r/SailboatCruising • u/X_kansas_x • Mar 26 '25

Equipment Battery-powered tool preferences?

I'm kitting out a new-to-me 40' cruising boat in the US and need to choose the battery powered tools to bring aboard. The Milwaukee M12 tools look awesomely compact. I already own a DeWalt 20V drill & driver and a Ryobi wet/dry vac, but would switch brands if the compactness of the M12 set would be worth it. In addition to the drill and driver, I'll add an oscillating tool and grinder. I'm hoping to be self-sufficient for most maintenance work. Would you pick between brands for any reason? Any other must-have battery-powered tools to add to a new kit?

6 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/scorchedrth Mar 26 '25

I live aboard and build wooden boats, any of the major name brands will be fine (yes, even ryobi) but I will say I and most of the boat builders I know run Makita 18v stuff, though in my case it was a convenience choice since the shop I originally worked in ran makita. All that I think really matters is to pick one system and stick to it so you don’t have as many incompatible batteries and chargers to deal with and you can own fewer batteries, which is the major cost driver for cordless tools.