Is ICON the new Craftsman?

[sardonux]

I grew up (70s kid) with the knowledge that Craftsman was the brand for mere mortals who don't have the professional budget of a Snap-On tool chest... I'll admit, I've been a bit disappointed ever since that brand died. After my latest 3/8 ratchet died (purchased in the mid 90s) my son gifted me an ICON and I gotta say, its is pretty damn nice.

Is this the new "Craftsman" styled brand for people who appreciate quality tools? After my experience with this ratchet I'll be giving them a look for my replacements.

 

[zendriver]

Pittsburgh pro is the new craftsman

 

[JradM]

Craftsman is the new Craftsman.

I don't think there's a better parallel. That doesn't mean SBD Craftsman is the same Craftsman you remember from decades ago, but it's still sold at a retailer that exists in most towns, with generous distribution, with a lifetime warranty with easy exchange, and at the mid to budget price-points. Heck, they even sell some stuff that looks identical, like the lobster claw wrenches, acetate-handled screwdrivers, the "classic" pear head ratchets, etc. There's even the V-series line of Craftsman if you want a premium version.

Tekton is probably the next-closest contender, based on pricepoint, warranty and quality - but you can't walk into a local hardware store and grab it off the shelf.

That also doesn't mean I'm knocking Icon. I'm just saying it doesn't occupy the same market space.

 

[FigN⋅m]

Pittsburgh pro is the new craftsman

Albeit with no real B&M presence, I would also suggest Tekton as a decent potential heir to the throne.

 

[Vinny]

Since Craftsman died, I feel Williams is the replacement. Made in USA at a similar price point.

 

[sardonux]

That doesn't mean SBD Craftsman is the same Craftsman you remember from decades ago, but it's still sold at a retailer that exists in most towns, with generous distribution, with a lifetime warranty with easy exchange, and at the mid to budget price-points.

I just looked it up on the Craftsman website. Every place that they say carries Craftsman tools (NAPA, ACE Hardware) does not have them in stock at my local stores. Harbor Freight is next closest at 9 miles, the Lowes that does carry Craftsman is 25 miles. Not such an “easy exchange” for me, sadly.

 

[nicks78camaro]

I'd say Icon or Tekton.

Icon with the brick and mortar presence and Tekton with the easy email warranty. Pick your poison.

Both have very complete hand tool lines unlike other lesser lines at HF.

 

[woody 73]

I don't know for sure if Icon is the new craftsman, (In my old eyes I would say yes indeed), but always a but HF is for sure is the new craftsman tool store on the block.

On any given day in my area of central "Ahia" the stores are packed full of tool buying customers. If I ask my wife a non-tool person, she has never heard of tekton, Williams Pittsburg or any other tool company but she knows about the HF store.

Keep in mind only a small percentage of the population, knows about the other companies, but they all know about HF.

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

Yeah, I'd say they are. Widely available, frequently discounted and with an easily exercised warranty.

 

[FigN⋅m]

I don't know for sure if Icon is the new craftsman, (In my old eyes I would say yes indeed), but always a but HF is for sure is the new craftsman tool store on the block.

On any given day in my area of central "Ahia" the stores are packed full of tool buying customers. If I ask my wife a non-tool person, she has never heard of tekton, Williams Pittsburg or any other tool company but she knows about the HF store.

Keep in mind only a small percentage of the population, knows about the other companies, but they all know about HF.

The complication perhaps is that the ubiquitous Craftsman recognition was pre-internet.

Sure, if almost any non-tool nerd is asked "Name a good tool brand you can buy in a local store",
after determining what is considered "good", they'll either state HF (Pitts/Pro/Icon) Home Depot (Husky/etc.)
Ace Hardware maybe? or even Lowes, not knowing that it's not really the same Craftsman.
Won't even get into the tools trucks they see driving around...

Now, in the current info age, if someone wants a decent, proper set of tools and can't figure out how to
even start looking online, that's 100% on them. There are almost too many choices now, but I don't
really consider that a bad thing if you know what you want within your desire and budget.

