Best Mechanic's Tool Set Under $100? Part 2 2021 Craftsman, Husky, Kobalt, Pittsburgh 

I’ve had the Pittsburgh 301 set for 5 years and no issues. Of curse the 10mm grew legs and took off. I did open all the ratchets, clean them and add 3in1 oil and never had a problem. Also I I frequently put a pipe on the rachets and no issues. I would definitely would buy it again.

I decided to get my 5 y/o grandson his first set of tools for Christmas. He really loves helping his Papa, and I wanted to get him a tool kit to start taking things apart, just misc. thrift stores items, to see how they work. After this video, I'm going with the 301 Pittsburgh. I think it's perfectly suited for growing into his natural curiosity! Thanks for posting, it really helped my decision.

You did a great job on these reviews. Honest and informative.

thanks for all the effort that went into laying the tools out in your drawers for a visual. that was very helpful

I recently bought the 216pc craftsman box and I gotta say it's so great. I already had a collection of socket sets but needed a box to just grab and put in my truck. Whether it be on road trips or to the junkyard. I have had some craftsman rachets and sockets for 8 years now and only one of the ratchets broke. Overall, I would recommend it to those who just need it for road trips or emergencies.

Wow that’s a great couple reviews you’ve done on these sets. Keep up the good work!

awesome to see the work you put in laying it out in the drawers to show skipped sizes. Thanks bud!

Been looking for some cheap sets to work with at home , thx for the video brother 🤙💯

I've been looking for a socket set for the house. The Craftsman 216 looks to fit the bill. Never crossed my radar till now. Keep it up!

The Harbor Freight Pittsburg 225 Pc Tool Set doesn't get the attention it deserves. It's surprisingly good and it's in a convenient case. It's a really good deal when on sale for $99.

Thanks for the review homie. Was gonna get the Husky set but wasn’t completely sold. Looked up reviews and your vids came out. You made very good points about the filler on all the sets. I decided to go with the 216 craftsman set as well and it got delivered today! Keep those vids coming!

Thank you for your reviews looking for a gift set for my brother and have been lamenting over which set would be best

I love your way of testing. Good job 👍🏼

Helping you guys out on the Kobalt! I bought this as my first bigger complete set. I would love to be one of those people who have a permanent giant toolbox, but my storage situation and my mobile lifestyle means I have to have things that take less space and I can grab quickly and throw in the back of my van. I will say that this is a great set and I love their warranty, but the box which is one of the main reasons why I had. This is not going to make you happy. Happy. As you saw when he shook it, everything everywhere. Everywhere. Let me tell you that you do not have to shake it and it will often be the situation where you can't pull a drawer out without that top shelf coming off. I'm talking eight out of 10 times guys. But I have had mine for somewhere between 8-10 years. One of the most frustrating things you'll have that comes in second place. Is that lid. I guess as long as I've had it, it probably lasted what it should last. Last. I mean we're talking plastic and at least the bars are longer than a lot of other cheaper ones for the hinge. But it likes to flop back. I wish it was one of those that would go just far enough back and up that it wouldn't fly all the way back nor forward. But the way that's in that lid strains that hinge when it flops back. And it is the main reason today why I'm having to look at sets again. I'm a little more than a DIYer, decent amount of side hustles (so part-time work.) I will not knock this for you, because you may be fine if you're keeping it relatively still and not constantly moving it around for the stuff moving. Moving. Or you're fine with that because you're getting a very good assortment of tools for the price and you really will use every one of these. And I immediately bought stuff to go in that bottom drawer the day. I got it to go ahead and have my tool kit complete. When you're looking at holiday or Black Friday deals, you'll be able to spend a little bit more and get a good amount of things in the bottom. If only we could get a Milwaukee pack out system at the price of a Hart stack system with foam inserts LOL!

Great comparison 👍 I never understood why they don't include more wrenches. But I do like the Pittsburgh from what you have shown ad a truck or off road kit . Even a good start for a new mechanic...

I have that exact Kobalt set. Picked up a Lowe’s last year for $89.00 during Christmas. You’re right about the draws and the case, sucks big time, overall I’m very happy with the set! Great video!

Thanks for the I depth review. Nice job

Seeing you lay them out in your draws really shows how incomplete the sets really are.. best 1/1 comparison video on "quantity" I've seen.. great idea..!!

Man thanks for this super informative video. I'm going with the Pittsburgh.

I have to agree with going with the Craftsman 216 pcs set. For on the road or DIY person it has a complete set. I bought the 216 pcs set for my enclosed trailer . Great set for the race track.

