To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

The Klein Tool addiction thread! :)

To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
W

willf650

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 10, 2010
Messages
779
LXCam said:
I have no idea how long you’ve been in the trade but Klein screwdrivers went to **** long ago.
Click to expand...
I honestly think the screwdrivers are ok at this point but in the mid to late 90s I started using the Craftsman Industrial/Professional Phillips because the Klein tips went to fast.

That being said Wera has been my go to for about 15 years or more.

Honestly Klein is starting to turn into a joke/meme tool company. It’s very obvious they pay people on YouTube to promote their stuff. Also, although their product line has quadrupled in the past 5 years it’s all offshore manufacturing, even some of their core USA produced products are becoming offshore production. I bought a pair of scotchlock pliers this week only to find they were made in Mexico to my surprise.

I guess at least they are still an American company unlike Milwaukee.
 
K

KnurledNut

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
8,067
Location
n/a
willf650 said:
I bought a pair of scotchlock pliers this week only to find they were made in Mexico to my surprise.
Click to expand...
Got a picture of the actual pliers? Curious what they look like. Any noticeable deficiencies from their domestic sibling?
Klein has had a factory in Mexico for a long time. I have some Urrea pliers that were made by Klein in Mexico several years ago and the quality was as good as USA made. But they are using them more now for finishing USA market pliers and the level of finish seems to be slipping. From what I have seen of late, I haven't been too impressed.
From Klein FAQ:
"Klein Tools de Mexico has operated a plant in Mexico City since 1970. This plant produces products for the Mexican and Central American markets. A few tools that are made here are sold in the U.S., like our knockout punches, but for the most part Mexican made products are consumed in Mexico."

I have an older pair of the Klein ScotchLok pliers, but when room allows I prefer the 3M E9-E that uses the compound leverage parallel jaws. When using 3M branded connectors, I find they give a more even crimp and the wider surface area is more forgiving for positioning. They are also spring-assisted.

54879904306_1994f488f4_b.jpg
 
L

LXCam

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Apr 23, 2013
Messages
19,075
Location
AZ
willf650 said:
I honestly think the screwdrivers are ok at this point but in the mid to late 90s I started using the Craftsman Industrial/Professional Phillips because the Klein tips went to fast.

That being said Wera has been my go to for about 15 years or more.

Honestly Klein is starting to turn into a joke/meme tool company. It’s very obvious they pay people on YouTube to promote their stuff. Also, although their product line has quadrupled in the past 5 years it’s all offshore manufacturing, even some of their core USA produced products are becoming offshore production. I bought a pair of scotchlock pliers this week only to find they were made in Mexico to my surprise.

I guess at least they are still an American company unlike Milwaukee.
Click to expand...
Perfectly stated bud. 👍

I’ve gone almost completely wera for screwdrivers. The **** part is I like long screwdrivers which are offered. I don’t put tools on all the often so I just deal with it but if I were still full time in the trade I’d find another solution.
 
W

willf650

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 10, 2010
Messages
779
KnurledNut said:
Got a picture of the actual pliers? Curious what they look like. Any noticeable deficiencies from their domestic sibling?
Klein has had a factory in Mexico for a long time. I have some Urrea pliers that were made by Klein in Mexico several years ago and the quality was as good as USA made. But they are using them more now for finishing USA market pliers and the level of finish seems to be slipping. From what I have seen of late, I haven't been too impressed.
From Klein FAQ:
"Klein Tools de Mexico has operated a plant in Mexico City since 1970. This plant produces products for the Mexican and Central American markets. A few tools that are made here are sold in the U.S., like our knockout punches, but for the most part Mexican made products are consumed in Mexico."

I have an older pair of the Klein ScotchLok pliers, but when room allows I prefer the 3M E9-E that uses the compound leverage parallel jaws. When using 3M branded connectors, I find they give a more even crimp and the wider surface area is more forgiving for positioning. They are also spring-assisted.

54879904306_1994f488f4_b.jpg
Click to expand...
Different style pliers. I wanted the needle nose so they can be dual purpose. Previous pair I lost was a set of greenlee and they were probably made in Taiwan and about the same quality as these but I kinda liked them better because they were more of a true needle nose. These are sorta ground into a needle nose shape with square edges. The greenlee were rounded edges on the nose.IMG_1707.jpegIMG_1708.jpeg
 
K

KnurledNut

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
8,067
Location
n/a
@willf650
Great pics. Thanks.
Alignment looks good. Grips look well done. Finishing is indeed rough. It seems that's where Klein is cutting costs. The old stamped branding was cosmetic, but it looked much more professional.
 
W

willf650

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 10, 2010
Messages
779
KnurledNut said:
@willf650
Great pics. Thanks.
Alignment looks good. Grips look well done. Finishing is indeed rough. It seems that's where Klein is cutting costs. The old stamped branding was cosmetic, but it looked much more professional.
Click to expand...
I have not bought a set of klein pliers with stamped labeling in probably 15 years or more.

That is not unique to Klein, even the one pair of pliers I have made by everyone’s holy company, Snap On, is laser etched. I will grant the finishing on the snap on pliers was nicer but they are also now rusted from simply sitting in a magnetic parts tray on the floor under a vehicle.

