Tool makeup diversity in your box

[CoThG]

What is the makeup of your toolbox's mainline tools (sockets, ratchets, wrenches, pliers and screwdrivers)? Why did you choose what you chose? Do you have a purchasing strategy? Do you try and stay loyal to a particular brand or do you have an eclectic mix?

For me, my purchasing strategy is to buy the best product(s) for a particular application. I'm very fortunate to be in a position that price is not a factor in my purchasing decision. My sockets are Snap-On, Cat and Koken with Snap-On and Koken ratchets. Wrenches are exclusively Snap-On. Pliers are a mix of Snap-On, Cat and Knipex and screwdrivers are Snap-On, Cat, Wera and Vessel.

 

[Schurkey]

Started with Craftsman and Government Surplus. The surplus stuff was Herbrand, Snap-On, Bonney, SK, Proto, and whatever else Uncle Sam picked-up beginning in WWII onward. I inherited all sorts of **** as Christmas or Birthday gifts...largely junk that I never trusted; but which also had no resale value and I wasn't smart enough to "regift". It piled-up in a secondary tool box that went on road-trips so if it was stolen, I wasn't out much.

I chose to buy some Mac, (wonderful, reliable Mac dealer who retired after I did) a little Matco (no dealer, and then unreliable dealer, then no dealer, then unreliable dealer), and mostly Snap-On after we FINALLY got a proper, reliable, friendly S-O dealer (and bought some SK via the Internet before they were destroyed by the Chinese.) Cornwell still doesn't have a dealer around here; although a guy came in from a hundred miles away, about twice a month, for about two years--long after I was out of the professional world and back into Hobby-time.

My "strategy" was to utilize the Craftsman warranty...until what I broke caused me to see my own blood. At that point, I'd warranty the Craftsman then sell it or put it in the "Home" tool box, toss the Surplus since there was no warranty, and buy Tool Truck replacements that don't break for the Professional box.

I still use some Craftsman wrenches and sockets, supplemented with REAL wrenches and sockets from SK and Snappy. Craftsman (hand tools) advertised that they were "professional" tools, and with some notable exceptions they didn't really lie (until production moved to China.) But we understand that an apprentice is a "professional"...at the low-budget beginning of his career. The '60s, '70s, '80s USA Craftsman hand tools are "apprentice" tools. The Chinese Crapsman are just homeowner-level junk.

A notable exception to the Craftsman/Apprentice level tools were the old chrome universal joints and universal sockets that were held together with roll-pins. Those things were pure evil, they'd shatter and lacerate a person. Satan in steel. I gave 'em away, bought Snappy replacements in...1984, I think.

 

[mngundog]

I believe in only buying the best, and with Craftsman gone (basically), it's all Icon hand tools now.

 

[Nutria]

Diversity I've got, because most of my stuff is from estate sales. No brand loyalty at all, though I do have my favorites.

 

[JerseyBoatBuilder]

Went right from Craftsman USA raised panel tools to Snap On and Dual 80 stuff, My Tool box still has the highest majority of the tools being Snap On mixed with USA Williams and some BluePoint kits in blow mold cases for travel kits. Sold a bit of the Snap On stuff in favor of buying USA Williams stuff used the extra money from the Snap On sales for more tools. Definitely made out $ wise getting rid of my Snap On wrenches in favor of replacing them with SuperCombo's. Preferred the thicker beams.
Other than that I have one SK USA Green handle gasket scraper, Probably less then 10 Craftsman tools, A couple Lisle specialty tools, 6 Harbor Freight tools, Some Lang tools and BluePoint stuff made by various other manufacturers. GM specialized Kent Moore stuff, Also some OEM specialized stuff. Also have some WERA and WIHA Stuff that barely ever gets used. The Meat and Potatoes that gets things done is the Snap On and USA Williams stuff.

 

[WildBill]

I was just going through my sockets and found that I own one Snap-On tool, a 5/8" socket. So I walked around the neighborhood calling everyone losers and poors. The guy down the street putting a 700+ HP supercharged Raptor R drivetrain and frame under a sweet 70s Bronco body using harbor freight tools didn't seem to get why I was better than him. No matter how hard I tried to make him understand. Must be something wrong with him.

After that I threw all my other tools away and built a shrine for my amazing socket. And welded bars on my shop windows and doors. Now I can't get out, but it's ok, I have my socket.

 

[theoldwizard1]

95% Craftsman from the 70s and 80s. A couple HF hand tools.

 

[four.cycle]

What is the makeup of your toolbox's mainline tools (sockets, ratchets, wrenches, pliers and screwdrivers)? Why did you choose what you chose? Do you have a purchasing strategy? Do you try and stay loyal to a particular brand or do you have an eclectic mix?