That’s a hefty amount you put down thanks bro

Great video! Exactly what I was looking for.

that cobalt set looked good, and that empty drawer for adding the larger sockets and wrenches up to 32mm are really needed for most jobs even dyi on cars/bikes. I just got the bike dewalt wheeled carry on style mobile box and toss everything but the husky in it. I wish i bought a big mechanic set first off rather than everything as needed. A metric only box would be good, as nothing really uses sae anymore.

Another thorough excellent video! I really regret buying Kobalt. Their stuff always underwhelms me and the Kobalt section is slowly being replaced by Craftsman.

Excellent review (All the videos) and above and beyond showing the differences of all the brands. I ended up with the Husky 270pc simply due to the fact that I got it for $58, even with the fluff and poor case design I couldn't pass that up.

With the Pittsburgh wrenches, I have owned buffalo,cal van,allied, and old version great neck that were almost just like them

this is perfect timing, I left my tail gate down and lost my dewalt set yesterday lol

Great review, especially showing all the skips. You already know this, but if you don't want skips, buy Tekton. I bought their 1/4 and 3/8 drive sets to put in my vehicle. 2 cases that fit under the seat. I added their wrench roll with 7 to 19mm as well. I also added the pittsburgh deep 1/2 impact set, but you could easily get the Tekton one for no skips. I also agree with your assessment on Kobalt sockets. They work just fine, but the markings are annoying. There is no size stamping, only the laser etch on the top. Sure, it will wear off, but it actually makes finding the right size harder. The reason is because the rest of my sockets have the size stamped in the bottom. So I have to remember to look at a different location, which is annoying. Again, great review.

I remember when I bought 3 of the Kobalt tool kits for $30 each when they were in clearance.

I just bought the 216 pc set from Lowes. Thanks for the great videos! Now what to do with my old Craftsman kit lol!

Wish there was an all metric set, as i never tend to use SAE in neither sockets or wrenches

I once got a Pittsburgh screw driver stubby that had not been machined!?!? Took the whole set back and they gave me a new set!!

I bought the Husky for work(it has a no questions asked guarantee) and loved it so much I bought another one for my home shop. Is it Snap-on or Mac? Hell no. But in three years of every day hard use I haven’t had a single one break, bend, or otherwise fail. I wish the ratchets had more teeth, but it is what it is, it works fine. The case is solid and works…fine…but I took mine apart and used the pieces as organizers in my tool box.

I bought a craftsman 450pc set for $200 it's amazing has quite a bit of duplicates and screw bits which annoys me but for the price it's awesome

i got the gear wrench set because its just mainly sockets. i think for someone who doesn't own any tools at all these set are great. For someone who already owns tools like screwdrivers, wrenches etc its better to go with a set that is mostly sockets like gear wrench or milwaukee

I bought the Husky 290 piece set last year that’s currently selling for $150. I think I paid a bit less than that. It’s much more complete than the 270 piece set, and the drawers also have wings that help keep the drawers from falling out. Or at least that’s the intent, as my experience is that the drawers still fall out. I am not a fan that the ratchets are up top and the sockets are spread throughout the drawers without consistency by size. The case isn’t balanced front to back, so picking it up by the handle requires a second hand to keep it level or the drawers will just shoot out. So while the case is better than the Kobalt and the Husky 270, it’s still not great. If I had to buy one today, I’d look at the Husky 290, as well as the Craftsman 216 and the Gearwrench selling for $199.

You need to compare the hart tools as well and also Stanley maybe throw in hyper tough as well lol.

I have the kolbalt set and only put in in the trunk of my car when I go out of town which is not that often and the case fell apart so I bought the versastack on and I like it alot

I got the Pittsburgh 301 set and kept it in my truck. It was too much for just a junkyard carry box or emergency box to keep in the truck. I ended up taking all the slides out of the case and setting everything up in my home tool box, and throwing together a small box for my truck. Imo if you're looking for something to carry around , use at the junkyard, or just keep in the car, get the smaller Pittsburgh set. If you need a whole new set of sockets in all sizes and bits, screwdrivers, etc...for home, get the 301 set. It's a good deal for that

Great video 👍

I have the craftsman and it's a really good set. Plus you could clip on the versastack drill bit set and plenty of other versastack.

I've had my Pittsburgh 301 set for 5 years (maybe a bit more?). I would by this set again without hesitation, great value for the money if you can get it at $160. I did buy the Kobalt Pro90 227 piece set for $99 online last Saturday, so I'm still waiting on it to get delivered.

I knew what kit you picked in the first video. The Craftsman showcase in the garage was a dead giveaway.

If you look at the screwdrivers the bigger have a spot for a wrench if you look just below the handle I love my set especially for the price

Great video. I'm not sure which one I would pick. I think all of them have plus and minus. The quality of the harbor freight is pretty bad. I had them a while back and quite a few of them broke. I made my own from mixing and matching brands. I wish I had them in a box like the craftsman though

these are all great sets for handyman. i use alot of those filler tools they put in and in a pinch they will get job done and on to the next and fit in a gang box and easy to take into a home for repair.

