posted 26 minutes ago
When I first got my Ridgid tools, it was 2007 and I was getting ready to build a deck off the back of out house. We designed the house to have this specific deck and I deliberately did not want my contractor doing it so that I could say that it was my hands that build at least a part of my house. At the time I had a decent collection of corded tools and a single, 13.2 volt Craftsman 3/8 drill. I really loved that drill for its day, but I needed something to complement it--something in the 18v range. Also, the quality of Craftsman had taken a nose dive (acquired in Christmas of 1996, I think this was Craftsman's peak). By 2007. Craftsman barely still had cordless drills, to say nothing of the plethora of other tools that were becoming available on other platforms. When I was in college (second time!) in the late 90s, all of the tradesmen carried around DeWalt 9.6v drills and they loved them. I was a tad jealous, but I could afford nothing as I was in college. My Craftsman 13.2v was a gift and seemed like a huge leap over all those DeWalts!
And the DeWalt line exploded, more and more tools coming to market that I never even considered eligible for cordless operation. By 2007, I was going into a new brand and DeWalt was definitely a contender. But Ridgid seemed to fit the bill as well. They had a 4-tool kit (hammer drill, 6.5 inch circular saw, recip saw and a flashlight--barely a tool) and this was essentially the same as DeWalt. I got the Ridgid as it was about $20 cheaper and the lifetime service agreement covered batteries (and I put this to the test.
Over the next few years, I was convinced that I made a wise choice. Ridgid kept coming out with new tools and improved version of old tools. One aspect I liked (and apparently only me) was the light mounted in the chuck. This meant that there was a cone of light that surrounded the screw, hole or whatever was needing the drill. On most items, there is a harsh shadow exactly where you want to place the drill. This feature has come an gone. I have on and I really like it. Ridgid seemed to peak with there Gen5X series which expanded the lineup and offered features otherwise only found on more expensive brands (hello Milwaukee).
Gen5X was followed by the Octane line which was universally panned. They were not bad tools but it was hard to see what advantage they offered over the previous line, Perhaps the greatest advantage was in the batteries. These offered several "advantages." For one, if a tool began to bog down, the tool could talk to the battery pack and tell it to add extra oomph to get through the difficult material. It was pretty amazing to see a tool make a difficult cut without bogging one iota. Secondly, the batteries could talk to your phone via Bluetooth. This meant that you could track down a battery on a worksite if it "wandered" off. And you could turn it off altogether if someone else decided to acquire it, making it useless. It would still let you know where it was so it was easy to find if there was a police report. Sounds nice, but the feature never caught on. Thne no=bogging part did become a standard part of the high-end batteries but that was that.
And the tool line stopped expanding. Every other tool line kept coming out with endless varieties of new tools. DeWalt, Milwaukee and Ryobi (especially Ryobi)) never ceased to make some new tool that fit the 18v line. Off-grid garage-door opener? Ryobi has you covered! By contrast, Ridgid not only stayed with the same old tools, their selection actually decreased. They did hyper focus on an SDS drill--a sorta hybrid between a hammer drill and a jackhammer. Why that particular tool I have no idea. Just how many people were thinking "at last, Ridgid has the SDS hammer that I was waiting for!" They are not cheap, require specialized bits--that are not cheap! And most of their work can be done with the hammer drill common to just about every platform.
And strangely, Ridgid offers virtually no tools in the Outdoor Power Equipment range (OPE).
For some time I have been eyeing Milwaukee and last winter, after a nasty ice storm I broke down and bought one--a 12' pole saw. I had a Kobalt brand, but I smoked the motor (brushed). The Milwaukee is brushless and got me into the Red platform. That pole saw sliced and diced the whole rest of the tree into manageable pieces (the rest of my chainsaws were being stubborn). I really like that tool. I have since bought the water pump.
I would like to start out with a simple kit--a drill (NOT a hammer drill--adds weight and I never use it), a impact or impulse (even better) driver) a 6.5" circular saw and a recip saw. I have all of these in Orange, but I would like to get brushless versions, especially the saws. I would really like to have a recip saw that is brushless, has a light aiming at the exact point being cut, and has an orbital action. Also, when I pick a Milwaukee, it just feels solid. I can try to twist it but absolutely nothing creaks or groans. It is solidly built. Eventually I would like to get an impact wrench--for quick bolt changes, and a few other odds and ends.
All that said, there are a few things about my orange collection that I love and won't change. First off is the mega-flashlight that my daughter calls the "blinder." It puts out 2500 lumens (or so it says) and I have no plans to check it. What I know it that it is extremely bright. If I had to send emergency morse code to astronaut on their way to Mars, this might be the tool to send those light pulses! I have a tire inflator that is very nice to have and a fan that is quiet (almost silent), moves a surprising amount of air and batteries last so long I forget that I have them in the fan in the first place. A real problem I have is completely draining my batteries because I turn my fan to the lowest setting which still moves air and is nice and cool but is so quiet that if I need to go, I forget about that battery and it runs to zero!
One last note: As has already been mentioned, it is the batteries (on any platform) that really get you. Lately I have been buying 3rd party batteries from Amazon for a fraction the price of the name brand. This summer I bought a two pack 18v, 7AH Ridgid batteries for $45-$50. AT $25 per battery pack, this is far below even the smallest 2AH battery pack and well below the 6AH battery pack. I once did the math and concluded that I was paying somewhere between 1/8-1/10 the price for the name brand. Now I won't get the fancy circuitry that allows the battery to put out more oomph during bog-down, but so what. These batteries are perfect for a flashlight, a fan, or almost any tool not being pushed to the limit. I have one that is daily attached to a little 18v to USB connector so I can plug my phone in from wherever I like. It ran for two years straight, being charged almost every day. A Lithium Ion battery in good for about 500 charges but this went well over the 500 charges. For anyone who wants to talk down these batteries, I will let my experiences speak for themselves.
So I know that this was a bit rambly, but I am at the point where I want my tool collection to be future proofed and for me, Red seems like the way to go.
Eric
Some places need to be wild
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