I already have two shop vacs, a small Stihl shop vac for general cleaning in the car and garage and a larger Dustless Technologies Hepa vac for lead paint and other fine debris. I’ve been wanting a larger, moderately priced vacuum for sucking up water and general messes that may be too much... More on garagejournal.com

Use case advice that will many even the crappiest one work 500% longer: Get two. Dry shopvac. Most of them come with optional vacuum cleaner bags like your home vacuum. Get and use them and let everyone who touches it know to check the bag and this is ONLY a dry shopvac. Wet shopvac. This is properly set up for wet pickup at all times. Mark each in a horrendous manner so there is no confusion. One of the reasons people hate shopvacs is the mixing of dirt and water which makes it smell like a dumpster at a Thai restaurant. if you use the above, you should have two pleasant and long lasting items. More on reddit.com

I already have two shop vacs, a small Stihl shop vac for general cleaning in the car and garage and a larger Dustless Technologies Hepa vac for lead paint and other fine debris. I’ve been wanting a larger, moderately priced vacuum for sucking up water and general messes that may be too much... More on bobistheoilguy.com

Rigid, from Depot are pretty good and priced fairly. If you work with dusty stuff frequently, get one with a HEPA filter. If not, one with bags will be easier to deal with (pull out the bag and throw it away). If you will be working with liquids, the bags and filters get all wet and gross. The HP ratings are a complete joke. You cannot get 3.5hp out of a 120v 15 amp circuit; that rating is made as the vacuum is catching on fire. Spend a few extra dollars to get a "quiet" vac, or wear hearing protection. If you're in a basement, you don't need a gigantic dust bin, because you have to carry all that crap back upstairs, and it's heavy. A smaller vac may be your friend if you use it in the basement and dump it elsewhere. More on reddit.com