Last year I bought a Ridgid cordless drill for review, in hopes that we could help you make better sense of all the cordless drill special buys and promos at home centers and online retailers.
Let me tell you, that Ridgid was one very powerful cordless drill, and possibly the best bargain of all the other drill promos last year.
Well, it’s now a year later, and although I had that Ridgid drill hanging off a workshop shelf by its belt clip, I’ve barely used it since my initial testing and review. Despite the Ridgid’s power, I gravitated more towards a heavy duty Dewalt 20V Max model, or different brands’ 12V-class drills, or different brands’ compact models that need continued testing.
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So why am I keeping it?
I also reviewed Craftsman’s V20 cordless drill. But I also bought the drill and impact 2pc kit to compare against Ryobi’s drill and impact 2pc kit that sold for the same $99 price. So why am I keeping that Craftsman drill around?
I lost track of a couple of hammer samples, forgot I had them, and then purchased all-new samples for upcoming reviews and comparisons.
Things have gotten out of hand.
I have holiday season “special buys” from several years ago.
I still have a Dewalt DCF885 cordless impact driver with a 2011 date code. Sure, they still sell that model, but have the specs changed at all over the years? Dewalt has made rolling changes to some of their other tools, why not this one too?
So, I started to clean up.
This isn’t all the tape measures I have on hand, these are the ones that were in reserve or in a “brand and style exploration” pile.
My storage situation is a problem.
Today I dropped off some tools to the local high school’s wood shop, and I know they’ll distribute to the STEM and theater departments. I said goodbye to the Ridgid air nailers I won in a giveaway a little more than a year before I started ToolGuyd.
So, we’ve got a mystery box giveaway going on (ending 11/7) and a bigger specialty tool giveaway went live today (ends 11/12).
There are projects and elaborate testing that I haven’t been able to get to, or work on quick enough, due to lack of space. Photography takes space. Videos take space. I’ve let the problem compound over 11 years and it’s time to remedy it.
In other news, following is some of what I posted to social media this week.
If you’d like to follow along with this week’s posts, here are links to our channels:
Instagram: ToolGuyd_Stuey
Facebook: ToolGuyd
Twitter: ToolGuyd
Here are follow/like/subscribe links again if you’re inclined:
Instagram: ToolGuyd_Stuey
Facebook: ToolGuyd
Twitter: ToolGuyd
Tim E. says
I’d love to see an updated comparison between brands’ various “series” of tape measures. Milwaukee is up to something like 7 or 8 different types of tape measures now, compact magnetic, wide magnetic, stud II, stud magnetic, autolock, compact, wide… even assuming similar ones like the various wides have the same tape itself and just different hooks, it can be hard to pick. Especially since Home Depot doesn’t seem to carry more than a couple of them. Dewalt I’m admittedly not as familiar with, but they and Stanley also seem to have an increasing number of different types of tapes. I remember articles as new ones have come out comparing them to other models in the line, which was really useful, just there’s been so many new versions of things lately, it’s a little insane.
I saw that Craftsman tape set in Lowe’s yesterday and almost bought it, but even for $10, I just couldn’t justify it. They didn’t feel nearly as sturdy as the Milwaukee 25’ tapes from all the years of holiday specials (which makes sense being 4x the price per tape) and I can’t see these lasting long enough to be worth it. Maybe if I reserved them for around the house type measuring (If I move this picture will it fit here, how wide is this space if I wanted to put a shelf here, etc.), they’d last and be worth it. But I have so many tapes laying around, just couldn’t justify it. I did get the craftsman 9ft tape, expressly because of the magnet on the back, I can stick it on the fridge or one of the whiteboards and have it nicely accessible. I didn’t think of that until I saw it in store, had the same thought about no belt clip… hmm. But it’s hanging happily and unobtrusively on the fridge, and seems like that’ll be quite convenient.
Stuart says
The way Milwaukee has done things, it’s actually pretty straightforward to pick a tape.
If you don’t know your preferences, buy a holiday season promo 2-for-1 pack. Even if you do, those 2-packs are a great value (which is why I ended up with so many).
But as you mentioned, some styles are more popular and at times better values.
The Craftsman 4pc set for $10 are lightweight tapes, but sometimes that’s all you need. 4 tapes for the price of 1 PowerLock.
Finding my Komelon tapes were good – I probably won’t give those away, at least not the 16′, it feels like a cross between Stanley and Dewalt tape grades without being bulky.
Robert says
You have been busy!
Have you/are you going to give us a tour of your workspace?
Stuart says
Maybe when it’s a workshop again!
Probably little snippets. Until then, there’s more work and cleaning to be done.
Joey says
Thank you for sharing extra tools with the local schools. All schools have budget problems and this is a great way of helping them out. Keep up the good work!
Grady says
I Think That’s My Toolbox Drawer With The Tape Measures.
Nathan says
One thing I look forward to with Dewalt Atomic – is that it’s their version of Makita sub compact 18v.
In that it’s a 12V class size tool on the 20V platform since I only have 20V batteries. I like this idea. Yes my chargers will tolerate either the 12 or the 20 I have no 12V batteries and the cost to get into one is spendy for what it would do for me. Also want them to make a 20V model of the MAC Ratchet but that’s a pipedream.
anyway look forward to seeing more.