Ryobi has announced that they will be bringing a new Airstrike stapler (P360) to their 18V One+ line of cordless power tools. As with their 18V Airstrike brad nailer, the new stapler will feature in-tool air compression to deliver pneumatic-like performance without the need for a noisy compressor or bulky hose.
Features
- Works with 18ga 1/4″ narrow crown staples, 3/8″ to 1-1/2″ in length
- Selectable driving mode – single sequential and bump-fire
- Built-in Grip-Light LED engages when handle is grasped
- Tool-free depth of drive adjustment
- Adjustment dial regulates air pressure
- Non-marring pads
- Dry-fire lockout
- Low staple indicator
- Belt hook
- Improved GripZone overmold for user comfort
The stapler comes with (500) 1″ narrow crown staples, a belt clip, and operating manual. You will need a separate battery and charger to make the tool complete, with starter packages starting at $60.
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The target MSRP is $139, and units have already started appeared at some Home Depot stores.
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We tested and liked the Ryobi Airstrike brad nailer so much that we added it to your Ultimate Tool Gift Guide, and are optimistic that the stapler will be just as good.
Adam
For an opinion on the firing mechanism I can chime in with my experiences. We have been using one of the airstrike brad nailers in our shop for work for a couple of months now and it sees much more use than we initially intended. Originally we bought it for the odd checklist items on site. Sometimes I find myself having to go back and tack on a piece of molding or a kick plate and dragging a compressor into a finished space can be a pain. In the shop we use a central air system so no one is ever far from an air hookup at a work table and we have several air powered brad nailers. However all three of us in the shop have been reaching for the battery powered on on a near daily basis. It has become the go to tool because there are so many times it is nice not to be tethered to an air hose. It works best with a fresh battery and it is almost like it needs to warm up a couple of shots into scrap when you first pick it up for the day. It will miss fire when the battery gets past the half mark we find. We use two batteries with the extra always on the charger. We do all our cabinets out of 3/4 ply and hard maple. No problems what so ever sinking 2″ brads all day long. Have also shot them into 4/4 oak on a project and this performed just as well as the air nailers. Maybe we just got a good one but this strike mechanism seems to perform quite well and we will get another one of the brad nailers and perhaps this stapler when it comes out.
Adam
As a side note this is the only Ryobi tool we have in the company so I dont feel we are biased towards the brand.
Jon
I am biased toward Ryobi. I emailed them after they announced their brad nailer asking them to do a stapler version. I’m disappointed, though, because part of my suggestion/request was that it support a wider crown than 1/4″ because that narrow crown doesn’t work for hanging siding (you have to span the nail strip so that the panel can expand and contract with changing conditions). I also said it would be priceless for it to have a very slim profile tip so it can be used to hang soffit j-channel. (The safety has to sit to the side of the nose instead of above it, if that makes sense, or else you have to stretch and potentially kink the j-channel in order to get the head into it.) Compare the tip on this Ryobi (and nearly every other pneumatic stapler, especially the big Max and Hitachi models) to the one on this Omer gun which is FANTASTIC for soffit: http://www.metrostaple.com/products/images/19_3G.16.jpg
There is a common assumption that the wider crown staples require more air, but they don’t. That Omer gun is even smaller than the little $20 Harbor Freight narrow crown stapler.
I also wish they made a 16 gauge brad nailer so I could use it for fiber cement siding and trim repairs. James Hardie wouldn’t honor the warranty if I used 18 gauge brads. When doing a repair on a single piece of trim 30 feet up in the air a cordless gun would be priceless.
Maybe if enough people buy these two airstrike guns they will see the demand and make another model or two. 🙂
Jon
I just noticed the belt clip. A little small for my preference, but I’m glad they recognized the need for one. I wish they had included one on my impact driver.
fred
Any thoughts about you trying both (brad gun and stapler) of these out for us and/or compiling a comparison chart for this versus its competition? We had never invested in any of the cordless nail /brad guns – opting instead for using Paslode Impulse tools where they made sense. I recall that we did get a Makita 18V 3/8 crown stapler bundled in a package we bought – but I don’t think we found it very useful in our lines of work. I’m thinking that maybe these Ryobi’s are cheap enough to give them a try.
