Harbor Freight: Doyle Pliers = MAC Tools?

[BrandoJames]

In this YouTube mechanic's video, Justin Dow compares several of his old MAC pliers to Harbor Freight's current line of Doyle pliers. He points out that they look/feel identical.

I needed some new pliers, so after watching this video I went to HF & bought a pair of Doyle slip joint pliers. They're well made and feel solid in my hand when I use them. I liked these pliers so much that I picked up the Doyle channel lock and long nose pliers as well. Whether they're MAC or not, I was impressed by their quality at a price point of $10 each.

I think HF is stepping up their quality in certain product lines. I've already purchased a Daytona jack as well as these Doyle pliers. I've also noticed that many guys here like their Pittsburgh line of ratchets/sockets.

 

[measuredtwice]

I'd rather pay a couple of dollars more than $10 and buy made in USA.

Zoro has the Tekton 10" for $14.25. 25% coupon brings it to $10.69. 20% coupons are more common and would bring the cost to $11.40.

There are also smaller sizes for less money.

 

[BrandoJames]

I'd rather pay a couple of dollars more and buy made in USA.

These Doyle pliers are made in Taiwan-that's usually preferable to China.

 

[Professional Tool User]

No surprises if this is true. Mac tools does not equal high quality a lot of the time. Mac has very low standards when it comes to choosing what to rebrand.

But still, you've got to be careful. Mac has at least two lines of pliers and I'm not even sure if they still have a line of pliers sourced from Taiwan at this point. All I know for sure is they have a line of rebranded Knipex and a line of cheap Made in China pliers that are as bad as the Harbor Freight junk bin ones

 

[1982fxr]

Painful video.

Takes them out of the package and immediately claims same quality of metal as his MAC. I stopped watching right there.

If they're Taiwan they should be decent but time will tell. And he talks about Doyle like they're a manufacturer. And the title of his video is total click bait.

 

[measuredtwice]

These Doyle pliers are made in Taiwan-that's usually preferable to China.

I greatly prefer that my American dollars go to American manufacturers rather than Taiwan, a province of China. But I'm just an American that loves his country so what do I know.

 

[dnschmidt]

Justin Dow is a ****.

 

[Professional Tool User]

I'd rather pay a couple of dollars more than $10 and buy made in USA.

Zoro has the Tekton 10" for $14.25. 25% coupon brings it to $10.69. 20% coupons are more common and would bring the cost to $11.40.

There are also smaller sizes for less money.

Harbor Freight is not always make sense as a value proposition, especially with their higher end brands. Snap on is not the only brand of kool aid around. Harbor Freight is almost as bad in this respect with how small the price gap between its house brands and name brands is.

 

[BrandoJames]

I'd rather pay a couple of dollars more than $10 and buy made in USA. Zoro has the Tekton 10" for $14.25.

Most of the Tekton tools I've seen are made in Taiwan. I have Tekton's 1/2" torque wrench, also made in Taiwan.

 

[measuredtwice]

Most of the Tekton tools I've seen are made in Taiwan. I have Tekton's 1/2" torque wrench, also made in Taiwan.

The slipjoint pliers are made in USA. Why are you talking about torque wrenches? You can also get them with Wilde branding. Tekton just rebrands them.

 

[BrandoJames]

I greatly prefer that my American dollars go to American manufacturers rather than Taiwan, a province of China. But I'm just an American that loves his country so what do I know.

Taiwan is not a province of China. I've been there twice.

 

[techieman33]

Painful video.

Takes them out of the package and immediately claims same quality of metal as his MAC. I stopped watching right there.

If they're Taiwan they should be decent but time will tell. And he talks about Doyle like they're a manufacturer. And the title of his video is total click bait.

Yeah, it's pretty obvious that there are a lot of smaller tool focused channels that are being paid or at the minimum being sent free tools for their videos. They basically read the press release and talk about how good it looks, and feels in the hand. But they have never actually used it on anything. And you never see a followup video months later that they've actually used the tool, and what they like or don't like about it. Or they just do some stupid test to try and break it. It's usually a test that proves nothing. Who cares is a wrench that is sized for a fastener that has a max torque spec of 60ft/lbs slips or breaks 200ft/lbs, and a competitor breaks at 180ft/lbs.

As far as the Doyle pliers go, I've seen mixed reviews. If you get a good one then they're pretty good. But there are a lot of bad ones in the mix too. So you have to be careful and check them out in the store to make sure your getting a good pair. Quality control is expensive, and cutting most of it out is one of the ways they can sell tools cheap.

