CJM

I can honestly say that after owning the crecent set I got from sams club for about 4 years now it has never failed me. The sockets are great and have held up just fine even to abuse, same goes for the allen wrenches and the pliers and screwdrivers it came with.

The ratchets themselves are ok, but I feel they have to much slop in the action. Still I havent ever been able to break them even doing some pretty bad stuff. The sloppiness was the reason I bought the husky pro ratchets which I am very happy with. I have some craftsmans that belong to my dad but honestly they arent holdup that well anymore and they werent used that much.

I feel the husky pro stuff is at least as good as snapons which I have managed to bust pretty easy before. They mostly fail in the action, where the craftsmans broke too-thus far the hukys have done some serious work and still have no slop inthe action.

I still wonder about warranty-I know they offer a lifetime on them and you can go to any depot and get a new one. But if it covers breakage due to abuse I dont know-craftman has the one up if they dont.

Another good buy I found and have liked alot was 2 sets of (I think 15 pc) combination wrenches made by stanley in metric and standard in walmartof all places. Thus far I like them alot better than my crescent set as they are longer and they are way more comfy than craftsmans-quality is akin in my book to snapon, mac or matco. For 20 bucks ea I couldnt beat it.

Overall I feel more confident knowing whomakes what these days, up until about 10 years ago stanley made craftsman and they just arent a well made. Iwoudlnt hesitate these days to buy husky as my chop store brand choice along with stanley.

Word to the wise-if you can, buy 2 sets of wrenches, ratchets and sockets. You may find yourself needing more than one sometiems and your SOL if you only got one set. I have a larger toolbox with just assorted mechanics tools and such that has saved my butt many times.

Btw, if your X brand tool brakes-such as craftsman, mac, matco, snapon, crescent, etc. Home Depot honors them and gives you a new one for free! I did the other day to get a new adjustable wrench that broke.

Ryker, you go to use the jaws-the most awesome tool I have ever seen. Like giant tin snips on sterioids!

profuse007

Gotta be craftsman. Just picked up some Husky flex-head gear wrench when they had the sale from HD. It's also lifetime guaranteed.

I don't think Snap-On will ever be surpass the popularity over Craftsman. Only if they decide to have a retail store where ppl can go to, then it might happen.

dewhit

Nothing beats Klein for electrical work. For everything else Proto and Craftsman.
(Oh yeah Duct Tape and Bailing wire.)

Th3duke

I prefer MasterCraft over the Craftsman -- their cheaper in price, the feel is awsome on the maximum type of tools, and the ratchets clicks are amazing. buck for buck, you can't beat them; and they are also guaranteed for life.

Mickdady

When I started as a mechanic I didn't have a lot of $. There were 3 tool vendors that came to our shop. Snap-on, Cornwell, and Mac. The Mac guy never got out of his truck and really only sold to 1 or 2 guys. I of course wanted snap-on but didn't have the cash. The cornwell guy was really nice and recognized I was new to the business and gave me some really good deals to get me started. He even sold me his own personal toolbox out of his garage because I couldn't afford anything else. I know he was just trying to get me hooked on his brand of tools but it worked. 80% of my tools are cornwell and the rest are snap-on. 12yrs later I still buy Cornwell if I can.

KD7NAC_07FJ

I think the tool I use the most is my DeWalt battery powered screw driver.

YodaPala

I got a lot of klein (hvac electirican trade)
craftsman is the best bang for the buck
snap-on is far superiour though.

neilan

well i like snap-on personally but i think you forgot a catagory called bfh or otherwias know as big ˟˟˟˟˟ing hammer....you know the tool that will fix anything, if its big enough

Turd Ferguson

We call that the Speed Wrench.

Something a lot of you guys forget- Snap-on, Cornwall, Matco, and the other "truck" sellers offer free credit to the employees of the shops. So, if you need that BFH that day and don't have the cash to go to the Home Depot or Sears, you can extend that payment to several weeks and get the tool that day. Very important for the pro thats just getting started out.

