Regular guys, what's your Sears alternative?

[JoJoSnap]

Me Scoot ride diggin up for usa made cman from glory days whenever im up for it.. mostly time gearwrench,wright, and menard are my picks. For power tool either home depot ridgid/lowes kobalt (fkn love kobalt 24v impact..whoaaaaamphhhhhhhh)


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[PelicanPines]

Toptul

 

[Casey69]

I truly believe sears now has the worst tools by far. I prefer hf, use some of their tools daily. It's not too bad depending what you buy

yep. HF for me, ever since sears starting making their tools overseas. fortunately, i have a decent supply of US craftsman around.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

Harbor freight ratchets and sockets are as good as almost any tawain, gear wrench is good as is husky. If you're going to pay Carlyle prices may as well throw in a little and get snap on. Especially if you're patient enough to find the good deals on eBay/or locally


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depends on the use and how soon i need it but basically above.

I will seek out usa stuff, indestro, sk, williams etc if it is a high use item. But sometimes HF gets it done it great fashion. Shoot my gearwrench wrenches are far nicer than my craftsman.....

reminds me, Im off to ebay to check for USA made tools for cheap.

 

[pennsylvaniaboy]

Toptul

where are you getting these in the USA?!

 

[Vantastic]

I still like craftsman but when I bought my nephew some socket sets I got him gearwrench.

 

[Dr Stan]

Menards has a top line of their house brand which are well made in the USA. Just don't pay any attention to the cheaper lines.

Recently I had to replace a Craftsman 1/4" ratchet and not a USA made tool in the store.

 

[amishman]

Longtime Craftsman owner. Also have some Husky and Pittsburgh Pro from Harbor freight as well as a few local FLAPS tools I needed quickly for a job and being far from shopping, purchased whatever my local store had.

Recently I discovered Teng Tools, been around for ages in europe, and make satin finish tools. Designed in Sweden, manufactured in Taiwan, but appear to be very well made.

So far there customer service has stepped up. My 1st order did not go as planned but they rectified phone and email issues and since then I have been happy.

I started buying Teng Tools in the last month as they now have a USA office now since April 2017 so orders ship from Georgia USA.

They seem to be expanding into USA.

https://www.tengtoolsusa.com/

Love my new barn-style toolbox with a complete socket set from them.

Will also say I will continue to buy Craftsman, Pittsburgh, and Husky since I have Sears, Harbor Freight, and Home Depot within 30 to 45 minutes from home to shop at.

TJ

 

[PelicanPines]

where are you getting these in the USA?!

ebay... The seller is a member of this forum... his stuff is fantastic. I buy Toptul above several other alternatives... like gearwrench. Just got a box from him yesterday.

 

[Al Borland]

For ease of acquisition, Husky ratchets and wrenches are hard to beat. You can beat the **** out of them and they hold up well. If you do break one, easy to exchange.
Screwdrivers are on a par with recent Craftsman.
Kobalt Taiwan were good, but now they're ChiCom and more expensive than the Husky.

 

[77thor]

Sears alternative???... I haven't even been in a Sears store in the last 15 years.
For tools; #1 Farm & Fleet, #2 Home Depot.

 

[trekgod3]

Never bought any tools from sears yet. I go to Harbor freight once a week or so

 

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Harbor freight or a big box store.


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[theoldwizard1]

I have a pretty full set of Craftsman, most of it 30-50 years old so I doubt I will be buying many hands tools in the future. Older Craftsman hand tools can be found cheap at garage sales and on eBay.

After that, I will probably be buying a lot more from HF.

 

[fos373]

I'm not a mechanic, but do some of my own farm equipment repairs and haven't bought any tools from sears in years other than a few screwdrivers. Usually buy SK and Proto sockets and wrenches that are used often, however I like Snap on ratchets and have bought a few Snap on Dual 80 ratchets that I use a lot. Mostly buy online, a lot of stuff comes from Zoro.

Basicallly this as well. Load the Zoro cart up and wait for the 20% off coupons to come. I have some HF tools that I have, but are used less. SK and Proto cover my more used sockets. Gear Wrench 120 ratchet set + a couple of snap ons because i wanted to try them.

I have a KRL7022 that I got off CL for a song as well as Mac tool cart that gets placed in the trailer for race weekends.