 

[Professional Tool User]

I greatly prefer that my American dollars go to American manufacturers rather than Taiwan, a province of China. But I'm just an American that loves his country so what do I know.

You claim to be American and you've just endorsed a line of Communist Chinese propaganda.

 

[Parrothead]

Justin Dow is a ****.

Care to elaborate?

I’ve had nothing but positive interaction with him. I don’t always agree, but I don’t agree with everyone all the time anyway.

*there’s a follow up video saying he rescinds that comment, and he doesn’t think they’re MAC pliers.

If I’m going to buy pliers, I’ll buy the Tekton groove joint and slip joint which are made by Wilde here in the US. They’re better than Channellocks in my opinion. I like my Klein needle nose, and I don’t use linesman pliers often, so whatever. I’ve got Utica, Knipex, Kobalt, and who knows in linesman.

To me the real HF pliers gem is the Bremen locking pliers, better than the current Irwin’s, and the best of what’s commonly available. Zero complaints from me.

 

[measuredtwice]

You claim to be American and you've just endorsed a line of Communist Chinese propaganda.

The official stance of the USA gov't since consumers... like those that want to save $1 on slipjoint pliers... have given China so much power that we can't afford to disagree.

If the pliers aren't made in the USA, then the money isn't going to USA manufacturing jobs.

 

[Professional Tool User]

Painful video.

Takes them out of the package and immediately claims same quality of metal as his MAC. I stopped watching right there.

If they're Taiwan they should be decent but time will tell. And he talks about Doyle like they're a manufacturer. And the title of his video is total click bait.

Funny that you mention "same quality metal as Mac". You clearly do not know how bad the metal quality Mac's current lower line of pliers is.

 

[Parrothead]

Painful video.

Takes them out of the package and immediately claims same quality of metal as his MAC. I stopped watching right there.

If they're Taiwan they should be decent but time will tell. And he talks about Doyle like they're a manufacturer. And the title of his video is total click bait.

Yeah, it's pretty obvious that there are a lot of smaller tool focused channels that are being paid or at the minimum being sent free tools for their videos. They basically read the press release and talk about how good it looks, and feels in the hand. But they have never actually used it on anything. And you never see a followup video months later that they've actually used the tool, and what they like or don't like about it. Or they just do some stupid test to try and break it. It's usually a test that proves nothing. Who cares is a wrench that is sized for a fastener that has a max torque spec of 60ft/lbs slips or breaks 200ft/lbs, and a competitor breaks at 180ft/lbs.

As far as the Doyle pliers go, I've seen mixed reviews. If you get a good one then they're pretty good. But there are a lot of bad ones in the mix too. So you have to be careful and check them out in the store to make sure your getting a good pair. Quality control is expensive, and cutting most of it out is one of the ways they can sell tools cheap.

While I agree there’s a great deal of clickbait tool channels, in this case he’s an actual mechanic at an independent shop and was a Chrysler tech before that. I enjoy his videos and take them for what they are. He even demos the tools at work.

 

[measuredtwice]

Wilde USA-made slipjoint pliers (Tekton also puts their branding on them)

 

[BrandoJames]

*there’s a follow up video saying he rescinds that comment, and he doesn’t think they’re MAC pliers.

I did see Dow's follow up video, but got the feeling Dow was threatened either by MAC or someone representing MAC. So he quickly backpedaled under pressure. I got the same feeling when Eric the Car Guy backed off his claims that synthetic oil is more likely to cause oil leaks in older vehicles.

But go back to Dow's original video where he compares the MAC/Doyle pliers side-by-side. They do look identical, I doubt that's mere coincidence.

 

[1982fxr]

Funny that you mention "same quality metal as Mac". You clearly do not know how bad the metal quality Mac's current lower line of pliers is.

??

I want to have this super power where I hold a pair of pliers for three seconds and can then state the quality level of the metal.

Did you watch the video? He holds his 8 year old Macs in high regard.

 

[1982fxr]

While I agree there’s a great deal of clickbait tool channels, in this case he’s an actual mechanic at an independent shop and was a Chrysler tech before that. I enjoy his videos and take them for what they are. He even demos the tools at work.

That's great but his title is total BS.

I saw another video of this guy, iirc he starts off lighting a smoke with a beer and says something like "hey everyone, back again, click the like button and subscribe if you want, like I give a **** either way..."

That was funny.

 

[Farmall450]

Channellock is so good for so little money there's really no reason not to buy them.

 

[Parrothead]

Channellock is so good for so little money there's really no reason not to buy them.

