Thank you for the tool tour! They carry more than I thought! I mostly shop at Homedepot. Maybe I need to take a trip across the street. I live across the street from Lowes and seldom go in there.
So the thing that sets craftsman apart from kobalt, is Stanley black and decker is slowly cannibalizing MAC wrenches. The overdrive wrenchs are a version of the MAC rbrt wrenches and the V series is a version of the Facom/MAC wrenches. So who knows what other tools willeventually make its way to craftsman.
The 3/8 drive shallow sockets at 6:38 are currently on sale for $15; both SAE and metric. Which seems alright since they're six point, and HF's Pittsburgh/Quinn shallow 3/8 only come in 12 point. The metric set skips 16 mm though. Can't say anything about Kobalt's warranty.
The current line of Craftsman tool boxes feel like they are made out of tin. The drawer layouts aren't suitable for the automotive technician. One would be better off with a Husky or a US General box.
Their Kobalt impact sockets are expensive. The V-Series and Overdrive Craftsman wrenches are worth the price. Very good quality. Impact sockets are overpriced, but good quality. The pliers for both Craftsman and Kobalt are not great.
Honestly, if we're including cordless power-tools in this comparison, it's no contest.... Kobalt all the way. (And, that's coming from someone with a massive amount of modern-day Craftsman hand-tools.)
I personally never owned or tried any MIC Craftsman. I only have a few MIA Craftsman sockets and a breaker bar. I have one Kobalt socket. I don't know how I ended up with it. I may have found it on the ground. Looks to be MIC. Never use it.
Justin Dow.. I'm not sure about the Craftsman or Kobalt toolboxes. I like the Craftsman ones better but would still probably go with the US General from Harbor Freight. As far as the tools I would definitely go with the red. Craftsman tools are way better than what Kobalt has to offer.
Craftsman cordless is junk Kobalt cordless is quality.. the hand tools are pretty close in quality Kobalt being a bit more polished and craftsman having more options for specialty hand tools.
I liked the Kobalt of the first generation which were williams but nothing after that and as far as today Craftsman over kobalt as I don't really care for HD or Lowes if you have a problem it doesn't always go smooth and going direct to Craftsman.com for a replacement has been flawless. I get most of my Craftsman these days through ACE as it is local and they have so many specials and sales prices are the same. The Creaftsman V series hand tools are excellent quality and right now online many V series tools are on a huge sale on ACE.com and they ship to stores free.
I recently walked into ace with a bunch of broken tools that’s where easily 30 years old and they replaced everyone with the exact same or an upgraded tool
I run a lot of Klein and Channellock stuff for my tool bag at work. Check out Craftsman V series! I have Craftsman V series 3/8 sockets. I also have Craftsman V series combination wrenches, Craftsman V series is basically Facom rebranded tool. Mac and Proto Utilize Facom for their lower tier products. The Craftsman overdrive wrenches are basically an inexpensive version of MAC RBRT. Craftsman extensions do hold up no problem. To me an extension is an extension. Craftsman attempted to manufacture a USA made product. Unfortunately Stanley cut the project. I happened to pick up a basic 3/8" set. I feel the Taiwanese products were better quality though. I have the set it lives as a backup in my truck for oh shit days lol😅
If Craftsman will warranty single tools (sockets, screwdrivers, wrenches, etc.) they win. I'm 53 and seemed to have outlived "lifetime warranty" from several companies. All my screwdrivers and ratchets are Snap-on. The rest is a whores market of Craftsman, Matco, Mac, and Harbor freight.
For the tools? Either or. Whichever is cheaper at the time. For the boxes? You’d be better off going Kobalt. The new Craftsman boxes are weak. Or better yet, get a US General box.
I personally just bought the husky 52 inch cabinet with top box/Hutch for $999 and I think this will be my lifetime box for just being a home gamer / side work mechanic guy. Seems decent enough quality for just sitting in 1 spot and has just enough space for everything I own that's not in a blow molded cases
Best usa made bang for your buck is channellock and klien, especially klien witch is getting a but harder to for me personally, I'm looking for these klien bit box kit but can't find them in a store
I'm a craftsman guy. A lot of the bad reputation it has is from after Sears was sold and they moved everything to China and the quality dropped. But since SB&D bought them they have steadily increased quality. First, even on the stuff that is still made in China they have higher standards for quality. Second, they moved a lot to Taiwan (no, not the same as China), which is also a step up in quality. And then they have brought several things back to the US. And everything I have from them I have used as a DIY with no problems. And that includes me using them for some tasks they definitely weren't meant for! Haha
I've had a few kobalt tools,i have a decent set of pro 90 kobalt 20 pc sae and metric around zero offset i believe combination ratchet wrench set two pairs over the years of the old style blue and gray linesman pliers, and I have a few decent flare nut line wrenches, and I have a craftsman 1000 series 5 drawer black tool box 26 inch chest bought brand new from Lowe's $114
The people that bash made in China kill me. 90% of your household items including cell phone, tablet, PC etc. are made in China. There's really no getting around it .
From experience buying SB&D craftsman. Avoid most Chinese tools. Stick to Taiwan, the cheap kits are fine, try and get them with the updated low profile ratchet. The previous ratchets had issues. The gun metal chrome and V line has the best quality stuff. I don't buy kits anymore, they inflate the tool count with garbage. You can build a better kit for cheap, craftsman is sold in a lot of retailers. ACE, Lowes, Amazon. They go in clearance/sale constantly. You won't need overdrive yet, it's specialty stuff(RBRT). The gunmetal wrenches will do most of what overdrive does. They have the same Stanley B&D anti-slip they put in all their brands. The Chinese made tool not to avoid is the specialty socket set. It's the same sears source one. Excellent/strong quality torx and hex sockets. Kits comes with a lot of different ones, e torx, torx, hex, and more. Avoid the extended long hex/torx kit, that one is weak. The screwdrivers are fine, V line are the best. But you can get much better ones for cheap. Pliers avoid garbage. Buy USA made channelock. Overall craftsman does have a great tool line, unfortunately they couldn't fulfill the return to USA made tools. But that is hard especially when consumers don't want to pay the price.