 

[zendriver]

One would think Icon actually is "the new Snap On"

Good looking, sturdy professional quality tool boxes, sturdy professional quality tools - at way lower, (but still higher than average) prices. Lifetime warranty.

People want and need lower prices today and in into the future.

Only thing missing is the truck.

 

[liliysdad]

One would think Icon actually is "the new Snap On"

Good looking, sturdy professional quality tool boxes, sturdy professional quality tools - at way lower, (but still higher than average) prices. Lifetime warranty.

People want and need lower prices today and in into the future.

Only thing missing is the truck.

Well, I mean…without Snap On, who would design tools for ICON?

 

[2ndGearRubber]

One would think Icon actually is "the new Snap On"

Good looking, sturdy professional quality tool boxes, sturdy professional quality tools - at way lower, (but still higher than average) prices. Lifetime warranty.

People want and need lower prices today and in into the future.

Only thing missing is the truck.

I agree with HF being the new craftsman, but IMO Icon inherently can never meet the niche of the "real" tool trucks.

Icon doesn't have trucks, a defining feature of the business model. Icon doesn't make storage and tooling solutions of aerospace or the military or industry - all big in the snap on portfolio of features along with USA origins for government contracts that specify. Of course the MSRP is never going to allow trucks for anything from HF, which always makes me sigh when people tell me they want a HF truck. But their physical store presence is impressive and sort of covers them IMO in a way that the trucks cannot. Multiple stores means more inventory, whereas the truck franchisee has but a single inventory path. IDK how often HF back orders, but it can happen a lot on trucks along with drivers having reached credit maxes from the brand. HF owning the stores and constantly distributing inventory in multiple locations should help prevent shocks to the system.


I've said many times, I don't understand Icon. Regular Pittsburgh Pro does well enough for most peoples uses, I use some of their impact stuff. Icon offers a product that looks sort of like snap on, that's 50% of the selling point, it's all over their own literature. Aside from the ratcheting wrenches, and semi deep sockets available locally, that's most of what is talked about on here - Taiwanese socket sets, of good quality mind you, which are made to look like snap on. I don't understand why that's a feature. But it's certainly nice to have a better option for people in store over the legit duds, like the chrome Pittsburgh Pro extensions which sort of ****.



I think HF meets the craftsman standard because of variety. Yes at sears you could buy bed sheets and a battery charger 60 years ago. But in 2025 HF seems to have a large percentage of tooling options. Sure they don't cover as many raw materials and add ons as someone like Lowes who will sell you tile, and mortar tubs, and tools. But the local HF sure has a TON of options for a lot of different needs. I can't think of another regionally operating business with their variety for so many different areas. We focus a LOT on hand tools on GJ, but harbor freight will sell you an engine hoist, an air compressor, ramps to load an ATV, straps to strap it down, a tire for your wheelbarrow, etc. It's quite impressive.

 

[Fedwrench]

I think Tekton is the new Craftsman simply for all of the Indvidual open stock they offer.

I don't view Icon as the new Snap on simply because, of their lack of individual open stock items and the Icon line up despite growing steadily, is still thin.

Not to derail the thread but, I question the necessity for tool trucks in this era of online shopping and quick shipping.

 

[Andres26tnt]

Icon isn't the new craftsman, for that you need to have multiple tool lines, singles, storage, power tools, promotional gimmick tools and other things Sears Craftsman sold under the name. Tho I will say HF has takes the same spot as sears except with a much smaller footprint.

 

[NoahG]

ICON is overpriced, I don’t get the hype. Doyle and Quinn are some of the absolute best bargains in the entire HF inventory.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

Icon isn't the new craftsman, for that you need to have multiple tool lines, singles, storage, power tools, promotional gimmick tools and other things Sears Craftsman sold under the name. Tho I will say HF has takes the same spot as sears except with a much smaller footprint.

This is always the lens I looked through. Maybe Icon/tekton/whoever is the hand tool equivalent of craftsman? Being born in 1990 my view of craftsman, within the sears ecosystem, was a physical location selling a wide variety of tools and tool related items.

