Milwaukee Advent Calendar 2024: Everything That's In The Box (And Where It's Available)

The holiday season is right around the corner, and those who are looking to get a special treat for the tool enthusiast in their lives might be interested in checking out the new 2024 Milwaukee Advent Calendar. For those who are unfamiliar, "Advent" refers to the four-week season in which Christians prepare for and reflect upon the birth of their Messiah. Each week has a different theme, focusing on hope, peace, joy, and love, respectively. 

Advent calendars, on the other hand, were first developed in 19th century Germany. They were designed by the Protestants of the time to mark the day of Advent in anticipation of the upcoming holiday. They traditionally feature chocolates and small toys, but the calendars of today have evolved over time and many non-toy or confection-related brands have found innovative ways to integrate their own products into the tradition.

Milwaukee is just such a brand, but there are a few things you might want to consider before investing in these Milwaukee tools. Those who are interested in procuring one of these holiday-themed gift sets might want to learn more about what's inside the box and where they can get it. You'll want to make sure that you aren't simply purchasing repeats of items that the recipient already owns, that the contents of the box are worth the price, and that it can be attained with relative ease before dawning your winter coat and trekking out to the nearest hardware store.

As you might expect, the Milwaukee Advent Calander doesn't have much in the way of toys or sweets. In fact, it isn't really much of a calendar at all: While most modern Advent calendars would include 25 small prizes to be opened on each of the days of December leading up to Christmas, Milwaukee has assembled more of a gift box instead. There are only a handful of prizes inside, but lucky recipients will be treated to several small tools and pieces of personal protective equipment.

Inside the box, you will find a grand total of six items: A black, 5m slim-line measuring tape, a 4-in-1 precision multi-bit pocket screwdriver, a folding torx key set, a compact knife sharpener, an HL2-LED headlamp, and a pair of tinted safety glasses. Milwaukee claims that two of these items are limited edition hand tools, although it doesn't specify which.

Of course, these aren't expensive items like those you would find on a list of Milwaukee's top-rated power tools. Most established tool users will have some variation of most of these products in their arsenal already, but these are the kinds of items where it's always useful to have a backup. It also makes for a decent starter set of Milwaukee tools for beginners if you're looking for a seasonally inspired gift to give someone who is just starting their tool-collecting journey. The tinted protective glasses are a particularly interesting choice as many people who use power tools may only own un-tinted glasses.

Americans who are looking to purchase one of these boxes at home may be out of luck, however. Milwaukee currently has the box listed through several online retailers in Europe, such as CNS Powertools, Prime Tools, Powertool Mate, Toolden, Kelvin Power Tools, and Toolstore Direct. Each of these retailers has the kit readily available and priced right around 59.99 pounds ($80.13 USD). U.S. citizens can also look northwards, as the calendar is available via the Canadian company Atlas Tools and Machinery for $99.99.

It doesn't appear that any of them are being sold stateside, however. Milwaukee has a "Find A Store" option on its website that maps retailers carrying a specific product, and none appear to have it anywhere in the U.S.

It's possible that the Advent calendar will simply have a later release date in the U.S., but that doesn't seem likely. Milwaukee has done iterations of this calendar in the past, and all of them have been European exclusives. Of course, you could also order them from a European retailer that's willing to ship overseas or pay for a parcel forwarding service like Forward2Me. And as previously mentioned, Canada seems to be an option now too. One could also reach out to a European or Canadian relative who's visiting for the holidays and ask if they'd be willing to take on a bit of extra luggage.