Same Ratchets as HF ICON

[victor252]

Here's short video showing what appears to be the ICON ratchets (which we all know are re-brands) sold as EPauto ratchets. You could get a 1/4 drive and 3/8 drive and 6pt sockets for less than the price of one HF ICON. This isn't a HF bashing thread, just seems like a good deal you should be aware of. Here's another video with a longer review. It's hard to find this exact product with the ratchets and socekts currently. Maybe HF bought out all the production from the original manufacturer? Has anyone else spotted rebranded ICON ratchets?

Just realized this is not the General Tool Forum but General Garage. Mods, feel free to move.

 

[GeoBruin]

Here's short video showing what appears to be the ICON ratchets (which we all know are re-brands) sold as EPauto ratchets. You could get a 1/4 drive and 3/8 drive and 6pt sockets for less than the price of one HF ICON. This isn't a HF bashing thread, just seems like a good deal you should be aware of. Here's another video with a longer review. It's hard to find this exact product with the ratchets and socekts currently. Maybe HF bought out all the production from the original manufacturer? Has anyone else spotted rebranded ICON ratchets?

Just realized this is not the General Tool Forum but General Garage. Mods, feel free to move.

Like you said, hard to find anywhere. Would have been a good deal.

 

[j3rf]

They were listed on Amazon a few months ago but then they changed the listing.

 

[ike]

I've seen EPAuto tools on Amazon for a long time. I've noticed very low prices for Taiwan made tools and great reviews. Certainly a brand I'd look at if I was in the market for some new budget tools.

 

[Fedwrench]

Yeah, the sun has sat on that deal. I think the Subaru dude turned it into a Harbor Freight bashing video when it was probably just a manufacturer's overrun. I mean there isn't a harbor freight tool factory. There's going to be overages sooner or later. Hell, the manufacturer could just make extra to sell to the laser etched brand of choice on amazon. That EP set sold out within an hour or less after the tik tok video appeared. Which leads me to the unanswered question, where do the laser etched brand of choice on amazon get their tools from?

 

[M635_Guy]

Which leads me to the unanswered question, where do the laser etched brand of choice on amazon get their tools from?

That is the question. I have one of the pear heads, and like it.

 

[amlv20]

Pretty good deal, do they have warranty? I know it wouldnt be as easy as walking into HF, but for the price the wait for the mail man wouldn’t be to bad.

I don’t think this tikTok Is that bad compared to that one a few weeks ago of a Pittsburg socket double stamped as a gear wrench.

I always find it funny when people act surprised like they caught a company red handed.like if the big three truck brands aren’t known for rebranding ezred, lisel, etc….

 

[dnschmidt]

Same ****, different day. People seem to think that there are 500 companies making ratchets when likely there are less than 20 worldwide. Just like Eclatorq makes digital torque wrenches for every division of SBD as well as the Quinn for Harbor Freight and the Kobalt for Lowes I'm sure one ratchet company makes ratchets for 50 different marketing companies.

 

[General Geoff]

Same ****, different day. People seem to think that there are 500 companies making ratchets when likely there are less than 20 worldwide.

20 is way low. I'd say at least a hundred, based on the sheer variety of unique ratchets that are available from all sorts of companies, both foreign and domestic. Are there are lot of rebrands? Sure. But there are also a lot of unique designs not replicated anywhere.

 

[M635_Guy]

Pretty good deal, do they have warranty? I know it wouldn't be as easy as walking into HF, but for the price the wait for the mail man wouldn’t be to bad.

If you find them, I wouldn't count on anything in the way of warranty and be pleasantly surprised. Assuming they're built to the same quality as the Icon (probably), I'd think it's pretty unlikely you'd need to worry about warranty.

I always find it funny when people act surprised like they caught a company red handed.like if the big three truck brands aren’t known for rebranding ezred, lisel, etc….

That video was mainly annoying clickbait. I find it funny that anyone thinks they're delivering anything newsworthy or useful by "unveiling" that most retail brands are using sourced-manufacturing. The companies that make these tools for other people probably give them some options for customization (at higher costs - e.g. a handle design or something like that), and they probably have more than one option or "tier" to choose from.

I don't have any problems with rebranding/etc. - very few companies make their own tools, especially across their entire line (Snap On is probably the most-internally manufactured). I mainly care about the quality and the customer service for the money. In the case of the EPAuto, it seemed like decent value for what the tools are, though. Not having to pay for any brick-and-mortar stores, retail employees, benefits, etc. helps keep the costs down, but also makes them a little less accessible for warranty or whatever. Having one of the Icon-branded ones already, I would have been fine with the EPAuto kit for the money they wanted.