Stuart
I have the Airstrike brad nailer on hand and it performed well in testing. A comparison is possible, but probably wouldn’t be a very high priority in the near future. Right now I do have my Ridgid pneumatic brad nailer in storage, and could try to get my hands on a non-pneumatic cordless model for comparison. I prefer the build quality and feel of my Ridgid, but the convenience of the Ryobi Airstrike is hard to argue against.
I am really not a fan of fuel cell nailers, so an Airstrike vs. Paslode comparison is probably out of the question.
I like the Airstrike nailer a lot, and it’s a lot more affordable to buy into than Senco’s Fusion nailers. Depending on how well the Airstrike does (so far we have heard great things), maybe we will see the technology make its way into Ridgid or Milwaukee cordless lines down the road.
fred
Thanks again for your insights
I also would prefer not to use fueled nailers and staplers. They bring with them what I think of as now old technology – smelly gas discharge and more need for maintenance than pneumatics. I can see the possibility of new design battery-operated drivers making big inroads – and I’m also thinking that once Senco Fusion is off-patent we will see more affordable options (sort of like the oscillating multi-tool business) – but who wants to wait.
Robert
I have had or otherwise used a number of Ryobi 18v tools over the years. My experience with the tools themselves has been generally positive. That’s especially true when considering their price point relative to other brands. There’s always someone, I’m surprised one hasn’t surfaced yet, who immediately points out all the shortcomings of something like this relative to their Paslode, Porter Cable, etc. Of course, an ounce of common sense indicates that they’re comparing apples to oranges.
That said, if I’ve learned anything about battery operated tools in general, I’ve learned this. The power source is almost of more significance than the performance of the tool itself. A tool like this is only as good as the power you have to operate it. I realize that batteries have come a long way in recent years. Admittedly, my last investment in a battery operated tool has been prior to most of the recent developements. One thing I’ve experienced with Ryobi tools in the past however, is that their batteries left a lot to be desired. The tools may have performed in some cases up to a semi-contractor grade. The length of runtime on their batteries however, knocked them straight down to the homeowner/hobbyist level.
Before someone starts singing the praises of lithium batteries, I’ve already tried 2 of Ryobi’s lithiums. In both cases, I was forced to return them to Home Depot for being defective. I would wager that DeWalt’s success with 18v tools could be even more attributed to the performance of their batteries than the tools themselves. Not to suggest that their tools are otherwise shabby.
Perhaps Ryobi has found better sources for higher performance batteries. Maybe the current technology has brought them up to a level that is finally worthy of a semi-contractor grade performance. Again, I’m referring to the batteries, not necessarily the tools. I have to agree with Stuart’s previous assessments about the consumer oriented Porter Cable tools vs Ryobi. If Porter Cable was offering something similar in a similar or slightly higher price range, I would promptly forget about the Ryobi. If on the other hand their batteries are now performing up to a decent spec, this might be a consideration for a handyman or any serious DIY’er.
fred
This issue is by no means limited to only 1 brand. I’m semi-retired (still invested in the business but out of day to day operation) now for about 1 year – but when I was buying 18v Makita LXT batteries – we’d buy them in lots of 10 – and sometimes get ones that developed a bad cell – that prevented recharging them. I recall that batteries said made in Japan – but I’m not sure if there was only one OEM. this was early on in our adoption of the LXT lineup – and we were often frustrated by batteries that would initially not charge or took several tries (pull it out – push it back in) to get the charger to not say the battery was bad. I heard later that the issue was that the charger monitored only 1 cell – and sometimes was flukey. Over several years of using Makita 18V tools – the problem seemed to have been resolved – but I never saw any battery recall or offer to replace defective batteries so most of the cost of bad batteries got chalked up to the cost of doing business.
Over the years we also bought a few bad batteries for out M12 tools – some made in Korea and some made in China. As I recall the ones that were bad – would not take a charge right away – so they got returned.
Stuart
Ryobi’s newest 4Ah 18V Li-ion batteries seem to be okay, except maybe for those affected by a recall earlier in the year.
I have had issues with Porter Cable’s earlier 18V Li-ion batteries, and am aware of a QC issue with their 20V Max 4.0Ah batteries that was squashed before product models were sent out to dealers. I have heard more than once of issues with Dewalt’s 18V Li-ion battery packs.
