RIDGID Wet Dry Vacuums VAC1200 Heavy Duty Wet Dry Vacuum Cleaner and Blower Vac, 12-Gallon, 5.0 Peak Horsepower Detachable Leaf Blower Vacuum Cleaner with Pro-Grade Hose

I don't use this for my day job, nor do I have a dedicated workshop. I'm a homeowner who grew tired of the small-diameter hose, underpowered, portable shop vacs that litter garages across the land. And, hard as it may be to accept, it takes a machine this large to actually serve as a reasonable home wet/dry vac. I knew this would have suction to spare. I was worried it might be too large for hallways in my house. But the width is just narrow enough, and the wheels make it easy to maneuver. I have toted it up and down stairs and out to the back yard without complaint. When I put it away, it takes up some space--but with its compact design, no more than it needs to. I have used it on sawdust after minor table saw work. I have used it for cleaning car interiors and cleaning the garage and cleaning an outdoor storage shed. I have removed the top to use it outside as a blower. It works great. And the various included attachments are truly useful. When it arrived, it was missing one of the attachments (so count them). But the customer support was excellent, and they sent a replacement right away (well done!). So. It sucks. It blows. In other words, it's practically perfect in every way.

This vacuum is so powerful, it would vacuum up an elephant!!! Exactly what I was hoping for! I have been using it mainly on linoleum floor that I did not glue down, but it stapled down at the edges. I was concerned that the vacuum was so strong that it would pull the linoleum sheet up off the floor. However, the flat-ened attachment (the one used for getting into small cracks) has a little air vent at the back of it. This allows it to not get stuck on the floor and suck up the linoleum sheet AND it is still very strong. I have also been using it to vacuum up large sand particles (the largest are about half the size of an eraser on a pencil) and it does a pretty good job with that as well. Have not used it on water yet. Have not used the blower. The hose is easy to use and malleable. It attaches and unattached easily- I store it unattached to the vacuum. The hose attachments are also great. On vacuums I have had in the past, the attachments don't stay on attached to the hose, but these don't fall off. The wheels are a little difficult to install, but once installed the vacuum rolls very easily. This vacuum did not come with the biggest mouthpiece attachment, as shown in the picture. I can't think of anything I don't like about this vacuum.

Great vac! My wife even uses it for spot cleaning the carpet - light enough for her to handle, wheels easily, and fits through interior doorways just fine. She says it actually lifts the carpet off the floor, which I'm not sure is a great idea but she likes that it will get to dust underneath that way. My only recommendation would be a removable power cord since it doesn't retract and some kind of hose clips on the exterior. The hose fits in the canister but its a bit of a hassle to take it in and out, plus its dirty in there most of the time. Oh, and a crevice tool would be a good addition as well.

Get shop-vac. I’ve always bought RIGID shop-vacs and they’ve never disappointed. The detachable blower function is cool, but I would have liked more attachments. I demolished my whole house after the hurricane and this bad boy made cleanup nice. One note though. I don’t like the pop-off filter. I know its easier but I like the old screw on filter, they lasted a little longer in my opinion and you knew when they were securely attached.

Everything came well packaged. Easy to put together and quite powerful. I use it as a dust collector for my bandsaw, belt sander/spindle sander, and router table. The hose fits great in all of them and works like a charm.

Look at my profile and you will see, I don't write a lot of reviews. I buy a lot of tools and I buy a lot of equipment and my jobs require that they were card for me. I bought the rigid vacuum based on feedback from another fellow trim carpenter and was excited to see what the fuss was about. The fact of the matter is these are the exact things that we did to the rigid vacuum before I completely stop sucking anything up even after I tested it with no filter on: - vacuumed up a pile of drywall dust in a basement - cleaned out the entire vacuum hoses filter and all after the drywall cleanup - cleaned up a days worth of wood working in the garage including tons of wood shavings and dust from a miter saw and router table - that's it! On day 12 of ownership I want to go back him up a ton more dust from a giant routing session with woodwork and discovered zero suction power. I completely disassembled the vacuum, filter, every piece. I cleaned everything reassembled and continue to have continually poor suction. Not only was it frustrating that I attempted to seriously maintain this piece of equipment but it was seriously frustrating that I expect way more of my equipment especially when I've only use it for such a short period of time.

This vac probably doesn't need another 5-star review, there are already lots of perfectly good ones on this page, but I will add to its 5-star hit count. This is a really powerful vacuum at 5-HP, and the large diameter hose size is in keeping with the suction. The blower feature is a nice plus - but not tried yet. It seems like it ought to come with the bristle brush attachment - but accessories are readily available at Home Depot, be sure and buy the 2½" diameter hose sizes. Nits...the on/off switch is oddly placed, nearly hidden and a cord holder for the electrical cord would have been an easy improvement, still...5-Stars though! If you need/want a beast of a shop vac, this one won't disappoint!

I was surprised and disappointed that this shop vac can not use a bag! I purchased the vac along with the recommended filter bags.. you know, where they offer the add on item that goes with or compliments the item purchased. Well, both came in but the shop vac does not have anything on the intake port to attach the bag to!! It's just a hole... no nozzle diffuser, no extension with a collar or anything to connect a bag to. Who does that??? I have never seen a shop vac that can't be used with a filter!!

Works great Love the power