I have Craftsman screwdrivers because I was able to get the matching foam shadow insert to keep them organized

 

[yamaha0343]

Amazon, and if I need something right now, I hit up Home Depot for Husky, Klein, and Channellock.

 

[Bacon Man]

You are allowed to do this?

Sweet, I'd break all my cheap tools at home and have work buy Snap-On for me.

My boss told me that from day one, and even told me if you can't afford quality just hit it with a hammer a few times and turn it in. However I am limited to Fastenal, McMaster-Carr, and Grainger for my selection of tools.

 

[maintguy]

My alternative choices are zoro, Cripe, harbor freight. I will say that Menard's does have a nice tool selection for a big box store. They have a good amount of made in America hand tools. The sad part is. When I think hand tools. I do not even consider sears anymore. I consider meijer with their selection on tekton a better option than sears when it comes to hand tools. Yes this sad and *****

10-15 years ago. I remember waiting for the sears weekly add to see what tools were on sale. Now I don't even bother to look at their ad.

 

[gtae07]

I have a Craftsman socket set my parents gave me at 15, and a bandsaw I bought about 5 years ago with a gift card I won at work. Other than that I don't go to Sears for anything. Lowe's is down the street, HF is closer and better than Sears at this point, and Amazon delivers right to my door in two days.

Someone should pull the plug on Sears and put it out of its misery.

 

[rjvjeepster]

Menards or Advance Auto for Gearwrench. HF for socket sets sometimes. May try one of their ratchets some day. Garage sales.

If I just need a socket or wrench, Autozone. Actually their whole Duralast line seems pretty nice.

 

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I forgot Amazon as well.

 

[67King]

FOr tools:
Sockets, screwdrivers, and odds and ends (e.g. stubby wrenches, brake line wrenches) - SK
Combo normal wrenches - Wright
Pliers - Knipex
Ratcheting - Williams (though Taiwan, as I only consider reversible)
Ratchets - Snap On (all used)
Chisels, picks - Mayhew
Power - Milwaukee

Sources:
Harry J. Epstein
Tooltopia
National Tool Warehouse
Tools Delivered(Williams)
Mobile Distributor Supply
Chad's Toolbox
Amazon
Ebay

 

[Flathead Youngin']

flea market......car show swap meets....

 

[TorKe]

Harbor freight is my go to place for various reasons including your main points.

If not, I'll check out AAP.

 

[wolf_from_wv]

Harbor Freight (almost typed great instead of freight)
Napa
Autozone
Advance doesn't seem to have much
Lowes
Home Depot
amazon
flea market
pawn shop

 

[1982fxr]

Harryepstein

 

[stonesfan68]

Like most of the folks who have already answered I get most of my stuff on-line (Amazon, eBay) and estate sales. That being said, I needed a stretch belt install tool on a Sunday afternoon and ran mover to Advance Auto to buy it. If I broke a socket and needed a replacement right now then I'd go over to Advance and get a Gearwrench.


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[speed bump]

Wherever is convenient if I need it right now. With the farm supply store, home center, auto parts store, and tool stores all within the same distance as Sears, at least one of them will have what I need.

If I don't need it right this second I tend to shop around online. Amazon has been screwing up prime and they are at best cost competitive so I tend to avoid them if possible. Cripe distributing is pretty cool if they have it. Summit Racing has also done well for me on random tools. Living in a decent size town I also find that there are local stores where the price is just as good as online as well

 

[Gmonkee]

When I lived there Sears was a look and see deal rather than a main source. Rarely did they entice my money out of my pocket.

Ace was always local and had Stanley, this was my gold option.

Two decades later and far away its used whatnots and new Truper stuff from any one of many local stores. Not much different as far as habits go.

Old Stanley is still on the radar but the new stuff isn't the bang for the buck nor superior to warrant paying more.
And I own far more than is possible to wear out in use.

AZ and HD have good tool stocks now with the last change to Duraleast and Stanley but the money exchange rate war has blown the prices way high, more than usual.
Almost taking them out of the look-see list, 95 pesos for a desired size line wrench in DL brand and a barely used PowerBuilt going used for 25 pesos.

The used market is picked over hard and dust on the bubble packs in the stores.

