Most of my tools are Snap-On, Matco and Mac; that stated, when my 1/2" Span-On ratchet died, I had to get a H-F cheapie to carry me over since there was NO Snap-On dealer at the time. Sad thing is I finally had my Snap-On tool repaired but, it's sitting in a drawer collected dust as my back up, the $22 H-F version is my daily.
Got to have respect for a company that’s been around from 1920s and still doing it to this day. Chances are you already own snap on. But this new stuff from hf makes sense for a new tech out of school
Gear wrench 10 piece stubbies with flex heads are $108.12 on amazon at the moment so Icon doesn’t seem like a bargain all of the sudden. I’m a tech and I shop around a lot because the truck bones you. Last week the snap on guy tried to sell me Lisle fuel fitting pliers for 33 dollars amazon had them at 22 dollars. I understand everyone’s gotta make a buck but I drive a shitty car and the tool guy drives nice things and has a nice house. Maybe I got into the wrong business
Welding Junkie if you say so but lately all the snap on guy wants to do is give you a 1 year warranty on everything so after a year you’re fucked. I’ll keep my 10 bucks they were only fuel disconnect pliers unless you’re stupid and using them incorrectly then sure pay the extra 10 dollars. I also said shop around. You’re stupid if you only buy off the truck I don’t care who you are. Also the truck comes around once a week if my harbor freight or Home Depot is a few miles away I’m going to exchange the tool I just bought that same day than wait a whole week. Hell. Amazon prime delivery is 1 or two days you don’t even leave your house. Weigh your options.
Exactly! The actual company probably buys a ton of Snap On products just so they can rip off the design, copy them to to T and sell them for dirt cheap by producing them in sweat shops.
People always make funny of me because I always shop at HF calling me cheap ass. But they don't understand what I'm going though. I put two kids in college I drive a better car then them also I got my own place. The best part I could afford to take my family on vacations every year.
I used to be a hardcore tool truck defender but if we are going to be honest there is a lot of options out there these days for just as good quality for 1/10th of the price. It took me a long time to accept I was basically being a fanboy and wasting money on the snap on stuff. I'm going to start looking at some more cheaper alternative brands
It may be that Snap-on is a superior tool manufacture but that difference is not apparent in actual use and results. It is also apparent that Harbor Freight has plans to expand it's market place to become a supplier of solid tool offerings to attract a larger share of the commercial use market. Way to go HF..
This whole Snap On vs Icon thing reminds me of that time when the Invicta watch company released a line of watches called the "Pro Diver" that was an identical replica of the Rolex Sub-Mariner. Only that the Invicta clone cost less than $200.
Kingsport Tool Review ....This is similar to when Apple company in its fledgling stage criticized Microsoft for being a Monopoly, then Apple became a big corporation and became the same thing they criticized Microsoft of being. Either way, I need a new deep socket set and Icon seems to be what I’m looking for, good tool at a good price point.
I buy wright tools and always have since the 70's. There's only about 10% manufacturing left in this country as compared to the 1970. The great paying jobs just arent there. Every thing is imported. I drive a 77 and a 79 ford f 100 and they aint for sale. I woulnt this crap. Why pay your way out of a job. Congress sold us down the drain.
I love these icons. I want the snap on but I don’t want to spend the money! Plus harbor freight is on the way home from the shop. I’ll just get the speciality snap on items
Very good comparison. Full disclosure, I am and remain heavily biased towards Snap-On. BUT I must say in one instance had returned 3x Snap-On sockets, because I discovered that the hex opening was not centered. Crazy! The worse part is that on one of them the exchanged socket was not centered either. The situation was so bad, the tool truck guy found no socket in that size that was centered, all of his sockets of this size were off-center on his truck). So he had to order a few ones to be able to get me a good one. While the whole story could have been a bad batch or something, it is definitely not something one would expect from Snap-On. Never the less, I must say, that looking at the close up picture comparison of this video, I could always tell which socket was Snap-On. Question is of course if those differences are worth the extra price. Having said that there are so many more other things that are great about Snap-On. Most of these things can not be easily put in words, it is something that has to be rather experienced. In short a good relationship with a GOOD Snap-On dealer can be VERY rewarding in so many different ways.
