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Carlyle Prices Compared to Snap-on Prices

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AndrewV

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Dec 28, 2013
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1,368
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Fl
Yes and no dave.
The chrome on the carlyle's is amazing, in comparison to hf. And quality is higher. Feel a lot better in the hand.
To add to this thread, GearWrench is a truck brand at this point. It's on all our trucks for the most part, and carlyle's 6pt ratching wrenches are great, the antislip wrenches i love, not my fd+'s but good quality.
 
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SawtoothJL

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Apr 27, 2014
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165
Location
PNW, USA
Fedwrench said:
You can't compare truck prices to a non truck brand. It's like comparing apples and oranges.
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In the end they are both fruit though, right? Just like they are both tools. I understand what you are saying about what you pay for with a truck brand - the service. However, a good tool is a good tool, regardless of where you buy it.
 
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MrJason

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May 26, 2013
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438
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Bakersfield, CA.
mrborohachi said:
Autozone Duralast vs. Carlyle

That's more picking on someone your own size. Both are in house tools of auto parts stores.
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Comparing Apples to Onions. Not even close.

I've broken a Duralast doing marginal tasks, under normal utility.

Carlyle had yet to break, under the same utilities.

Carlyle feels better in the hand over a long amount of time.

A better comparison for Duralast, is OReillys GM performance branded tools.
 
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Loscaldazar

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Feb 23, 2013
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mrborohachi said:
Autozone Duralast vs. Carlyle

That's more picking on someone your own size. Both are in house tools of auto parts stores.
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jim1987 said:
Not even close. Same idea. But duralst isn't anywhere near the quality of Carlyle.
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Agreed. Carlyle is a fantastic house brand. If that is what craftsman had turned into, I wouldn't have complained.

I think the thing that scares so many people here (myself included, I am a self appointed SK Fanboy) is that Carlyle might actually be just as good in their hardline tools as some US made brands....Of course I have no evidence to support that, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that many of their tools are high quality and strong if they were to be tested.

The local napa to me (franchisee, not a company store) just clearanced out a ton of evercraft in favor of keeping the shelves stocked with carlyle. I will no longer run to lowes to buy a tool in an emergency- Napa it is.
 
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fasteddie313

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Jul 11, 2014
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323
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northern michigan
kythri said:
Which NAPA guys? Folks in the store?

Just curious, because, unless it was some kind of regional representative that wasn't a store owner/employee, your take on things is probably pretty accurate.

The folks at the store level really don't get much information on this kind of thing, and the tools would need to be stocked/selling better than they are for GPC to decide to shift to domestic production.

I've bought a fair amount of Carlyle sockets to fill tray pegs and just, in general, fill out my socket collection. Bought a few ratchets.

I like the stuff, and regularly grab the Carlyle ratchets when working on stuff. I think the quality is there, it just needs to be better marketed.

I will say, too, that NAPA needs to better stock the stuff in distribution centers and get the stores, including franchises, more in-line with a consistent stocking of them.

Perhaps I'm attempting to order "weird" stuff, but when multiple DC's don't have a single socket, and when you finally locate it, that DC only has 1? That just seems weird.

NAPA could probably make a killing off these tools if they enforced a consistent base set of stuff being stocked at all stores (or, at least, devised a plan for small stores/medium stores/large stores), and actually had their outside salespeople push the line hard and leveraged their delivery teams to provide a "similar" level of service such as what a truck provides.
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employees behind the counter said that..

its a napa in Mancelona, a very small town and napa is probably the only place to buy mechanics tools period in my town so they have a sort of monopoly..

they also have quite a display, the entire wall behind the counter is all tools on pegboard like..

they have had evercraft or something back there for as long as I can remember, they have quite the selection of tools, I will give them an A+ on that..

I went in needing a piece of 17mm allen just now, while I couldn't find anything made in usa i could have bought a regular allen in 17mm $12 ish, 1/2 square drive socket type allen driver $18ish, or the 17mm VW specific trans drain plug 3/8 to 17mm driver type thing $6 ish...

while not a place I would really shop for tools because I would buy usa, it is definitely a place that has me covered if i don't have some thing i need to do/finish my job.. there tools to get some of my money because of the convenience factor in my area..

i like the napa as a whole, positive experience..
 
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fasteddie313

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northern michigan
mowersplus84 said:
yeah Carlyle is Leaps and bonds above Carlyle in fact id put Carlyle up against any of the trunk brands any day of the week
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um.. no...

i just eyeballed the **** out of especially there 1/2 drive allen line...

and it wasn't anything close to as good as the few proto allen drivers i have..
or easco, or snappies, but the proto beats them all to me..

its like a dpms AR15 VS a Panzer tank...

but the carlyle were many magnitudes better than the random drivers i have that say nothing but a crooked, some miss stamped, no size marking "TIAWAN"..

those kinds of tools are what gives asia such a bad name, there despicable really..
 
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nicksnothereman

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Oct 19, 2013
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Some of this stuff is probably made in the same factory (or at least was) to different specs.

I'd have to see the carlyle breaker bar (1/2" long) to compare it to the duralast one I picked up a couple of years ago. Different brands might have different strengths even if they're made in the same place. Comparing my duralast taiwan breaker bar to a harbor freight one and there's a big difference in quality but it also cost 2x more. So theoretically if carlyle is made to better specs it might be worth it to some people. It's a bit expensive for import stuff in my opinion though despite the warranty; I tend not to break stuff (usually pretty careful) so I'll take chances of stuff if I can save money on it even if it has a mail in warranty.
 
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Sonny2010

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Jul 20, 2014
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100
Location
Southeast, Missouri
nicksnothereman said:
Some of this stuff is probably made in the same factory (or at least was) to different specs.

I'd have to see the carlyle breaker bar (1/2" long) to compare it to the duralast one I picked up a couple of years ago. Different brands might have different strengths even if they're made in the same place. Comparing my duralast taiwan breaker bar to a harbor freight one and there's a big difference in quality but it also cost 2x more. So theoretically if carlyle is made to better specs it might be worth it to some people. It's a bit expensive for import stuff in my opinion though despite the warranty; I tend not to break stuff (usually pretty careful) so I'll take chances of stuff if I can save money on it even if it has a mail in warranty.
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I have the old style duralast breaker bar #72-124 and its been wonderful.
 
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