Help Me Choose - Tekton vs Icon

[sberry]

I think the lunacy is thinking that there is even a difference between sockets being made today amongst different brands.

I am not certain it's lunacy but it's working to drive the consumer from a generic product to a brand one, made by the same company, fuss over the warranty, stamp a semi brand on it and double the price, put a brand on it and triple. Put it in a plastic package vs white box.

 

[smuro04]

Icon is overpriced, period.

The only icon tools I would consider are their ratchet wrenches and torque wrench, however...

You can buy the SAME ratchet wrench sets from Dewalt for 2/3 the price.

And you can buy a better quality torque wrench from CDI for roughly the same price or a little less.


Tekton all day.

 

[sberry]

I havnt looked. How much is the Icon, how much is the DeWalt? It seems if there are 2 economy wrench sets, one is 20$ and the other 25 bucks the 25 guy is a scheme, ,, but if a truck gives 25 off on a 600,, maybe more set and a hat he is a swell guy and a reqular philanthropist. What a bargain.
Personally I think that the bargains,, and almost revolutionary is a serviceable wrench can now be bought for a dollar or 2 and less dollars than it was 25 years ago. This is revolutionary. Some welding machines cost the same today. Paid 625 for a feeder in 92, had to get it from a dealer, today can buy it for 650 off the shelf.

 

[sberry]

Paid 50 last week for a drill I paid 150 for in 92 also. More features, more power.

 

[smuro04]

I havnt looked. How much is the Icon, how much is the DeWalt?

My apologies, the Icon appear to be a long pattern whereas the Dewalt are a standard length. Icon’s are $150 for a 10 piece set and the Dewalt can be had for around $90 for a 12 piece set.

 

[sberry]

I bet a guy could get them under Stanley for 1/2 that, maybe less. I saw a set in Walmart a while back could have fooled most anyone if they couldn't see the name, flawless finish, longs, seems it wasnt much more than 30 for 10 or 12. They were so pretty I was dam near drawn to them, don't need any. I bought a Kobalt single that was long combo, about 3$. Had a super finish. They were in the 30$ set range I think.
My helper at the time picked it up and said, that is a heck of a wrench for 3 bucks.

 

[ChrisLS8]

Icon is overpriced, period.

The only icon tools I would consider are their ratchet wrenches and torque wrench, however...

You can buy the SAME ratchet wrench sets from Dewalt for 2/3 the price.

And you can buy a better quality torque wrench from CDI for roughly the same price or a little less.


Tekton all day.

The dewalts are shorter and no longer ASD

 

[smuro04]

The dewalts are shorter and no longer ASD

See post 125.

Also, HF sells Icon ratcheting wrenches without any type of anti slip design on the open end, same price.

 

[paul.nmedia.net]

I have an Icon 1/2” and Tekton 3/8” set. And Crapsman 3/8 non impact
and Kobalt 3/8” set. I’m a service contractor so I tend to lose or destroy things like sockets. So out of all of these the laser etched stuff easily strips and rubs off the socket where it is unreadable. Thus is especially true of Icon. Haven’t had the Tekton set for 2 weeks yet so to early to tell. Crapsman 12 point garbage stripped out on the maiden job and the ratchet it came with won’t hold a socket on. Can’t say enough bad things about it and this is SBD-Crapsman. Used the good ones 20 years ago, no more.

If you want high quality first don’t bother on impacts. Anyone can make a fat piece of medium carbon black oxide coated steel. Pretty sure I could pull off a lost wax casting in my garage...it’s that easy. So Tekton is fine. Just wish they would stamp or mold the markings. For wrench sockets you can go thin wall and get better tolerances so you get the “side vs. edge” gripping stuff the tool truck guys sell. Just go for the industrial brand names instead of tool truck brands. So for instance my 1/2” wrench sockets are Blackhawk from roughly 1990s vintage. Williams is “Snapon” minus the tool truck markup. Gearwrench is high markup but Apex and Crescent are the nonmarkup brands of Apex Tool Group which formerly made the 15+ years ago Craftsman-Sears tools that you can’t get anymore after the Sears Holdings debacle destroyed everything it touches.