 

[Grokew]

Yeah, the sun has sat on that deal. I think the Subaru dude turned it into a Harbor Freight bashing video when it was probably just a manufacturer's overrun. I mean there isn't a harbor freight tool factory. There's going to be overages sooner or later. Hell, the manufacturer could just make extra to sell to the laser etched brand of choice on amazon. That EP set sold out within an hour or less after the tik tok video appeared. Which leads me to the unanswered question, where do the laser etched brand of choice on amazon get their tools from?

Honest, that one Epauto ratchet looks like William tools taiwan.

Ratchet Handle – Page 5 – William Tools

www.wtools.com.tw

 

[Komet]

I assume the Icon price is what you pay for the no hassle lifetime warranty.

Can't angry-drive to amazon.com when you bust your ratchet while the rtv is setting.

 

[dnschmidt]

Yeah, the sun has sat on that deal. I think the Subaru dude turned it into a Harbor Freight bashing video when it was probably just a manufacturer's overrun. I mean there isn't a harbor freight tool factory. There's going to be overages sooner or later. Hell, the manufacturer could just make extra to sell to the laser etched brand of choice on amazon. That EP set sold out within an hour or less after the tik tok video appeared. Which leads me to the unanswered question, where do the laser etched brand of choice on amazon get their tools from?

Fed, I consider Mr. Subaru to be sort of a ****. Just my opinion but that's how I see it. If you want the real deal Subaru info, and you speak German - minor detail, Subi-Performance is the channel of choice.

 

[M635_Guy]

Honest, that one Epauto ratchet looks like William tools taiwan.

Ratchet Handle – Page 5 – William Tools

www.wtools.com.tw

It does (link is to the 3/8" for comparison). There are a few cosmetic differences - the selector is different (Icon is the taller, more-rounded Snap On style) and the head seems to draw to a sharper point where it meets the shaft. They didn't machine a groove at the top of the handle. Most of those are easy. The question is whether the face has a plate like the illustration or not. In the pic below, the far left is my Tekton (with a plate similar to what is shown on the link above) and the one next to it is my Icon (with a plate similar to the SO to its right):

The handle on the Williams most-resembles the Carlyle on the far right, but the head design is entirely different.

My Google-fu isn't working for me this morning - I can't find any additional pix of that Williams. When I look for a rebuild kit, I get pinball machine stuff

I assume the Icon price is what you pay for the no hassle lifetime warranty.

Can't angry-drive to amazon.com when you bust your ratchet while the rtv is setting.

Yeah. They definitely have more cost than a website too. The pawl/etc. is pretty beefy, so you're definitely working if you break it...

Fed, I consider Mr. Subaru to be sort of a ****. Just my opinion but that's how I see it. If you want the real deal Subaru info, and you speak German - minor detail, Subi-Performance is the channel of choice.

Yeah, not a fan either. He used to just be extraordinarily drawn-out videos with an annoying accent. Now he's shifted to click-baity and angry extraordinarily drawn-out videos.

 

[Madjik Man]

Fed, I consider Mr. Subaru to be sort of a ****. Just my opinion but that's how I see it. If you want the real deal Subaru info, and you speak German - minor detail, Subi-Performance is the channel of choice.

Mr Subaru started off great. But once he got the following and needed to continuously create content in order for the algorithms and money to keep flowing, he started putting out these shorts. Which included calling out people who commented on his videos. I feel as though a lot of his content has become tacky.

But the early videos where he just discussed Japanese and Germany tool hauls were great.

He did a lot for bringing Koken into a brighter light in the USA.

 

[Fedwrench]

Mr Subaru started off great. But once he got the following and needed to continuously create content in order for the algorithms and money to keep flowing, he started putting out these shorts. Which included calling out people who commented on his videos. I feel as though a lot of his content has become tacky.

But the early videos where he just discussed Japanese and Germany tool hauls were great.

He did a lot for bringing Koken into a brighter light in the USA.

The Ko-Ken part is definitely true. I think his discount code was sweet and he did publicize the brand

 

[Madjik Man]

The Ko-Ken part is definitely true. I think his discount code was sweet and he did publicize the brand

His discount code is still active on Palmac and Koken USA I believe.

 

[Garcky]

There's a lot of duplication of rebranded Taiwanese tools out there. I'm not sure it's worth bothering to figure out which ones are which, frankly. If they look identical, they probably are, so you can sometimes get a great deal on something by buying it from one place instead of the other.

Someone gave me an Amazon gift card for Christmas. What to buy with it? How about a big-*** complete set of 1/4 inch shallow and deep sockets in both SAE and Metric sizes, plus a ratchet and accessories. So, I bought that with someone else's money. It's a Great Neck set. Who made it? I don't know. Is it the same as some other brand of 1/4" socket sets. Probably. So far, it's sitting on a shelf in my work area. I have lots of 1/4" sockets, ratchets, extensions and accessories in my tool box. I'll probably open that Great Neck set when I can't find some size of something I need. I have a 3/8" drive set like that, too. It's still in its box, as well. Nice to have spare tools.