I've never had a good experience with harbor freight warranty. I do have some harbor freight stuff, but as far as daily use tools at work, it's mostly Snap-On. The icon stuff is a straight knock off of Snap-On, I'm pretty disgusted by it really.
You may be disgusted, but I thoroughly applaud Harbor Frieght. They are offering a line of tools of very similar quality to Snap-On at a fraction of the price. Snap-On has been raping their customers for years and putting up and coming techs/mechanics in enormous amount of debt over a fallacy. Perhaps some healthy competition is just what is needed to have Snap-On rethink their business model.
aeromedical67 hell yeah I wouldn’t care if they direct copied every tool. And crazy how many people don’t realize most the stuff outside of hand tools are rebranded by snap on May it be bahco ,otc, Irwin. Not going to knock snap on tools bc I do enjoy them but 500 bucks for a 10 piece fdp wrench set is robbery
Well for anybody that don’t know the icon Lead person worked for snap-on and no icon and snap-on are the same similar yes but not the same and actully the icon torque wrench is better and more accurate than the snap-on
Snap On is the best the besthands down all techs know this hf should be comparing them selves to blue point tekton or gearwrench those 3 are made in the same country. Snap On USA pride until hf makes made in USA there is no comparison
But if Harbor Freight replaces the socket if it breaks for free? How then does buying the more expensive socket pay off? Because you don't gotta drive 10 miles down the road once a year?
Snap on always imitated never duplicated. Not every tool I own is snapon some are mac, cornwell, craftsman, gearwrench and other brands, I do own some HF tools but not everything in HF can compare to the quality that u get on a tool truck. It would be nice to see what people do for a living after they comment. I'll start it off GM tech for 2 year, independent shop for over 10 years.
The fact he was a snap on dealer is irrelevant. These are all blatantly obvious points. They seem to be pretty good quality sockets. The Icon brand has no self identity and harborfreight sure spends alot of time trying to duplicate a brand they bash alot.
They bash Snap-On, not because of quality issues. They bash them because they are charging up to 10 times the price for tools that are not 10 times the quality and have less warranty. I’d be bashing ANY company with that kind of business model as well!
@@aeromedical6750 Thank you for the rational comment. This video came up in rotation. I read through all of the comments. What is the problem here; is the community attracted to this channel simply grossly unintelligent as a whole? It's as if Dumb and Dumber was a documentary. Holy crap!
HF not bashing.. they are showing... Look we can make the same for allot less. Snap-off has always had a target on their back, because of their proclaimed best in industry. HF actually compares with whatever they are duplicating or competing with. Wood working tools are compared with DeWalt I believe.
@@weldingjunkie Excellent point. It's not as if anyone can go to eBay, CL, or Marketplace and buy SO for thirty cents on a dollar. Oh, wait.... This is easily the least intelligent community, short of flat Earth, I've come across this year.
SO has an array of specialty tools that no big box store, including HF will ever be able to match. But sockets are just sockets. The bolt being remove doesn’t care who makes the socket that removes it. It’s simply do you have the ability to remove the bolt with the knowledge you have. I own tools of many makes and my 10mm socket regardless of if I use the one made by SO or Mac or Husky or Kobalt or DeWalt or Craftsman or Sunex, or Cal Tool.... will ALL remove the 10mm nut or bolt. Then that same 10mm socket will hide from me 🤷♂️🤦♂️
There are plenty of companies that offer flank-drive in their sockets. For Taiwanese tools I think the ICON stuff is too expensive. Gearwrench has a solid reputation and is more affordable.
I'm very happy with GearWrench. They make some well priced, quality tools. Granted, I have busted far more GearWrench products than Snap-on, but still, for the money, GearWrench is good. I actually spoke with GearWrench this spring about being a distributor for there new Street Team tool trucks.