So Tekton doesn't count because they're mostly online and I can't buy a Tekton wheelbarrow, multimeter, or circular saw. Icon also fails sort of the same way - but Harbor Freight as an entire entity could meet my quickly assembled definition of what craftsman was. Or maybe that makes HF the new Sears?

IMO unless I can buy a bunch of random "tool-y" type products from a variety of disciplines, they can't claim to meet what craftsman was. My father for years and years had a garden hose, Craftsman, which was a sort of octagon outer shell shape rather than circular. After probably 2 decades it died, but that always imprinted into my mind "craftsman=garden hose". Along with a leaf blower (corded), sockets and pliers, a soldering iron, etc. Most companies don't have the insanely deep catalog within one brand name. I think sears was unique in basically slamming all the stuff which could be considered a tool or tool-related into craftsman. Now brands seem to have a bunch of sub-brands. Like the Lowes or Home Depot brand that makes their store pliers doesn't always make a product in every other tool. Whereas craftsman basically had something labeled as such in every single niche.

 

[AEAdam]

I think you guys are thinking about this too clinically. The quick answer is yes. Some of you may not remember the glory days of Craftsman.

I went to the mall with my wife. She went to housewares, and I went the basement where craftsman was. They had every tool a mechanic or handy man needed. They were open on Sundays. You could buy a set of wrenches really cheap. They had huge sets of tools, the craftsman 503 pc set (where did they come up with that number?) that we all drooled over. Sure there was a lot of junk we'd never use in that set, but they you would have EVERYTHING.

There were aisles of inexpensive, but still very attractive toolboxes. Some had ball bearing slides! (not mine).

If you were in the middle of a job, you could stop into a Sears and get a specialty tool you didn't have and it was there on a rack. Sockets were available as individuals. Warranty was a breeze. At my local Sears, the tool section was staffed by retired engineers, mechanics, ex-army vets from Viet Nam. They were strait laced, short haired guys from another era. If you were warrantying something fishy, they'd give you the hairy eye ball, then talk about OTHER people taking advantage of Sears warranty (was that a hint? were they talking about me? I never knew).

It was the convenience of having tools at our fingertips. No, I never cared or knew about Snap On. Snap On and Craftsman existed in separate universes. That was not available to me in any way. There were cheaper Taiwan tools elsewhere that were absolute junk. I recall friends with strange and wonderful brands like SK, but I never knew where they came from. My first metric socket set came from a grocery store.

Craftsman was a solid brand, not going anywhere. The tools you bought for life.

I didn't bother try to show parallels with HF. Leaving that to you. I will say, my wife would no more step into a HF, than she would go looking for me in Sears' tool section. I'd find her when I had seen everything.

 

[M635_Guy]

Since Craftsman died, I feel Williams is the replacement. Made in USA at a similar price point.

MiUSA Craftsman mainly died in the 1980's. They had "Craftsman Professional" that was still MiUSA in the late 90's/early 2000's, but it all gave way to MiC pretty quickly after that.

I think you guys are thinking about this too clinically. The quick answer is yes. Some of you may not remember the glory days of Craftsman.

I went to the mall with my wife. She went to housewares, and I went the basement where craftsman was. They had every tool a mechanic or handy man needed. They were open on Sundays. You could buy a set of wrenches really cheap. They had huge sets of tools, the craftsman 503 pc set (where did they come up with that number?) that we all drooled over. Sure there was a lot of junk we'd never use in that set, but they you would have EVERYTHING.

There were aisles of inexpensive, but still very attractive toolboxes. Some had ball bearing slides! (not mine).

If you were in the middle of a job, you could stop into a Sears and get a specialty tool you didn't have and it was there on a rack. Sockets were available as individuals. Warranty was a breeze. At my local Sears, the tool section was staffed by retired engineers, mechanics, ex-army vets from Viet Nam. They were strait laced, short haired guys from another era. If you were warrantying something fishy, they'd give you the hairy eye ball, then talk about OTHER people taking advantage of Sears warranty (was that a hint? were they talking about me? I never knew).

