If I was paying Snap-on prices, or worried that all the equipment will break, I'd worry more about the warranty 10 years down the road. It's hard to break a quality made tool without abusing it. Chrome sockets and combo wrenches last forever. If your $40 ratchet gives up the ghost in 10-20 years and you're forced to upgrade it to SK or Snap-on, at that point you'd probably welcome the excuse to upgrade.
Do you expect your car to run for 40 years? Do you expect Toyota to give you a new truck for free after you beat the hell out of a Tacoma for decades?
Buy what you like and can afford. As long as ALL your tools don't **** out, costing you a huge sum all at once, does it matter if a few things with moving parts die over the next few decades? What's a hundred bucks over 10 years? $10 a year.
If you really like the ratchets you bought, enjoy them for however long you can.
With maintenance and repairs, yes, I do in fact expect my cars to run for 40 years. There are plenty of vehicles built in the 60's and 70's that are still running today because their owners kept them up. Today's cars should last even longer.
That being said, yeah, it's not a huge deal I suppose.
I totally agree with Victor252's comments. The UltraPro brand has been around for at least 15 years and Canadian Napa still continues with it and comes out with new products like the ratchets shown in the pictures.
I would assume that Napa sells a lot more Carlyle tools in the USA than UltraPro in Canada because of the population difference. So there is a good chance that Carlyle will be around longer than some of the new Harbor Freight brands
I have a bunch of UltraPro tools that are really good for their price. They stand up to hard use and don't cost a small fortune. The 1/2 drive 12-point sockets are Snap-on, the rest are UltraPro
I talked on facebook today with someone from Carlyle (a customer service person I'd imagine, but they were actually fairly knowledgeable). When asked about pushing Carlyle out more to DIY'ers and getting their name out there, they responded "Thank you for the tips! You are correct, there is definitely more that the Carlyle Tools Brand can do to appeal to the DIY Customer a bit more, and that comes on the back end here. However, we as a brand are definitely making some steps forward within this category, so hopefully in the next few months you'll start to see us a bit more in every market!
". So Carlyle must at least be making a reasonable profit or you'd have to imagine they wouldn't be looking to expand it. This made me feel a lot better.
For the price, who cares?
They’re good enough to buy and use now. For those of us who can’t afford more expensive brands, it’s really nice to have this option.
Nothing lasts forever.
They are in a great spot regarding quality for the price. With Craftsman's run into the ground, it left a hole for affordable quality tools. HF is coming up, but still spotty and their reputation will end up holding them back if they ever try to make a play for this market. Carlyle however, is in a pretty good spot for this. The tools are good, the prices are close to being right, and they have brick and mortar stores where you can actually warranty something without having to mail it in.
There's also a locking flex head version too.
, victor252 
