King DORK

There's no doubt that I prefer Ridgid for my cordless platform, but as stated, I own very few of their corded tool. I'm a fanboy of good tools regardless of who makes them. Appreciate your opinion though...

Without starting a crap throwing contest here, I STRONGLY disagree with this statement. I've been a contractor for over 20 years. Owned/used every brand out there. Originally switched to Ridgid because it was the new kid on the block and I really wanted to more easily find my tools on a jobsite among the sea of yellow and red, but once I started using them I never had a reason to go back. I see comments like your's all the time on forums and usually it's an opinion based statement, unless you can provide statements from Ridgid themselves stating that their tools are geared towards/marketed for "consumer grade" users. Then I would happily tuck my tail between my legs and submit. Unfortunately, most tradesmen were brought up believing if a tool isn't yellow, red, or blue that it's inferior. Kinda like convincing a diehard Harley rider that Japanese bikes have a right to be on the road too. Now believe me, I own very few Ridgid tools outside of their cordless line, unlike a typical Dewalt fanboy who will not buy any tool, corded or cordless, drill bits, driver bits, underwear, etc unless it's Dewalt brand. Opinions are just that, opinions. My opinion is that Dewalt cordless is crap. But again that's my opinion, however I do own many Dewalt corded tools. So for sake of conversation, most Dewalt/Milwaukee/Makita fanboys will always view Ridgid as some red headed stepchild. Nonetheless, I respect all brands and will not shoot anyone down for using what they prefer. Tool on fellas!

I have a 10oz Stiletto wood handle hammer that is what is always on my tool belt and easily my favorite among hammers that I own/have owned. I also have a 12oz Stiletto fiberglass handle and a 15oz Stiletto Ti-bone which are awesome as well.

Hard to go wrong with any of the contractor grade tools. If already into a battery platform their flagship model is just as good as any of the others. I've been into every model over the years. Switched to Ridgid cordless tools when they first came out and have yet to suffer a let down.

I got the Ridgid R84086B mini bluetooth radio to replace my older Ridgid mini radio. Nice little radio. Has bluetooth, USB charge port, and station memory, which none were on the older model. Sound is better on the new radio, but the older one was louder. Batteries don't last near as long on the new radio if charging a phone as well which is to be expected. I just slap a 9.0 Octane battery in it and don't have to worry about it all week. It helps my day when listening to music so I really like this radio.

Wow! I bought 2 of the 9.0 batteries a couple of weeks ago. They were on sale for $99. These batteries are savage beasts. Tried them in many of my tools and I'm super impressed. Yes, they're big but tools have tons of power and I haven't depleted one of them yet. These new Octane tools and batteries have won me over big time.

Picked up 2 new Ridgid 9.0 batteries. Not much smaller than a toaster (haha) so they should pack some major run time.

Picked up 2 of the 9.0 batteries last night. Anxious to get them in this bad boy drill and tear some stuff up.

Jimbo, I switched from Milwaukee to Ridgid when they first came out (nicad/nimh days) and have no plans on going back. Not saying Ridgid is better or vice versa, but Ridgid is definitely the best bang for the buck when it comes to contractor grade tools. Honesty, I like having the different tool color on jobs. Makes it harder to get my stuff confused with most other's tools. The Octane line appears to be quite improved similar to when Milwaukee released their "Fuel" line and now Gen3. A lot of people complain about the Ridgid lifetime service plan being difficult to complete. I strongly disagree. If you can read your receipt and serial numbers on the tools, the process is really simple. Even if it was a tad difficult, no other company even offers it. Of ALL of my Ridgid tools over all of the years I had them I had one cordless drill randomly shut off from time to time and one battery fade out, both after several years of jobsite use and abuse. I didn't use the warranty service. I was happy enough. My partner is a Milwaukee guy and we constantly use each other's tools. He's mentioned on many occasions that if he had it to do over again he'd have gone Ridgid due to the equal performance, but much better price point. To each his own. Many slam Ridgid despite never using them but that usually just makes me laugh a bit. Use what you like and what works for you and you'll have a good productive day.

A little more time with this drill and absolutely loving it. Still shocks me grabbing a big handful of trigger. The old saying "too much power is just enough" totally applies. Years ago if someone told me that cordless drills were going to have over 1000 inch pounds of torque I would've asked what they were smoking, and if I can have some too.

I have no problem spending a lot more on a tool if it's going to be used regularly, however, this will be used for this job then only on rare occasions after that so I can't justify $1500 or more for a Bosch, Hilton, etc. Thanks for the input guys.

Any experience with this? Need one for a small (5×7) concrete patio and 2 poured steps. Don't mind buying this being pretty inexpensive and would have it for not so frequent future demo projects. Goods and bad if y'all have experience please. Thanks!