Thank you for this

Do you plan on trying out hart tool sets? Honestly I'm surprised by them. I've done a lot of things around the house and garden with them and they hold up well

The husky 290 kit is the way to go for $149 might be the best for the value out there

Have you checked out the Gearwrench 232 pc set with the 90T 3/8 and 1/4 ratchets? It's pretty sweet! I used to to do brakes all around on a car. 10/10 recommended

I’m a Harley tech and a lot of my tools are kobalt. I love them and they’ve been abused everyday with zero issues. Granted I have a roll cart I put all the tools in

On a budget, I would go with the Pittsburgh 301pc mechanic tool set, I know the 301pc mechanic tool set wrenches are not very well so, far as wrenches, I would go with the 14pc Metrinch wrench set. And for extra extension I would go with the Gearwrench 20pc extension set. To me that would be a good overall in travel tool mechanic set in a vehicle.

I don’t consider the extra Allen wrenches as filler because plenty of times space limits you to the smaller times, but in a pinch the longer ones can have cheaters used much easier.

Those mini combo wrench sets in the Kobalt set used to come with Craftsman sets. I still have some (they're 30 years old now) floating around and they're great for smaller jobs. One of those things where you don't realize how nice they are to have until you have them. That Pittsburgh set looks pretty nice. You could strap it to a hand truck and go diving at junkyards. I do like having regular screwdrivers though because in a lot of cases you can't get a bitdriver type screwdriver in an opening. I wouldn't expect top of the line screwdrivers, and those are decent for what they are. The bit drivers tell me this kit is more focused on a mechanic or somebody who plans to wrench on cars at least under the shade tree. Wrench upgrades for me would be a Gearwrench set so those wrenches wouldn't matter to me. Craftsman really lost me at the skips... sure, 5/8 is exactly 16mm, but the others have a minute difference that matter. I've had plenty of 13mm and 14mm that won't fit properly a 1/2 or 9/16. I've also come across 9mm fasteners before. That I would have to buy that extra and then there's no storage for extras (like with the Kobalt set) you're carrying around the case and a bag-o-tools still. I'm still a sucker for anything Craftsman, but just not that set. I think I would save up the extra cash and just get the Pittsburgh set.

I’ve got the kobalt set. Awhile back 2 of the drawers came out and I played hide and go find sockets for two hours on the garage floor

when you aint got any tools thats pittsburgh is a damn good set worth the money screwdrivers and all

This is a very insightful video did a great job reviewing each tool set you should make more tool reviews like this 😊 but idk if it’s just me but i hear a dog breathing in the background and can’t help but to think that the dog is holding the camera while he is doing the review lol i know so funny lol but great video 😊

very good comparison

I saw a Channellock 200 mechanic's tool set at Sam's Club for $90 as well.

Please do one video review for budget power tools.

I've had the kobalt set for about 4 years. Have yet to need a socket or extension i didnt have but like you said box is trash. One of the latches broke off months into owning it. Sockets fly all over in it. Havent broke any tools yet though

I've had my 299pc usa made craftsman tool set for many years now, and none of these tool sets can or ever will replace it!!! But..... if I had to 🤷🏻‍♂️ I'd go craftsman all day any day.

I wish you can review the new kobalt 243 piece set. It has a new case style that seems better built.

Are you going to review the “Hart” set from Walmart?

I got the Kobalt set delivered today. The tools themselves seem to be very nice quality, but I have yet to wrench with them and I'm not real keen on the way Kobalt marks the socket size. Lazer etched? They are kind of hard to see and how long will it last? The tool case, surprisingly the drawers go in and out nicely on mine and I have seen many videos of the drawers being a pain, so I was very happy with that. Now as far as to the strength of the case where you snap your tools in is terrible, especially were the wrenches go. Instead of snapping into the spot, the case actually flexes and collapsed the nubs that hold the wrenches in. It's just way too thin of a material. The Pittsburgh case is much more sturdy and all the tools snap in and out nicely on it.

I have always like the Pittsburgh set. As you said, The wrenches are not very good, and the screwdrivers are marginal. Even at the current price of $160~$170, its is the best set of the ones you reviewed. The Pittsburgh sockets are made in Taiwan and the Husky and Kobalt are made in China. The fit and finish of the Pittsburgh sockets are also far better, especially compared to the Husky. To prove a point to my mechanics on how good they are, I put all of the Pittsburgh sockets from this set in a tool cart in my shop, use them with SK Ratchets and screwdrivers and the new Icon wrenches and now I have a really complete mobile tool cart for less than a set of 3/8 drive Snap-On socket and ratchet set. They take all the punishment of being use in a professional garage day in and day out.

