If you have a lot of DeWalt, Ryobi, or Craftsman 18V cordless tools and find yourself frequently running out of battery power, the Ultimate Battery Power Battery Belt is something you should definitely check out. Repetitious or continuous use of cordless power tools can be troubling. You normally need to keep a collection of batteries on the ready. Recently, we spent some time with the new Ultimate Battery Power UBP5000BT-DW-CH Battery Belt. It came with the battery adapter for top post style 18V DeWalt cordless tools. This battery belt gives you up to 3.5 times longer run-time. That means getting through a project on a single charge and with no battery changes.
Ultimate Battery Power UBP5000BT-DW-CH Battery Belt Features
The Ultimate Battery Power UBP5000BT-DW-CH Battery Belt we received included everything you need. You get the UBP Belt, battery pack, smart charger, belt-mounted power tool hanging hook, accessory pouch, power cord, and the DeWalt style battery adapter. For editorial purposes, our kit also shipped with battery adapters for Ryobi and Craftsman 18V tools. That let us check out all the available options.
Using the Battery Belt
The well-constructed belt lets you hold the battery and any other accessories you want to attach. It utilizes dual methods to secure the belt to your waist. First, you wrap the belt around and use the hook and loop attachment areas to secure it in place. Next, you adjust the heavy-duty nylon strap and quick release buckle to make sure it’s really locked down. The belt feels and looks much like a high-quality supportive tool belt. It has built-in padding and even attachment points for suspenders. The battery is kept within a form-fitting pouch on the backside of the belt. The belt is intended for both left-hand and right-hand users. Openings allow the power cord to exit on either side of the battery case.
To swap the cord exit direction, you just unzip the battery access flap and pull the battery out. You then reinsert it with the cord exiting in the required direction. The battery pack itself is not much to look at. It’s just a long black plastic case that encloses the NiCad battery cells. On the other end of the battery power cord, a plug-in DIIN-style adapter fits into the base of the battery adapters. This serves as the point where you plug in the included smart charger.
UBP modeled the battery adapters to mimic the original manufacturer’s design. The battery fit and function of the tool isn’t changed. In the case of the DeWalt battery adapter, it fits perfectly in the five different tools we tested it in.
Using the Adapter
The power cord from the battery pack plugged into the base of the battery adapter. A quarter-turn lock ring holds it securely in place. What we liked about the battery adapters is that they weigh almost nothing. That helps keep extra weight off of the tool so you can work longer and more efficiently.
Ultimate Battery Power Battery Belt Testing
Since extended run time comes in handy, we we decided to start here for our testing. Using a DeWalt cordless circular saw, we had to cut a dozen sheets of 1/2″ CDX plywood in half lengthwise. We decided to test the battery belt with a circular saw because they draw more power than almost any other type of cordless tool. That gave us a lot of work to do. We loaded in a brand new thin kerf blade into our saw and went to work.
While cutting plywood, the Ultimate Battery Belt didn’t once fail to deliver power. In fact, power delivery appeared to be on par with a new XRP 18V pack. The UBP5000BT-DW-CH Battery Belt let us cut all the sheets of plywood without having to change batteries even once. If you add up the length of all the cuts, we did almost 100 linear feet. Along with the plywood, we also cut up a dozen 8 ft 2×4’s into 32″ long pieces. Run time was not a problem.
A Few Observations
When we first went to fit the belt on, it almost didn’t fit. I have a 32″ waist. When I put on the belt, the hook and loop areas overlapped so far that they never made contact with each other. Thankfully, I could adjust the outer nylon web belt so that I could close the quick-release buckle. As I passed the UBP Battery Belt to a few of the other guys around the jobsite, it really did not start to fit guys until they were in the 38″-40″ size range.
I know, the stereotypical construction guy is supposed to have a bit more bulk. Still, we’d like to see UBP make a couple of different sizes. The belt felt comfortable to wear. Even with the battery weighing around seven pounds, it centered almost unnoticeably on the backside of the belt. The other thing to get used to is that, when using this device, it tethers your tool to you. I had to continue to remember that the cordless saw was hooked to me when I was moving plywood around.
We also plugged the UBP Battery Belt into a few different drills, hammer drills, and a reciprocating saw as well to verify fit and function. In all cases, the tools operated with ample power and ease. At the end of our testing session, we connected the belt to the included smart charger and let it give the battery pack some more energy. There are LED lights on the charger that indicate the charging status which makes it easy to know when it is complete.
Conclusion
The Ultimate Battery Power UBP5000BT-DW-CH Battery Belt works well for the contractor or tradesman who finds himself frequently working remotely or where frequent battery changes might be a major inconvenience. Relocating weight from the tool itself to your waist also works well for those doing a lot of overhead or elevated drilling or cutting.
In the end, the only real nail in the coffin is the fact that this battery belt only works on older NiCad batteries. With all newer tools using Li-ion packs, I can’t imagine anyone paying too much in order to give their older tools more life.