^ I started buying Indestro when I was in high school, and by the time we dropped the line in the mid-1980s I had a pretty fair assortment.
Have owned a broad mix of small 1/4" socket sets and other tools.
The newer stuff that I acquire: I only keep the best of it - the rest goes on the block or is given away.

 

[knucklehead 61]

My big Snap-On toolboxes are filled with about 95% Snap-On.
I have a lot of other junk brand tools in other boxes for mobile use or giving away.

 

[CoThG]

I was just going through my sockets and found that I own one Snap-On tool, a 5/8" socket. So I walked around the neighborhood calling everyone losers and poors. The guy down the street putting a 700+ HP supercharged Raptor R drivetrain and frame under a sweet 70s Bronco body using harbor freight tools didn't seem to get why I was better than him. No matter how hard I tried to make him understand. Must be something wrong with him.

After that I threw all my other tools away and built a shrine for my amazing socket. And welded bars on my shop windows and doors. Now I can't get out, but it's ok, I have my socket.

At least you "know what you got"...

 

[GRN96WS6]

It's a mashup, craftsmen to begin because sears was all over and exchanges were easy enough....now? It's lowes or HF depending on what I need and how often I'll be using it.

 

[L.Cheapo]

I started out in the mid 90s as a teenager with Craftsman. It was semi-local, good warranty, USA made, decent enough, and affordable, especially considering everything went on sale eventually.

As time went on and I got more into working on things and found the limitations of those tools as well as my income increasing, they were virtually all upgraded to Snap On. Again, mostly on BOGO deals or some kind of a sale. I've had a great dealer for many years.

I still use some of those original Craftsman sockets, mostly in the larger sizes, but ratchets, wrenches, pliers, and screwdrivers, among other things, are all S-O now.

 

[PlanB]

My three pronged Purchasing Philosophy of "stuff on sale" or "desperate immediate need" or "pissed off and buying a replacement" has lead to an incredible diversity of low to mid grade tools.

 

[51dueller]

My tools mostly is comprised of Wright, Gearwrench, Westward and Mastercraft. The only Snap On I have is punches, chisel, small vise grips and an antique speed handle. I have a Mac ratchet wrench set and Matco nano sockets.

 

[lardy1]

I started buying mostly SK but after being here for awhile my awareness level went way up. I have tools from many different companies now. I used to be strictly made in USA but that ship has sailed. Literally.

 

[Callelle]

99% of my stuff is 2nd hand, so I have no real brand loyalty, just to what feels good. I do tend to favor MAC when I can.

 

[badmatt]

Mostly Snap-on, MAC and KoKen, early 2000's Craftsman, Wera, Gearwrench (impact sockets that I treat as consumables) and some Astro sprinkled in for good luck.

Ive come to the point in my life that cheap tools hurt more than they help. and i cant afford to break a tool and be stranded at home when I live outside of the city.

 

[Skellyii]

As a broke teenager in the early 70s I bought Kmart tools. When I was working my way through school slinging wrenches and started making decent money I had access to the SnapOn truck, so I got the basic wrench, socket, and screwdrivers, sets that I still have.

After college, I moved to a city with lots of Sears stores and more importantly Sears Outlet stores, so I got my first stack and filled out my tool collection with early 80s Craftsman stuff. It was handy, at a reasonable price, and I didn't need to go far to warranty it. I was no longer a pro, but I needed tools for my drag racing and playing in the dirt hobbies. Oh yeah, and home repairs.

Fast forward to the late teens, my kids had gotten older and we started working on their cars so I started picking up Tekton and Gearwrench. Craftsman had cratered by then, at least in my view.

Now that I'm retired and slinging wrenches more often as a hobby I picked up some of the V Series stuff, some ICON, and a few select HF and Menards things.

I have some odds and ends that I inherited from relatives, i.e Proto, SK Indestro, Wards, etc, but I don't have completed sets of those, so they go in my pull yard and portable toolkits.

 

[MidMoBob]

I buy quality tools used when the good deals present themselves. I'm not tied to any particular brand.

 

[OneEyedMan]

My tool decision flow chart is something like: is it a tool? Yes. Is it discounted or on sale or otherwise cheap? Yes. Will I need it at some future point? Maybe. This has guided almost every tool purchase of mine for twenty years.

 

[Kscardsfan]

Started out as purely Craftsman thanks to my dad and from selling tools at Sears in high school. As I got older and as Craftsman got crappier I branched out more, as well as some stuff was just better for certain trades i.e., when I was working as an electrical apprentice I naturally got more invested in Klein stuff. A lot of my carpentry tools are Stanley fat max stuff. After joining Garage Journal I have spread my tool wings and have more different brands and started picking up the gems within their specific niche such as Knipex pliers or Wright combo wrenches. I also learned the secrets of the industrial brands so I can get tool truck quality at homeowner prices, especially on the secondary market where much fewer people know what Williams or Proto is.

