Cordless Drill

"Best" is always determined by usage. I like the Ryobis. For occasional use, any of the cheapies may be adequate, and possibly considered disposable, should they fail. A tradie would possibly sneer at the Ryobi, and name any number of much more expensive, but more robust tools.

As already said, usage is an important consideration as is value for money, but so is best quality. Remember the old saying .... the poor man buys twice.

From my past experiences, I believe that buying the best quality you can afford is usually the best option. I'm a firm believer in the 18v Dewalt range of portable power tools. I've just up-graded all mine from the 12v to the 18v gear. Very happy with them, especially now with the Lithium Iron batteries which gives great battery life and no memory. Yes they are more expensive than some, but I've never had one issue with any Dewalt tool over many years.

If you cant afford the better quality power tools new, try the better porn shops. They offer great value as they now give a warrenty, test the units before selling them, and sell at a greatly reduced price. Only thing I suggest is, always buy the "brushless" Lithium Iron battery models.

Good luck with your choice.
Capt.

It's a bit of a "Ford v Holden" type question.

I have a pile of Makita 18v tools, including 3 drills, a 1/2" impact driver, a vacuum, a recipricating saw, 3x angle grinders etc. Love their stuff.

Makita is always a winner but have a good look at AEG. I've got the full set e.g grinder, impact driver, cut off saw and can't fault it. Gets used plenty and for the price its a winner

Its a pity that your budget wasn't a bit higher. Milwaukee are among the best.I,ve had, including the Makitas, DeWaltt, Ryobi and some of the el-cheapo brands. Had the Milwaukee sets now for about 4 years and they have performed twice as good as any of the ones I mentioned. They get an absolute flogging as well. You get what you pay for. You wont see too many Milwaukee sets at a repairers..

G'day harlyalice h
I bought a Worx 20 volt lithium ion battery drill a few years ago and take it with me whenever I go on a trip. I bought it mainly to raise and lower the stabilizing legs on my van as being arthritic I found it hard to get down and up with the hand winder, but found it handy for many other jobs with the forward and reverse, electronic speed control and selectable torque, of which there is plenty. It is small and comes with two quick charge batteries, battery charger, all in a carrying case and costing just below $300. I use it for all types of jobs away and at home, the best investment I ever made.
Peter 1

A couple of years ago we were away on holidays and I wanted a cheep cordless drill for some reason or another and didn't have my Makita one with us, bought a 24 volt Aldi on special for $95.00. This is without a doubt the best cordless drill I have ever owned. The sticker on the box states that it was chosen the best cordless by Choice and I don't know how they did their particular tests but if I ever saw another 24 volt product of theirs I would have no hesitation buying another. Has very good battery life and metal gear box and with the usage I give it feels as if it could last forever and will last me out.

Blow the budget and hang the cost, buy a Festool T 18 Li Cordless Drill/Driver 5.2Ah with all the attachments and you'll have to leave it in your will .

Had loads of milwakies at work all did not last changed over to aeg we have about 5 drills rattle gun 2 grinders and the multi tool all going well we have only killed 1 or 2 over 5 or 6 years the trick is to get a good amp hour battery 4 ah is good 6 better thats where the cost is and as was said before go for brushless
Steve

What do you want to do with it?....if it's winding caravan legs up, I'd get a 1/2" drive impact wrench instead, something better suited to the job then a drill....a normal impact driver will do the job also, but the wrench is a better choice IMO.
As far as brand goes, any of the well known names will do the job mentioned above....if you are after an actual drill for something else like drilling holes, then the AH battery size is something you'll need to look at closely

Another interesting thought!
We had a fellow come and put up a shed for us. I was looking at his gear and noticed that all his cordless tools were of the cheaper brands. XU1, Rockwell etc.
I mentioned this and his reply was simple. When apprentices drop any cordless drill from a height onto the concrete floor they pretty well all bounce (or not!) the same!
When they're left out in the rain they mostly suffer the same problems as the more expensive ones and when they're stolen from being left out over night it's not such a big deal!
More importantly, most of these cheaper tools come with at least one year and quite often, two years warranty. If he gets half the warranty he's happy.
Personally, I'm a Makita boy, but over the years I've discovered that the only problem you'll have is with the batteries, especially the old types.

It is hard to say without knowing what you want to do with it.

Nine years ago I bought a cheap rechargeable 12V drill from an auto accessory shop solely for puncture repairs in the bush. I then converted it to run off the car battery.

In order to do that I cut the battery off the end of the handle, drilled a small hole through the side of the handle; poked two wires through it and tied a knot in them so the wires could not pull on the original battery terminals. The loose ends of the wires were then soldered to the terminals up inside the handle while the other ends of the wires were attached to the car battery with alligator clips.. The open end of the handle was then sealed with tape.

So far I have not used it but two friends recently borrowed it to replace the entire corrugated iron roof on a house after taking a car battery up the ladder with them. That would probably be the equivalent of me fixing about 400 punctures.

If it is just for occasional use then you don't need an expensive one.

as others say it depends on what you are going to do>
But ya realy cant go past Milwaukee ......

I have an 18 volt hammer drill and it's a joy to use and good warranty 5 years on the tool 2 years on the battery..... plenty of go ...never thaught Id ever buy a battery hammer drill .... heaps of torque on low speed.

I recently replaced my lighter drills with Milwaukee 12 volt ... very nice and not too expensive

Currently you will get into the lighter 18v hammer drill in a kit with charger and 2 x 3 ah batteries for around $285

In 12 volt you can get the driver drill and the light impact driver in a kit with 2 x 1.5ah batteries and charger for $200

The 12 volt hammer drill with 2x 2ah batteries and charger for $265.

It's argued that milwaukee has the best battery system on the market ..... electronics in the pack to prevent over discharge & such
cheers

If you see a Milwaukee kit in your $ range you won't be disappointed...quality HD gear in my view...strong, well made and finished. I bought a $500 kit a few years back...drill, impact driver*, detachable right angle handle (fits both tools) 3 batteries, smart charger and a flash, robust compartmented carry bag...all up good value to me.
*talk about grunt...you need to watch your trigger finger when using that beast.

Roofers flog drills ..Makita seem popular with them ...which indicates reliability ..Hitachi are good as well .

GMC... wait a minute.... they went bust... Okay then Metabo... the ants pantz.

Plenty of good quality stuff these days.
I went with Makita and on a big trips I take:
- Makita 36V chainsaw
- Makita 18V drill
- Makita 18V 115mm Angle Grinder in case the shit hits the fan
- Makita 18V vacuum cleaner for SWMBO
- Makita 18V blower to blow the dust off the doors
Just take the one charger, 300W inverter and two 4Ah batteries.
I've baulked at the Makita cordless coffee machine
Just buy the drill and add the extra skins later.

So there you go harlyalice.

Your first and only post to this forum. You ask a question, with almost no information, about drills on a CAMPING AND TOURING FORUM and surprise surprise you get around 25 recommendations including just about every brand there is, ranging from $50 specials that last a week to $700 super professional tradesmen tools. So that should narrow it down a little.


Surprise surprise.

You could be onto something here! Dewalt 4x gold, Milwaukee say Emu export, hitachi VB anyway the list could go on?? I prefer 4x gold sorry dewalt got all sorts never let me down . My first one was a 12v but when the new 18v came along I upgraded so I put a 7m twinflex lead and some clamps/fittings and keep it in the camper ok its not cordless but works great and that drill is 19 years old. Buy quality.

I was going down the path of the colours of the tools and the labels, I take it you don't like 4x gold?

This is my cordless drill, goes forever without batteries