Blue Point tools

While I'm no pro mechanic, I've been wrenching on stuff for years. I have a mix of everything, but I have my favorites. Some stuff is better than others. Here's my experiences:

Craftsman: Like others have said, their quality has suffered in recent years. For example, a few years ago, I bought a set of gear wrenches from them. They are awful! The gear mechanism is clunky at best and binds up or freewheels when you need it. No, I'm not cranking on them either; they have been like that since new.

Kobalt: Not bad at all! I have a few socket sets from them and some other tools. I picked up one of those "XTREME Access" socket sets with the pass through sockets on clearance a few months ago and they are really nice to have for a "keep it in the trunk" set.

Harbor Freight: Depends on what you get. Some stuff is great (like their hand wrenches and sockets), and some stuff is just ok (like the file set I have were the handles fell off a few of them). I'd say better than Craftsman at this point. I have the "Earhquake" 3/4" air impact from them, and it's been pretty good.

Husky: I have some Husky ratchets and sockets that are about 20 years old now, and they keep on going. I dig them just fine.

SK: LOVE them. I have a 3/8" drive set from them and a 3/8" drive long handle flex ratchet that's probably my favorite ratchet of all time. They are my go-to set of ratchets whenever I'm working on something. They have put up with a lot of abuse over the years and keep on going. I did, however, crack one of their sockets once. I was pounding the thing on a rusty bolt with a small sledge. Any socket would have cracked.

Mac: Hit and miss. I have some air tools from them (air sander and 3/8" air ratchet) and they have been great. My dad, however, has a ratchet set (1/4" 3/8" and 3/4") and they suck big time. They have a very fine tooth gear, and they always switch direction while ratcheting. I also have some allen sockets from them, and that's a prime example of paying extra for small stuff. They have been great over the years. I've had similar sets strip out on me from lesser brands.

Duralast: Surprisingly good. I have a few sockets, pliers, and screwdrivers from them, and they have all been really great. I don't know who makes them for Autozone, but they are good tools.

Snap On: Good but pricey. But you already know that!

GearWrench: I really like their stuff. Affordable, works well, and you can get it at Advance and a few other places. When ordering at Advance, make sure to do online store pickup and get stupid amounts of money off!

Snap-On (made by Bondhus) allen keys are the only ones I can put a cheater bar on and not destroy.

For anything over 1/2" drive I just buy the cheap stuff, it gets used so little that it's not a problem.

Convenient that I can just quote this good advice.

Vigo wrote: What i've found over the years is that you can do a whole lot of skimping on larger tools and should buy high quality pieces for smaller tools. Things like small Torx bit sets have a huge variation in actual useful durability when comparing cheap vs expensive. Things like large 1/2" impact sockets are difficult to break (and the large fasteners difficult to round off) even from the cheapest manufacturers. That is a basic guideline i am comfortable espousing. As far as particular brands, i don't believe in limiting myself that way. When you really start looking around there are tons of manufacturers making good tools with tons of variety on small details that someone else might not value but you find very appealing. A lot of your happiness using tools on a daily basis just comes from how you 'feel' about them, which isn't necessarily 100% based off their 'quality' but can come down to things like the shape of a handle or knurling on the edge of an extension, or even some ostensibly silly things like color. I say check out as many different brands as your attention span will allow. Variety is the spice of life.

I work with a guy who thinks we are all nuts for buying anything higher quality than the new chinese craftsman stuff. He is also the only person in the shop who regularly rounds off bolts and strips out screw heads.

His screwdrivers are mainly the free sets from HF or old clear handled craftsman stuff and the tips all look like this

He drills out more screws in a week than I have in years. I can walk over with a Wera or Snap on screwdriver and easily remove whatever he is fighting but he just refuses to believe his tools are the problem.

I watched him twist the tip off a flat screwdriver, walk over to the bench grinder and sharpen it back up. He then proceeded to put a gouge in a fresh paint job when it unsurprisingly and immediately slipped out of the screw head.

I have been in situations where my Snap-on locking flex head dual 80 ratchet was the only tool in the shop that could remove the hidden bolt on a Ferrari 250 starter. They were ready to pull the engine to get to it. Yeah that $120 purchase hurt at the time, but it has saved my butt many more times.

Jumper K. Balls wrote: I have been in situations where my Snap-on locking flex head dual 80 ratchet was the only tool in the shop that could remove the hidden bolt on a Ferrari 250 starter. They were ready to pull the engine to get to it. Yeah that $120 purchase hurt at the time, but it has saved my butt many more times.

^ This exactly.

I've bought tools off the truck simply because I've looked at them and thought "I can see when that thing will save my butt"

I might not need it immediately but I will need it someday.

The Snap-On ball-end allen keys with the 45 degree bend (instead of 90) have saved my bacon a few times now.

@The OP. Blue point are good. I have some of their tools. Some are getting close to 30 years old and are good as new.

I have a mix of newer US made craftsman, kobalt, husky, had and no name stuff. Never had an issue with anything that has any kind of warranty and returning stuff.