Battery reliability seems to have gotten better as the tech evolved. These days I don’t really hear too many loud and widespread complaints about any brands’ batteries. Most brands seem to have stopped sourcing cells from the lowest bidders and have integrated a lot of electronics into their tools and battery packs to help prevent damage to the cells.
Jon
I guess I’m just lucky as every Ryobi battery I’ve owned has worked flawlessly. I couldn’t be happier with the performance of the system. I will be switching to their Milwaukee line in the future because there are a number of tools there that Ryobi doesn’t offer. When I do I will miss the tremendous value of Ryobi.
Robert
In my experience, defective batteries are only part of the equation. Even in the absence of defect, Ryobi batteries have a history of professionally inadequate run times. In the real world where the rubber meets the road, they haven’t provided a length of service per charge that equated with anything beyond casual usage.
As stated previously, I don’t know how their batteries have performed in more recent offerings, but previous models have left a bunch to be desired.
Jon
I used my Ryobi day-in and day-out alongside guys who used DeWalt and Makita systems when I was doing architectural sheet metal installation (mostly metal roofing). These guys laughed at my Ryobi impact driver until they saw how well it kept up and heard how little I paid. Then when they learned that mine had about 25-40% more power than theirs (depending on the specific models) and could drive massive screws that theirs couldn’t, they shut up.
I also spent FAR less time swapping batteries than they did. I rarely had to swap more than twice per day, while they had an almost Globetrotters-style routine for passing batteries back and forth between the roof and ground for charging. I really couldn’t be happier with the performance. I bought it to hold me over until I could get a “real” system (Bosch or Milwaukee), but I can’t justify replacing this until it dies and it won’t die.
While we were at Home Depot tonight my wife started playing with the demo impact drivers and drills. She couldn’t seem to get the DeWalt impact driver to take a bit, so I picked it up to show her how. I couldn’t believe that the MUCH more expensive DeWalt still requires two hands (or remarkable dexterity with one) to set a bit. The Ryobi stays open waiting until a bit is inserted and then instantly snaps closed. More expensive, less power, and less convenient. (I don’t care for their feel in my hand, either.) Crazy.
Hilton BigDog
I was told @ HD that the crown stapler uses both Brad and crown … is that true? No where on the box does it say the crown stapler can use Brad nails also … If so that be great.
Stuart
I don’t know where they’re getting the information from. The fact sheet I have, which came straight from Ryobi, says that the stapler is compatible with 18ga 1/4″ narrow crown staples. There is no mention of brad nails.
Jason
I think they might be thinking of the old discontinued stapler that could shoot both staples and brads and wasn’t very good either. The AirStrike stapler is a totally new and different tool. They also make an AirStrike brad Nailer too but they are built just to do either staples or nails they are not interchangeable except for the battery platform.
http://www.ryobitools.com/catalog/18v_oneplus/specialty_tools/P300
D.White
Is there a storage case for the airstrike brad/crown nailer/ stapler?
swinefeaster
Do you know if this tool can be used to staple asphalt roof shingles? I’m going to need to redo my roof and I’m wondering if I can use this bad boy. Maybe I need to get a special kind of nails?
Thanks
JMG
Most roofing staplers use one inch crown staples. I highly doubt that a narrow crown stapler would have the necessary holding power for an asphalt shingle. The shingles are too soft for such a thin pressure surface. In fact, many municipalities have banned the use of staples, of any type when it comes to roofing materials, and require the use of round head nails.
You might find yourself a used coil roofing nailer (or rent one), if you feel the need for speed when re-roofing your house. But the first thing you should do is check your local building codes to see what is acceptable in the way of fasteners.
Paul Taylor
Could someone tell me if this tool would be suitable for pinning 1/2″ ply to a subfloor, securely (without the staples loosening over time) and ensuring below-surface fixing (so the indent could be filled)?
TWG
You get what you pay for. This stapler has many limitations. It’s heavy, it does not work in cool temperatures below 40 degrees F, and even at room temperature it tends to mis-fire too frequently. The push-rod that fires the staples would not recycle in temps below 40 degrees even after I disassembled and degreased the unit. May be OK for DYI but not for job-site production work. Best to pony up for a Paslode or other contractor grade tool. Best thing about it was HD’s terrific Return Policy. No questions asked!