Home Depot always has a Ridgid shop vac on sale every holiday season, and this year’s no different. Just like last year, Home Depot has kicked off their Black Friday 2015 Ridgid wet/dry vac deal a week or so ahead of time.
Right now, you can buy this Ridgid 16-gallon vacuum for just $39.88.
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Here’s what you get with the Ridgid WD1636 vacuum:
- 16-gallon tank
- 5.0 peak HP motor
- 7 ft x 1-7/8″ hose
- 2 extension wands, utility nozzle, pleated paper filter
- 15 ft power cord
- blower port
- casters
- integrated handles
- built-in drain
While I think Craftsman’s holiday shop vacs are a little better, since they feature everyday wet/dry vacs, I have seen surprisingly few complaints about this Ridgid “special buy” holiday vacuum deal. This is the same vac that went on sale last year, and also the same one from 2013, and most buyers seem to be quite pleased with the vac’s quality, features, and longevity.
There’s no telling how long this deal will last. In previous years, Ridgid Black Friday vacuum deals sold out very quickly. This year, Home Depot is selling these online for home delivery and in-store pickup, and they seem to have plenty in stock. My local store reportedly has 88 vacuums in stock, although I only saw 4 on the sales floor the other day.
I can’t tell you how well these would compare with pricier everyday models, but I do know that I have yet to see a better Black Friday 2015 vacuum deal.
Price: $40
Buy Now(via Home Depot)
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If you bought this vac during last year’s Home Depot Black Friday sale, what do you think about it?
John
Stuart,
Can you explain what you mean here?
“While I think Craftsman’s holiday shop vacs are a little better, since they feature everyday wet/dry vacs,…”
…what you mean by “everyday”, and why (if I infer correctly) that this makes Ridgid somewhat inferior to Craftsman vacs? (Thanks)
Jason
What Stuart is tying to say is this is a special buy that lacks features compared to the models Ridgid sells all the time in stores. The motor is smaller you get less accessories and a shorter cord typically to meet the price point HD is asking.
Stuart
This one is designed around a $40 price point.
It has a reduced – but not tiny – diameter hose, and the motor is probably specially made for this unit.
The Craftsman is priced higher and I haven’t checked in a while, but I believe it has better features.
This is a $40 vac selling for $40. The Craftsman 16-gallon vac is a $110 vac (at least regularly and also when “on sale” with the free filter bundle for the holidays), and the 12-gallon vac is $70 on sale for the holidays, $80 on sale regularly.
$70 is a lot more than $40, but is near the lower limit of what I’ve seen it costs to build a great vacuum.
This holiday special is a great buy, but it’s still a $40 vacuum. I’m not saying it’s bad, but there’s always a lot of hype around these BF vacuums. We usually give some thought about reduced performance BF tools, and so we should do the same about these vacs.
For occasional use, the BF special should suffice. But for regular or demanding use? I would place more trust in an everyday model.
Tim Waldvogel
I bought one of these shop vacs for my grand-father in law. Who wanted to use this for blowing leaves from his planters beds and vacuuming the cracks of his stone pathway.
One of the benefits is PRICE. I bought a 3 gallon Stinger shop vac for vacuuming my car awhile back for 30$ (-after tax)
If this was an option at the time, I gladly would have chosen this shop vac.
On another note, I recently picked up a 12 gallon Rigid shop Vac for myself instead. Most of my shop tools have a 2-1/2″ port for dust collection, and the 1-7/8″ hose was not sufficient for my needs.
To each his own. If my goal was simply picking up a mess from the floor or work surface, the Rigid 40$ Black Friday special would be my first choice for a shop vac.
Remember that it all comes down to your individual needs.
Speaking of which, I need a new cordless drill. Happy Shopping People !
mike aka Fazzman
I got one last Black Friday,I use it all the time. I bought one because ive used them in machine shops for years,that and the $40 price point is around the same price as the 6 gallon one normally. Ive vacuumed our vehicles numerous times with it,also use it to pull water out of things(just make sure to remove filter).
Ive never had a Ridgid vac blow up on me or anything like that,they work as well as they should in my opinion,just gotta cl;ean the filter here and there.
Stuart
Glad to hear it!
I’m tempted to buy one as a junk vacuum, for use on things I wouldn’t dream of using my Festool dust extractor for.
It can handle wet or dry tasks, but I’m not about to use my Festool vac to empty out a toilet or clean a bathroom flood.
mike aka Fazzman
Yeah,I wouldnt wanna do that either.
Jay
Looking over at Amazon, the kicked up version of this vac is currently priced around $160 shipped. This HD deal is $40 shipped. Comparing the two, the HD unit is 75% of the the higher spec unit at 25% of the cost. A down and dirty comparison of the similar Craftsman XSP 16 Gallon 6.5 Peak HP Wet/Dry Vac puts the HD deal at 36% of cost.
Viewed from this perspective the Ridgid HD vac appears to be a killer deal.
fm2176
I bought this vacuum–or at least a similar model– for $40 back in 2010 or 2011. It’s a decent vacuum with plenty of power, though it is a little loud. I’ve accidentally vacuumed up socks that my dog hides and have used it to clean my truck countless times. In fact, about the only thing I could complain about is that the top comes off pretty easily if you try lifting it by the top. Nothing major, just use the handles on the side and this “problem” is solved.
Charles
As above, I bought this a few years back. In general, Rigid vacs are much much better than shop-vac or craftsman. This vac isn’t really a bargain though – as mentioned, it’s a $40 vac for $40. It might be worth $50… mine went to my brothers house, and I bought a couple of the little 5 gallon pro vacs, which are much better.
Note – commercial use, I probably own 10-15 rigid shop vacs, plus the usual big festool. While I’m not a fan of many rigid power tools, the vac knocks it out of the park
Mark s
It is nice but very loud (95 db or so).
Glenn
I purchased a slightly smaller holiday sale unit several years ago and it is still running despite a lot of abuse. I should point out that many of their regular wet/dry units will accept filter bags, but it looks like this “special” model still lacks that ability. Concur that it is noisy.
m sporer
This is an awesome vacuum. I bought mine maybe in ’08. I think it was $30 and this was the largest, standard ridgid offering back then, list price was maybe $90. I suspect that they produce this one only for black friday now? It’s loud, It’s a great leaf blower. I recommend it.
Mine came with a paper filter which I threw away and replaced with the WASHABLE ridgid HEPA filter. I’m still using that filter.