When I worked in audio sales I outfitted a Snap On set almost entirely over 2-3 years for my vehicle. Granted, I spent a good amount, but I never had to pay out the full amount at one shot.

Will say this, however- Snap-On's ratcheting screwdrivers are the best I've ever used. I've killed quite a few other brands over the years and they have never failed me.

rezrunner92

x2 but with the emphasis being on Snap On. The only Craftsman tools I have are wrenches. I use Klein screwdrivers too. Man those things are tough!

*edit* I never even heard of Cornwell. Must be a local thing?

cruiserfj

well I am a snap on and matco guy myself being that I am a mechanic I use my tools all day, ya got to have the best.

why is matco not on the poll?

rdharper

Did miss a few. Not that many under "other". Looked up Matco, a division of Danaher. Looks like a solid company.

How do you buy these tools.. truck, retail, order online?

engifineer

I like snap on, but the price is a bit painful I would say overall I like craftsman. The reasons mainly being that they are affordable, they make good tools, I can get/replace them in many locations and they have a lifetime unlimited warranty, so even if they arent quite as strong as a snap on tool, I can still get them replaced. I do like the ergonomic aspects of some of the snap on tools though. I actually like the age old square handled hand driver tools they made, much more comfortable than a lot of the round or triangle grip screwdrivers out there.

But, I buy craftsman most of the time.

engifineer

Ric... I have to say I love the signature!

CyMoN

http://www.stanleytools.com/default....otator+Ratchet
OK hands down this Stanley ratchet is great and worth every penny
now if they make one with a longer handle I would be set
I Highly recommend it to everyone makes setting and removing bolts in tight places very easy I find my self trying to turn the handle on my other ratchets now.
I have been using it for a few months replaced a head with it and replaced a clutch and oil pan and a ton of other things makes it so easy to remove and set bolts. in tight places

rdharper

The comment earlier that Snap-on makes Kobalt led me to this post: http://www.team.net/www/morgan/tech/whotools.html

Thought it was interesting...

rdharper

Wife had a related question. She asked which companies make the "best" drill bits.

Do the major manufacturers of hand tools make drill bits, metal, diamond tipped, wood etc? Kobalt, Craftsman, Snap-on etc. And are your preferences in drills the same as for your hand tools?

Tools R Us

None of the above listed companies "make" drill bits, they buy and sell them. The automotive tool biz sells drill bits, tap & dies as lifetime investments and prices them accordingly. The machining industry sees them for what they are, consumable tooling, most of the time you will get a much better price, quality and selection from them. I buy most of them from J&L Industrial Supply, ENCO, etc.

Tools R Us

All of my tool biz contacts agree that there is no longer a relationship between Kobalt and Williams/Snap-On, not sure who is now making them.

My all time favorite screwdriver is Wiha, a little hard to find but well worth the search, by far the best that I have used.

For big sockets and wrenches I like Wright Tool, great quality at an affordable price. Before Danaher bought Matco, Wright made most/all of their hard iron (wrenches, ratchets, sockets, etc).

mile9SoCounty

Milwaukee Sawzall, BFH and Allen 3/4" Ratchet with all related accessories to go with. At our shop the only two company trucks that come around are Matco and Snap-on. Now I dont know if its because people think Marines are stupid, but the pricing of tools from both vans are roughly about the same. Although the Snap-on rep seems to throw out some really low balled prices if you bug him enough about it. Working on 2 stroke V8 diesel engines, really it dont matter what kind of wrench Im using. Matco or Snap-on. Hell in the mixture of all the tools my shop has. Napa and just plain old "Mexico" tools seem to reign. They all seem to work just find if you use them properly. In the wrong hands, Ive seen 1" Allen ratches break. But as for my favorite? Milwaukee, mainly for their power tools, such as the sawzall and their eletric impacts. You dont always have air around. Allen comes in 2nd and Matco 3rd.