fm2176

I don't represent the site, but I don't see why not. I'd wait until Eric or a Mod weigh in, though. Sounds like an interesting thread. I love it when a legitimate question receives a nonrelated or nonsensical answer, especially from someone ostensibly representing the product. "Hello, my Brand X drill chuck wobbles and the battery falls out. Can you help?" "Good morning, your Brand X drill represents the best quality on the market, with instant brushless power and the most advanced battery today." Followed by the usual "Was this answer useful?" question.

Ryobi should have the overcharge protection. I keep my One+ batteries on the quick charger all the time, and haven't had any issues. I do the same for every other brand of cordless tools/batteries I own. The only suspect battery now (well, for the past few years) is one of my EGO 5.0Ah. I haven't bothered identifying which, but one of the two I own seems to have significantly less run time than the other. Maybe I need to cut the grass more often...

I have too many to list. Bosch and MetaboHPT are the platforms I own the least batteries in, with about four each. We've been rotating three M18 5.0Ah batteries put at the flipper house, running a compact brushless drill, Sawzall, and circular saw. They are adequate enough, but near the end of the day I'm usually swapping the least used battery between tools. I think that a combination of lighter compact batteries and larger extra capacity batteries is probably best, with the 4-5Ah size being a good compromise. For example, I like using a Ridgid Octane 9Ah with the recipe, but definitely a 2Ah with a drill or impact driver. My M18 impact wrenches seem to work about perfectly with a 5Ah, for weight/size and runtime.

The guy I gifted my Porter Cable 18v tools to was reassigned to become a Drill Sergeant when I was. We were both in the same brigade in the 3d Infantry Division and went through the school together, so we were acquainted somewhat. He was quite a bit younger than me (25 or so), and one day while in-processing he complained about waking up to severe back pain. We reported to the same company and less than a year later he'd had a botched back surgery and was getting medically retired from the Army, all before getting remotely close to 30 years of age. I've had some back pain over the years, but have been fortunate so far, especially considering my chosen profession. You don't realize how fragile you are until the back pain kicks in, much like you never realize how much you use your hands until you get a small cut or puncture on a finger...

Oregon makes one, I bought a replacement for my Ryobi polesaw a couple of months ago. I believe it's the R33. My Ryobi saw has been pretty good, though it might be a little underpowered for heavy jobs. The original chain has lasted a few years, though, without sharpening.

I think that's a TTI front store. I first went to one in South Carolina (?) probably six years ago and they carried Ryobi then, even having the cooling cooler in stock. I stopped by the one off I-95 Exit 97 in North Carolina last year and they almost exclusively carry TTI brands, with Ryobi and Ridgid featured prominently, a vacuum section with Hoover seconds, and a small section of Milwaukee. I picked up the Ryobi dual inflator but oddly haven't seen it for a few months as I've been throwing stuff everywhere...I mean, packing.

I think they all serve their purpose. I have a few pairs of Snap-On pliers left over from my days as a mechanic. Definitely nice, with some good gripping power. The only Knipex tool I currently own is the pliers wrench, but they have an excellent reputation, as does NWS (I have the Irwin-branded linesman, side cutters, and pistol gripped versions). Besides those I own some Matco, Mac, Craftsman (Western Forge), and numerous other brands. Oh, and almost every style of Channellock made (I kind of went on a binge after Afghanistan). In terms of function, price, in-store availability, and toughness, Channellock has to be one of the best all-around brands. They lack the quality of, say, Knipex or Snap-On, but I do have one mysterious pair of 440s that has a red dipped handle. Oh wait, those are Blue Point pliers made by Channellock for Snap-On's budget brand. If it's good enough for Snap-On it's good enough for me.

