Originally Posted by HD Street Bob

Lots of mention about Craftsman. But what about Kobalt (from Lowes)?

Originally Posted by Mk1Racer

I started buying Craftsman 30+ years ago because A) there was a Sears store 10 min. from my house, and B) because they would go on sale. I still have the very first hand tool box I bought from them, and a lot of the metric sockets / wrenches / screwdrivers are from the 80's. I've had several replaced over the years.

I do remember going there one Sunday after the new sales flyer showed up in the newspaper. I had been wanting another combination wrench set for a while. They had two different 7-pc or 9-pc sets (I forget which). One was $19.99 and the other was $34.99. Both had the exact same sizes and number of wrenches. Only difference is that one set was made in the USA, and the other set was made in Japan. I asked the clerk if the Japan ones were still guaranteed for life, and he said yes, so I bought them. A few years (5?) later, Sears was doing a big ad campaign w/ A.J. Foyt, and touting how their hand tools were made in America. I stopped into that local Sears store and was talking w/ one of the guys I dealt with all the time, and told him about how I had a couple of combination wrench sets that said 'Made in Japan' on the side. He got his manager to come over, and the guy told me if I brought them in, he'd give me new, made in USA versions. Swapped them all out! In hindsight, I should have probably held onto them.

I have a very good friend that has been a professional mechanic for over 25 years. He uses primarily Snap-On tools. I have to say, that after using them quite a bit, the combination wrenches and the screwdrivers are fantastic. Compared to a Craftsman wrench, a Snap-On wrench just feels so much better in your hand, Same goes for the screwdrivers. I also really like how their ratchets feel (and work). The Snap-On ratcheting screwdriver is the best ratcheting screwdriver I've ever used, well worth the money.

That all being said, some tools that I've recently acquired are Gearwrench ratcheting box-end wrenches. The beam has the feel of a Snap-On combination wrench, and the can handle tough jobs. I've put some serious torque on some of the larger sizes (5/8" / 17mm and up), and they have never missed a beat. The ratcheting function is great, and the flex head ones are REALLY versatile.

I've had ratcheting box-end wrenches over the years, and the Gearwrench ones beat them all. Got mine from Sears when they were on sale at Christmas 2 years ago. Went back last year and bought a set of the Craftsman ones because the Gearwrench ones weren't on sale. No comparison, as soon as the Gearwrench ones go on sale, I'm buying them and selling the Craftsman. The beams just feel clunky, and the ratchet mechanism is no where near as good.

Something else that I've found to be indispensable is a set of allen-head and torx-head sockets. I have both standard head and ball-end on the allen-head ones. Great stuff. That, and wobble-end extensions.

And an IR-231 is still a great air gun. I've seen ones in professional shops that have years of service, and they're still going strong.

Originally Posted by soft 02

Snap-on has a harley specific line of tools. They also have a bike set thats in a pouch shaped like the harley tool box mounted to the rear right side.