 

[txvwnut]

My day job box is 99% Snapon with a few imports that I've since I was a teenager. My home shop box is 90% Snapon and budget buy tools from either American manufacturers or import manufacturers.

 

[tamaraw]

I generally buy whatever quality tool I feel works best for the particular application with a "buy it for life" outlook. Most of the time that's ordering imported stuff but sometimes it's buying used/vintage stuff at yard sales or thrift stores, buying new off of tool trucks, or shopping hardware stores.

I am a bit of a tool snob and avoid harbor freight quality but I try to save money where I can because more expensive =/= better. I just want to end up with something that does the job and I can enjoy using, I suppose I'm a bit privileged that way.

Some things aren't objectively better but I just like because of ergonomics or styling (ex: Cornwell, Plomb).

I try to keep socket or wrench sets matching but non-overlapping sets that compliment each other are fine. I don't really care about the rest matching.

These are my most frequently used, not an exhaustive list:

Sockets: Nepros (with some Ko-ken, Hazet, Proto, Snap-On, etc.)

Ratchets: Cornwell, Plomb, Facom, KTC

Wrenches: Proto (with some Nepros, KTC, Asahi, etc.) TOP for adjustable.

Pliers: Tsunoda, Keiba, Crescent, etc.

Screwdrivers: Vessel (with some Wiha and PB Swiss)

 

[Kurt4440]

I was just going through my sockets and found that I own one Snap-On tool, a 5/8" socket. So I walked around the neighborhood calling everyone losers and poors. The guy down the street putting a 700+ HP supercharged Raptor R drivetrain and frame under a sweet 70s Bronco body using harbor freight tools didn't seem to get why I was better than him. No matter how hard I tried to make him understand. Must be something wrong with him.

After that I threw all my other tools away and built a shrine for my amazing socket. And welded bars on my shop windows and doors. Now I can't get out, but it's ok, I have my socket.

I nominate this post for "The Best of Garage Journal".

 

[Brandon_Lutz]

About 85% old Craftsman USA as that is what I started with. Right now it's a mix of Craftsman, Armstrong, Proto, Blackhawk, SK, Tekton, Kobalt (When Williams made it), Snap On, Mayhew, Channel lock, Malco, Vise Grip, Grey Pneumatic and Icon.

I've just started acquiring Snap On items in the last couple of years. I plan to start upgrading my sockets soon to USA Williams and Cat.

 

[JSutter]

321

 

[woody 73]

Oh man every tool from I think every company in the World. I cannot resist those garage sales and flea type places; you name I got it. But if push comes to shove, I love tools made in my home state of "Ahia".

 

[jeffmoss26]

Been buying tools since I was a kid. I have merged some stuff in from my dad over the years. Mostly Craftsman, a lot of Channellock, Klein, a couple Tru Test socket sets that are older than me. I’m always looking for good old stuff. Have some Snap-on screwdrivers and specialty pliers.

 

[richfinn]

Ko-ken - sockets/ratchets/extensions
Knipex - pliers
Vessel - screwdrivers
P B Swiss - 1/4" bits/rachet screwdrivers/specialty drivers
Snap-On - pliers/picks/wrenches/prybars/ratchets/sockets
Fluke - Multimeter
Brymen - Multimeters/amp clamps
Stahlwille - wrenches
Hultafors - hammers
Facom - all kinds of stuff (ratchets/wrenches/1/4" hex bit set/chisels etc)
Lisle - all kinds of auto mechanics stuff (exhaust hanger pliers/brake tools/brass punches/relay test kit etc)
Victorinox - pocket knifes
Astro - sockets/scraper
Milwaukee - power tools M12/M18 impacts/ratchet/inflator
Bosch - 12v drill/driver
Pico - automotive oscilloscope and test gear
GTC - diagnostic tools
Panasonic - toughbooks
OTC - test light
Laser - specific engine tools (locking pins/tensioner tools)
Gearwrench - Serpentine belt tool kit
Sykes Pickavant - fuel pressure test kit/compression test kit/carburetor tools/brake line flaring tool
Lang - Brake Caliper push back Tool
Norbar - torque wrenches
Launch - scantool

I could go on forever

 

[Chipm]

I have a little bit of everything, but my favorite set is a little Torx bit set I got at Ace Hardware in the 1900's.

Past that, I have old Craftsman and Husky, some Snap On, some Icon, some Capri, blah blah. It all works pretty good.

 

[tarbellb]

Is this a weird flex @CoThG

I would rather see some of your projects!

 

[bmwrd0]

A big mix. Mostly Proto, as they make the best sockets and wrenches, Snap-on torque wrenches, Grace drivers, Klein pliers, and so on.