Looks like icon is some nice stuff, little more pricey than Pittsburg but probably a little better. Wish harbor freight would sell (single) wrenches and sockets like a lot of other places.
On the 8mm, it looks like the walls of the Snap-On are thinner which can sometimes make a difference in recessed bolts. Can you measure the outer diameter of the sockets? Be interesting to compare their breaking torque as I always assumed that you were paying for the metallurgy with Snap-On but that's asking a lot.
I wish I still had that Snap-on Flank drive socket prop. It had a Snap-on, Matco, MAC, and Craftsman 10mm. Only the Snap-on could reach the bolt due to the thinnest o.d. It was the only also to start an inverted nut on a bolt due to the shallow shouldering.
makes a huge difference! its a deal breaker for me on the icons, I sold my snap on deep sockets when I changed jobs and man I miss them at certain times, all the cheap ones are not actually deep...
Did you ask an associate. None of these are on the shelves but they took me to the back and let me pick what I wanted. I got the ratcheting wrenches 149.99. 3/8 short sockets 34.99. 3/8 deep well sockets 39.99
matt dang no I didn’t ask an associate. I was just curious to see what they had. Nothing that I could see except the breaker bars. From the reviews I see just more Chinese junk.
They spend alot of time and money trying to copy snap on also heard harbor freight hired a snap on designer to do there hand tools could be why they are almost identical
Icon size stamping was alot clearer stamping than the Snap on. If they look just like them, feel like the, and perform even 75% as good as Snap on, guess what they are worth it. Snap On is way over rated.
Honestly if it works properly why in the hell do you even need to know what the metal is. Is it to justify snap-on' high price. Come on guys, I've had tools not named Snap-on last for over 20 years. Snap-on makes very good tools but do other companies. This is coming for a guy that has 3/4 my tools are snap on
@@felixmartinez9514 You have a good point Felix about trusting in your tools especially when so many of them last for over 20 years. However, some of us are interested in the small details of how they're made and what makes them so strong and last so long.
I bet theres no huge difference. If theyre willing to stand behind them with a lifetime warranty theyre not going to make them out of pot metal and keep giving them away for free. They have one less row of serations, the chrome is slightly lesser quality as he showed, maybe the tolerances arent as tight but maybe they are. Somehow they can sell a 12-24mm 1/2" drive shallow set for $50. The same cost as about 1.5 new snap on sockets. Ive bought alot of second hand snap on stuff myself but i plan on filling in some gaps with Icon sets. Id buy the ratchets too but Im pretty well set already in that department.
@Sam Squanch I work on heavy equipment, farm equipment, industrial equipment for a living 6 days a week. I have some Pittsburgh pro tools and they are good tools. Ive had no problems with them. I dont work on four cylinder engines all day in a shop. Im not sure why fan boys always scream the loudest.
I like the icon torque wrenches, I use them pretty much daily. I haven’t had to recalibrate them in 6 months of use, my snap on ones usually need done every 3 months.
I havent used the icon tools but I stopped at HF to check them out the other day and i have to say they looked and felt to be very good quality I might have to buy some for my home toolbox
Your closing thought ("making them look like SO") is missing the entire point of HF: They are clearly demonstrating that they (HF) can manufacture a item with the SAME feel, quality, and performance, and warranty (or better) than S.O. ............but, for a 1/3 to a 1/4 of the cost. It is about the Money! HF is critical of the cost of SO, not the SO brand. Right, "they look just like them", the difference is the receipt at check out.! I do understand that you know this, what is a study is how someone can spend three or four times the money, yet defend the cost even after a nearly identical product (in all categories) comes to market for a fraction of what that customer originally paid. That 3-4 ton floor jack comes to mind, that is indefensible by SO ; the legal system thought so as well. Thanks for the video.
I'll still continue to buy Snap-on sockets over Harbor Freight. There's a large gap in the two in quality. Is the gap in quality equal to the gap in price? Absolutely not. But there still is a measurable difference.
