I liked the Rigid from Home Depot; they were kinda noisy but worked good without any trouble.

Had a couple Shop Vac's; they were more trouble than they were worth.
 
I like the craftsman best. The bigger hoses don't choke up as easily. The head can be removed and used as a blower.
 
Get one that claims to be quiet! Or one that you can buy an after-market muffler for. Some have noise designed in as cheap marketing ploy to get you to believe the vac has a lot of power. The scream some of them make is harmful.
 
The rigid ones seem good. I have a larger shop vac brand that has been working good for me too.
 
I have a Rigid and a Craftsman . The Craftsman the wheels fell off, but it is easy to get filters for. The Rigid is nicer but gets real loud with a dirty filter.
 
My old 16 Gallon Craftsman Shopvac lasted well over 25 years, with relatively hard use in both my shop and my hanger. The motor finally stopped working, with no parts available, so I retired it.

About 6 months ago I saw a special on the new C'man 16 gallon Shopvac and bought one. It has numerous improved features including larger diameter hoses with locking fittings, improved on-board tool storage, a really powerful blower function, and an exhaust filter. It came with an adapter to allow use of my old accessories.

I had never used the blower function on the old vac, but recently decided to try blowing the gravel and swarf that accumulates on my ramp. It really worked great, replacing more than an hour of push broom sweeping with less than a half hour of very easy blowing. And, the result was cleaner than when sweeping. Going to try it on my house rain gutters next.

I'm extremely happy with the new vacuum. Only exception has nothing to do with the function, but rather the advertising that all manufacturers seem to subscribe to: According to the label, the maximum power draw is 12A at 110V. That is ~1440 Watts, or just under 2HP. The label says "6.5 peak HP."
 
We use the big red Chraftsman's at work. They have proven themselves to be the best. They get a hard life there, metal chips, water soulable coolant, really nasty stuff! They just keep on working!

Bought a couple Ridgid's from Home Depot. Were not happy with them, poor performance. These had the handle and carrying tray built on the back of the can. Very difficult to dump, the handle in the way, has to be unloaded every time it gets dumped... What were they thinking?
 
My Rigid has gone beyond what's expected. I had to dig a 50 ft trench and also repair several post holes. That vac cleaned out all the loose dirt as I was going along making it a lot easier to work with.. (Yes, I removed the filter). It also has the ability to act as a blower.
Also helped drain a pool.
 
Gary,

Ran several vacuums for weeks on end, no joke, 23/7. Had failures, but the Rigid's kept going. Quieter, longer lasting, and I amnot in any way affiliated with the company.

D.
 
I have a shop vac. Seems to work ok. But has a poor switch. Sometimes it works, and other times it doesn't. So, I shut it off by unplugging it. Wouldn't buy another one.
 
I bought a small Stanley (who knows who makes it) with a SS tank to carry around more easily. It has worked great for me.
 
I have a ridgid shop vac and a festool dust collector. The ridgid tends to loose performance fairly quickly especially in find dust like drywall. The festool has a special filter bag (haven't used it yet) for it for fine dust application, but they are a bit pricey.
 

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