaves you would likely be better off with a corded model.

If you're coming from a corded blower/vac background, as I am, you are likely intrigued--the cordless, battery-power nature of this should make it way more convenient than a traditional corded blower/vac, but does it have the power of a corded blower/vac? The answer is yes and no: this is way more convenient than a traditional corded unit, but has probably half the power of the units you're used to using. So, does this trade-off equate to a buy-or-pass for this model? That is probably up to you. The convenience is awesome. No longer do you have to unspool (and then re-spool) 80 feet of cord just to clean up your leaves, so you should be getting this out of the garage more often than you would your old corded model. This thing is nice and light, so even your kids shouldn't have trouble toting this around the yard. Battery charges fine, charge lasts for a reasonable amount of time--you should probably buy an extra battery anyway, because unless your yard is a postage stamp, one charge won't do it. It has a variable speed adjustment knob, but you'll be leaving it on max power all the time, and wishing you had a couple more clicks of power. The power deficit really isn't too big a deal sucking up dry leaves--it can pick up and churn through clumps and piles of dried leaves without an issue, it'll just be a little slower than you're accustomed to. Where the power deficit belies itself is on wet stuff. If you find a wet clump of leaves in the bottom of your basement window well, you might as well spread 'em out before stuffing your vacuum tube in there, because you will be disappointed in its ability to suck up wet leaves you've left around for months. On the other hand, given the newfound convenience you have with a cordless unit, you shouldn't have left those leaves around to get wet--you should've got them when they were dry, and your battery-powered vacuum can manage it. One area that was a little weird was the size of the catch bag. This tiny bag looks like a toy. I haven't looked around to see if you can buy a bigger bag for this unit, but if you can, I'm buying one. Even with the impeller mulching the leaves down to a fraction of their original volume, this bag is comically small compared to the bags on other corded units I've owned, requiring frequent emptying. I suppose its possible a larger catch bag requires more power from the vac, which is something that it just doesn't have, which necessitated the move to a much smaller bag. Who knows. One thing that is kinda cool about the unit being down on power is its inability to pick up rocks/stones/mulch, which can (and usually does) jam and block up your vacuum. I did manage to lodge one big piece of dry cedar mulch in my unit that jammed it, but the unit disassembles easily and quickly. I'm sure someone is wondering about the impeller--its plastic. A metal impeller isn't needed on this thing anyway--it doesn't have the juice to suck something in there hard enough that you'll be worried about it damaging your impeller. So, if you're thinking that perhaps battery technology has reached the point where corded or gas blower/vacs are obsolete, you're wrong about that--for me, this unit doesn't really replace a corded (or gas) blower/vac to handle a full-on fall cleanup of a yardful of leaves. It does, however, open up a new slot as a weekly use unit, quickly/easily blowing or sucking your average weeks' worth of yard waste without spending time messing with your cords. I think the logic is supposed to work something like this: since you don't have to hassle with the cords, odds are you'll use it more frequently, and by using it more frequently, you won't have the power demands that you formerly did (fewer leaves per session, fewer wet leaves, etc). As a result, this unit (with its tiny, tiny catch bag) is supposed to meet your needs by your more frequent use of it. We'll see, I guess. Oh yeah--the battery this takes jibes with a host of Black and Decker appliances and tools, so if you've invested in B&D already, this takes those batteries. Also, if you ask me, this thing is overpriced by probably $30 -40 or so. I'm not sure if I am recommending this or not. Probably not, because few people spend as much time thinking about their blower/vac as I just did, and most will come upon the unit's shortcomings before they stop to think about how it might be made advantageous. However, if you got a tiny yard or just love spending money on yard tools, this thing does do what its advertised to do, goes together/comes apart as its supposed to, and is easy enough to use you can strap it on your kids without worry. However, its just not a replacement for a corded or gas unit.