 

[Mark in Indiana]

I really don't need to buy tools for myself anymore since I've kept most that I've collected for 40+ years. There are a lot of good suggestions here. I'd like to add Sunex. I got some impact sockets sets last Christmas.

Yes I'm a fan of HF (under certain conditions) and Menard's.

Unfortunately as a reseller, Craftsman is near the bottom of my list. They don't move very fast. I have to go with JH Williams, Proto, Klsin, Armstrong, Apex, Crescent, and others mentioned on this thread.

 

[crewchief888]

lowes for kobalt hand tools,
menards for gearwrench or cresent
and of course HF

for powertools i have no brand loyalty, i buy whatever will do the task at hand, and is within my budget. it may be milwaukee, dewalt, ridgid, kobalt, skil, HF or toolshop (menards house brand)

 

[WildwoodChuck]

90% of my sockets are 20 year old Craftsman. I don't get much from Sears these days it just depresses me to go in there any more.

Started buying tools for my youngest SS he is 8, I took him to the pawn shop and picked out full sets of Craftsman 1/4" drive standard depth 6 & 12 pt SAE and 6pt Metric. There were 3 missing so I got him USA Masterforce from Menards. I bought him 2 Masterforce screwdrivers 3/16 slotted and #1 Phillips to start with then got him a #2 Phillips when we rebuilt the mower carburetor a few weeks later. I will continue to get him old Craftsman sockets from the Pawn shop.

I have a set Crescent combination wrenches and they are the least Lobster Clawed of the imports that I have found so if I can't get him a full set of Craftsman combination wrenches at the pawn shop I will get him Crescent. He picked out a ratchet at Autozone.

I don't want to pay old USA Craftsman prices for China/Tiawan products. I don't mind buying Husky or Crescent at China/Tiawan price.

I won't buy Pitsburg Pro from the pawn shop. I'm a snob like that.

 

[TorKe]

Closest Menards is 850 miles away. Texas has none.

 

[md21722]

Snap On. I made the switch 15-20 years ago when Craftsman was busting my knuckles & Snap On sockets would stick to bolts from here to Kansas and back.

 

[visionguru]

I truly believe sears now has the worst tools by far. I prefer hf, use some of their tools daily. It's not too bad depending what you buy

I have many HF tools.

Some of the tools from HF are decent, such as ratchets/sockets/jack, but majority of HF stuff are cheap bottom grade. If price is not a concern, Sears is still way better quality than HF.

Tools at HD, Lowes, Menards are also better than HF.

 

[cesski]

I love my new Tekton stuff. You can get them online or at Meijer's. That's what I use for the cars and at home.

Professionally, I use Proto, Snap-on, Knipex, and some Gearwrench.

 

[sometoyotaguy]

I'll pick up things as I need them. If I have time, amazon or ebay.
Otherwise, it's wherever I can find something of reasonable quality nearby.
We have a Lowes in town, but the tool quality is rather unappealing.
There's a Sears near work, but since nothing is made in the US anymore, it's not worth the extra cost.

 

[finn]

Harbor Freight is 200 miles away, and their stuff is junk. eBay is mostly misrepresented junk too, so it looks like Amazon wins this one

 

[moron88]

i got into tools after craftsman went to ****. i'm a bit spoiled for choice. i have harbor freight, menards and lowes on my side of town with sears, home depot and tractor supply on the other side. never been to either, but we have a granger in the industrial area here as well as 2 msc stores within an hour's drive. my collection is made up primarily of kobalt and bostitch (stanley) with tekton, hf, stanley and a few other random tools from random brands.

my kobalt stuff has served my quite well. bostitch set doesnt get used nearly as much (bought for use as seconds, beaters and loaners) but seem quite nice. tekton impact sockets arent showing any signs of damage. i'm entertaining the though of some klutch tools from norther tool. only issue i have is i'd have to mail in for warranty.

 

[Cato]

I have enough Craftsman general purpose tools to last me my lifetime. I bought them over 15 yrs ago mostly and don't see why things like sockets and wrenches would break.

I've never cracked a socket or spread a wrench. But I try never to misuse a tool - no cheater bars, screw driver pry bars, chrome sockets on impact guns, or ratchet hammers.

But knock on wood, thanks for the info fellas!