Tools: what's good between the Chinese crap and "truck tools" i.e. Snap-On, Mac, ...

My tool chests are currently filled with 25+ year old Craftsman professional hand tools.

I've been doing a lot of research lately on mechanic hand tools (combination wrenches, sockets, ratchets, ratcheting combination wrenches, etc...), the stuff we use when we work on our rigs, home projects, and such. I am not finding consistent and decent reviews of quality hand tools between the Chinese crap and the super expensive truck tools.

My old Craftsman tools are great - they perfectly fit the "pro-sumer" market way back then, but when I need additional tools I'm not finding new tools in that same quality/performance/cost range.

What opinions can you provide on current available hand tools?

 

I’ll be honest here, I use harbor freight shit. Never had any issues.
I also am not a mechanic for a living, nor do I do anything outside of minor maintenance and easy to moderate mods.

 

This thread is going to be full of dudes shitting on snap on, who shit on craftsman, who shit on harbor freight, who shit on the dudes for spending that much money on snap on.

Buy what you can afford. Look into warranty policies. Look into what's easiest to build your collection.

I buy Kobalt. There's a Lowes close to me and I haven't broken any of their tools yet.

 

I like finding the older USA made craftsman stuff when I run across it. Otherwise, if I need it now, I do Lowe’s or harbor freight.

 

Harbor Freight, Pittsburgh brand, carries a lifetime warranty. I have used them for over 20 years and have never had a problem.

 

I have a lot of old Craftsman, Mac, and Proto I inherited from my father. The new Craftsman is junk in comparison. I’ve had good luck with Tekton wrenches and impact sockets. As for Harbor Freight, I’ll ask myself, ‘can I be injured or killed if there’s a failure..?’

 

Dude, you might get injured or killed just going into a Harbor Freight store

 

Mix and match. Alot of old hand tools. I have a few Milwaukee tools, some Porter Cable tools that take a beating and keep working. And a few from Harbor freight. I spend more on things I think I'll use often and less one one I think I won't use that often.
I also have a few Black and Decker (gasp) but the National DeWalt/B&D factory repair center is 10 miles away and they always fix them for free.

Agreed: if high death / injury risk = avoid HF.

 

I wish I could afford the good stuff. Used Craftsman for years and had a couple things fail, but not much. After the Jack stand recall, I have had my doubts with HF. I used those things a lot, so I'm lucky to be alive I guess. I've got the pin thru style by Strongway now. Made in India.....
I like the Yellow Daytona Jack I got years ago because it will lift my 4th gen with 35s on it high enough (23") to get stands underneath it, and the release is pretty smooth, but it's HF too so take that for what it's worth. Nothing worse than having your truck drop suddenly on the stands. That's dangerous AF. I've got a 20 year old Sears 3 ton that I never liked, it's release is sketchy, and made in China. Agree with the above statement, no more high risk crap from HF. Although I will say I've done a crap load of wrenching with pittsburgh hand tools for years and only had one speed wrench fail. But, if I had to make a living with them I'd go with the expensive brands.

 

I found this breakdown helpful because I'm actively trying to avoid anything manufactured in China.
https://pressurewashr.com/tool-industry-behemoths/

 

Just a few weeks ago I would’ve laughed at that thought, but now, not so much...

 

If u need professional grade then get SnapOn. I use a variety of tools, Husky, Kobalt, Craftsman, etc. As long as it has a warranty, I’m good.

 

I don't need professional grade, I'm looking for that prosumer grade price-performance range that the old Craftsman Professional hand tools fit.

Does anybody have any experience with KT Pro tools? They're out of North Carolina. https://ktpros.com/product-categories/.

The pictures appear to show quality design and finish, but pictures can be deceiving.

What about Wera tools, they're from Czechia and also show quality design and finish.

 

I spent a whole lot of time on this little project and I may have found my answer in Tekton hand tools.

I just got delivered some 6-pt 3/8" Tekton socket sets (metric and SAE) - they're made in Taiwan, but Tekton is HQ'd out of Grand Rapids Michigan.

https://www.tekton.com/about-us says

I like the 90 tooth ratchets and the fit and feel. I'll put them to some wrenching in the near future, but so far they look and feel like the old Craftsman professionals, perhaps even better with the short-throw ratchets, the better shape of the ratchet handles, the relatively smaller size of the ratchet heads, the more legible roll stamping, and the fully stepped shoulders on the narrow diameter sizes. So far, I'm suitably impressed with the tactile and visual quality of these sets

Another plus is that they are complete sets - not a missing size from 1/4" - 1" SAE and 6mm-24mm metric

 

I've since used the sockets and ratchet purchased above a number of times and I'm really liking the quality and fit of the sockets.

I recently purchased the 46-piece combination wrench set:
1/4" - 1 1/4" complete SAE set + 6mm - 32mm complete metric set

They had a sale and I had the 10% coupon from the above ratchet purchase, so total delivered price was discounted to about $180 - that's just over $3 per wrench.

These combination wrenches are made in Taiwan and the fit, finish, hand feel, and dimensions are, in my opinion equal to, or better than the old USA made Craftsman Professionals of decades ago - the wrenches fit the nuts and bolts equal to or better than the old Craftsman wrenches.

At this point in time, I think it may be safe to say that Tekton is the value replacement for the old USA made Craftsmans.
I've been pleasantly surprised with the quality of the Tekton tools I've purchased direct from the manufacturer.

What's your take on these?