Concord Carpenter

RIDGID Pro Pack Wet/Dry Vacuum Review

By Jeff Williams on Dealing With Dust, Tool and Product Reviews, Tool Reviews

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Why this Vac?

Like I mentioned above, a clean job site goes a long way to promoting the professionalism of the company and a professional image is huge when it comes to getting new work. When you do a great job for one customer, the next time all of their friends and family come over they can’t help but recommend your company. The only “but” here though is that your employees are the boots on the ground for helping to promote this image and if the current vac setup is a pain to use then they won’t want to tidy up every day.

That’s the primary reason I picked up this vac, it isn’t a chore to use. Everything is easily stowed on the unit and it’s easy to carry. It also has 5 horsepower so it will suck up anything that will fit in the hose. The combination of size, form factor, capabilities, and RIDGID’s solid reputation in the vacuum segment is why the RIDGID Pro Pack is a great unit.

In Use

In use the RIDGID Pro Pack performs just as you would expect, it vacuums up all sorts of construction debris. I use it most often for chip clean up at the mini lathe, saw dust and dirt clean up in the shop and job site, and drywall dust from minor remodeling jobs. Chips, saw dust, and dirt are no brainers for vacuums but drywall dust is what really impressed me. Maybe I’ve used too many vacuums with crappy filters in the past but being able to suck up drywall dust at the point of sanding is HUGE. I can’t tell you how much it sucks to have to dust a customers house because the vacuum you were using ended up just blowing most of the dust around. The chart at the right shows the materials the filter is well suited for.

Improvements

There are only two things with the RIDGID Pro Pack that could be improved. The first is HEPA filtering capabilities so that the vac would meet the EPA RRP rules. This is such a great vacuum for remodeling that it’s a shame that it doesn’t meet the requirements. The second item is pretty minor but if this vacuum could attach to the RIDGID Pro Toolbox System then it would be even more portable. The toolbox system was new in 2014 and this vac has been out for a number of years so perhaps it can be incorporated in the next version.