Husky vs Kobalt vs Craftsman

I have a set of Craftsman sockets/drives my wife bought me in 1970. Still work flawlessly. I have a new set of basically every size (metric and SAE) with their 5 degree ratchets (1/4, 3/8 and 1/2) and those are now my go-to tools for everything. 6 point ONLY, no 12 point sockets except for the oldies I still have. No rust to speak of (stainless everything), the only problem I have ever had is an occasional lost socket which happens regardless of brand.

I have had a very small number of Craftsman tools "go south". Broke a screwdriver prying a muffler off 30 years ago. Instant replacement. Couple of ratchets that simply wore out, replaced with no questions. I even have a 100' Rubber water hose with lifetime warranty. Wife backed over and flattened the
brass end. Instant replacement...

Hard to fault them.

 

I'd probably stay away from the Craftsman ratchets, unless you can get a USA made one. I've had mine for 20+yrs, US made and still like new. Been through two wive's, couple engine rebuilds/swaps. Still shines. Never have greased it, unless you.count the front differntial fluid coming out from my taco last weekend.

My cousin went to replace his and they gave him a rebuilt one, not new. Like WTF? The replacement was crap too. If mine does ever go, I'll try replacing, but will probably go elsewhere and purchase.

 

General question but I do have Craftsman tools..what is the tooth count on the ratchets all about? I have a 25 yr old set of their ratchets.

 

Able to ratchet in tighter places. Higher count means less swing action to click. I wouldn't buy new ratchets for that, only if needed

 

Pretty sure Craftsman has 2 grades now. One made offshore, the other domestically. I think they call it the Craftsman Pro or something like that.

 

Yah think you're right on the pro, seen their pro toolboxes, but didn't know they did that for hand tools as well? I'll have to ck that out next time I'm over there.

 

This happened to me, my old trusty Craftsman ratchets socket holding ball came out. Sears tried to replace it with a new one that had a cheap plastic gearing mechanism, I told them no thanks. The Sears tool salesman told me to go on line to find a quality older steel replacement one. I ended up finding a good older ratchet at the swapmeet. Now days, your replacement for your old high quality Craftsmen tool, just might a cheap import. Snap on, Proto and OLDER Craftsman are preferred in that order. Also, don't lend them out.

 

I spend more on tools I use more often. I have some nice snap on ratchets because they have more teeth and I use them all the time. Mostly craftsman sockets. Now that 34 MM socket that only gets used once or twice a year. Yea that's a HF special. For large wrenches that I don't use often, cheap Tekton from Napa.

 

I like my Blue point/ snap on, but I also pretty happy with my cobalt sockets, and my craftsman ratchets are OK, but not the best (I prefer snap on) they improved after I took them apart and greased them.

 

Slight thread jack here- Costco set, 99 bucks 6 point not twelve on some of the sockets.... 159 pieces surely its one of these major brands rebranded by the 'co... ive had several of these over the years and the latest one is really quality, the clearances from socket to nut are perfect perfect. return policy? If you shop at costco you know it's no questions asked, forever, except tvs and computers.

 

I get paid to turn wrenches. But on much smaller objects that automobiles. Max torque on anything I touch is 40ft/lbs and most of the stuff that I deal with is in the 4 - 6nm range. While it won't get used often, when a ratchet is used, it's expected to work...and now slip like my Craftsman is doing now. Luckily it's not a requirement, it just makes the job quicker.

And yeah, various other bits in my box are slowly being replaced with Klein and Knipex as the cheaper stuff dies. My box was about $3k when I put it together. Kinda wonder what it'd be now. Oof.

 

I find with some 6 points, they have a lot of bevel before the actual socket. Less the bevel on the inside the better. Lot of my 12's have barely any bevel. I just use the right socket for the situation be it 12 or 6.

 

My concern with Craftsman these days is the parent corporation. K-Mart, dba Sears Holdings, is hurting financially. In 2000, they had $37 Billion dollars in sales. In 2014, sales from both K-Mart and Sears were down to $12 Billion. So far this year they have announced the closing of 50 store locations. Since 2000 I think they've closed several hundred stores, mostly K-Mart locations.

While this isn't necessarily an indication that they'll be shuttering Sears/K-Mart any time soon, it does indicate an increased risk of something happening to the brand. While I agree with others that Sear's domestic tools are awesome, I'm a bit concerned that my investment in Craftsman tools might have a somewhat shorter lifetime warranty than it used to.

I've been trying out both Kobalt and Husky tools as of late and I am happy so far with the quality of each. I've also been looking at Harbor Freight tools. While Harbor Freights tools may not be the best quality, they are inexpensive and there's a Harbor Freight store about a mile from my house. Can't knock that...

 

Yeah, they've been heading on a long downhill spiral since when they bought K . I knew then it was most likely beginning of the end. But sure has been a long time and they are still holding out. Who knows.

Our K, brought the blue light special back. Brings back memories when they were so popular. Rushing to find the blue light to see what it was.
Doubt that'll bring em back to what they once were.

 

I remember the Blue Light Specials from back when I was a Kid, I also remember K-Marts having Cafeterias too, damn I am getting old!

 

Tell me bout it

 

If y

If you go the inexpensive tool route, there's one tool I would put money out for, the10 mm hex for the front diff. Get a Snap On, you'll be glad you did.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/21/news/companies/sears-kmart-stores-closing/index.html

Alot of the chatter in thread confirmed today, 10 Sears and 28 Kmart stores closing .... buying kmart was nuts and sears didn't get on the online sales wagon fast enough.
I've always had a craftsman tool in my kit since I was a kid. Hope sears can make it, been a part of my life since can remember my mom picking out bras from the phone book size catalog.

 

I dig my bluepoint set

 

found a lightly used, very clean Snap On T72 and F80 that I picked up for the cost of a T72 new. I guess we'll see how this goes.