So putting my money where my mouth is last week I bought Dewalt branded impact adapters for my low torque impact gun and a 3/8” Tekton impact SAE set. It’s the only brand I could find when the requirement was 6 sided only and impact grade 3:8” drive. I could buy individual sockets at Northern but that’s expensive. The trouble is I had a Kobalt set. Well Lowe’s stopped carrying and I lost a huge amount on a winter job on a roof over water gone bad. They were 6 point and worked well. They’re not impacts but worked fine either way So I got a cheap SBD-Crapsman set. Big mistake! Garbage strips out instantly. So time to be more picky. Trouble is nobody locally in the “value” brands sells 3/8” impact except Northern singles only. So Tekton won. Not disappointed so far. They are a step up over Icon but not Blackhawk grade by far.

 

[Batscat]

Wow I have a headache trying to read that.
And top of the line impact sockets are thin walled and hold up better then the chrome vanadium sockets.
Chrome moly is what good impact sockets are made from.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Nice troll, guy. HF's marketing gimmick, "ICON--Tool Truck Quality" wins the 2019 Troll of the Year. Congratulations.

New Year's Wish for 2020: the GJ mods will create an Icon Discussion Group so the rest of us won't have to deal with this lunacy anymore. Thanks.

"ICON" "I Can Own None" Sorry Folks: I don't care to gamble any more with chrome Harbor Freight hand tools. I have tried numerous chrome stuff from their establishment, and have experienced too many failures. I bought numerous sets of HF stuff to fill in a few voids, and use as a disposable set to carry in an over the road truck. During occasional use of these HF tools; I experienced more breakage, spreading wrenches, and other failures in a short years time than I had experienced in several decades of 40 to 70 hour weeks of shop work with good tools.

I am not totally done shopping at HF, as they have some of My pet tool choices. It really boils down to what You want to spend for a tool, Your expectations, and personal preference. And if We all agreed, We would all be crazy.

 

[stock z/28]

As far as harness testing on a plated material you may have to look a "superficial hardness testing". I have both superficial and standard Wilson testers but Im certainly no expert on this type of testing.

It would seem to me that testing something like a socket and evaluating the results might be tricky?

Too soft? Too brittle? I dont know.

 

[nikerret]

I recently needed two 24mm sockets, for the bolts on my flatbed. Tractor Supply had their JobSmart brand chrome and impact sockets on clearance. I bought a set of each and a set of socket Allen heads for less than $60. The sockets were both metric and SAE. I’m sure they are not the best, but I’ve gone a lot of years not needing a 24mm socket. Bang for buck, it was unbeatable.

 

[hollumsd]

I’ve enjoyed reading the responses in choosing between Tekton and ICON. It’s helped me choose as well. I’ve been ping-ponging between the two brands as well for a set of stubby wrenches. I’ll go with the Tekton set, they’re the same wrench, pert near, and less expensive. I won’t use the wrenches everyday so I don’t mind saving a few dollars. I have used the Tekton 55-piece ratchet/socket set and the hex-bit/e-torx set for almost two years with out any complaints. I reckoned I’ll try to keep a good thing going.

 

[groundcoat]

Recently acquired a complete set of Tekton vice grips and they are VERY nice and highly recommended. Equal or better than my old and well-worn USA Vice Grip brand locking
pliers.

Ordering from Tekton is as good as an Internet sale can be. Fastest free shipping I've seen. So far, so good.

 

[Batscat]

The old USA vice grips teeth are much more resistant to wear then tekton.

 

[Mr_B]

toptul or milwaukee about best for durable grips, bremen good and value good when use coupon .
don't think tekton any better than the bremen grips .

 

[sberry]

Its worth having complete sets to some of it, maybe you need an 11mm someday and at the set prices it doesn't eat much sitting around. Some sets I really use 3 or 4 pieces out of etc. I am not going too much farther anymore for screwdrivers, buy a handful at single prices at HF are hard to beat and they work well, have caught up to the Klein standard and actually have better grips. For 10$ can refresh them.
Got to admit I have not really tried pliers, so used to the exact same thing its hard to get away from Vise Grip and Channelock in adjustable.

 

[Toys4Life C5]

In the market for deep well 1/2 6 pt sockets. This thread helped me decide. Tekton it is. Love their website warranty. Take a pic, they send new socket. Sweet! Thanks guys!!!