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I was just gonna ask if any of you have any opinions of the following. Kobalt, Craftsman, Husky and of course Snap-on. I've owned all and still have most of them around, and all have a liftime warrenty........ whats yer opinion?



When I worked for Mac tools years ago they went through several iterations of "Lifetime warranty" and for a while made their distributors eat the cost of returns, all because Sears offered a lifetime warranty so Mac had to do the same. Sears did it for good will and to get customers back in the store where they usually bought something else on visits to return tools. Mac tools were/are a good quality and at the time I was there introduced a polished finish line to compete with Snap-on at perhaps 20% less than the Snap-on price. Snap-on distributors made much of their income from interest on payment plans offered to mechanics on their expensive tools, While Mac distributors did not benefit from a company run payment plan. Snap-on had patents on their "flank-drive" which was an advantage and a good feature that Mac incorporated when the patent period expired, so there was little difference in function and materials between the two and little cosmetic difference when Mac switched most products to the full polish finish. Both are very good tools.

I also worked 24 years for the company that makes Craftsman hand tools (not the "Sears" brand which come from off shore) and the Craftsman brand is close to the same quality at a much lower price; they also moved to the full polish finish on the Craftsman line so there is little difference today between Craftsman, Snap-on, and Mac besides price and a possible slightly wider variation in Craftsman size specifications (read quality control in opening sizes) brought about by Sears pressure in maintaining low prices to them since Craftsman tools are 85 to 90% of the production of the company (or it was up to 2004 when I left there)

I don't know much about Kobalt, but I believe it is an off-shore product and has a different plating finish than the nickle-Chrome used by the three previously mentioned. Husky is an old US company name that's been around a long time like Blackhawk, Williams, and others but I don't know where they are made today.

BTW, I still have and use a 13 pc set of Craftsman wrenches I bought at a Sears & Roebuck in Ohio over 55 years ago and they look just like the traditional Craftsman matte finish, panel wrenches still made today except for the single "V" stamp indicating they were made by Moore Drop Forging of Springfield, Massachusetts before all wrench production was moved to Springdale, Arkansas. Moore Drop Forge also made tools for Ford Model Ts and N tractors back in the day.

Phil in Northwest Arkansas 04 America, Black, Corbin seat, TORs, no AI, 34K