---
title: "This $18 Tool Is a Game Changer for Hanging Holiday Lights Outside"
description: "The Surebonder Light Tacker is a staple gun designed for hanging string lights on wood surfaces. Watch me use it to decorate for the holidays."
date: "2025-12-16"
modified: "2025-12-16"
authors:
  - name: "Jenny Stanley"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://www.bobvila.com/authors/jenny-stanley/"
url: "https://www.bobvila.com/reviews/surebonder-light-tacker-staple-gun-review/"
categories:
  - "DIY"
  - "Hand Tools"
  - "Reviews"
  - "Tools"
  - "Tools & Materials"
---

# This $18 Tool Is a Game Changer for Hanging Holiday Lights Outside

![A person using the Surebonder Light Tacker staple gun.](<https://www.bobvila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Surebonder-light-tacker-lead-image.png>)
*Photo: Jenny Stanley for BobVila.com*

I have a love-hate relationship with [hanging holiday lights outside](<https://www.bobvila.com/category/tools/>). While the cozy glow of colorful bulbs against my snow-covered house brings me joy year after year, the task of mounting strands of lights to exterior surfaces gives me a little anxiety.

Then I discovered the [Surebonder Light Tacker](<https://www.amazon.com/Surebonder-5540HOL-Light-Tacker/dp/B0000X8SKG?tag=bovi01-20>). It’s a [staple gun](<https://www.bobvila.com/articles/best-staple-gun/>) designed specifically for hanging string lights on wood surfaces—exactly what I needed for decorating my garden shed. The tool comes with notched metal staples and plastic staple insulators that protect the wires while securing them in place. This helps give me peace of mind when dealing with electricity outdoors.

The only drawback of the Surebonder Light Tacker, from my perspective, is that I can’t use it on my house’s vinyl siding. It’s made for use on wood surfaces like the 2x4 posts on my garden shed’s little porch.

Watch the video below to learn more about how the Surebonder Light Tacker works, and to see this unique tool in action as I decorate for the holidays:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vhvHrS3dOVU?feature=share

## Author
Jenny Stanley is a DIYer and the executive editor for the Service & News team at BobVila.com. She has published content that speaks to her passion for home improvement during her entire career. Her areas of focus include any home or garden topic that fellow DIYers may type into a search bar, as well as trends and news that she knows the BobVila.com audience will enjoy reading about.