I own Tekton, SK, new Craftsman, Wright, Proto, Ko-ken, and Carlyle socket sets. Are you using this set every day?
Tekton: heavy; small size markings; deep broaching; excellent chrome finish; tight fit on bolts; nice, uniformed detents; radius on the corners of the square drive causes the sockets to wiggle on cheaper ratchets. Would rate 8/10. Overall I really like my Tekton sets but the larger sockets can get quite heavy and unwieldy.
Wright: can’t really explain it but the sockets feel light even though they are as heavy as all the others; ok size markings but my set is very uneven so some have deep stamping while others are barely visible, deep broaching; so-so chrome finish as there are several chips or missed spots on a few sockets; tight fit on fasteners; detents are shallow and not uniform so some sockets sit really low on the ratchet while others sit high and tight. Would rate 6/10. I can’t get over the feel and for the money I paid I was expecting better. Other US brands are stronger choices IMHO.
Carlyle: light sockets probably because the design has material removed from the drive side of the socket; deep, uniform size markings but they are a pain to read because of where they are located; deep broaching; tight fit on fasteners; excellent chrome finish; unified detents for the ratchet anvil but they have the radius on the square drive so the sockets hang looser; overall height is quite tall for shallow sockets. Would rate a 8/10. They just jostle around on the ratchet which annoys me and the font of the size stamping makes kinda tricky to read. I personally don’t see why I’d continue buying Carlyle because the Tekton sets are of equal quality and much cheaper.
SK: heavier sockets; large, easy to red markings; shallow broaching; excellent fit on fasteners; the cutouts for the ratchet anvil are terrible- some are so shallow they don’t do anything while others are perfectly laid out; the sockets fit incredibly tight on the ratchet and there is zero wiggle. The finish is rough - I have missing chamfers, dings, metal filings stuck to the cutouts, flaking, and rust on the inside; plus I have several sockets with odd broaching so steel may be pushed into a mushroom effect. Would rate 8/10 - despite all the flaws my SK sockets feel, hold-up, and work awesome. I just hate that they are rather expensive.
The Ko-ken are my favorites but getting them quickly is not going to happen. My second favorite are the Taiwan-made Craftsman gun metal chrome sockets. Nice weight, deep broaching inside and the sizes are stamped very deep and are clearly defined. Too bad they aren’t sold individually.
I personally feel like the Asian manufacturers have sockets down pretty well and that there really isn’t much of a difference to justify the US made prices overall. Plus sockets are a wear item so you have to think about value per dollar even if you don’t want to now. If I had to pick a US set I’d probably go with Proto just because they have been the most consistent with quality (not great but acceptable) and their sets are pretty affordable cause tons of places sell them so you can shop prices.