I love my hf tool kit like it very much

I love hf set no issues also sears like

@15:51 This set is missing the 10, 11, and 12 mm deep sockets ? That sux. The 10 and 12 mm nuts/bolts/screws are the back bone of many Japanese car manufacturers. Last I checked (today) HFT doesn't sell sockets individually. Am I wrong ?

Do a truck tool box review

Great review videos. Both Parts 1 and 2. Thank you for making them. Yeah, no surprise regarding the Lowe's in-store brand, KOBALT. Seriously, with the exception of their tape measures that have fractions printed right on the tape itself; most of their offerings aren't worth spending the money on. Even some of their non-tool items. Had a so-called heavy-duty set of their work gloves with rubber inserts on the back of gloves. The inserts held up fine. Obviously since I ended up using the gloves literally one time in 5 years. (Just worked out that way.) Went to use them a 2nd time, the black synthetic material making up the rest of the gloves literally starting falling apart in my hands like ash from a recently put out campfire. Tossed them in the trash. And then I found out about their political views that Lowe's is happy to share. Not going to go into that here. Suffice it to say, it's been a few years since I've set foot inside a Lowe's, and quite frankly it's going to be even longer than that for the rest of my life. That 216 piece Craftsman set still looks like the overall best bet. (Assuming one already owns a good set of combination wrenches.)

You forgot the Husky 290-piece set for $149 on sale and 450 piece Craftsman set for $229 at Sears Homestores (200 filler).

do you know which one has the most ranches

Do the Channel Lock 200 piece set for $89 at Sam's club next please!

Can you do a review of the 199 dollar gearwrench mechanics tool kit on paper im impressed by certain things it comes with ratcheting wrenches and 90 tooth ratchets

If your doing a give away I would love the Pittsburgh 301 set .....

I have 4 years with out shallow sockets lol you only need the deep sockets and 2 sets of good good wrenches, long and stubby racheting, i work on every car every day ( hex, e , Torx and triple square have s set of each)

Guys have had to put grease in the ratchets of HF Pittsburgh tool set.

Nice videos. Dewalt has a couple under $100. Other than the 72 tooth ratchets, seem like better quality than any of these. They skip the 1/2" drive sockets, though.

Where did you get the foam in your box for the sockets from? That's awesome!

i like your video how do you get yyour sond whenches in your sstylo from there red what is that

Pittsburgh is decent on sockets and ratchets, I hate their pliers and screwdrivers. If you’re on a budget and have nothing, it is good value and would be a decent starter set. Personally, I’d probably go Craftsman due to the good quality (they’ve really stepped their game up) and ease of warranty (You’re very likely to be near a Lowes or Ace). HF is good with warranty as well, but I know there not as abundant as Lowes.

Good review..just get better sound recording system...hard to hear

I don't know if you'd be interested in covering it but there is a set at Walmart for $98 by Hart.

Regular price on the Pittsburgh set is $199.

I love hf tool set there great have hammer pliers wrenches screwdriver other tool sets don't all that so I feel hf has best sets

I would buy a pack out and create my own tool box. Cause all the filler are pretty much junk and when you buy the missing skips you have no place for them. So being mobile it makes no sense to me.

Craftsman 216 is the best.

I need a set that doesnt lose the 10mm

Another RU-vidr said Craftsman tools had uneven thickness.

If you're driving a vehicle and those tool boxes get turned to the side and upside down like you just shook and turned them, the least of your concern should be the toolbox.

When or what part of the year do they go on sale and where?

great for sets for a vehicle but not gonna be anything i'd wanna get into something serious on. better than nothing if you're broke down. i'd look at a larger count socket set and putting together a tool bag of box with cheap stuff from harbor freight for mobile stuff or if i had nothing at all. got by for years like that but man you need the to do surgery on an engine or something.

Good thing i dont shake my toolboxes...

Gearwrench set is $200 at home depot with lifetime warranty !!

is there one set the comes with everything? price does not matter?

fun fact, the husky 270 piece set includes way more filler 2022. like 50 more crap pieces.

Project farm🤔

Sadly craftsman skips. I had to buy a couple wrenches and sockets oh also extensions for 1/2 and 3/4. Yep. Everything craftsman also so I just threw em in the box. Everything craftsman in that box. I have their 450 piece set. Now I have a shop in my backyard where I work on allll my vehicles old and new muscle cars, ram pickups, big rig trucks. I just buy the parts which are enough damn money I do it all myself or with buddies if I need their help. Save alot of money without mechanic bill which is extreme

Earned a sub from me