My First Look At Harbor Freight's Icon Brand 

We might give Harbor Freight a hard time, but it’s honestly incredible how much they’ve pulled their shit together following Sears’ decline

My auto shop teacher gave us a great piece of wisdom when he said "The tools don't make the mechanic, but they sure make his job easier" buy the best you can afford is solid advice 👍

Harbor Freight has come a long way. I think they are doing great from my diy perspective.

I had a dead blow hammer from Harbor Freight that started to come apart on the face. I had it for about 15 years. They exchanged it for me, no hassle at all.

Years ago started buying sears tools, stopped when they started making them in China. I am also 70 now, no need to buy expensive tools that will last many times longer than I will. However, in my tool box there is an old pair of pliers that are Model T ford pliers, they are the hardest pliers I have ever used. About a hundred years old and still no wear on the teeth.

A mechanic hack I learned awhile ago for zip ties is to use a pair of fingernail clippers with the curved end. It's cheap and quick and since it's cutting it with the same shape as your fingernails it won't scratch up anyone's arms. Love the vids

Not all heroes wear capes my good Sir, thank you for your honest reviews and consistent content

In high school I went to technical school to become a auto tech. Im ASE certified... Talking about not going to college but being in debt to a tool vendor resonates. I chose not to go down that path, and now I Roof. I have a tool set that isn’t brand loyal in my garage, been able to do everything I’ve thrown at them. Best part is I don’t owe anyone when I use them

One of the few reviewers that I actually take their word for. Entertaining and keep it real, absolutely love the channel!

"Made in Taiwan" is significantly better than "Made in China". Taiwan is a small, high-tech nation with industry that specializes in precision manufacturing to order.

I’m 75, and still have, and use some of my deceased Father’s Craftsman tools! I would guess some are 50-60 years old!

The slip joint is for sure a copy of the knipex TwinGrip which I love dearly and use all the time. Huge improvement over a standard slip joint.

As an IT guy I do a lot of cable ties, and having a cable tie gun changed my life. I generally hate single use tools, but this is one tool that is 100% worth the space in my bag.

I love the tradesmen who brag about how they didn’t go to college and don’t have student loans but then are 20 or 30k in debt to the tool trucks- buddy, it doesn’t matter what you end up doing, if you don’t think about how you spend your cash you’re gonna get screwed regardless.

I appreciate that you always have something to contribute even if its outside your specialty.

Harbor freight has come a long way with their tools. The Hercules brand is pretty good and the datona 3 ton floor jack is better than the expensive brands. Im kot a professional anything when it comes to tool so i use bits, bit holders, pliers and some other tools from Temu, their tools are ok, and amazon.

That angle of cable stripper would have been so useful to me a decade ago. thanks for the review

I'm a stay at home dad and a bit of a DIYer. I've been a Harbor Freight fan for a few years now. Bauer suits me just fine. Their hand tools work well for me. I work on my cars sometimes and I make stuff out of wood for my kid. I literally don't understand why people dont like Harbor Freight and id love for someone to tell me what I'm missing.

I work for a company that sources cast parts from both Taiwan and the US. We struggle to find US manufacturers that can meet our specifications, even at 4x the cost of Taiwan suppliers. Taiwan is know for their casting and forging and is the best in the world. China on the other hand is hit or miss.

GREAT video!!! I am 100% with you on tool prices. Same warranty, I'm buying the best cheap tool and ICON sometimes fit that bill. Snap-On NEVER fits my budget.

Sir you do a excellent job demonstrating the good ,bad and the ugly of tools I can tell you have used tools your fair share in life

I never thought I would hear the day MAC and Matco were made in Taiwan. Times have changed

I hope you know that i always love coming across your shorts and ive watched a few of your longer videos. I love your attitude and the way to present yourself. Keep up the great work!

I restored a 1943 halftrack and I needed very large sockets and wrenches. If I were fixing two dozen halftracks I would by grade A tools, but I wasn’t. I was fixing one truck, so Harbor Freight tools were perfect

Whenever a new line of cheap tools hits HF or Princess Auto, I always grab the flush or side cutters and test them out, they are the hardest thing to make cheaply and if they hold up then the rest of the tools are probably going to be decent.