It was the convenience of having tools at our fingertips. No, I never cared or knew about Snap On. Snap On and Craftsman existed in separate universes. That was not available to me in any way. There were cheaper Taiwan tools elsewhere that were absolute junk. I recall friends with strange and wonderful brands like SK, but I never knew where they came from. My first metric socket set came from a grocery store.

Craftsman was a solid brand, not going anywhere. The tools you bought for life.

I didn't bother try to show parallels with HF. Leaving that to you. I will say, my wife would no more step into a HF, than she would go looking for me in Sears' tool section. I'd find her when I had seen everything.

My experience was pretty similar.

I don't really see Icon as a replacement for Craftsman so much as I see HF as a replacement for the tool section in Sears. HF lacks a number of things (you can't buy single wrenches/sockets/etc., essentially all brands are house-brands, etc.), but it serves me pretty much the same as Sears did. I had a lot of home equipment and tools with a Craftsman logo. I was pissed off enough with being orphaned by the death of the Craftsman C3 battery platform that I vowed never to trust a house-brand again for a battery platform, so my power tools are Milwaukee or Ego (for OPE). But a significant chunk of my tools are from HF these days - jacks, hand tools, USG storage, etc., and as a whole I've been extremely satisfied. HF's current Good/Better/Best strategy offers a lot more options than Sears/Craftsman did. I think they've done a pretty great job with the Hercules and Baur battery platforms for the most part, though I'm not sure I'm at the point I'd trust them if I were disconnecting from Milwaukee for some reason.

tl;dr I see HF as the new Sears Tools Department. Icon is just one of the options.

 

[tyyost]

I don't really see Icon as a replacement for Craftsman so much as I see HF as a replacement for the tool section in Sears. HF lacks a number of things (you can't buy single wrenches/sockets/etc., essentially all brands are house-brands, etc.), but it serves me pretty much the same as Sears did.

tl;dr I see HF as the new Sears Tools Department. Icon is just one of the options.

^ This. I don’t see anyone in the Craftsman space pre-internet days. HF probably has the best tool department in my region of northeast Pa. Lowes and Home Depot have decent selections, but automotive hand tool choices are lacking. I see very similar parallels between HF and the sears of my youth. I don’t miss the singles of sockets and wrenches, they were never a great deal at sears, and Lowe’s and most of the local auto parts stores have those if needed.

I actually would prefer if HF stopped with the 12 flavors of the same thing, Pittsburg, Pittsburgh Pro, Quinn, Icon, Bauer, Hercules, warrior, etc. At least they are clearly marketing Icon as the “pro” version for now.

 

[mngundog]

So it's decided, Snap-on is the new Icon.

 

[JradM]

The "new Craftsman" seems to be an ever-moving target.

For some it's based on the shopping experience, for others it's the diversity of the catalogue. Some say it's only the "glory years" of MiUSA. Some seem to just pick whatever brand their fond of.

By those metrics, where a brand has to be the best things everyone remembers about Craftsman from anyone time period, I'm not sure Craftsman was ever Craftsman.

 

[Jeeper99]

Sears was king in the fact you could buy complete sets or a single tool. Warranty was stupid easy, bring in the old tool, grab another off the shelf and walk out.

Harbor freight is the closest thing to that brick and mortar wise though they have gotten more particular on warranty depending on the store. You also can't buy individual sockets and wrenches and are stuck buying sets. I agree Icon is this odd niche similar to the old craftsman pro line.

Tekton has replaced Craftsman for me though I live nowhere near a harbor freight. They are good enough tools, sometimes I'll order a single tool, other times I'll order a set. I like the e-mail a picture, they mail you a tool warranty. I'm not a fan of spending my time off chasing down warranty tools.

The days of brick and mortar stores are fading. Unless I need something right now I'd rather have something shipped for free to me than deal with the general public.

 

[AEAdam]

The "new Craftsman" seems to be an ever-moving target.

