I know this thread isn't too recent, but I figured I'd chip in my 2¢ worth.
I'm a shade tree mechanic, more out of necessity than love, but I do love to have great tools to get the work done. I buy most of my tools used or deeply discounted through eBay and by frequenting local pawn shops. I don't really buy sets of tools very often because I've found I can save a lot of money buy building my toolbox over time, based on what I use most frequently.
For my purposes, I find myself gravitating towards Proto over Snap-On quite frequently, particularly for wrenches. Now, you definitely pay a premium for Proto tools, but I simply don't need the tool truck service that accounts for much of the even-higher price of Snap-On tools. For instance, my favorite type of standard combo wrench is the type with some kind of anti-slip feature on the open end for times that you really need that feature. I've found that the Snap-On Flank Drive+ and the Proto Anti-slip design work equally well. The Proto T500 series of wrenches (again, for my purposes) are extremely comparable to the Snap-On Flank Drive+ in just about every way, and you can find them new or used at much lower prices if you are patient and shop frugally. If you want to get really nitpicky, the engraving on the Snap-Ons are better and easier to read, but the overall quality of the chrome is comparable. The profile of the Proto beam is ever-so-slightly thicker and more rounded, and I actually prefer that profile. But the lengths and offsets are virtually identical.
I tend towards Snap-On and other brands when it comes to ratchets (my current favorite is an old SK 3870 roto with a brand new DT80 mechanism installed), and I'm pretty democratic when it comes to sockets. And I prefer Klein and Knipex for pliers, when I can find them cheap and in reasonable condition (and Channellock if I need to buy new). That's a whole different thread, though, isn't it?
Don't get me wrong. I'll grab a Snap-On tool in a heartbeat whenever I can find a deal. But all-in-all, unless you wrench every single day and need specialty tools and the tool truck service, I find that Proto offers much more value than Snap-On, when it comes to quality.
I'm a shade tree mechanic, more out of necessity than love, but I do love to have great tools to get the work done. I buy most of my tools used or deeply discounted through eBay and by frequenting local pawn shops. I don't really buy sets of tools very often because I've found I can save a lot of money buy building my toolbox over time, based on what I use most frequently.
For my purposes, I find myself gravitating towards Proto over Snap-On quite frequently, particularly for wrenches. Now, you definitely pay a premium for Proto tools, but I simply don't need the tool truck service that accounts for much of the even-higher price of Snap-On tools. For instance, my favorite type of standard combo wrench is the type with some kind of anti-slip feature on the open end for times that you really need that feature. I've found that the Snap-On Flank Drive+ and the Proto Anti-slip design work equally well. The Proto T500 series of wrenches (again, for my purposes) are extremely comparable to the Snap-On Flank Drive+ in just about every way, and you can find them new or used at much lower prices if you are patient and shop frugally. If you want to get really nitpicky, the engraving on the Snap-Ons are better and easier to read, but the overall quality of the chrome is comparable. The profile of the Proto beam is ever-so-slightly thicker and more rounded, and I actually prefer that profile. But the lengths and offsets are virtually identical.
I tend towards Snap-On and other brands when it comes to ratchets (my current favorite is an old SK 3870 roto with a brand new DT80 mechanism installed), and I'm pretty democratic when it comes to sockets. And I prefer Klein and Knipex for pliers, when I can find them cheap and in reasonable condition (and Channellock if I need to buy new). That's a whole different thread, though, isn't it?
Don't get me wrong. I'll grab a Snap-On tool in a heartbeat whenever I can find a deal. But all-in-all, unless you wrench every single day and need specialty tools and the tool truck service, I find that Proto offers much more value than Snap-On, when it comes to quality.