I took an old set of diagonal cutters and ground the backs flat on my 2X72 belt grinder to make them flush cutters. Works well. 👍

I enjoyed this video. Very in depth. I’ve slowly been replacing tools at home with Icon.

Thank you for the honest, real-world reviews. I also agree that you get what you pay for. If you go cheap, don't plan on the tool to last to the next job. Some tools are meant to last and some brands have lost quality over the decades. There is no ONE brand that consistently does everything great always. But guys like you, doing stuff like this, helps others avoid crap when getting tools.

So I'm a bobcat mechanic. Most of my tools are Pittsburgh. Not even icon, and I have 0 issues. I also have been looking on Amazon and I think it is hit or miss on which one is cheaper.

Thank You for sharing your honest review and thoughts with us. Good words of wisdom.

I’ve started in the diesel mechanic field about a year ago doing service, hydraulic lines/cylinders, solenoids, autotarpers, welding bodywork when it breaks, etc. everything except tearing the motors and transmissions apart. And I’ve bought 90% of my tools from harbor freight and the only thing that has failed me is a t45 Quinn socket (and it took longer to break it than it took to get it replaced lol). I’m very happy with my toolbox and all the tools I’ve purchased from them.

I have 3 snap-on boxes. Ran out of room, didn't want to shell out all the cash so i bought a Icon box. Was satisfied with the quality, very satisfied with the price. Overall i would do it again. 👍🏻

Taiwan is producing excellent quality stuff these days.

Its really hard to beat $20 ICON pliers with a no questions lifetime warranty. Tool snobs can hate all they like, ill continue laughing all the way to the bank. You should also check out the ICON tool boxes, they are coming extremely close to tool truck quality at 1/8th the price.

I share the same philosophy on cable ties, I call the sharp dag ends that normal side cutters leave 'widow-makers'

Harbor freight has a $20ish zip tie gun as well. You can adjust the tension for different size ties, and you use the gun to draw it tight and cut off flush all in one go. I wire panels, so sometimes I can go through a couple hundred ties per panel sometimes. One more tool to carry, but a very useful one.

I use the flush cut every day, work perfect for me, wire ties and vinyl tubing, also use the flat jaw "channel locks", regular slip joint pliers and needle nose, they have worked well for me, 🤷🏻‍♂️

Diesel Mechanic here. When it comes to simple hand tools, HF is pretty good. Same Snap-On warranty, mostly same tool design, but you're spending 1/4 of the price on it. I wouldn't bother with their air/electric tools though. Their Earthquake LXT isn't *bad* but for the same price just buy an Astro Thor and get imo the best impact on the market

You give some very good advice you're very smart and hot you say thank you for your video. I always enjoy them.

Years ago I bought a 1/4 icon swivel head ratchet while my snap on was waiting on a warranty repair. It wound up replacing the snap on I liked it so much. I recently broke it, took it to harbor freight and they just gave me a new one. For 40 bucks I was pretty impressed. Doesn’t speak for the entire icon brand but I do like the little ratchet I bought.

I like your analogy, I buy the best I can afford and how often I will use it and wait to buy when needed. Router bits, Buy as you need, not in a set.

I still hold tight to advice given by Adam Savage. Buy the cheaper tool, use it until it breaks, then buy the higher end, better quality version. That way, you know what tou actually will use and need

I use flush cut pliers almost every day for work. I cut soft brass and plastic. I have use very expensive ones from Germany, Japan and the U.S. and so far the ICON ones have served very well over the past year.

I got them plyer and love them especially for removing screws and screw heads that are stripped. That’s why there is an open slot in the head. I use them plyers for everything

I absolutely love the flush cutters.

I’m an AV tech. I have the icon flush cuts in my pouch and they are the only tool I’ve ever bought from harbor freight. I use them to cut everything. They cut through mc, cat, coax, really anything I throw at them and they still cut like new and flush.

