Dewalt DCD996 Hammer Drill
I have slowly but steadily upgrading some of my more
common tools as I have had to become a weekend household ‘fix anything and
everything’ suburbanite. I previously
owned the Craftsman 19.2V Drill/Driver and had upgraded to Lithium Ion batteries a few
years back mostly to eliminate the weight from the NiCad batteries (the current model includes Li-ion). No complaints on that drill but wanted to
upgrade to a 20V Hammer Drill for heavier applications. I have to admit that this DCD996 is the best hammer
drill produced by Dewalt, and is my goto drill for all of my projects; it’s
just a beast and handles everything I have thrown at it from a household
remodel standpoint.
I did purchase the entire P2 kit, which also comes
with two (2) DCB205 (5Ah) battery, charger, and a nice case. The 5Ah battery is
also the largest battery that Dewalt currently makes and has a great run time.
The battery is a bit more heavy the 2Ah base battery, but well worth it if you
plan on using the drill for an extended period of time. The drill itself is just under 5 lbs without
a battery. However, I did purchase a
DCB203 (2Ah) batteries in addition to the having the DCB205 (5Ah) because of
the weight difference to use for simple or quick jobs (the DCB203 weigh about
12oz, whereas the DCB205 weighs about 20oz).
As for the drill performance itself, this drill has
enough torque that if you are not completely focused on the task you are doing
it will wrench itself out of your hand. Also in hammer mode this drill is loud
in a smaller space or space where there is a lot of air and would reverberate
or echo I would recommend ear protection for anyone doing drilling for more
than a few holes. I am thoroughly
impressed with how quickly this drill dissipates heat with continue use and the
overall look and feel (ergonomically) is fantastic. I really could not be more pleased with this
purchase.