Knipex is the outlier as their name is built into some of their forging dies on some pliers.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
L

lastill

Active member
Joined
Oct 27, 2025
Messages
44
I keep seeing these black Klein tools and I am super envious :D We cannot get them in Europe. Or the shipping cost would be absolutely ridiculous.
 
W

willf650

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 10, 2010
Messages
779
I see the latest round of Klein paid for YouTube reviews this week on their new tool bag.

They compare it to a Veto and after seeing one person this weekend and owning about 8 veto’s over the years they are not comparable.

If you take price into account they are in the running since they are 1/2 the price of a Veto. Saying they are more rugged is an all out lie though.

You remember having a tool belt as shown in posts above or a leather one and throwing it into a hinged mouth leather bottomed bag.

Specific specialty tools were carried in these.
IMG_1761.jpeg


They still make these but unfortunately I believe they are made in overseas and no longer American made.
IMG_1762.jpeg
 
K

KnurledNut

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
8,067
Location
n/a
willf650 said:
I see the latest round of Klein paid for YouTube reviews this week on their new tool bag.

They compare it to a Veto and after seeing one person this weekend and owning about 8 veto’s over the years they are not comparable.

If you take price into account they are in the running since they are 1/2 the price of a Veto. Saying they are more rugged is an all out lie though.

You remember having a tool belt as shown in posts above or a leather one and throwing it into a hinged mouth leather bottomed bag.

Specific specialty tools were carried in these.
IMG_1761.jpeg


They still make these but unfortunately I believe they are made in overseas and no longer American made.
IMG_1762.jpeg
Click to expand...

Those small zipper bags are great. I use them for lots of stuff. But I also have Milwaukee, Knipex and Husky around the same size. No complaints with any of them. The last four-pack I picked up were still made in USA but with mixed components. Build quality seems the same.
I have been carrying some tools in the mini 12" wide mouth at work for several years and have grown quite fond of it.
I used to use a Klein bucket organizer that was hell for stout. Its discontinued now.
Working class tools...
:beer:
 
Last edited:
W

willf650

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 10, 2010
Messages
779
I have about 20-25 of the little zipper bags from about 4 different companies, mainly Klein. At this point I mainly keep different set ups of computer interface cabling in them.

The Klein and the Veto are at a premium price compared to CLC, Milwaukee and others. The Klein are nicer to me than the Milwaukee but they aren’t a heavy duty as the Veto.

My issue is the Klein zipper pouches are another core product that they offshored manufacturing and almost try to hide it.

This is my latest batch of them and I had to look at the package and I’m pretty sure they were made in the Philippines. The tag inside now is simply a Klein logo with no COO.
IMG_1763.jpeg
 
Last edited:
W

willf650

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 10, 2010
Messages
779
Ok, I guess globalization is a reality and we can’t put the genie back in the bottle.

Here’s my purchase today and got it specifically to get into a control panel. The guys at work swear by these as they have two large sizes with reduced shanks to save on weight. I needed the second to the largest.
IMG_1792.jpeg

And here’s one you guys probably don’t have, the 150th anniversary zipper pouch. This was laying out in the garage.

IMG_1795.jpeg

IMG_1796.jpeg

One item from Vietnam and one from America.
 
Last edited:
W

willf650

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 10, 2010
Messages
779
This guy sums up what I’ve been feeling about Klein recently without mentioning the name.
Paid Promotion

This year I’ve been guilty of buying **** I saw on YouTube for no real reason. I would say 65% of my tool purchases this year weren’t required.
 
Last edited:
W

willf650

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 10, 2010
Messages
779
tarmy said:
Ummm….what’s point?😎
Click to expand...
Klein pays or supplies tools for people on youtube to shill for them.

Maybe you don’t watch YouTube but in my recommendations there will be 5-10 YouTube channels pushing a Klein tool not even to available purchase yet. They all pop up within 2 days of each other and it happens like clockwork.

Every tool they show is unused and brand new. Even their tool bags they pull tools out of are immaculate. You take a bag on of jobsite and it will show wear within a week. It’s obvious they don’t use the tools they show and are a paid advertisement.

I'm sure many companies do this but Klein seems to be the most guilty.
 
R

redwrench60

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 10, 2011
Messages
6,061
Location
East Tennessee
willf650 said:
Klein pays or supplies tools for people on youtube to shill for them.

Maybe you don’t watch YouTube but in my recommendations there will be 5-10 YouTube channels pushing a Klein tool not even to available purchase yet. They all pop up within 2 days of each other and it happens like clockwork.

Every tool they show is unused and brand new. Even their tool bags they pull tools out of are immaculate. You take a bag on of jobsite and it will show wear within a week. It’s obvious they don’t use the tools they show and are a paid advertisement.

I'm sure many companies do this but Klein seems to be the most guilty.
Click to expand...
Sounds like they are just putting the tools in the wrong hands. Me and the guys I work with would absolutely and unapologetically use the hell out of them and give real organic and experience based opinions…..but then again, we’re a bunch of blue collar ham fisted Neanderthals and lack the sophistication to write the polished reviews Klein is probably looking for.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom