When Keyana Sapp, 31, went shopping for a new backpack, the brands he remembered as a kid were just not the same.
He researched the companies, from North Face to JanSport and Eastpak, and soon realized they were all owned by the VF Corporation after a wave of acquisitions in the 2000s. After a Reddit post he made about his discovery picked up traction, he started looking at other types of consumer goods – cookware, shoes, tools, clothing.
“It seems like that was a story that just repeated in every industry,” Sapp told the Guardian.
Bah I looked through that and I’d call it bogus. The site likes expensive yuppie brands and makes some weird calls. Avoid Ridgid power tools since they’ve gotten worse due to the TTI acquisition? Um no, there were no Rigid power tools before the acquisition–they only made hand tools. The power tool line has been TTI from the start. They have good and bad points like everything else but the manufacturer has always been TTI.
Klein (approved)? Maybe the company still has its original ownership but the tools have gotten worse according to user reports. They just stick their label on the usual imported stuff now.
Several other things like that.
That’s not what it says about Ridgid.
They don’t say the power tools got worse. They say that the power tools don’t have the quality that the hand tools were known for, because they’re just a licensing agreement to slap the name on price point built stuff rather than actually built by the same company.
They don’t ever say that Ridgid made power tools before TTI. They say the exact opposite.
I disagree with them about the quality of Ridgid power tools, because they’re great for the price and have a lifetime warranty.
Ah ok, Ridgid licensed its brand name to TTI for use in power tools. Same deal though, Ridgid brand power tools have always been made by TTI. No idea if Rigid hand tools are especially great. All tools are built to price points, especially power tools.
Home Depot has a good-better-best thing where Ryobi is the economy line, Ridgid in the middle, and Milwaukee at the top, but all are made by TTI. TTI also makes Hart (Walmart house brand) and other brands too. I have some Ryobi tools and a few Milwaukee and I’m satisfied with everything. The main thing I hate is battery incompatibility between brands, but you can bypass some of that with adapters.
I’m unconvinced that the high end stuff like Hilti or Snap-on is really better. What you get with those brands is a high level of fleet service. Like if you have a factory using Hilti tools and one of the tools breaks or becomes due for maintenance, the operator just puts it in a box and gets another from the inventory. Once a month the Hilti rep comes around, swaps out the box of broken/worn tools for new ones, and takes the box back to Hilti for repair.
Torque Test Channel is a good YT channel for tools. AvE (Arduino vs Evil) is entertaining some of the time but I don’t watch it that much any more. AvE used to do a lot of teardowns of TTI and other power tools.
My grandpa used to only use Ridgid hand tools for plumbing. That’s about all I know about them lol.
But yeah, Ridgid is great for a homeowner or hobbyist, but doesn’t quite stand up to something like Milwaukee for a pro.
I would not put it in the avoid list. Ridgid is perfectly fine, they have a huge selection, they’re powerful enough, and they warranty is killer. They’re about all I buy for cordless tools, but I’m also just a DIY homeowner and not a contractor. But I’ve also not tried their new Nuke like which is supposed to be “pro grade”.
I just wish they’d put a rack and pinion fence on their table saw before I buy one. When I upgrade from my 15 year old ryobi, it’ll probably be dewalt unless Ridgid upgrades that fence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Techtronic_Industries
The reason they’re not as good as Milwaukee is because they’re made by the same company, and they want the Milwaukee brand to mean “better tool”
They’ll purposely avoid making the Rigid or Ryobi tools too good so people have to buy the Milwaukee stuff.
I try to buy mostly Makita, cause they’re high quality, and not built by a conglomerate.
I’ve got both Rigid and Milwaukee corded and cordless tools. My drills, saws and batteries from 2011 are still cranking along and the newer stuff is fine too.
I got the rigid stuff from my dads when he passed, he was a carpenter/handyman and chose rigid because of the price performance at the time. (Early 2000s).
Ryobi is the lowest price and focuses on consumer level, Rigid is mid teir and easier to warranty at HD, and Milwaukee is premium priced and had higher power specialty things like impactwrenches, and power cable crimpers.