I agree, a large whole home generator isn't necessary to weather in place. If I ever have the money in the first place, I really need to do a holistic assessment of my family's needs before buying a backup generator. My neighbor just runs his portable generator during outages and if it's really uncomfortable inside the house he has a large Class A motorhome. Having some form of home protection is a good idea. I flipped through a book in my barber shop years ago that documented the New Orleans gun confiscations during the aftermath of Katrina (I think it was this one). One thing that stood out was the fact that some neighborhoods banded together, blocking roads and having armed patrols to ward off looters and other criminals. In my opinion, neighbors like that are worth their weight in gold, and one thing I love about my house is that it's on a straight dead end street with a lot of gun owners who believe in looking out after each other. I'm currently 35 miles from DC and grew up 80 miles south of here during the '80s. Needless to say, I recall the nuclear blast drills we had in school and thinking that if the bombs dropped we'd be far too close for comfort. There's not a whole lot of strategic targets around Baton Rouge, so it should be safer in such an extreme scenario. Also, the politics are bit...better. Sad to think that a state known for corrupt politicians is preferable to those that have skewed interpretations of Constitutional rights and freedom. Speaking of corrupt politicians, the Mayor of New Orleans during Katrina, Ray Nagin, is himself a convicted felon now. Glad to see he went from gun-grabbing to prison.

That's the old mechanic's trick. Starter solenoid sticking? Tap it with a handle. Headlight bulb blown, smack the lens with your palm. Not a permanent fix, but if it works it works. Unfortunately, your issue is probably only going to become prevalent as mass-produced "quality" tools get more technologically complex. A bump here or there isn't bad, but it's literally hit or miss as to whether the drop will deadline your tool. With relatively primitive corded tools, it would take a broken housing or damaged motor, but now it's the electronics board, battery connection, and (especially for Milwaukee) trigger mechanism we have to worry about.

When I worked in a shop I wasn't so much worried about something getting stolen as I was with it getting permanently borrowed. My coworkers probably had the same mentality: non-employees weren't normally allowed in the shop, but a fellow mechanic might need to borrow an ever-evasive 10mm socket when you're sick. Next thing you know, you need that 10mm and its place on the socket rail is empty. Mechanics are usually very generous with loaning out tools, and most don't consciously steal from their peers, but they have notoriously poor memories sometimes. 😆

My house is an Acadian-style originally intended for the homebuilder and his family. From my understanding, it was the first house built on the street before the developer built the rest of the houses, and he decided to sell it when he had some marital issues. The build quality seems great, though some of the interior lends credence to the story, as despite having a built-in bookcase and desk and a nice brick fireplace, the flooring consisted of cheap linoleum and carpet when I moved in. The design itself offers some protection too: there are few windows compared to most houses its size and the roof overhang protects the exterior walls to an extent. Irma made landfall in Louisiana with 150mph winds but I'll be far enough inland to not have to deal with the full force of storms. I was drinking beer and grilling when TS Lee hit my area with 45mph winds in 2011; I'm sure a storm like Irma might convince me to go inside. As it was, I walked out to the flooded yard and found out real quick that those clumps of floating dirt were actually extremely pissed off fire ants. 🤯 Those of us who plan ahead and try to "beat the storm", so to speak usually benefit from doing so. We see it during every major storm, man-made or natural disaster, and other mass panic inducing event. Empty store shelves, long lines at the gas pumps, and in some cases a 180-degree turn in the temperament of normally polite and helpful people. IN my opinion, too many Americans live their comfortable lives without thought for what will happen tomorrow. I'm even guilty of this...when I went to Louisiana last year we'd already reserved a house and rental van, so when my neighbor told me about the inclement weather moving in I figured "It's South Louisiana, it won't be that bad." Flash forward and we were hunkered down in the Airbnb for three days, fortunately without power loss.

As a former automotive tech/mechanic, I'd prefer a more conventional cart. I picked one of these up at a flea market five years ago and, while it's a bit big, it would have been perfect when I worked in a large shop, especially with a small 3-drawer box on top. The organizer in the picture would be good for a small or cramped auto shop, though, and probably about perfect for some of the facility maintenance areas I worked in as a contracted forklift mechanic. It seems like this still has a ways to go to get put into production, though the link does address a number of potential issues I had with the top picture. The stand is optional, and the organizer itself rotates, so it might be preferable to a drawer-style tool box if you're not worried about theft. I could see having one of these on the back of my golf cart if I went into a distribution center maintenance job.

