What is your favorite ratchet handle?

[turbobrian]

I found that SK made the best tools and Snap On. But I find myself always buying Crasftsman because I can buy 3 times the tools for the price of SK and Snap. Sears is right down the street so when I break something its a short ride to get a brand new replacement. I have never been turned down for any replacement even when they are smashed to ****. If I had unlimited money I would just buy an entire Snap On truck!

[Fishy Jim]

I inherited some gearwrenches and use them on occasion, but I don't reach for them very often.

I've found that if you work them much (tightening bolts), they'll heat up and bind.

[DetroitRob]

As far as ratchets go, I have craftsman, snapons and kobalt. I reach for the kobalts every time, my old craftsman ratchets are great, but the new ones i keep getting are very hard to operate, and it seems like they dont finish them off as much anymore. I have complete sets of gearwrench box wrenches, standard, metric, and a few specific flex head models, and I absolutley love them. They are faster and lighter than ratchets, but they dont take alot in the way of torque, then again there is always the right tool for the job, and i wouldnt try to use a gearwrench when it takes my 2ft breaker bar

[chrisa7164]

Snap on has something to do with kobalt...my dealer showed me several years ago..somehow they own the company.

[gomoto69]

i love an old beat up snap on 3/8 ratchet i got from my dad, but thats probably due more to sentimental reasons than anything else. I have a wright torque wrench that i would put up against snap or mac, and cost about half. I use a lot of craftsman tools that are very good value for the price, but sometimes i have to bend over and pay the big bucks to snapon or mac, simply because no one else makes what i'm looking for. Unfortunatly, here in canada, we don't get craftsman pro stuff, no craftsman tool trucks, just sears store and catalogue. If you wait for the sales, you can get a lot of tools for your buck. I wonder what tools are available from japan or europe? I would be interested, just from a tool junkie's point of view!

[tomasharvey]

Snap on has something to do with kobalt...my dealer showed me several years ago..somehow they own the company.

I had not heard that about Snap-On but the Blue-Point ratchets they sell look like Kobalt. Stanley and Mac have been one in ther same for a while as well.

I prefer Snap-On ratchets. I like the old school smooth handles as well as the comfort grip. I told myself about 12 years ago I would not buy Snap-On stuff due to price. My first time in a Snap-On truck I went numb...it was like high quality gearhead CRACK everywhere! I was hooked and I own a lot of Snap-On tools.

Tom

[On fire most of the time]

Ive got an 18" Snap on locking flex head. Nice dual 80 head on it too...so nice and smooth. Cost me 100 bucks though.

[Fishy Jim]

A little web searching brings up that kobalt was once made by snapon in the beginning, but hasn't been for some time now.

Bluepoint is snapon's foreign made stuff. It very well could be one in the same with the kobalt's because we all know how highly the chinese regard intellectual property rights.

[turboglenn]

I've got the same thing Glenn. In fact, 2 of em. 21pc sets in both standard and metric from back when they came in the green metal box.

The only thing I don't like about the SK's is the knurls on the handles are too sharp. When you put the torque into something time and again (doing assembly) it chews on your hands after a while. I've never had a lick of trouble with those ratchets and I've had them for about 15 years now.

so true about the knurling LOL and as a matter of fact i have the little green box for th 1/4 inch set still to this day. The larger boxes for the other ratchets were too beat up so they went into the scrap pile years ago, but these are hands down the best ratchets i've ever had and probably better than any i will get in the future... just so smooth it can't be copied

[chrisgay@sbcglo]

so true about the knurling LOL and as a matter of fact i have the little green box for th 1/4 inch set still to this day. The larger boxes for the other ratchets were too beat up so they went into the scrap pile years ago, but these are hands down the best ratchets i've ever had and probably better than any i will get in the future... just so smooth it can't be copied

I still have the 1/4" set by SK in the little green box that my father gave to me when I was like four years old something. Sweet!

Soo...My thirty year-old 3/8" drive Craftsman finally stripped out and when I went to return it, they offered me a USED replacement. WTF?!?!

First off, I was hoping they would replace the gear, but they don't stock those anymore. I really didn't want a new one because I don't think the quality is the same, and I CAN'T STAND the release button. What a nuisance!

They finally let me pick a new one out, so I got the one with the longer handle. I guess that's cool, whatcha gonna do? Looks pretty good, just don't like the button.

I keep getting hand-me-downs from the old man, so there are sets in about everyroom of the house; my faves would have to be the old SK wrenches and the Snap-on ratchets.

I also have a set of Kraueter combination wrenches which I really like.


Too many tools? Never.