I buy the tools I need based on how much I think ill use it...sockets i try to buy a nice set...but if I need a tool for 1 job, I'll buy the cheapest...if I use it a lot I'll buy a decent tool...if not I'll go cheap! Love the videos man...always seems like your reviews are the best and most honest!

The Icon pliers have 5 jaw width adjustments. They can be used as multi-purpose. Howe they're primarily for gripping various fasteners, nuts, and screws heads.

Those slip joints are pretty much a direct copy of the Knipex TwinGrip pliers, which I have and love. Specifically the notch in the end that allows you to grip fasteners or threaded rods or whatever from the end.

The ICON pocket knife is just ridiculously nice for the price.

One thing to keep in mind about HF is they are a tool distributor, not manufacturer. They say they have their own factories but most if not all of their tools can be found on Amazon under some random Chinese brand

I went to college to be a GM dealer tech. With that came a 52% off of our first Snap-On tool order. You could add as much or as little to the order as you wanted. So I purchased an upper and lower box, several air tools (1/2" impact, 3/8" ratchet, etc), and a whole basic starter wrench/ratchet/socket/hammer/screwdrixer/Torx set, along with some specialty hand tools. That was a pretty good deal, although still expensive. The nice thing about the tool trucks is they are there weekly, so if something was broken they came to you to replace it. However, I didn't generally spend lots of additional money on the truck. Occassionally they would offer a tool that specifically did a job really well that would save me a lot of time. Those were the tools I would purchase. But, I have SK, Craftsman, some MAC, Matco, Stanley, and yes, Harbor Freight. I have to say, Harbor Freights tools (many, but not all) have gotten MUCH better in the last ten years. Their brake and suspension tools are pretty solid. It is much better than the pot-metal crap they were making 15-20 years ago.

I bought their SAE impact sockets about 3-4 months ago and have been using them along side some Pittsburgh brand. Haven't noticed a real quality difference for an upgrade, but they work and I've had no issues with them. Most of their hand tools on the other hand are worth the price difference. Look forward to seeing how they perform for you!

Ayy shout out to Princess Auto 😅. Thanks for mentioning us Northern folks. Yet again another great video! Keep them coming

Good stuff. I really like your comical shorts. Keep it up, good to see “regular working dudes” on here.

I’ve used Ideal automatic wire strippers for decades. And I have a couple of tie wrap “guns” that cut flush at a preset tension.

Amen. Tool price does not make the mechanic

....the common sense comedy is always refreshing, ya big bastard!!!!

I absolutely love the ICON 5-position pliers.

I don't buy a lot of hand tools because I've still got the Craftsman tools I bought with my first paycheck 35 years ago... But I've been really happy with the Icon and Doyle tools that I've purchased at Harbor Freight.

Those Snap on tools are big time expensive down here in Aussie. Thanks for the review mate.

Lol i like sparing with our cats 😊 love the review I need a pair of the cutters

Those flush cuts are the best I've ever found. Just amazing. They'll cut 8ga if you really want.

The icon pliers wrench is easily one of my favorite tools

I'm in industrial maintenance, and I'm a fan of harbor freight's Icon line. I have some critical pieces that are Knipex, Wiha, Wera, and Tekton. My employer also provided a starter set of Klein which I still have most of. But there's a growing number of icon tools in my box

Icon also makes a parrot beak, ‘knipex style’ (if you will) pliers and they are fantastic for mechanic work and I’ve found tons of use in plumbing. $19 can’t beat it, especially considering knipex price!

The icon slip joint pair you had work great on friction hose clamps.

Thanks Wes I learned and laughed

Honest content, nicely done!!

Update. Made in Taiwan. They are the germans of the far east, if japan is a level above. Not cheap labour in china any longer, $10 an hour

Love your videos funk, glad you like the icon tools! The ratchets are pretty rad too, been holding up like a tank for me. Tore apart many engines with icon tools im pretty satisfied with them for the price👍🏻

I just bought my first ICON pliers they other day and those grips aren't just inspired, they're pitch-perfect copies of the Snap On handles -- grippy, somehow almost sticky. I love them and have already experienced on the one set of SO pliers I have.

