Ok -- This one is not something you would probably expect me to rave about... but it's on my mind.

With all the rain in the Northeast, we had water in our basement for the first time ever. It was a mess, and took a few days to cleanup (luckily nothing important was lost).

Anyway, this brings me to the latest item -- The Ridgid Wet/Dry shop Vac.

This thing is amazing and is much more useful than you would think. The container holds 16 gallons and it is 6.5 Amps (basically that means this thing is super powerful.)

What have I used it for?

* I had water spill in my laundry room once from an overloaded washing machine -- no problem. This thing sucked up the water in seconds.

* Need to clean out your car floors/seats/trunk? This thing is just as good, if not better, than those machines you pay for at the gas station.

* We had water all over our basement -- this thing cleaned up the floors no problem!

* Cleaning out your garage? Rather than sweeping everything up, which sends dust and dirt all over the place (and then you breath it in), just vacuum it up. This thing sucks the floors clean.

* Need a leaf blower? No problem. This thing not only sucks water and dirt, it reverses to blow like a leaf blower! And the top comes off so you can hold it in your hand like a real leaf blower.

* Need a powerful fan? I did -- to help dry out my basement... this was more powerful than any fan I had -- I just reversed it an used the leave blower mode to help dry off the floor.

* Have a nasty mess you want to vacuum up but don't want to use your normal house/carpet vacuum on? This is the perfect thing. Ever have a cat litter box you need to do a little cleaning on?... use this!

I know this sounds just like an info-mercial... but it's not. Every time I find a new use for this thing I realize how worth it that it was. You can find it at Home Depot (and I am sure other stores), it's $98 at the link below -- and I think it goes on sale occasionally. I think mine only cost $80 or so.

Home Depot Page for the Shop Vac

Trust me when I say, this is one of the most useful items you will have for your home -- it's one of those items you will be happy you have when an emergency comes up.

-John