I’ve tried out a whole slew of reading lights and task lights over the years, from the Lightwedge to the Periscope to various brands of headlamp. I guess that’s why I got a call out of the blue from the president of the company producing these Beam N Read lights to try them out. These didn’t look like anything else I’d checked out before, so I agreed to put them through their paces. He set me up with an extra too, so leave a comment at the end to win one for yourself.

This is pitched more as a multi-function light than a reading light, which is a good thing because for reading it only works well if you’re in a sitting position. The light hangs on a strap around your neck and points downward, making it great for a bus or airplane seat, but lousy for when you’re lying flat in bed with a book above your face.

Depending on which model you get, there are either three or six LED bulbs that supply bright light and last forever. The three-bulb one promises that the four AA batteries will last at least 120 hours, or 48 hours for the LED 6 model.

The design is pretty basic and there’s no elegance to it, with a wide battery pack and the bulbs usually shining uncovered unless you put on a red filter (for the three-bulb one) or another color filter (my sample came with orange) for the six-bulb one. The latter also comes with a magnifier. But what matters is these lights do the job: shining on what you need lighted up. And bulky or not, you can easily find and travel with rechargeable AA batteries, but it’s single use only for those calculator-style ones many reading lights use.

These Beam N Read lights would work well for any travel task where you need your hands free, from rooting around the backpack to reading on a train to writing in your journal at night. If you’re traveling with a baby you could change diapers in a hotel room without lighting up the whole room. And this would solve a problem I had a lot when backpacking: figuring out a way to play cards in a poorly-lit cheap hotel room. (Without the other person seeing your cards.) Plus unlike with a headlamp, you won’t blind anyone when you look in their eyes to talk to them.

You can get the Beam N Read LED 3 at Amazon for $19.95 plus shipping, or the LED 6 for $24.95.

Or…get one for free! Leave a comment below on why you would want one and we’ll pick a winner at random in a week—on February 4.