Husky or Kobalt

79rallysport · Oct 12, 2005

If these were the only two choices of sockets you had, which brand would you choose?

l_bilyk · Oct 12, 2005

Who sells Kobalt?

79rallysport · Oct 12, 2005

Husky is sold at Home Depot and Kobalt is sold at Lowes. I believe Husky tools are made by stanley and Kobalt tools are made by Danaher. I only posted this question because they are "house brands" sold by two major competing home improvement chains. You can usually find both of these stores in the same relative vacinity of each other.

vjquan · Oct 12, 2005

I'd buy Kobalt because they're made in the US. Husky is made in Taiwan. The Kobalts are carbon copies of Craftsman, which are my first choice in hand tools.

kartracer55 · Oct 12, 2005

kobalt simply because they are made in USA. I have some kobalt stuff, and its decent. Thier ratchets are nicer than craftsmans. I hate stnaley (the people who make husky) because of thier deceptive marketing practices. I avoid stan-ree whenevr possible.

Jim

dink · Oct 12, 2005

Neither....I would let someone else do the work for me

kartracer55 · Oct 12, 2005

dink said:
Neither....I would let someone else do the work for me

?????????????????????? :headscrat

Wolverine · Oct 12, 2005

dink said:
Neither....I would let someone else do the work for me

Step away from your wife, and walk away!

dink · Oct 12, 2005

Hey if these 2 were the only products in the world....sure I would rather let my wife do the work then me.....i dont support Lowes and Home Depot

l_bilyk · Oct 13, 2005

kartracer55 said:
kobalt simply because they are made in USA. I have some kobalt stuff, and its decent. Thier ratchets are nicer than craftsmans. I hate stnaley (the people who make husky) because of thier deceptive marketing practices. I avoid stan-ree whenevr possible.

Jim

So what IS the deal with stanley? Fill me in.

dink · Oct 13, 2005

l_bilyk said:
So what IS the deal with stanley? Fill me in.

They lie cheat and steal.....and is buying all these tool manufacturers....shut them down keep the name keep it saying made in USA or Europe but actually made in Taiwan or China

l_bilyk · Oct 13, 2005

Can you elaborate?

kartracer55 · Oct 13, 2005

Well it all goes back to before I was born. A company called New britain tool (in New Britain Connecticut) had started the husky line. Sometime during the early 80s, Stanley bought NB tool, and continued to make tools under the husky name. At some other point, Homedepot became the exclusive retailer of husky tools. They were being made in the USA for a while, but for a few years before husky tools were being marked "made in taiwan" they were being marked "made in USA" but the tool was really made in taiwan, and just finished off here. They ran into some problems with some trade authority and they had to mark them taiwan instead of USA. They lied to thier customers, plain and simple.

Stanley Owns brands like MAC, Proto, blackhawk, and Husky. All of these brands were great tools before stan-ree (asian pronunciation) came along. We can now add facom to the "use to be great tools" list.

Jim

dink · Oct 13, 2005

I will just stick with that I know is true and not fray from that

l_bilyk · Oct 13, 2005

MAC is owned by stanley? No kidding... THAT I didn't know.

You know who else does that?... devilbiss casts some of their spray guns in taiwan, and asembles them here... so they are "M.I. USA"

IR makes some compressor parts in turkey, and some air tool parts in taiwan too

dink · Oct 13, 2005

The joys of the tools industry.....well luckily there are plenty of manufacturers that dont lie about there manufacturing that we can all use and not have to pick from things like Husky and Cobalt

eschoendorff · Oct 13, 2005

kartracer55 said:
We can now add facom to the "use to be great tools" list.

Jim

Whoa... slow down there, chief! We don't know for a fcat that FACOM is going to be traded off to Asia, nor do we have any evidence of the quality of FACOM tools decreasing.

I realize that you're passionate about the whole Stanley thing, but let's not throw the baby out with the bath water! :willy_nil

dink · Oct 13, 2005

eschoendorff said:
Whoa... slow down there, chief! We don't know for a fcat that FACOM is going to be traded off to Asia, nor do we have any evidence of the quality of FACOM tools decreasing.

I realize that you're passionate about the whole Stanley thing, but let's not throw the baby out with the bath water!

They did it with alot of the other brands....so there is a good chance they will do it with Facom

eschoendorff · Oct 13, 2005

dink said:
They did it with alot of the other brands....so there is a good chance they will do it with Facom

It's possible... but I wouldn't worry about it until it happens.

Remember also: Stanley is not the only company that ever got into hot water for misrepresenting a product. They just happened to get caught. I wouldn't completely write of MAC tools or Stanley simply because of something that happened a long time ago... MAC tools are still good stuff!!!

You and Jim may not agree with this, but that's okay... we're mature enough to be able to repect other's opinions. But I don't think that you or Jim could deny the quality of FACOM or MAC tools. There are still many who swear by them. Yes, some of their stuff is made overseas, but that is also the case for other comapnies as well (think: any sort of gearwrench).

I just think that we tool geeks (myself included) can get caught up in some of the hype and not always see the forst for the trees.

jonkav · Oct 13, 2005

The big box stores are a nice alternative to the "Holy empty wallet, Batman!" one can find for the higher end tooks (SK, Snap-on, etc.). I could afford one wrench of those, or a full set from a typical retailer.

Now, I favor Lowes over HD due to business issues (personal), and disdain Wal-Mart, but that's another story

dink · Oct 13, 2005

I dont like Wal-Mart for the simple facts are they are extremely nasty....There clientele scare me sometimes.....unfortunaly this makes me come across as snobby....and I guess in this case I am......I highly prefer Target....atleast there your chances of seeing a lady in a night coat for her out and about wear is ALOT lower then what you would get with Wal-Mart

I support local hardware stores.....a 100% increase in better customer service and they generally will know what they are talking about

eschoendorff · Oct 13, 2005

dink said:
I support local hardware stores.....a 100% increase in better customer service and they generally will know what they are talking about

Totally agree. At least around here. :beer:

kartracer55 · Oct 13, 2005

Im with you... I thought that was only around here. the nearest walmart is liek 15 minutes away (thankfully) and when you go in there, prepare to be amazed. the only languages spoken are ebonics and spanglish... No such thing as service, the store is dirty and disorganized, and I dont want to come off as a snot, but man, that place is def. not the kinda place you want to go.

I hear its alot different in the midwest and more rural areas where its the only show in town, but the one here seems to attract the dregs of the earth.

As For MAC, they quality is there... Usualy. Thier wrenches are a bit "beefier" in the handle dept. than snap on. I dont like thier ratchets as much as snap on either. Thier screwdrivers are pretty much the same design as most of the other guys. I havent seen any sockets newer than about 2001-2, and those didnt have any sort of "flank drive" just the typical primitive 6pt design.

Jim

ringer · Oct 13, 2005

Actually, the Lowe's brand "Kobalt" tools are manufactured by Kenosha, Wis.-based Snap-on Inc.

Apparently, the same tools as Snap-on but at a fraction of the cost??

dink · Oct 13, 2005

ringer said:
Actually, the Lowe's brand "Kobalt" tools are manufactured by Kenosha, Wis.-based Snap-on Inc.

Apparently, the same tools as Snap-on but at a fraction of the cost??

I dont believe that one bit....if it is....they take all the rejects off the lines and label them Kobalt.....but even that I wouldnt agree with

Cebby · Oct 13, 2005

Wolverine said:
Step away from your wife, and walk away!

Yeah, before that big beer can falls on you...

dink · Oct 13, 2005

Cebby said:
Yeah, before that big beer can falls on you...

HAHAA funny....to bad I dont drink alcholol

kartracer55 · Oct 13, 2005

ringer said:
Actually, the Lowe's brand "Kobalt" tools are manufactured by Kenosha, Wis.-based Snap-on Inc.

Apparently, the same tools as Snap-on but at a fraction of the cost??

Nope, not true anymore. For the first 2 years, they were being made by J.H. Williams, a subsidary of snap on. And no, they arnt rejects, they were different designs with different steel and differet treatments. Now, they are mae by danaher. Sockets are similar to craftsman, and the wrenches are pretty much the same as allen's

Jim

dink · Oct 13, 2005

And I still wont buy them

ringer · Oct 14, 2005

kartracer55 said:
Nope, not true anymore. For the first 2 years, they were being made by J.H. Williams, a subsidary of snap on. And no, they arnt rejects, they were different designs with different steel and differet treatments. Now, they are mae by danaher. Sockets are similar to craftsman, and the wrenches are pretty much the same as allen's

Jim

I see, thanks. I knew I had read about that somewhere.

kartracer55 · Oct 14, 2005

Yeah, You probably got the snap on info from a tool website thats otu there... something called "who makes what" is the name of the article, and alot of people get that information, but dont realize the article is from like 2001.

Jim

dink · Oct 14, 2005

I dont like it when manufacturers do that....they run UN-real world tests on the competitors that shows all the flaws and run real world tests on there own to show there superiority....I take stars away for that kind of thing

kartracer55 · Oct 14, 2005

Yeah, I read that A snap on ratchet is good for 90,000 cycles, whereas a mac is good for 12,000, and a matco for 60,000.... naturally it was a snap on press release.

Jim

dink · Oct 14, 2005

Actually that wouldnt surprise me about Mac....personally my thoughts are they are over rated

kartracer55 · Oct 14, 2005

Yeah, they dont do any corner recessing on thier sockets,which became the norm like10 years ago.

Jim

dink · Oct 14, 2005

I wont buy a socket unless its corner recessed.....now some do it more pronounced then others and to me that is fine

kartracer55 · Oct 14, 2005

Flank drive is a really great desing for this... but I was surprised at how similar SK's corner recessing is to snap ons. It really does make a differenc,e mainly with nuts and bolts that have begun to round off.

Jim

l_bilyk · Oct 14, 2005

kartracer55 said:
Yeah, I read that A snap on ratchet is good for 90,000 cycles, whereas a mac is good for 12,000, and a matco for 60,000.... naturally it was a snap on press release.

Jim

Sounds about right... mac ratchets are waaaaaay too expensive considering how easy they are to break

kartracer55 · Oct 14, 2005

thats stanley for ya. They started going dow his like 15 years ago when stan-ree "aquired" them. They cant keep tool dealers employed for more than a few months either.

dink · Oct 14, 2005

Eh....Stanley shmanly.....it would be nice if stores would stop carrying Stanley products but they cant because that is what the normal public wants..Stores generally make next to nothing on Stanley products because they negate what companies sell there stuff at

Husky or Kobalt

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