That's true, but a lot of Americans just want the biggest home they can get for the least amount of money. My house is almost 2000 square feet, with another 600 square feet of built-in garage space. I can't imagine how much a reinforced concrete home that size would cost. Also, going back to cost, a lot of the most storm stricken areas have a large population that lives in trailers. I grew up in one until we upgraded to a townhouse just before I entered my teens, and I lived in one for a couple of years while in the Army. I'm just glad I have a brick and wood home to return to in a few months instead of a sheet metal death trap.

Welcome to the #TIACrew!

I'm onboard with electric OPE but think that banning gasoline powered equipment is ridiculous. It is nice having a quiet and easy to start piece of equipment, as opposed to a noisy pull-start engine, however, battery operated equipment just lacks the runtime and (somewhat) power of its gas counterparts. The prices are high, though thinking about the relative lack of maintenance and the fact that gas and/or oil aren't necessary takes away some of the sticker shock. I used to buy a few gallons of gas each year for my chainsaw and string trimmer and would usually end up with half of the mix leftover at the end of the season. I'm not looking forward to when I have to replace batteries. The EGO 10Ah battery is $450, more than I paid for my mower with 5Ah battery! For this reason I've all but decided to go with a gas ZTR mower later this year. When I was still a year or more from moving, I was checking out the EGO ZTR mower. I can get a similarly featured gas mower for about $1500 less, though, and not have to worry about the $1800 worth of batteries the EGO comes with needing eventual replacement. Checking out EGO's site, they now have a 52" mower with six 12Ah batteries. Given the $5500 price of the 42" with four 10Ah batteries, I'd hate to see how much this costs.

That isn't a bad idea, but I think it would be cost prohibitive for a lot of us. My house is built on a slab and has survived for over 40 years, so barring a tornado passing directly through it I don't think it's going anywhere. I'll admit to lucking out when I bought it, as it is just high enough to avoid flooding. During the 2016 Louisiana floods, an estimated 75% of homes in my parish were a total loss; I was a new Drill Sergeant at Fort Benning, Georgia and could only watch the reports and hope for the best. Looking at flood maps, my house and a few others on the street looked like they were islands. Speaking of tornados, I have considered eventually getting a tornado shelter. The one I linked to would be plenty of space for the family and dogs but smaller ones are often displayed in store in Georgia. I can probably justify an $8k or so shelter, as it could double as a vault for my guns and other valuables. I can only imagine sitting in a shelter surrounded by a hundred firearms and thousands of rounds of ammo while the house is torn apart around us. During the three years I lived down there so far the only major storm was Tropical Storm Lee. Virginia had more hurricanes hit than my house did. When I lived in Coastal Georgia we had a tornado come close, though. I lived in a 100 or so year old shotgun shack with no safe area to shelter in, the power went out, and when I went outside the sky was a weird green color and just seemed odd. A few minutes later the neighbor came over to check on us, telling us a tornado had passed by. Those things are no joke; I'm glad they don't seem to hit South Louisiana as much. Parts of Georgia and Alabama seem to get hit hard each year.

Good choice, I've heard a lot of good things about Makita, though it's one of the few brands I don't own. When I picked up my brushless compact M18 drill kits the store had some similar Makita kits. Both kits were holiday Special Buys that were originally $99 and marked down to $60 and both included a single 2Ah battery. I only had 5Ah M18 batteries at that point and the batteries sold for $79 so it was a no-brainer to buy them. I almost wish I'd have gotten one or two of the Makitas as well, since they had some other tools on clearance last year, but that's how you end up with eight or more different chargers to deal with. 😃