The same could be said of Wilde, who makes the Tekton USA pliers. Wilde doesn’t have the inconsistencies that Channellock does in my opinion.

 

[measuredtwice]

Channellock is so good for so little money there's really no reason not to buy them.

I agree.

Channellock and Wilde need to get on social media.

Too many Harbor Freight shills that get $9000 boxes for free in exchange for "honest" reviews.. and too many shills for those monetized Youtubers.

 

[Fedwrench]

I replied to that video when it first came out telling him that his old MAC pliers were made by Channellock and that the Doyles may have red grips but, that's where the similarities end. I believe my comment was removed.

I also believe that all of the tool trucks aside from snap on (not counting blue point), have lower cost PRC made pliers often sold in a set with a nice black bag for around a $100 but, those might be similar but, they're not made in Taiwan.

 

[techieman33]

But go back to Dow's original video where he compares the MAC/Doyle pliers side-by-side. They do look identical, I doubt that's mere coincidence.

Kind of like a lot of the current Icon stuff that looks nearly the same as Snap On. It's not hard to make something look like something else these days.

 

[Rabid Badger]

Not all the Doyle pliers are made in Taiwan. The T&G, slip joint and precision sets are made in China.

I have a pair of 8" long nose and a set of diagonal cutters and they are both excellent. Smooth, solid joints and quality steel. The only way I managed to damage the long nose pair at all was by squeezing a spring very tightly with the very tip of the pliers, which moved a tiny bit of metal along the edge of the jaw.

Anyone claiming that you can beat the Taiwanese Doyle pliers for less than Klein money ($25+ per pair) is uninformed or lying.

Channellock is so good for so little money there's really no reason not to buy them.

The last time I tried to buy Channellock pliers I went to Lowes for a pair of needle nose. Every pair on the shelf was defective, and not just cosmetic issues. Things like cutters meeting too early and preventing the jaws from closing, one jaw ground down to nothing at the tip, bad joints, etc. Their T&G and slip joint pliers seem fine, but I've given up on them for anything that requires hand finishing.

 

[measuredtwice]

Their T&G and slip joint pliers seem fine.

Do you have them? Do you have the slip joint pliers from Wilde?

Anyone claiming that you can beat the Taiwanese Doyle pliers for less than Klein money ($25+ per pair) is uninformed or lying..

Please post a photo of the Doyle slipjoint pliers next to the Wilde slipjoint pliers and Channellock slipjoint pliers... with a spoon (spoon pic!)... so that we can confirm that you're not uninformed or lying.

 

[Rabid Badger]

Do you have them? Do you have the slip joint pliers from Wilde?

No, I don't have much use for slip joints. If I was going to buy a pair it would be the Wilde flush joint type.

Please post a photo of the Doyle slipjoint pliers next to the Wilde slipjoint pliers and Channellock slipjoint pliers... with a spoon (spoon pic!)... so that we can confirm that you're not uninformed or lying.

I said you can't beat the Taiwanese Doyle pliers (long nose, diagonal cutters, linesman pliers, crimpers) for less than Klein money. Doyle slipjoints are made in mainland China.

 

[AS556]

They most certainly are not MAC and my 2 sets of Doyle channellocks are made in China, not Taiwan. The dykes are TWN.

 

[measuredtwice]

No, I don't have much use for slip joints. If I was going to buy a pair it would be the Wilde flush joint type.

Never tried the flush joint Wilde but they do look nice.

I said you can't beat the Taiwanese Doyle pliers (long nose, diagonal cutters, linesman pliers, crimpers) for less than Klein money. Doyle slipjoints are made in mainland China.

The topic is about a slip joint but it has meandered a bit. I was mostly teasing (hence lots of smileys). I have never used the Doyle slip joint pliers and likely never will. No reason to buy anything other than USA made since good quality is readily available for cheap from USA manufacturers.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of the deals beat the Harbor Freight for price. And I definitely wouldn't be surprised if they beat Harbor Freight for quality. Often when I hear the price that someone paid at Harbor Freight, I think wow I paid less for Knipex or Orbis or Vessel or Engineer etc.

 

[Rabid Badger]

Never tried the flush joint Wilde but they do look nice.

I like these, but so far have managed to resist since I have a pair of Knipex Cobras roughly the same size. Some day I'll break down and order a pair.

The topic is about a slip joint but it has meandered a bit. I was mostly teasing (hence lots of smileys).

Well when you're in a bad mood and you say something like "people that claim X are uninformed or liars" it's best to make sure the scope of the statement is limited.