For some it's based on the shopping experience, for others it's the diversity of the catalogue. Some say it's only the "glory years" of MiUSA. Some seem to just pick whatever brand their fond of.

By those metrics, where a brand has to be the best things everyone remembers about Craftsman from anyone time period, I'm not sure Craftsman was ever Craftsman.

You are right. To me, and I think the OP, who is roughly my age, “the new craftsman” isn’t about the quality of the tool. It’s about the shopping experience, the availability, the saturation of the handyman market. Craftsman was a place people would go to buy a present for their Dads for Christmas.

Every garage in my neighborhood had a craftsman tool in it. It may have been a screwdriver set, or a circular saw. We probably knew the tools weren’t the best, but they were more than good enough for us.

It may be the case that that sort of marketing is a thing of the past. You can never fill Craftsman’s shoes because modern buyers purchase tools online now. And in that respect, maybe there are lots of tool companies better at the online shopping experience than HF is. Who will dominate the handyman tool market? Maybe no one. Or at least not like Craftsman did.

Still, the few times I go to HF, I always see Dads with dirty hands, obviously mid repair, buying tools they need to finish something. That’s how Sears was for many of us. This was before the internet, before we could look up a repair and know we needed a 6mm Allen bit socket. I’d be half way thru a job and encounter hardware I had no tools for.

BTW, that was the end of Craftsman for me and the beginning of Snap On. I needed allen bit sockets that didn’t break and I needed triple squares and I couldn’t buy them locally. Even Lisle didn’t have them. Not until my mechanic left a Snap On hard handle screwdriver in my car, did I fully realize how much better a simple screwdriver could be. It was an epiphany. Suddenly, I saw Craftsman in Snap On‘s shadow. Every Snap On tool I bought was better in just about every way than Craftsman.

That too, is an experience most of you will never have, which is probably good. The difference between “best” and “cheap” is SO much smaller now. Back then, I could turn a bolt (tie rod) with a Snap On open end wrench, that a Craftsman wrench could not budge.

 

[lardy1]

My opinion is no. Too narrow of a line and no real identity. I can see the parallel of having brick and mortar outlets and having an easy warranty process but, for me, it ends there. I don't bash Icon but they're miles from where Craftsman was.

 

[zendriver]

Well, I mean…without Snap On, who would design tools for ICON?

10 dozen other companies that make tools?

 

[zendriver]

I agree with HF being the new craftsman, but IMO Icon inherently can never meet the niche of the "real" tool trucks.

Icon doesn't have trucks, a defining feature of the business model. Icon doesn't make storage and tooling solutions of aerospace or the military or industry - all big in the snap on portfolio of features along with USA origins for government contracts that specify. Of course the MSRP is never going to allow trucks for anything from HF, which always makes me sigh when people tell me they want a HF truck. But their physical store presence is impressive and sort of covers them IMO in a way that the trucks cannot. Multiple stores means more inventory, whereas the truck franchisee has but a single inventory path. IDK how often HF back orders, but it can happen a lot on trucks along with drivers having reached credit maxes from the brand. HF owning the stores and constantly distributing inventory in multiple locations should help prevent shocks to the system.


I've said many times, I don't understand Icon. Regular Pittsburgh Pro does well enough for most peoples uses, I use some of their impact stuff. Icon offers a product that looks sort of like snap on, that's 50% of the selling point, it's all over their own literature. Aside from the ratcheting wrenches, and semi deep sockets available locally, that's most of what is talked about on here - Taiwanese socket sets, of good quality mind you, which are made to look like snap on. I don't understand why that's a feature. But it's certainly nice to have a better option for people in store over the legit duds, like the chrome Pittsburgh Pro extensions which sort of ****.



I think HF meets the craftsman standard because of variety. Yes at sears you could buy bed sheets and a battery charger 60 years ago. But in 2025 HF seems to have a large percentage of tooling options. Sure they don't cover as many raw materials and add ons as someone like Lowes who will sell you tile, and mortar tubs, and tools. But the local HF sure has a TON of options for a lot of different needs. I can't think of another regionally operating business with their variety for so many different areas. We focus a LOT on hand tools on GJ, but harbor freight will sell you an engine hoist, an air compressor, ramps to load an ATV, straps to strap it down, a tire for your wheelbarrow, etc. It's quite impressive.

