Whatever side of the line you find yourself on with the COO argument, you still have to come to terms with the possible outsourcing of your favorite ratchet.
Lifetime warranties may guarantee you another ratchet should yours fail, but it doesn't guarantee it will be the same COO and for some, where this is of importance, kits may be their only assurance.
The companies I buy my ratchets from are still producing my ratchets in the country they claim, but recent history has shown this can change very quickly. Lifetime warranties are worthless if you can't get the same tool back or fixed with the same parts.
Do I expect the Snap on, Matco, Hazet, or Gedore ratchets I own will last me for the rest of my life? Absolutely! Do these tools break, wear or fail sometimes? Yes they do! Do all changes these companies make to their ratchets mean they have improved them? No it doesn't. Do any of the kits cost so much you are willing to gamble your favorite ratchet company won't outsource or change a ratchet from gold to **** for profit?
Many, if not all the major tool manufactures have some product they rely on other countries to produce. Which direction is your ratchet company going?
The only true constant is change. How will you adjust to it? For some, kits might be that adjustment. For others, they'll buy what their manufacturers sell them. Now a days, lifetime warranties are not guarantees.
I'm Just saying...
The statement from my eariler post "grab a few kits" may have been just a little exaggerated...