From canada here i have no experience with harbour freight but i think its a couple notches better then my princess auto princess autos best tools are comparable to harbours worst but on the other hand i really like Canadian tire tools they’re pro tools are made in the same factory as gearwrench and sometimes still have the gearwrench logo on the back side and are good tools just more affordable then gearwrench themselves lol

They have a copy of the snapon pliers, with three adjustable sizes. I have the snap on ones, theyre the best pliers ive ever bought

The difference in the HF warranty is if you use your phone number the receipt is now tied to your account instead of needing the paper one. I believe they will also look up some stuff by credit card if it wasn’t purchased too long ago. Yes it’s all rebranded Chinese tools, but so are a large majority of the others. HF just typically gives more freedom to the manufacturer to make minor alterations based on tooling and part availability. Which means different batches of the same tool may just not be perfectly identical. The main difference between no name on amazon + a aftermarket warranty and HF is you can usually drive to HF and get it today, and if it’s broke get another one today; with Amazon there is shipping time. Same thing with VEVOR brand, they just are a big Chinese mega-retailer that resells anything one of their partner factories are equipped to churn out.

I have the knipex twin gripe pliers they sure work great for taking out broken screws.

There Icon brand it built pretty well and as you stated there return policy has improved substantially. Thank you for the reviews as always funk .

Thank you sir

The wire strippers i use them every day and I really like them functionality works well it is a little hard to go ahead and judge wire size because of the front mounted jaws but other then that I would recommend them !

Yeah for Harbor Freight’s warranty I can vouch that they either look your receipt up in the system by phone number, or they just say “eh whatever” if they see their brands stamped into the product. You grab another one off the shelf, they exchange the appropriate pieces or the whole thing at the counter, you go on your merry way. It’s a pretty easy warranty system for lifetime tools. The drawback is that their warranties are either lifetime for the special tools, or 90 days, which is crap. Even Ryobi gives you a few years on motorized or wearable tools.

With genuine Craftsman gone I've been buying most of my tools at Harbor Freight. Overall I have had better luck with them compared to name brands, which are also usually re-badged imports. In the last decade or more HF has also been commissioning a lot more of their tools with unique specifications vs re-badging. I've compared many of their re-badged tools to the same tools under store brands and they often have additional or smarter features, often for the same or lower price. It's rare to find the same tool cheaper than HF since they keep their prices low in large part by selling them directly rather than buying from a distributor/reseller, or selling them to other retailers. Ball Joint Separator = Pickle Fork Snap-On sells nice tools (usually) , but none are worth the price they charge. It doesn't cost that much more to make a quality tool, especially when the cheaper tools are usually less expensive due to reduced non-critical finishing. That includes mold cleanup and final polish.

Good Man, speaking the truth. Especially at the end there. Keep it up brotha!!!

Hey funk check out the tsunoda brand flush cutters. They have a serrated grip on the lower portion of the jaws to pull the zip tie tight, and then a perfect flush cut as well. Japanese made.

Funk FPV.. Snap-on makes their hard line of tools like wrenches, sockets, ratchets, toolboxes etc. Snap-on owns a lot of other tool brands. Stanley Black & Decker owns Mac Tools. Mac and Cornwell still make a lot of their hard line of tools tools and they rebrand some. Matco doesn't make any of their tools, they rebrand all of them. The only thing that Matco makes is their toolboxes. It's a shame but tool companies are realizing they can have a tool made in Taiwan for half the cost of making it in the USA and still have a good quality tool that is just as good as the USA made one. Today we have a lot of different tool companies to choose from and a lot different ways to buy the tools like the internet. Back in the day we had the tool trucks, Sears (Craftsman) and maybe one or two more places to buy tools from and their tools weren't that good so we didn't have much of a choice.

The flush cuts kick ass. I was reluctant to jump on the icon band wagon, but so far, so good.