Icon is perfect for its intended goal

“Professional grade tools” at 1/5 the cost of the leading tool truck brand. The economics of the future we’ll see how this plays out.

As much as I practically begged him to go into HVAC Grandson is hell-bent on mechanics and just signed up borrowing money to go to diesel tech school. Of course, when he graduates, he’ll need tools so now he’ll have to decide how much more debt he wants to go into.. some with icon or way more with tool truck outfit.

Regardless, hopefully the money will be there to pay back all that debt. :

 

[M635_Guy]

Agree with the rest who are saying it's about the shopping and warranty experience. The MiC Craftsman hand tools and other stuff was OK in my experience - not amazing but did the job. Over 15 years or so I think I only had to warranty something a couple times, and it was walk-in, walk out. HF mirrors all of that as well or better these days, while the Craftsman brand is basically just a sticker. Based on relatively-consistent stories about challenges dealing with warranty, Lowe's does not really want to replace the Sears experience. Overall, the hand-tools don't seem to be very good, and the power tools... oof.

The death of Sears/Craftsman changed how I buy tools/OPE. Back in the day, Sears got most of my money. These days I don't trust any store-brand power tools. I research (and probably over-do it) the **** out of most of my purchases. Just like other battery tools, I don't trust HF store-brands (Hercules would be my most-likely match) any more than any others. But for hand tools they have been more than fine and I have more/better options than I did at Sears. (I agree that the list prices for Icon is high for the most part - it seems like HF went from excluding them from coupons to having higher list prices and knowing most people like me won't buy any that aren't on some kind of sale. But the tools have been great).

I really need to let the coffee settle in before I open up GJ...

 

[slowtwitch73]

Craftsman has been around so long, it means different things to different guys.

You need to be what... 45yo+ to have really had the full on Sears store/ Cman experience? 50?

 

[3baygarage]

Well, I mean…without Snap On, who would design tools for ICON?

 

[maxx1676]

One would think Icon actually is "the new Snap On"

Good looking, sturdy professional quality tool boxes, sturdy professional quality tools - at way lower, (but still higher than average) prices. Lifetime warranty.

People want and need lower prices today and in into the future.

Only thing missing is the truck.

When I had my shop (now retired) I sold all my tools (SnapOn) along with my box...
I started buying Craftsman because Lowes is about 10 minutes from me.
When I wanted a tool box for home I looked at US General..and I have to admit it`s every bit as well built as the SnapOn box for 1/3 the price... The Icon tools look pretty good also.
I went with Craftsman tools because the company that owns them is an American company.
So far I have no complaints with Craftsman tools.

 

[Andres26tnt]

Craftsman has been around so long, it means different things to different guys.

You need to be what... 45yo+ to have really had the full on Sears store/ Cman experience? 50?

More like 35 or so. I remember craftsman sears fondly.

 

[jsmeece]

Sears has been selling Craftsman tools since 1927.

 

[bassJAM]

I think you guys are thinking about this too clinically. The quick answer is yes. Some of you may not remember the glory days of Craftsman.

I went to the mall with my wife. She went to housewares, and I went the basement where craftsman was. They had every tool a mechanic or handy man needed. They were open on Sundays. You could buy a set of wrenches really cheap. They had huge sets of tools, the craftsman 503 pc set (where did they come up with that number?) that we all drooled over. Sure there was a lot of junk we'd never use in that set, but they you would have EVERYTHING.

There were aisles of inexpensive, but still very attractive toolboxes. Some had ball bearing slides! (not mine).

If you were in the middle of a job, you could stop into a Sears and get a specialty tool you didn't have and it was there on a rack. Sockets were available as individuals. Warranty was a breeze. At my local Sears, the tool section was staffed by retired engineers, mechanics, ex-army vets from Viet Nam. They were strait laced, short haired guys from another era. If you were warrantying something fishy, they'd give you the hairy eye ball, then talk about OTHER people taking advantage of Sears warranty (was that a hint? were they talking about me? I never knew).

