I’ve been pretty happy with the Kobalt 24V Max tools. I’ve got almost every tool you can think of, tons of batteries, and have been 3D printing wall mounts for them.
if you ever find yourself craving for a tool from another brand it’s possible to have an adapter for the battery of other brands. Don’t ask me where to find them tho, I’ve just seen them in the wild here and there.
All over the map, but ~7 years ago when I moved into my new house I bought a set of Porter Cable cordless 20V that has served me well. DeWalt table saw and drywall screw gun, Hitachi and Makita nail guns. Bosch router and sander. Old school Milwaukee sawzall. Old American made Craftsman socket set. Makita compressor.
The big issue with the PC is that they just don’t have a very big tool eco-system.
I got the Porter Cable because I previously had a small set of DeWalt tools and felt like I under utilized them over 20 years. So instead of going contractor grade I went more prosumer. In retrospect I wish I’d bought Milwaukee, because I’ve used the hell out of the PC, but they’ve served me well.
I bought most of the porter cable 20v range when Lowe’s clearanced them out right before I bought my house a few years ago figuring they would last me a few years and I could upgrade to one of the pro-sumer brands. I’ve put the drill and impact through hell and they keep coming back for more.
DeWalt. My father in law bought us some battery powered DeWalt tools as a house warming present, and I continued buying more DeWalt battery powered tools as I needed them since I already had the interchangeable batteries and charger. They’ve all worked well for me so far. When I eventually kill my drill bits I’ll get Milwaukee replacements.
For hammers, Estwing is the only option. My workhorse hammer is >40 years old and still in great working condition and I abuse the hell out of hammers.
Ryobi is a great toolset overall. Even light woodworking is perfectly fine. I have maybe 8ish of their tools, ranging from drill to lawnmower and the only one I’d have any real issues with is my table saw.
I have a healthy mix. Hitachi table saw and miter saw, Makita framing nailer, Bostitch trim nailer and roofing nailer, and a Bosch corded circular saw. All my cordless tools are Milwaukee though, since I’m standardized on the M18 battery. Have a cordless drill and impact, jigsaw, hackzall, a bunch of lights, and a circular saw.
A lot of people are commenting about how Ryobi and Milwaukee are owned by the same parent company.
This is true, but in the same way Lexus and Toyota are the same company. Ryobi is intro level and Milwaukee is the professional focused brand. There’s nothing wrong with Ryobi, but Project Farm has repeatedly tested Milwaukee and Ryobi and Milwaukee consistently outperforms. It’s not a "badge engineering"situation.