Good point on the wire tie but worse is the hose clamps. Place i used to work a maintenance guy left one with the end broken off in a sharp angle, and of course it found the side of my wrist and turned my production line into a blood bath. Looked like i slashed my wrist and left a trail of blood thirty feet long with me trying to get to a sink.

I work on pool equipment. Pumps, motors, electrical, plumbing etc and have a variety of brands in my tool case from Knipex, Craftsman, Crescent, Quinn, Doyle, Icon and Klein. Been using an Icon 3/8" ratchet for two years now and haven't had an issue. Beat on it with a dead blow hammer trying to loosen corroded bolts and everything. Been working fine. I did snap an Icon Allen key once and brought the set back to HF to test their warranty out. They literally plucked a new Allen key out of a pack on the shelf to give me as a replacement. I had a busted Pittsburg tape measure. They replaced that too no questions asked. So since I started really buying tools at HF 5-6 years ago, I can't complain at all. I go through 2-3 sets of channellocks and a dozen screwdrivers a year because of rust...so spending 100 bucks a year at HF on Quinn and Doyle stuff instead of 200 at Home Depot works for me.

I have some of their Pittsburgh impact sockets and a couple of their ratchets. used them without failure for years. as for the icon brand, they seem to be of decent quality so far

Used tools, especially the basics are great. Yardsales, second hand shops, and some pawn shops are great places to buy wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, etc.

Dude, you gotta get a zip-tie gun! Best 10 bucks I ever spent! I have one in the house tool box, one in the garage box, and one in my electrical tool bag!

I just got the Knipix version of those pliers. For my electrical kit and clean(er) shop, I prefer the higher quality kit. For the nasty(er) shop and/or rough environments, I keep all my old and refurbished tools.

As an aircraft mechanic, I’ve found that sometimes Snapon is the only company that manufactures the correct tools for the job. I also have plenty of Chinese-ium tools that will perform tasks that name brand tools won’t. I have no problem modifying cheap, or quality tools to make them work better, or perform tasks that they weren’t designed for. The Snapon “flank drive” open ended wrenches have actually caused damage to some aircraft hardware or parts. Just my experience and opinions. There ya go 👍😉

The push button pliers looks like a chunky version of the Knipex twin grips. It's a good tool when you need it. They're really only good for gripping with the tip to remove strippers screws..

WISE Words on tool purchase. How to tell a pro from a hack❓ Talk to him/her for 5 minutes. I have never owned flush cuts for cable tie dressing. I bend the ties slightly sideways and hit the edge with a utility blade and bingo, a nice clean artery friendly result. "Fighting with cats", what a gem 😂🤣😂 Best regards from 🇬🇧

Thank you for the video i will be buying these

Icon tools have progressed really far int he last 3 years and there pretty good tools now a days for a good price

Those pliers are a direct copy of the Knipex Twin-Grip pliers. I have a set of the Knipex, and went to look at the Icon. The problem I have is the much rougher finish and cut on the actual teeth/jaws, that of the 4 sets at the store I couldn't find one that I liked where both the teeth were cut well, and the two jaws matched each other well, both in teeth closing and overall alignment. Some jaws were also cut larger than others. So the'll be offset but also have a more blunt gripping end. So for me I woulf have to find a set of Icons that properly matches the jaws, have well cut teeth, and no alignment/finish issues before I buy one. That goes for most of the ICON pliers, and tools at HF in general. I inspect them before purchase, as there's sometimes a ton of variability that actually effects use/longevity/feel. But when u get one u like, they generally perform great at what I need them for. This goes as far as even their Apache cases...even in the same series like the 3800, two different batches might have completely different types of foam inserts (along with the usual finish, alignment, and latch strength variability). Like some have this nice thick harder foam, some have this very soft, loose, and light type foam.

Love your vids man

Those flush cutters were a fabulous purchase for me. Can’t justify Snap Ons opium induced pricing. Can’t wait for them to get a hold of the slip joint needle noses.

Guys going into DEBT to buy tools really is a leading indicator.