My harbor freight is good if I break a socket or anything with lifetime warranty they just swap it out and also the manager told me if I bring the whole set back he will give me a full new set of socks instead of just the one broken socket wich is pretty nice and also I been using my icon 3/8 chrome sockets and I really like them I beat them up pretty good and I really never break them if I do break it it's because I did something dumb with it other wise I love them
don't look bad...hell when I came into the field years ago I bought just about every socket Craftsman sold because the were decent quality and were a fraction of what Snap On sockets were and close to 15 years later I still use 98 percent of those Craftsman sockets...I've bought the Snapon sockets to fill the void of the specialty stuff that Craftsman didn't sell but to this day that's about it
If harbor freight would just get a tool truck and offer everything they offer in stores than they could make a lot of money. Take comparable stuff and even a mid quality set with them so people have a set to choose from on the truck or they can just order what they want
I for one find it funny to see all of the die hard Snapon fans routing for Snapon even in the face of a tool that fooled a former Snapon dealer the Icon tools look and feel like snapon and soon there will have been plenty of credible auto techs using them daily saying that they are capable of daily professional use personally I don't have loyalty to any company I want a quality tool that does a professional job that won't break the bank right tool right price simple as that
In Australia, there are about a million different store brands which sell very similar mid-range Danaher/Apex tools out of Taiwan, there's Repco (Repco is owned by Napa Auto Parts), Chicane Tools (Autobarn), TTI (Total Tools), Daytona (Sydney Tools). SP Tools sell these tools too, and you can also get the actual GearWrench brand. A lot of the wrenches and ratchets are very similar, if not exactly the same for some of the more niche items. All these tools end up very similar, and it seems a lot of them come from the same factories. Halford's sell similar Danaher tools in Britain too (I guess Halford's are the British version of Autozone or Repco), and they seem very popular there too. Much more popular than GearWrench itself is in Britain by the sounds of it! :)
Well... we now know that HF mimics SO pretty good. If that actually meant something, I could understand half the point of this video. But I thought this was a "user-quality" comparison. If there's another video that shows the results of your two-week trial... I'd love to see it.
Hey man great video. If you notice, the wall thickness on the H.F. sockets is a good bit thicket. H.F. is making their tools very similar to Snap on because they want to show everyone that the tools can be made very high quality at 1/4, 1/3 the price. There's no reason to charge the ridiculous prices that Snap on does other than raping the public because fools will pay it and their slowly tarnishing reputation. The Daytona floor jack, identical to snap's. Made by the same company even. H.F. price 200.00 Snap it off in you's price, 800.00. Same exact tool made by same company in same plant.
@@MrSubaru1387 hey bud, check out Den of Tools video about the jacks. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pdQht4vEgLg.html I like your vids man. I watch all of them. I'm a multi Subaru owner myself.
My local HF store doesn’t even sell the ICON tools in store. You order at the counter and have it shipped to your home. I assume the warranty would also be shipped to your home. I guess it’s different depending on location. Houston TX here.
I'm gonna be buying a shallow and deep set today, my craftsman sockets that I started with at the dealership 4 years ago are finally all wearing out and starting to crack
As I've said before in others videos I'll wait till the singles get released before buying any to replace my aging sets. Would also like to know if they will be making any mid length sockets in the near future.
More importantly is what steel are they made of, even made in USA doesnt mean it's any better then Taiwan if they are made with junk Chinese made steel. I'd like take Taiwan made with USA steel over USA made with Chinese steel if that makes sense.
Hey Mr Subaru I'm really excited about this new series since a lot of my tools originate from harbor freight (its whats in the budget at the moment). I dont think I going to be able to get my hands on a nice snap-on socket set yet, but I was starting to look for some higher quality tools, so I was wondering how you felt on brands such as Milwaukee and Dewalt? I also want to look for an electric impact and set to make things easier whenever I'm working on something on the weekends. Thoughts?
