RIDGID

RIDGID is a brand with a split ownership structure. The Ridge Tool Company, a subsidiary of Emerson Electric, owns the RIDGID trademark and produces the hand tools and plumbing tools (pipe wrenches, threading equipment) for which the name was originally known. The brand was founded in 1923 in Elyria, Ohio.

The orange 18V cordless power tools sold exclusively through Home Depot — drills, saws, inflators, and similar — are manufactured by Techtronic Industries (TTI) under a licensing agreement with Emerson that dates to 2003. TTI, the Hong Kong-based parent of Milwaukee Tool and Ryobi, operates this line through its subsidiary One World Technologies, Inc. The 18V OCTANE battery platform is specific to the TTI-made RIDGID line and is not cross-compatible with Milwaukee or Ryobi despite the shared TTI parentage.

Wet/dry shop vacuums are a third manufacturing relationship: those carry the RIDGID brand under Emerson's direct production. Buyers should note that RIDGID power tools (TTI) and RIDGID hand/plumbing tools (Emerson/Ridge Tool) share a brand name but have different manufacturing origins, warranty systems, and support channels.