I prefer industrial, as I don't work on cars much anymore, and my years in a pro shop showed me that tool truck stuff is just over priced.

 

[CoThG]

Is this a weird flex @CoThG

I would rather see some of your projects!

No flex, just curious what other's priorities are in building their tool collection.

 

[kinglukas38]

Most of my wrenches, sockets, and ratchets are tekton as they were good value when I started wrenching (still are, especially the 4ways). I've since started shopping around for different brands to fill out the drawers. Sunex, capri, astro, and a select few snapon tools got added as I found the need.
For pliers my first look is usually knipex, then to anything I think looks neat from Japan. Again there is a bit of snapon here, but definetly not a majority stake.
Screwdrivers I think I'm pretty vanilla with a fairly even split of vessel and wera.

I shop around a lot for tools, having something a bit different is fun for me. Specialty tools usually have to be purchased through snapon but I try to borrow those a few times before I know I need them for my own toolbox

 

[pfbz]

Only a few brands.
Well, maybe more than a few ;-). I like tools within a set to match and be complete, but I could care less if set A is the same brand as set B. Best of variety works fine for me.

Primarily..

Felo, Gedore, Hazet, Knipex, Stahlwille, Wiha, Wera, Wurth, Koken, KTC, Tone, Vessel, USAG, Klein, Proto, Snap-on, Williams, Wright, Mac, Matco, Astro, Capri, Craftsman, GearWrench, Icon, Milwaukee, Olsa, Tekton, and I'm sure a few more I've forgotten!

 

[Retired dozer fixer]

Was never brand loyal. All of my tools are 99% USA made. USA is my brand

 

[finn]

My first tools were probably the cheap carpenter sets that included crappy pliers, a light claw hammer, a saw, keyhole saw, etc when I was probably ten. i still have the crappy pliers.

I also ordered some of those cheap wood handle screwdrivers and stamped wrenches out of the back of Popular Mechanics magazine when I was about ten or eleven. I cried when they arrived, they were so crappy. I still remember going out to the mailbox and literally running inside with excitement, which turned to disappointment.

My first real tools were an SK Wayne 1/2” drives socket set in 1966 when I was 15, although I did get some more carpenter tools like a brace and bit, hand plane, and a real hammer, all from the Sears catalog in the interim, probably because other than a few pliers and screwdrivers, and a Crescent wrench or two, my dad didn’t have much in the way of tools. The brass and bit was another disappointment, as I asked for a power drill, which I got six months later for my birthday.

By the time I was sixteen or seventeen I got a nice set of PowerKraft combination wrenches from Wards and a 3/8 drive socket set by SK. I got my first SnapOn flex head a year or two later. A friend gifted it after he found it in an intersection.

After I got married and finished college we moved to Chicago. I finally had money, but not a lot, as we were saving for a house. There was a Sears tool outlet that I think was only open on Saturday mornings, so I bought a lot of tools there. A lot was samples with no branding or prototype looking with X part number. I acquired a lotof Tools there in the mid to late seventies, and only recall breaking a couple of screwdrivers ( actually my wife broke them opening paint cans), one thin wall socket, and several RP ratchets. I still have and use those tools.

It wasn’t until a couple of years later, after the house purchase, that I acquired a lot of Snapon, Matco, Wright, and other recognized brands. Without counting, I would bet I have two dozen brands now, including a lot of tools with brands like aplomb, Proto, etc from the thirties through the fifties from my grandfather’s estate. Some of which is used regularly and some for display.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

I'd like to be able to afford to be. tool truck snob but it's just not in the budget.

Five boxes in the shop. One Snap-On, one Craftsman and the rest are US General.
The Snap-On are 1981 KR boxes I bought out of nostalgia.

Sockets are about 60% Snap-On, 20% Icon and the rest Matco, Tekton or Sunex.

Wrenches are about 60% Snap-On, the rest Icon and Milwaukee.

Pliers are all Knipex or Snap-On.

Welding clamps are 100% Milwaukee.

Ratchets are 90% Snap-On and 10% Icon.

The rest are a similar mix.

Just recently started buying Tekton - most of my hex and Torx sockets are Tekton.

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

I do my research, consider personal & local circumstances and take it from there. Availability/ ease of purchasing is also a big one for me. I do like to buy tools from brands where that specific tool is a core competency of said brand, but sometimes re-brands are easier to purchase or come at a better price during promotion or as a “package deal“, so that’s that. Sometimes I simply put a tool on an order that is placed anyway, and take what my dealer has in stock.

So it’s plenty of brands, all quality. No blind following of one.

Kind regards,
Olli

 

[Rusted Nut]

I was an apprentice mechanic in the mid ‘70’s. I have a mix of SK & Craftsman mostly, with some other brands in the mix. The only Snap-On I have is a set of files my kid gave me for Christmas a few years ago.