@@MrSubaru1387 Also, on an unrelated note, I have a 08 Legacy with an EJ253 and after I replaced the water pump and timing belt about 6 months ago, I took of the ac compressor tensioner. Shortly after I put it back on, the belt and tensioner started cutting into my timing belt cover like a band saw. I though that I might not have tightened the pulley itself on the tensioner enough and it being loose. Now that I am replacing it, I notice the new one also seems to rest against the TB cover. Do you think this is going to be the same problem?
Cool unboxing I’ll be interested in what you think of them after using them for a short period I’m impressed that your store said they. Will warranty them on the spot if they. Want to really compete with the tool trucks Like it appears they are trying with the Icon brands I knew they were gong to have to step. Up that mailing Process the side by side. You di it looks like it is a quality Product ? At least. On the quick
I honestly believe my store messed up by selling these tools to me. Apparently they aren't supposed to be out until the end of the month. Other than the RU-vidrs they sent them to for free.
i am a newer mechanic , the thing that is stopping me from buying the icon line of tools and saving for snap on is the fact that the snap on tools are not as thick. The box ends of the snap on wrenches are thinner and the socket walls are thinner. I think i will save up for snap on
i make my living with my tools. i have many brands of tools. snap on makes great hand tools. but i do not buy snap on cordless or snap on air tools,or even snap on diagnostic tools. when snap on has tools on promo that is the time to buy them. i hate cheap tools that break or just won't perform the task. craftsman were good tools until they started making them in china. snap on screw drivers with the instinct grip is the bomb and the snap on ratchet with the hard plastic screwdriver handle is awesome too.
MrSubaru1387 in my case i compared online prices for some swivel sockets and micrometers and matco was far less expensive, close to half the price of strap-on for the same stuff, though I didnt look at anything else...
@@MrSubaru1387 www.matcotools.com/catalog/product/BUP14M6V/3-8-DRIVE-ADV-14MM-METRIC-6-POINT-UNIVERSAL-IMPACT-SOCKET/ shop.snapon.com/product/Shallow%2C-mm/3-8%22-Drive-6-Point-Metric-14-mm-Flank-Drive-Shallow-Swivel-Impact-Socket/IPFM14C $26 to $51. Granted this is a single case, it would've costed me ~$400-450 for the 1/4 and 3/8 drive swivels i need from snap on, the order from matco was $240. i bought singles mind you, no sets.
I’d buy them any day over Snap on. They look decent and work good enough. It’s a sock, does socket things.the wrench’s on the other hand, would have to see how they hold up.
China have been known to steel technology, and duplicate them. I have to give them the credit for these Icon brands. At least the price is more affordable, and it looks professional. I would buy the Icon brand over Snap On.
Was $120 actually. When you compare the Williams, $140. The GearWrench set is $80, on Amazon, and aren't offset. Tekton is $126. Is pretty much in line.
It just doesn’t make sense to buy Snap-On. But oh my God, they’re made in America. So you don’t mind paying an insane mark up because of that? Lol. Don’t go into debt buying tools. I’m a professional mechanic. I grew up in a shop using Snap-On. I know it’s hard to change your way of thinking. I’m also not an idiot or a HF fanboy. I know a lot of stuff at HF is straight up garbage. When buying tools at HF look for Pittsburgh Pro, Doyle, Quinn, Icon, and Bremen. For air tools look at the Xtreme Torque tools and use high flow air fittings. If it plugs into an outlet buy the most expensive one they have and even then be very sceptical and read ALL the reviews. Be very weary of the test equipment with gauges on it. The gauges are junk. If you buy an air compressor look at the best ones they have. Their floor jacks are top notch too.
In regards to HF air tools, theres a video from a youtuber AvE where he took apart an Earthquake impact gun. From just that video, that completely turned me off of all of HF's air tools. The attention to detail in the manufacturing of the internal parts is horrible. Won't last a quarter as long as any snap-on equivalent gun would.
Their (both) deep well sockets are just long versions of their shallow sockets. They are not even deep all the way down. I had rather have my old Craftsman deep wells that are about 50 years old now.
