Craftsman vs. snap on. worth a fight??

[Priest 10+ year member]

I use a lot more Husky these days. Same quality as Snap-On, a bit cheaper and it's easier for me to get into a Home Depot for an exchange.

That being said I believe that Snap-On is a better product on most accounts but the price and the pain in the but to get it exchanged makes it prohibitive. I do us Snap-On screwdrivers. I've found that they hold their tips much better than the others.

 

[dinty01 10+ year member]

i use mostly craftsmen since they are cheaper and lets face it a tool is a tool, if you have a 1/4 ratchet with a 4 inch extension and a 10mm socket, both companies products will do the same thing in the same way, I never really saw a difference other than price, I also use matco, snap on and a few smaller brands(cant remember what they are at the moment) and they all do basically the same thing, its the same as this: is the glass half empty or is it half full?

 

[Priest 10+ year member]

true.. but when i try to tell my step dad that, he wants nothing to hear about it and wants to argue w me.... im sick of the shit every time i want to see my mom this fukn asshat always try to out do me.. wtf?? is he jealous or what??

He is threated by you. He's not secure enough with himself and feels like you competition for your mom's love/attention. In short, he's a dick.

 

[JohnnyChuttz 10+ year member]

Harbor Freight for hand tools, Dewalt for power.

 

[bbrownderville 10+ year member]

Snap on atw. I bet my dad and brother easily have over 100,000 in snap on tools. He has owned a mechanic shop for over 20 years now and has been using snap on since day one. I am just biased i guess. Craftsman has some good tools but i dont think they can compare to snap on.

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

I use a lot more Husky these days. Same quality as Snap-On, a bit cheaper and it's easier for me to get into a Home Depot for an exchange.
That being said I believe that Snap-On is a better product on most accounts but the price and the pain in the but to get it exchanged makes it prohibitive. I do us Snap-On screwdrivers. I've found that they hold their tips much better than the others.

Kobalt is the same as snap-on, husky's not bad for the $, tho. I think huskys are canadian if i'm not mistaken.

I'm personally content with a nice set of craftsman tools, or husky for that matter.

I'm mostly a hobbyist, so i don't have to work with them on a daily basis.

Snap-on tools would be my choice if i was using them daily, or for extended periods. Craftsman is probably just as STRONG, but snap-on tools are every bit as strong, but LIGHT! Snap-on handtools are a pleasure to work with, they're featherweight for how strong they are. They INVENTED socket sets, BTW.

 

[skydeaner 10+ year member]

kobalt ftw

bring on the flamage!

EDIT:

**** you guys respond too ****in fast.

 

[bdawson72 5,000+ posts]

umm i prefer craftsman

 

[NebBlackshirts 10+ year member]

how about the Wal-mart brand 'Stanley'? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[dinty01 10+ year member]

theres some sets at the farmers market out here, the sets are sweet, theyre a combination of like 100 different sets, and the tools are all used, and theyre like 15 for the full set, haha i know some ppl that have bought them just for fun and they arent actually too bad, a lot of the tools are . . **** i cant remember them but they have been making tools for a long time, an old timer that used to work at the one garage said he's had his tools for 50 plus years, he also had a bunch of snapon and matco too though, i cant remember it, im too frustrated with the eagles!

 

[Shyne151 10+ year member]

Craftsman ftw man. I jsut had a craftsman socket go bad last week. Went by sears, they handed me a rebuild kit, i went home, snapped the pin out, put the all new stuff in, and put the new pin in, and was good to go.

**** THAT. When I go in I grab a new one from the wall and take it to them, and tell them I want this one. They haven't argued yet, I'm not down on the rebuilt tools //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[bikejunkie223 10+ year member]

Let me start by saying I am a professional Honda Master technician, and then I will tell you my opinions. In school and when I started out, all my stuff was craftsman. Great tools for the money, but as you start using them every day compared to Snap-On, Mac, or Matco you begin to see the quality difference- it's little things that average dude will never notice, but someone who uses them everyday to make a living will. The gears on the ratchets are tighter. The sockets and wrenches grup nuts and bolts tighter without rounding off the things. As a pro- I don't have time to run to Sears whenever something breaks, so it is a major convienience to have the Snap-On guy come by every week. They absolutely cost more, and some of the stuff is obscenely priced (flank drive plus wrench set!) If you use the stuff to make a living it pays off to have the nicest tools you can afford, but for the average dude craftsman or Husky or whatever are fine. I do stand firm in that Snap-On toolboxes are the nicest you can get, but are also the msot expensive, and it's hard to justify that purchase to me- a toolbox won't make you any money, while a wrench or ratchet will. All my sockets, ratchets and wrenches are Snap-On, same with screwdrivers (ratcheting screwdriver FTW!) My pliers are mostly channel-lock except for a few specialty ones. Air tools are snap on air ratchets and ingersoll-rand impact guns. My drill is a 14.4v Milwaukee cordless. I do have to admit I own a ginormous Snap-On toolbox too- hard to justify but it looks awesome and works extremely well. That's my opinion

 

[04silverz 10+ year member]

my dad used mostly craftsman and a couple other smaller brands as well as more known brands, so ive always favored craftsman

however at work, and we abuse the piss out of our tools, we use snap on. and yeah they break but thats bc of the way we treat them. and thers no repercussion for breaking them. but overall im impressed with snapon.

i have no idea how much more snapon is to the avg consumer so i cant comment on that end. but to me, at home, a tool is a tool.

 

[creyc 10+ year member]

"A tool is a tool"!??

Blasphemy!

Imagine this situation. You've just finished your box and are putting the driver in. You are a good sub builder and used 1.5" MDF for the front baffle and as such, the screws are taking quite a bit of effort to go in. Then all of a sudden the tip on your walmart branded, flower-decaled screwdriver strips out, the screwdriver goes down, and punches a nice big hole in your new BTL.

Not all tools are created equal. And that is a true story, although names and products have been changed to protect the innocent. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Both Craftsman (not just "sears") and Snap-On have some good hand tools. It's really on a tool-by-tool basis you see the differences. Like round shafts on screwdrivers for easy spinning. Or ratchets with tighter clicks which you might not think twice of till you've got your hand on some bolt you can't even see and you have about an inch of space. Ever seen a cheap socket explode? Thin walls, poor steel, high tension and the wall of the socket will split and round out the head of your nut/bolt. Now you have a broken tool AND a stripped nut. So in my experience it really pays to get the best tools you can.

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

For precision tools and for my car, i use my dad's snap-on tools. When i have to beat on my tools, i grab the craftsman. All my torque wrenches are snap-on and armstrong. Craftsman sockets and screwdrivers are a joke. They strip stuff like no tomorrow. And in tight spaces they **** too.