UKH

I'm currently looking for a new drill,  my old one preferring to be pensioned off after 14 years. Mostly for bolting of single pitches from above, but also on lead every now and then.

Anyone around to recommend a useful model?

If you are buying new, the Bosch 36v are light(ish) and productive on the crag.

If buying secondhand, the older model, Bosch 24v gbh can be sourced quite cheaply on auction sites.

I paid about £365 for a new one in 2005 with 3 batteries and charger, the drill is still fine but gone through 2 chargers and about 7 batteries. Fortunately you can get generic batteries 3 Ahr for about £45 that I have not been able to kill yet, possibly lasting longer than the Bosch ones.

Managed to pick up two secondhand drills  for less than £100 incl chargers and limp batteries on fleebay, both drills and chargers  still going strong after a few years.

Used all the drills for work and play, including a 150 mm core drill on concrete.

I'm a dewalt fan boy and thier new flexi volt 18-54 (yes 54 volts of juice baby) is absolutely insane in terms of capacity and performance. My second choice would be a decent hilti as those guys just know thier shit when it comes to hammer action on any power tool. 

Hilti TE 4-A22 with Hilti TE-CX bits.

We drill thousands of overhead holes in concrete every year (~50 a day, everyday). We have tried lots of different drills. We had Bosch GBH 36v for a long time and these were good and light, the speed control/trigger fails after a while but the bodies are cheap to replace. 

The Hilti is a step up. It feels like it’s rotating slower, but the hammer action is superb and the hole forms quicker. The TE-CX bits are also a lot better than standard ones. They get stolen before they wear out.

The Hilti customer service is very good too. Tools are collected, serviced/repaired in 24hrs and returned. 

If buying 2nd hand off eBay, beware that Hilti will not return tools from service that are on their stolen register.

I got an old Makita 24v off eBay about 8 years ago for £40 and it’s still going strong! Batteries are £50 each and can get about 16 holes in limestone from one charge   

Bolt fund uses hilti’s and they are so much lighter and nicer to use, but much more expensive. 

Personally I'd recommend a DeWalt impact driver and drill set. I've got the 18v brush less. Good quality.

Just ensure they aren't stolen, so many stolen tools on eBay etc, scumbags who rob the tools that put food on the plates of working class children don't deserve your cash. Personally I wouldn't buy a tool from someone who I didn't know or who wasn't known to me before the offer. 

An 18v for bolting routes? Good luck with that  

Seem to work out fine (Bosch, Makita and Milwaukee), even or hard granite. With a good drill bit, you get around 20 holes or so per 5Ah battery.

Hmmm...   ...

No issues with 18v.    Time is a big limiter anyway, i.e I run out of time before battery !