What brand of hand tools do you prefer?

[CertifiedPotato]

When I first started out wrenching on stuff I always wanted to be all in one brand. It started at Husky, that morphed into Snap-on and now my box is mixed with many brands. I am a die hard Snap-On ratchet guy but because one can hardly justify a toolbox filled with only Snap-on I went with Carlyle (Napa) and Craftsman to fill in the gaps. Knipex (German) makes fantastic pliers and Vessel (Japanese) makes my all time favorite screwdrivers.
It's a cool to see someones tool box and see how it was inspired by their experience.

 

[MISWFL]

Depends on the job and setting. Different tool brands/quality for each specific task. IMO, most recently made stuff is trash, big name brands like Snap Off included.

If possible, I prefer old/used tools made before the 1990s or whenever that particular brand stated going to crap. The prices they charge for new tools is almost obscene. If I had to choose new, I'd go with ICON because Taiwanese is usually good.

Crappy or fake chrome and laser etched markings are a huge negative for me. I'd rather buy a decent Taiwanese tool with real non environmentally friendly chrome plating then US made trash with flakey ( Crapman was very guilty of this for years ) or clear paint coated over flash chrome washed junk that fades and corrodes quickly.

Plastic parts on ratchets like switches and non oil resistant soft cushion grip handles.

Lifetime warranties that are basically useless. Try getting the tool truck guy to warranty a tool that you didn't buy from him and don't have a weekly payment schedule. Sears/Lambert got me to the tune of several hundred dollars in the late 1990s/early 2000s. I had a big box of broken tools I couldn't warranty because they discontinued them and I stupidly didn't save my receipts and the packaging. They should have kept their obsolete tool item numbers in their computer and at least offered a swap to something of approximately equal value.

 

[superj]

I just use whatever I can find that's close by when I need something odd. Otherwise, nonmoving tools, box/open end wrenches, hammers, screwdrivers, etc, are any brand from Walmart 5 dollar packs, harbor freight, craftsman, husky, snapon, blueprint, anything I can find for a decent price

 

[John97]

I got a mix... Milwaukee, Harbor Freight, Kobalt (Lowes), Husky (Depot), and some old Craftsman stuff rolling around in various places.

 

[Curious Hound]

My brands are;
1.Bought long time ago and good quality
2. Inherited
3. Bought used, top name brands
4. On sale and decent quality
5. Gifts
6. Free - other

 

[Shran]

I have almost every brand under the sun but here are my favorites:

Sockets: Gray Pneumatic is my #1, Carlyle is #2, then Sunex, Craftsman, some Harbor Freight
Wrenches: I am almost exclusively old style Craftsman but I do have some specialty Proto, Snap-on, Mac, and Matco
Ratchet wrenches: Gearwrench and a handful of Icon. Nothing beats Gearwrench here.
Ratchets: Gearwrench is my go-to, then Duralast and Evercraft cheapo's. I have 100+ ratchets including some high dollar ones... sometimes the cheap ones just feel better.
Screwdrivers: Milwaukee is my current favorite, Craftsman for nut drivers
Picks: Snap-on... they make the best picks out there.
Normal pliers: Channellock brand but Proto is a close #2
Slip joint: Knipex, nothing is better
Crescent wrenches: Old Craftsman & Proto
Needle nose pliers: Snap-on & old Klein (not new Klein) are my top #1, Milwaukee is a distant second
Hammers: Snap-on, Estwing, Matco, Lixie are my favorites
Vise grips: Old Peterson vise grip or Irwin are both good, and oddly so are Hart and Duralast.

Some brands are really good in some areas and not others. Gearwrench makes what I think are the best ratchets out there but their sockets suck donkey balls. Carlyle sockets are so good but I'll pass on a lot of their other tools... Matco is almost all rebranded & price doubled other brands, Mac has been crap for a while but used to be pretty good. Milwaukee is stupid expensive for what they are and not top quality either. I'm kind of a Snap-on snob but it has to be new stuff - I don't really care for most of their old tools (90's and older.) There are some really common ones that you can pick up cheap too - I have never had a bad Proto tool and you can pick them up CHEAP.

Just my 2 cents, I have no patience for shitty hand tools but I'm not willing to spend a premium for Snap-on so I shoot for the next level down if I'm buying new and also pick up a lot of used stuff from pawn shops.

 

[Curious Hound]

When considering Snap-on, also think about bluepoint.

 

[Shran]

Oh yeah, forgot about Blue-point. Meh. Almost universally mediocre quality from what I have seen. Sometimes you can take a broken Blue-point tool in and exchange it for a Snap-on if the BP one was discontinued though! Same meh goes for Silver Eagle (Matco budget line.) Mac's "Expert" line is OK, wouldn't buy them new, but not bad.

Forgot about Cornwell too, I don't have many but I do like them - seems like good quality.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I'm a sucker for tools... when I see piles at garage sales and stuff I always go through them and find some gems... wrenches and sockets in my shop box are mostly Husky because I started with one of the $100 christmas time kits

I have cubbies in the drawers where I have some choice Snap On or other better stuff but keep my eyes out for S-K and others, every now and then I swap random sockets from my rails with better ones I acquire...

When I need something new and random it's usually Harbor Freight because it's usually a one time use thing but they have some good stuff anymore.

I have tools I like more than others but I seem to favor quantity over quality since I have a hard time letting stuff go... once my brother gets his toolbox sorted I'll likely give him some of my duplicates, right now he doesn't know what he has since it's not organized... my wrench and socket drawers have some organization, plier drawer is a disaster although I mostly use what's in the racks...

 

[RobbieD]

I lean toward older hand tools. They are just better than newer made tools. Period.

What I do have, at this point, is a huge conglomeration consisting of something of just about every brand of tool that ever existed.


But then again, I've been acquiring tools for a long, long time; ever since my young, dumb apprentice days: