Meet Bob...

[dgs]

If I had to make my living wrenching, I'd probably have Snap-On or Mac tools. For what I do in my spare time, I find that Craftsman does just fine. For less commonly used items I'll go to Harbor Frieght.

[Yadkin]

Some of the best hand tools that I have were found on sale at Lowes or Costco.

I bought a set of Thorsen flex, ratcheting combination wrenches, SAE, for $30. I wanted to try them out before I bought the matching metric set, since they were to replace an old Craftsman set with heads so big they never fit any bolt in any assembly. The Thorsens proved to be very useful and Costco sold out of them.

On most trips to Lowes I take a detour to their hand tool isle, often finding bargains on their Kobalt brand. They had a huge set of combination wrenches, metric and SAE, long and stubbies, for $99. I like them better than the Craftsman set I bought when I was a teenager.

One of my favorite Kobalt tools is a tiny ratcheting wrench, reversible, one handed and magnetic, with a 1/4" and 5/16" drives- perfect for most hose clamps. It came with a set of screwdriver bits and it works perfectly in tight spots where a regular screwdriver or torx driver won't do.

[simplyconnected]

Ain't that the truth?