Have one of these on the way that my wife surprised me with. Been picking up equipment for a small home workshop (planer, jointer, bandsaw, belt/spindle sander, etc) and this is the planer that I really wanted after reading more reviews and watching more videos than I can remember. How are y'all's experiences with this planer?

My wife picked this hammer drill/driver for me a couple of weeks ago. So far I've used it a couple of times drilling holes in cabinets with varying hole saws. Drill is incredibly powerful compared to my other brushless Ridgid drills which are no slouches. Heard about issues with the clutch loosening during use but so far haven't noticed this. Battery fit (the 3.0 Octane battery that was included in the kit) is a bit off compared to my other Ridgid drills and impact drivers. Even when snapped in the battery has a little more than 1/8" of forward/backwards movement. It's not loose and you have to try to move it. Hasn't caused an issue with performance so it's just something for me to keep an eye on. All in all, the drill is a savage so far. Definitely utilize the auxiliary handle when using hole saws because if the hole saw gets stuck you'll pray that your grip lets go before your arm gets twisted off. Great addition to my deep Ridgid cordless platform.

While I have owned Dewalt cordless tools in the past, they are not my cordless tools of choice currently, with the exception of their cordless drywall gun which I absolutely love. I don't even reach for my corded Hilton anymore. I do still have my first Dewalt circular saw that I bought over 25 years ago and it works great. I do really like Dewalt miter saws. Of my 5 miter saws, 3 of them are Dewalt (10", 12" dual bevel, and recently bought the DW799 12" dual bevel slider). I was ready to spring for the 12" Bosch axial glide saw but ended up picking up the Dewalt for $329 which I couldn't pass up. After a few minor adjustments to square everything up I'm really pleased with it. I have a few Dewalt corded angle grinders too that have served me well. Rounding out my Dewalt stuff are my 4.5 gallon wheeled compressor for big jobs and the "Ultimate" trim compressor for my trim jobs. That little fella is great.

2nd the question regarding the regulated pressure. I run my flooring stapler at 95-100 psi and have no issues with 3/4" oak or hickory.

Great deal on the Dewalt 735x (in feed and out feed tables/extra set of knives) planer and Dewalt planer stand included on the way, courtesy of my wife. Been eyeballing this planer for a while so I'm pretty excited. Don't know what I do to deserve it, but she spoils me when it comes to my "tool cravings ".

I bought this sander and really wanted to like it. First use of about 5 minutes it felt as if it was suction cupped to the board and was very difficult to move around. Next try it only vibrated like a 1/4 sheet sander and wouldn't spin. Took it back that day.

I love Ridgid's orange/black scheme, but I do feel extra cool when I bust out my black Ridgid tools.

I've been a contractor for over 20 years. I use cordless drills, saws, and impact drivers daily. Ridgid is without a doubt a full on contractor grade tool. Of course Ridgid has a few tools in their line that I wouldn't use if they were given to me, but every brand has a handful of lemon tools. I can not defend them in regards to having far less bare tools available in their lineup. But I have just about anything I could need with them. Most of the cordless tools that are not available with Ridgid, I find that many of them really shouldn't be cordless anyway. In my personal job trailer I have a minimum of 5 cordless drills, 5 cordless impact drivers, cordless impact wrench, 2 cordless 7&1/4 circular saws, 2 cordless reciprocating saws, 2 cordless angle grinders, cordless hand planer, cordless jigsaw, and their jobsite fan. The rest of the tools (corded) in my trailer are represented by most of the other brands so I do not only buy Ridgid. Milwaukee, Dewalt, and Makita all have very good cordless tools, but I would not trade my cordless Ridgid platform even if I could for free.

I like that!

Wife came home yesterday and asked if I could bring the groceries in. When I opened the back of the car, along with the grocery bags was Ridgid's new Octane hammer drill kit "just because". I call myself a "brand whore" because I have all brands of tools in my trailer. Since Ridgid first hit the shelves though they have been my go to cordless line with which I'm deeply invested in, use daily, and totally happy with. I do have a large collection of the Milwaukee M12 tools as well which I pull out for small jobs. New Octane drill is a beast with a good amount of heft to it which is one of the reasons that I've always liked them. Didn't care for all of the other manufacturers trying to make tools overly light. Will be putting the Octane through it's paces tomorrow. Can't wait.

Seeing that this is an old post I'm gonna assume you got it out. However if you didn't, chuck the rapid load in an impact driver, put a rag or something else over the unibit to protect it, grab the unibit with a pair of channel locks, and give the impact driver just a quick squeeze in reverse. Anything that I've gotten stuck in one of those has always come loose by doing this. Hope this helps.

I'm very curious about this as well.