2 questions for you good sir. i am so new to this car stuff lol 1. Is an ej253 out of my 2009 outback worth rebuilding with aftermarket parts? 2. if its worth rebuilding, about how much power could i squeeze out of it after rebuilding and possibly throwing a turbo on it? thanks
@@MrSubaru1387 well that is pretty depressing lol I just replaced the motor in my outback with a jdm ej253 so I have the motor out and on a stand. What sort of power is it capable of if I decide to rebuild it?
I know this 3 years old video . But people are still doing this . It's like a kit car. A fake Ferrari.. When you can get williams usa sockets if you shop around for not much more or same price . Get a real Ferrari with different badge Or fake Ferrari with real badges. Another thing you can only go cheap is flex head ratchets.
dollars to donuts they are from the same factory the snap ons come from. Just like the daytona jack, they can offer them for less. I'll stick to pittsburgh. save a few more bucks for my limited use.
I didn't know you had a channel if I would have known I would have been over here harrassing you lol. Jk good video bro I'm glad to hear your thoughts. Just subbed brother.
Of thats true then that defeats the one and only advantage icon has. I wanted some semi pro level tools that I could just walk in to exchange broken tools.
@@MrSubaru1387 Major difference is the price. I work on heavy equipment, farm equipment, industrial equipment 6 days a week. I have a few Pittsburgh pro tools and they have never left me in a bind. So I image these will be even better. I do not work on 4 cylinder engines in a shop all day. I think I can attest to the dependability of the product. I bought the Pittsburgh tools just to show other mechanics it can be done. I abuse them daily.
Do you know where snap on gets their sockets? Harbor freight says their Daytona Jack is the same as snap on just without all the $$ increases from being handed from 1 company to the next.
Gear Wrench were pretty nice 20 years or so when they came out. Now they big clubby pieces of crap. The heads are so big on the ratcheting end they just don't fit in alot of places.
I wouldn't be surprised that Icon either has a deal with snap-on or it is owned by them. If that's not the case, snap-on would have sued by now. I suspect the same with hone depot and Lowe's. Why are they always next to each other? I can say "to hell with home depot, I'm going to Lowe's." It's a win-win situation for them because they might be owned by the same people.
Yeah last time I remember snap-on tried to sue harbor freight for their Daytona jack that was identical to the snap-on one. And what harbor freight ended up doing is switching a couple of welds so it would not be identical. But it still looks the same
With most hand tools (wrenches/sockets/ratchets/air tools/measuring tools), they assume superior quality to snap-on positively nowhere. Snap-on will always be better. Better materials, better QC, no shortcuts in production, it employs actual americans, actually contributing to american production, etc. One thing some companies are doing to lower prices on some of their wrenches is to leave out the last step of the chrome-plating process of what makes it actually chrome, which is why a lot of them are sold with a "gunmetal plating". Shortcuts. I reckon HF will start doing this to some of their lines of tools soon. That said, theres some stuff that should absolutely be bought from HF instead of snap-on, like hammers/pickleforks/brass punches/punches/jacks or jackstands.
@@MrSubaru1387 maybe i am saying it wrong.....the 1 soxket has a "bump stop" about a inch in making it not a true deep socket as your snap on was deep all the way threw
warranty being the same as snap on? If it is, then it'll be more cost effective for a tech/ shade tree mechanic to get. Hopefully those do good for you
@@TheLazyCarrot hopefully I can warranty them all out for new, if they don't. Haha. Snap-on may sue the ICON out of Harbor Freight and these become history...
Could these be made by a company who also makes the snap on sockets? Could that company be owned by snap on but be older than snap on? Could that company be named Williams? Check out Williams 3/8 deep impact sockets, they look like snap on but not finished as nicely. I saw some icon impact socket sets and they don't look like the snap on set, which is disappointing.
Williams is owned by Snap-on. Neither have anything to do with HF or ICON. ICON looks like Snap-on, because HF hired ex Snap-on employees and they ripped Snap-on off. Changed it enough to avoid the lawsuits though.