I have never used the Doyle slip joint pliers and likely never will. No reason to buy anything other than USA made since good quality is readily available for cheap from USA manufacturers.

Agreed.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of the deals beat the Harbor Freight for price. And I definitely wouldn't be surprised if they beat Harbor Freight for quality. Often when I hear the price that someone paid at Harbor Freight, I think wow I paid less for Knipex or Orbis or Vessel or Engineer etc.

As their prices continue to climb I'm sure it will become more common. I got my 8" long nose pair for under $10 with a coupon. If Wilde made a pair in that form factor I would have spent the extra money.

 

[Farmall450]

The same could be said of Wilde, who makes the Tekton USA pliers. Wilde doesn’t have the inconsistencies that Channellock does in my opinion.

Both are fine manufacturers. One is a lot easier to access than the other.

Not sure I agree with the bolded but I have and use both.

 

[Rabid Badger]

This is only tangentially related to the thread, but I figured I'd share anyway:

I prefer to buy American products when I can but I don't feel too bad about buying Taiwan's stuff once in a while. The people on that island live their lives knowing that China plans to reduce everything they know to ash and will probably try to do just that within 15-30 years. If I can send them a little F-16 money here and there, I'm okay with that.

 

[CafeTools]

You can tell and he even mentions he was exagerating how similar they are. But yes they are similar. If you want the highest quality pliers get knipex.

 

[65k10]

The last time I tried to buy Channellock pliers I went to Lowes for a pair of needle nose. Every pair on the shelf was defective, and not just cosmetic issues. Things like cutters meeting too early and preventing the jaws from closing, one jaw ground down to nothing at the tip, bad joints, etc. Their T&G and slip joint pliers seem fine, but I've given up on them for anything that requires hand finishing.

I've noticed the same thing with regards to Channellock's needle nose pliers. I'll buy their other pliers, but I gave up on the needle nose.

On a side note regarding the pliers sold by Mac. This thread got me looking at their plier line. Has anyone ever handled their C.S.T. line of pliers? They kind of caught my eye since they look similar to the French made pliers sold under the Facom and USAG brands. Just curious if this is another case of SBD rebranding the same product across a bunch of different brands.

 

[WittHay]

Mac has at least five lines of pliers. The most common is red handled made in USA Channellocks. These are the ones that look similar to the HF Doyle line judging by a quick look at the Justin Dow video.

Then there are Knipex made in Germany rebrands. Third is decent quality Chinese made pliers like the Python. Proto/Blackhawk ones are USA but the Mac Chinese are perfectly acceptable.

4th is the Chinese made, 10 pliers for a hundred bucks. They come in different color grips and usually are spring loaded. They are something i would never buy, so cant speak for quality

5th is the new CST line. I bought a linesman but should be called a combination plier. Handle has a different texture to it but seems good quality. I like this particular plier. Might try a long nose

 

[chad w]

I greatly prefer that my American dollars go to American manufacturers rather than Taiwan, a province of China. But I'm just an American that loves his country so what do I know.

Not much, apparently. Hf currently employes 20,000 good, american workers. Tekton the brand you recommended above.. many less. Add to that, tekton sells as many foreign made tools as the hated hf, and tbh, the usa made stuff they offer is pretty low end (you don't honestly think every usa made tool is good, do you?) You can't love the country if you don't realize we are a net importer economy. The modern us worker is, by and large, lazy, overemployed, and doesnt perform up to par.. that has been what has led to our current situation, NOT consumer greed. I love america, im former service, current civilian employee, pretty right wing kinda guy, but sadly the mouth breather ""murica"" rhetoric is not only foolish, but incorrect. Ill keep supporting good tools, not misplaced patriotism. Youll do the same, unless you think 20k good americans dont need to eat so you can subsidize a smaller, inferior "murican" tool company.. that happens to sell a TON of imported **** too. If you want to buy good american tools, and bring america back to its hayday.. teach your children to actually work, and not expect money for nothing, and a 60k a year salary to show up to the job for 40 hrs a week while doing 15 hours worth of work.

 

[Mr_B]

The Doyle oem obviously had copied design features of the mac oem at some point so they similar in appearance but not same oem .
Doyle actually fairly decent in terms of materials and manufacture process for lower cost pliers .
Not a bad choice as a second or budget set if make effort with coupons .
Reality is better can be had and for not a lot more cost .

 

[measuredtwice]

Not much, apparently.

...The modern us worker is, by and large, lazy, overemployed, and doesnt perform up to par...

:stfu: