Is the ratchet real, or did someone make this?

[joseywales]

I don't see any maker's mark. I only see the faintest of tool marks, where perhaps the ratchet was held, but it's hard to imagine someone bent this. For $2, I couldn't pass it up

 

[Strouty]

That is one of those special around the corner clearance ratchets.

 

[L.Cheapo]

Looks like a generic ratchet used with a cheater pipe.

 

[no704]

I used to have a craftsman ratchet bent like that as a result of removing lug nuts with a cheater pipe. Really liked using it.

 

[joseywales]

Man, it just seems so smooth and with little to no marks. Perhaps the shorter length made it possible, but I would think a longer handle would have snapped.

 

[redwrench60]

What you have there is a genuine bent, no name ratchet. A good ratchet would have flexed and bowed a little and then returned straight once unloaded. It probably didn’t take as much effort as you think to ruin it.

 

[OccupantRJ]

That is a reacharound ratchet for those times you really could use one.

 

[MikeF2316]

That is a reacharound ratchet for those times you really could use one.

Now see if you can find one bent the other way, for the other half of the times you really could use one!

 

[Rabid Badger]

That looks like the cheapest-on-the-shelf ratchet I bought when my car threw its power steering/alternator belt on Vail pass.

 

[Old Man Roger]

The amazing part is the ratchet survived being bent.

 

[Toold_up]

The amazing part is the ratchet survived being bent.

And the socket!

 

[joseywales]

The amazing part is the ratchet survived being bent.

That's why I had a hard time believing it was bent. I'll have to use it at least once to justify the $2

 

[NUTTSGT]

Unfortunately, real. Reality is those cheap ratchets in the $5.99 sets are made of soft, easily bent metal. Although it looks handy for accessing around corners, generally, soft and bendable metal isn't a desirable feature.

Yep, sometimes when you have to use one of them, you can't but wonder whether it's going to keep bending or suddenly break.

 

[mbshop]

Yea, a basic ratchet in cheap socket sets. Handy for what it is at times. But I would never use them for much more than light work.

 

[American Locomotive]

Often those ratchets will be made out of really bad steel. Probably just some really **** mild steel with no tensile strength at all.