It was the convenience of having tools at our fingertips. No, I never cared or knew about Snap On. Snap On and Craftsman existed in separate universes. That was not available to me in any way. There were cheaper Taiwan tools elsewhere that were absolute junk. I recall friends with strange and wonderful brands like SK, but I never knew where they came from. My first metric socket set came from a grocery store.

Craftsman was a solid brand, not going anywhere. The tools you bought for life.

I didn't bother try to show parallels with HF. Leaving that to you. I will say, my wife would no more step into a HF, than she would go looking for me in Sears' tool section. I'd find her when I had seen everything.

My experience with purchasing Craftsman started in the late 90's through early 2000's, but GAWD I miss their Sears Hardware stores! The "lower level" hardware sections connected to the mall was fine for most things, but walking into a Sears Hardware store was like browsing their catalogue in real life. The mechanics tools section alone would have taken up half of the footprint of a HF building.

Frankly there just isn't a replacement for that. HF is still "Craftsman lite". Yeah, you can get toolboxes, garden hose, and a garden cart. But they don't have the small hardware bins like the Sears hardware stores had, I need to go to a big box store for that, or more likely to an ever dwindling selection of small local hardware stores. No lawn mowers. Garden tractors as a whole no longer exist but Craftsman made one every bit as good as a Wheel Horse or Cub Cadet in the 80's. I seem to remember my local S.H. had an appliance section too, and although I purchased my home when there was still a local Sears Hardware at that point in my life my appliances all came from Craigslist so I never ventured to that section!

As far as just the mechanic's tools, which I think is the purpose of this thread, I think Icon is still a tad too expensive to compare with Craftsman. Maybe I'm mis-remembering and forgetting about the effects of inflation, but it seems like you could get a full 400 piece tool set for around $200 in around the year 2000, roughly $380 in today's money. I pieced together a similar set on HF's website and I'm at $650 and I know I'm still missing some items.

 

[orangeblood]

So it's decided, Snap-on is the new Icon.

^ this is profound and funny...not getting the love it deserves!

 

[liliysdad]

10 dozen other companies that make tools?

You mean like Knipex?....ooohh, yeah..

 

[zendriver]

When I had my shop (now retired) I sold all my tools (SnapOn) along with my box...
I started buying Craftsman because Lowes is about 10 minutes from me.
When I wanted a tool box for home I looked at US General..and I have to admit it`s every bit as well built as the SnapOn box for 1/3 the price... The Icon tools look pretty good also.
I went with Craftsman tools because the company that owns them is an American company.
So far I have no complaints with Craftsman tools.

I was referring to using tools professionally, which is the role of both snap on and icon

Unfortunately, we all know that, even though your current set up is adequate, you would receive more than your fair share of “stink eye” using that set up in a professional environment


Just the way it is

 

[zendriver]

You mean like Knipex?....ooohh, yeah..

Maybe, but what’s your point?

 

[liliysdad]

I was referring to using tools professionally, which is the role of both snap on and icon

Unfortunately, we all know that, even though your current set up is adequate, you would receive more than your fair share of “stink eye” using that set up in a professional environment


Just the way it is

It's not like this phenomenon is centric only to mechanics. In law enforcement, if you carry, wear, or use cheap stuff, you get the same stink eye. Sure, an Uncle Mikes holster might do roughly the same thing as a Safariland, no one wants to be seen wearing one. The Gall's boots you got on sale might look decent, but everyone knows they aren't Danners. When I first started, I had to buy my own gear, including pistol...before I started my $8.35/hr job. I could have borrowed the money to buy a Taurus, and it would have been "adequate," but the Sig was the quality choice.

Part of it is absolutely elitism, but even more so is the fact that your gear shows your commitment to the trade.

 

[liliysdad]

Maybe, but what’s your point?

Just saying that is easy to compete with companies when those companies pay your design staff for you.