Cordless tool set

[Catadj78]

Ok, I posted earlier asking about a combo kit and ended up buying the Dewalt 20v brushless.

When I got home there was a 10% off coupon from HD in the mail box. I have a HD credit card that I use and get these occasionally.

The combo I got does not have the hammer drill option and seen where they have that one in stock so why not upgrade by taking this one back and use my coupon. (actually going to try the HF 25% coupon first)

I looked into the other cordless tools from both that use the same battery as well and thought about the different options.

Right now I can not make up my mind between the Ridgid and the Dewalt. I plan on getting all the cordless tools eventually but want to stay with one brand. I may pick up the multitool tomorrow while I am out as well.

Ridgid is obviously cheaper but not brushless.

I have spent the last several hours researching and watching review videos trying to decide.

I work out of town 4-6 months a yr and may start doing handyman type work in my off time next year to give me something to do when I am home so I want nice tools to work with.

Suggestions? Help me decide. I really like the Dewalt but is that much better than the Ridgid to justify the additional expense?

I am not worried about the difference if it were just 1 or 2 tools but I plan on the multi tool, skillsaw, sawzall, a radio and others as I need them.

Help?

 

[Milzo]

I work for a deck building company. We build 200 - 250 decks a year with 5 crews. Our crews use their cordless drills and impacts daily and they take a lot of abuse. The Makita brushless performs the best simply based on battery life. The Dewalt probably comes in 2nd, then bosch. Yet if your not using your tools every single day and abusing them like our crews do you really don't need the high end brushless models. For general handy man type work I wouldn't hesitate to buy the Rigid especially with the excellent warranty they have for battery replacement etc.

 

[ZRH`]

Rigid is fine if you arent beating them death. Also very easy to warranty since you can literally walk into any HD. They dont have a big cordless lineup though.

Dewalt has a nice big lineup. I got some as a gift so I use them. No complaints. I used to have some Hitachi stuff that I loved (didnt break gave it away).

 

[zmf]

I've been using my 18v Skil combo kit for years - light duty home owner stuff mostly, but have been looking to upgrade recently. So I've done a lot of reading lately, and for me it came down to Milwaukee or Ridgid. Read lots of complaints about Dewalt in general and the 20v stuff specifically. Noticing it on sale at HD doesn't seem to be a good sign.

I like Ridgid for the lifetime warranty - can't beat that! Battery dies, just go get a new one. Drill craps out, get a new one. And the quality seems to be there.

I like Milwaukee for the power, battery life, quality construction, etc. I was looking at the M18 fuel, so maybe not quite apples to apples.

I think you can't go wrong either way. I have a ton of (corded) older Dewalt tools that I love, but have read about their quality going down in recent years and ruled them out for a new cordless set. I like the Bosch too, but haven't been able to find out a whole lot, compared to the others anyway.

I don't have any direct experience, just parroting a bunch of internet words, so take that for what it's worth. Just felt like contributing since I've been reading a lot on this.

-Z

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

good thing about Rigid power tool is, you can get lifetime warranty. I don't know about other brands.

 

[QwikKotaTx]

I would not forget about Makita either. Their line of LXT tools are pretty impressive. Battery life is amazing.