Very quiet compared to prior electric blower/vacs I've used, and more ergonomic. Bag is fairly small, but easy to empty and keeps the unit light. Geat for sucking leaves and other tree droppings from river rock & gravel xeriscaping - it sucks, but then drops the rocks. Cordless convenience. 20 minute run time, on highest speed setting. Updated review: I've had this unit for six weeks now. I have a lot of river rock and gravel xeriscaping, with some big trees that drop huge amounts of leaves, twigs, worm like pollen pods, etc. The B&D picks it all up if you are patient and work the nozzle into the rock. It will lift the rocks and drop them back down (usually). It will clog when the debris is wet, and I gunked it up with wet dirt once - disassembled it as much as possible with no tools, then shot water thru the impeller with a garden hose. Cleaned it out easily. Will occasionally jam with a stick, but not hard to clear it. This unit is not designed for cleaning large areas quickly, but for small, dry yards it does a great job, if you are patient. Not having to drag a power cord around enhances the product's ease of use. I haven't used the blower function because I already had a good battery powered blower. UPDATE: Now 16 months after purchase - we use this leaf sucker constantly. But it is holding up well. We can see some wear to the plastic impeller blades, and the nozzle bottom of the plastic tube is wearing away where it slides along rough surfaces (like concrete). But despite the wear, the device still works well. The device works great for cleaning dirt, leaves, and tree debris from our extensive river rock and gravel landscaping. It is not the best tool for big piles of leaves when the inevitable fall leaf dump occurs - the device will do this job if you are patient, but it usually makes more sense to put big leaf piles into the trash can by hand, then use this device to clean up what is left on the ground. Full size pecans and acorns will not go through the impeller-grinder, but when your technique is developed, you can suck them up, the nuts remain suspended in the tube, and you find a flat area (like a stepping stone) to shut the power and drop them into a little pile you can pick up. A lot easier than picking them up one by one. Tiny twigs will go through, but larger twigs and branches will not. Sometimes a leaf pod (several leaves connected to a stem) will jam the grinder-impeller. But it is easy to clear the jam by popping the tube off.

I have a small yard, outside edges are gravel, with a small area of artificial grass. One small tree, but lots of leaves from neighbor's trees that blow into my yard. Using a blower only didn't really clear out/clean my yard of leaves. This vacuum is the best solution. I am 74 yrs old and love carrying it around the yard vacuuming up the debris. In the front yard I use it on my driveway and even in my garage when those pesky bougainvillea blossoms find their way in. Charge time is quick and lasts.

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.

Bien, buena potencia, para muchas hojas el aspirado/trituradora yo le subo a la potencia 6 sino las hojas pesadas se me regresan, pero cumple su funcion y si lleno la bolsa 2-3 veces con lanmisma bateria, es un area grande. El soplador funciona de maravilla, lo uso para barrer mi calle, queda muy limpia... la de enfrente que es bastante y ya lo que resta con el recogedor, si sientes que no levanta le subes ... pero realmente "sopla/barre bien desde 1-2 de potencia" tambien para el.garage me funciona perfecto. Y no ando con cables lo cual esta de maravilla, no esta tan pesada sin con la pila puesta.

I love this blower /vacuum. After I got the initial mess cleaned ( there were a lot of rocks ) it is wonderful. I cleaned all the debris off the porch. It's really a big help cleaning all the stuff the cedar trees cast off. It mulches everything to a small texture. I can throw the stuff directly in the composter. It's also fun to use.

plugged in and blew electrics. not compatible eu

Tiene poca potencia y el rotor o impulsor se satura de hojas al utilizar la aspiradora por lo que hay que estarla limpiando, en funcion sopladora tiene la misma falta de potencia, la bateria dura aprox 15 min a max velocidad

Pros: 1. This works well and is very quiet. I was shocked at how quiet this is. 2. The vacuum and the blower function work well on very dry and loose debris. 3. It is very lightweight. 4. Battery seems to last fine. Cons: 1. It is not as strong as I wanted. 2. It cannot handle anything that is not completely dry and loose. I purchased this to keep the area from the front door to my car clear of debris and snow. I have not had a chance to try it on snow yet; but with the leaves, dirt and other debris in the spring and summer, it has not been able to deal with anything that is wet, or packed. I am hoping that it will work with snow; however, it seems that it will only be useful for powdered snow. If it had a bit more power, I would have given it 5 stars. As it is the quietness of it pushes it almost into the 5 star range without the power.