That's quite the spreadsheet, and seems to be based on a decent algorithm. I haven't watched any of Jeff's newer content, for some reason his posts pop up in my YouTube feed almost daily but his videos haven't. Ryobi is in a class of its own. I've seen Ryobi tools on jobsites and my neighbor, who owns an electrical contracting business, owns a One+ drill that he swears by. I own a lot of Ryobi, but not too many core tools. I got the jigsaw during Ryobi Days last year (my DeWalt jigsaw was lent out two years ago...I should probably contact the guy to get it and my router table back before I move) and picked up a Special Buy impact driver that was on clearance, but otherwise mostly own Ryobi's pretty decent non-tools. No other brand offers the breadth of products Ryobi does, they're literally one of the coolest brands out there (really, I think they offer the largest lineup of cordless and hybrid fans). "Buy This, Get That" type deals are hard to pass on if you are in the market. I usually pick up something during Ryobi Days each year as getting two 4Ah batteries, a charger, and a free tool for $99 (the usual deal) is about as good as it gets these days. Of course, I've picked up plenty of Milwaukee M12 tools and batteries during their promos, and my sole 20v Max XR 6Ah battery was free when I bought my first OMT.

I'll buy one next year, but only for body work. 😁

I haven't used any of the V20 tools, but given that so many of them borrowed from existing DeWalt and Port Cable products, I think Craftsman is a decent choice for the hobbyist. I sometimes compare them to Ryobi but a more apt comparison might be to Ridgid.

I don't think they sell a combination stand. I bought the Ridgid rolling stand back when it still went on sale for $99 to mount my FlexVolt miter to. I ended up going with the DeWalt rolling stand for the FlexVolt table saw. The table saw stand is lower and only about as wide as the tool itself.

I only have the DeWalt 12v Max Xtreme 3/8" impact wrench, my other three are M18 Fuel. So, while I can't speak for DeWalt, I can say that if I had to choose between my Fuel mid torque and high torque, I'd go with the latter. I'd rather have and not need than find myself with a tool that can't handle that one job. The newer Fuel (2767) is slightly smaller but more powerful than its predecessor (2763). As a forklift mechanic years ago I had to rely on what I had. My trusty Ingersoll Rand 231 1/2" impact handled almost every job, but on occasion I had to break out the 3/4" Chicago Pneumatic, and if that failed it was a six-foot cheater bar (I broke a few ratchets and breaker bars this way). If I went back on the road tomorrow, I'd definitely take the high torque.

I guess they made a limited run of 117 that sold for $225 a pair, and are now being scalped at over $2k. I moved away from games about the time the Xbox was released, with the exception of playing Grand Theft Auto on occasion, so these are definitely not for me, but I can understand why they are in demand.

Kobalt must have released their 18v system shortly afterward then, as I distinctly remember their changeover from 18v to 20v Max around 2014. IIRC, 18v was a legacy Ni-Cad system with some newer Li-Ion technology, while 20v Max maintained compatibility with those while offering newer tech. Basically, the 1.5Ah and 3.0Ah 18v batteries were upgraded to 2Ah and 4Ah 20v Max. I had a 20v Max impact wrench I gave away when I got my Milwaukee. Kobalt 24v Max tools were released only a couple of years after the 20v ones, though, similar to how PC did their 20v Max to replace 18v.

Yes, a generator is on the short list, and the reason for keeping so much gasoline. Ideally we'll get a backup generator like a Generac, and if needed I'll get a NG or propane tank for it (haven't done a lot of research yet). I did have a generator but someone decided they needed cocaine more than I needed it just before I went to the beautiful Land of the Afghans. I found a bunch of moisture absorbing flood barriers on clearance in a Savannah, GA area Lowe's before I moved from the area in 2016, but passed as I figured they might not be useable by the time I retired. Of course, after a career in the Army I have a small number of sandbags, but my portion of the street has never flooded, even when the 2016 floods claimed 80% of the Parish. Finally, I have nice cypress shutters that match my house columns, but I'm thinking about making functional shutters to protect the interior against hurricane or tornado debris. Heck, I'm even considering installing a tornado shelter inside the house...it's built on a concrete slab, so why not?