Best Socket Set?

[Keel McDonald]

Good morning all. I am looking to buy a really good quality socket set for my son. I was curious what you guys deem to be the best. I only have a few criteria.
1. Must be made in USA
2. Must have lifetime warranty/guarantee
3. Must be easy to deal with in case I need to replace any of them

Any suggestions?

[David G Baker]

Good morning all. I am looking to buy a really good quality socket set for my son. I was curious what you guys deem to be the best. I only have a few criteria.
1. Must be made in USA
2. Must have lifetime warranty/guarantee
3. Must be easy to deal with in case I need to replace any of them

Any suggestions?

SNAP-ON is the only answer you need but it will cost you.

[Keel McDonald]

SNAP-ON is the only answer you need but it will cost you.

David,

I must admit, those are impressive, but I guess they are a bit out of my price range. Any other good quality sockets that are less expensive?

[Jim Becker]

I'm not even remotely knowledgeable on this topic, but I suspect that meeting all three of your requirements will be difficult. If you can settle on the bottom two, you'll likely have more choices.

Unless things have changed recently, this is one area that Craftsman has always done well. Most of my socket sets and wrenches are from there and the one time I had something go awry, they cheerfully replaced it. But at this point, I don't even bother to "shop" for individual items...I just buy whatever brand the store I'm in for other things has, be it HD, Lowes or very, very, very rarely, Sears.

[Keel McDonald]

I'm not even remotely knowledgeable on this topic, but I suspect that meeting all three of your requirements will be difficult. If you can settle on the bottom two, you'll likely have more choices.

Unless things have changed recently, this is one area that Craftsman has always done well. Most of my socket sets and wrenches are from there and the one time I had something go awry, they cheerfully replaced it. But at this point, I don't even bother to "shop" for individual items...I just buy whatever brand the store I'm in for other things has, be it HD, Lowes or very, very, very rarely, Sears.

Jim,

I have 2 sets of Craftsman sockets, but they are the older sets. They have always gladly replaced the only 2 tools I've ever had to return. I was just under the impression that they "don't make them like they used to."

[Al Willits]

Keel, how much do you want to spend, what drive does he need and does he like 6 or 12 point sockets, deep well or standard lenght, and metric or standard???

If you add easy to deal with Sears is better than snap on, you have to find a snap on dealer where Sears you just go to the store.

Craftsman would be my first choice, but not sure if they're US made or not.

Al

[Greg Cole]

Keel,
Craftsman stuff is ok so long as it's not used all day every day... or you will be headed to Sears weekly with things needing to be replaced. That said, I have an assortment of Craftsman stuff for mechanic type hand tools. I put myself through college as an auto mechanic & craftsman was not allowed in the shop, but tools in that environment see "use" unlike the average home owner dishes out.
Not sure exactly when the episode of "Made in America" was filmed, but Cliff err... John Ratzenburgers show.... went through the factory that made the tear drop style ratchets. Might still be made here, might not.
FWIW, I have a couple of the Gear Wrench sets & love them... and some of the configurations with swivel box end, stubby sets etc are awful handy.

Greg

[Keel McDonald]

Al,

Let me also add that I'm not looking for a professional quality set, but also don't want to just settle for shotty made tools. From personal experience, I would like a set with both standard and metric sockets. As far as deep well or standard length, both would be ideal. It never fails that when I am working on my truck, or whatever project that needs a socket, I usually end up pulling both of my sets out because one side of the bolt needs a deep well socket, and the other side needs the standard length. I guess it's just the paradox I live in.

Are there quality sockets sets out there that are made outside the USA? I'm no expert on tools either, but like to buy American-made whenever possible.

[Steve Clardy]

I've always purchased Snap-on.

Mac is another good brand. Usa made

[Chuck Wintle]

Craftsman are no longer made in the US. I have an older set that is american made and it is stamped "Made in the USA" right onto the handle of the rachets and the body of the sockets. The new ones sold by Sears are not stamped in a similar fashion.

The only other brands that come to mind and are made in the US are Snap-On and Mac tools.

[Al Willits]

Mac is another good brand from what I see in the shops and talk to the mechanics.
Not sure how they compare in cost though.

Your gonna find tool snobs in hand tools just like woodworking, you'll find the good pro mechanics will adapt their tool boxes to whatever tool works best for them.

Haven't bought tools for a few years, as I still have a ton of them and I've heard Craftsman isn't the tool it once was, but you mentioned you couldn't afford snap on, so your expectations are gonna have to be a bit less, remember most that break most major brand tools are misusing them.


Al

[Matt Meiser]

Most of my tools are Craftsman, but I got most of them 10-15 years ago. On average I break a socket or two a year, usually splitting out the side, usually when I've got a piece of pipe on the end of the breaker bar. (See Al's comment above ) There's never a question when I take them back and I'm in and out in a couple minutes. I haven't noticed that I break the replacements any faster (i.e. I haven't started breaking say a 9/16 socket every time.)

The Kobalt stuff at Lowes and the Husky stuff at Home Depot are tempting but I also remember buying a set of "Crew Chief" wrenches at Autoworks, which has been out of business for 10-15 years. At the time Autoworks was a division of Shucks/Kragen. Now Shucks/Kragen owns Murrays so they again have stores in the area, but I'm thinking I'll have a hard time getting them replaced under the lifetime warranty--not that I've needed to. Same goes for anyone who bought the Popular Mechanics line of lifetime warranty tools that Wal-Mart sold for a few years. My thought is that Craftsman is pretty core to Sears and they are more likely to be around in 10-20-50 years.

Snap-On is really nice, but I've had trouble getting nozzles for a Snap-On sandblaster my dad had. The Snap-On dealer wouldn't stop at our house and wouldn't commit to being anywhere I could meet him at a particular time. His words were to the effect that it wasn't worth his time. He would only tell me where he was going that day and I had to drive around until I found him. I'm sure a big part of that was the particular dealer, but I can run to Sears on a Sunday afternoon and get what I need. And if they happen to be out of it they will typically break open a set to get it for you if you are in a hurry, or if not they will send it to your house no charge.

[Jim O'Dell]

Another brand that used to be pretty good, and used to be USA made were the SK tools. I believe they are still around, but not sure where they are made now. Don't see them too often anymore. Jim.

[Mark Rios]

As has been mentioned, Snap-On is what you're asking for, but maybe not what you want to spend. Also mentioned, Mac Tools are also sold to pro shops everyday. Another mechanic tool manufacturer that doesn't come up too often is Matco. Matco is sold the same way as Snap-On and Mac, Through local franchisees that go to the business, i.e., bodyshops, mechanic shops, dealerships, etc.

After having spent over 40 years with my family's bodyshops, I consider the quality order to be as I listed above, First would be Snap-on, then Mac and then Matco. You can find them online and by looking in your local yellow pages. You can also just go down to your nearest dealership and ask one of the mechanics or service manager if they have the number for their dealer. Someone (quite a few probably) will have a card, a pen, a mini screwdriver, or something like that with the dealers name and number on it. Or you can ask what day the tool dealer services that particular shop and approximately what time and you can go on the truck yourself. They will usually stay at each shop between 20 to 40 minutes, or even as long as an hour depending on the size of the shop.

I've got to politely disagree with Al a little bit on the ease of getting tools replaced. Once you know who your particular tool dealer is and have his (or her) number, IF you break a tool you can just call him or her up and meet them at their next stop. This is entirely personal opinion , of course but, I just do not find it easy to go to my local mall (where most Sears are found) and deal with the parking and evil mall shoppers.

And speaking of tools breaking and/or needing replacement, if the normal home handyman EVER breaks a Snap-On wrench, socket or ratchet it will only be once in your life (provided of course you're not using say, a ratchet for a hammer or something like that ). Therefore, your trips to the Snap-On truck for tool replacement will also be only once.

One of my tenants is a mechanic for a chevy dealership and so whenever I don't like the way the tip on one of my screwdrivers looks or if one of my ratchets starts to feel a little funny in the gear head or whatever, I just give the tool to my tenant on Tuesday night (he sees his dealer on Wednesdays) and I get them back the next night. The point being that with Snap-On tools you don't have to have a break to get a tool replaced. Even normal wear is guaranteed.

Just my .02 cents.

[Michael Hammers]

Proto, has Lifetime warranty, American, also Blackhawk, slightly less industrial brand of stanley/proto.