Kobalt tools seem to be getting phased out. What mid-level tools do you guys prefer?

R

repo

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I've been buying Kobalt tools over the years mostly because Lowes in closest to my house and their wrenches/sockets were in Taiwan instead of China and decent quality. I went in there today and saw they have removed most of the Kobalt stuff and replaced it with Craftsman.

I asked one of the Lowes people and he said yeah they are phasing in the Craftsman automotive tools to probably replace Kobalt. Some of the Craftsman is Taiwan some is China. They got bought by Black and Decker and I read they are making new lines of wrenches in Taiwan now.

The other Taiwan made brand that is OK is Klutch from Northern Tool but harder to find because there are much more Lowes around.
 
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craftsman is ok, just NOT their ratchets. those are knuckle breakers. if you get the pro line ratchets, those seem to be much better, also much more expensive.
 
I was pretty disappointed when I walked into Lowes and saw what they had done. Craftsman quality really dropped over the years, I hope they get better now that they're at Lowes, but I really don't want to be the guinea pig on that one.

I love my Kobalt ratchets and wrenches. I needed a set of 19mm yesterday and I had to split the difference between the two brands because they only had one remaining Kobalt 19mm in stock. There goes my perfectly matching set. :hurt:
 
Tools break! If you use the wrong tool they break more. I dont care what is stamped on the tool. You can tell cheap when you see it. I have a no name rachet I have abused for 15 years and its still going, and I have snapped a snap on because I using the wrong tool.
 
I hope it doesn't affect their cordless tools as well. I'm balls deep in the new Kobalt 24v cordless tools. Impact, drill, circular saw, light, etc....
 
I told friends of mine I have Craftsman tool. too bad? No, they are from the 1980's.!!
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__2007 SE V6 Tiatanium_______________
 
ran said:
I told friends of mine I have Craftsman tool. too bad? No, they are from the 1980's.!!
___
__2007 SE V6 Tiatanium_______________
Click to expand...

I still have a Craftsman 3/8 drive ratchet that is 47 years old, still working strong, I have several 3/8 ratchets but I grab the Craftsman everytime!!

I had a full 300 piece set of Craftsman tools that I got with that ratchet but the entire tool box got stolen in the late 80s, I just happened to have the ratchet in my house at the time the tool box was taken, I wish I still had the rest of them!!
 
I'm not a prosumer, nor a hardcore "frame off, engine out rebuild" type of wrencher.

I like Ridgid tools because of lifetime warranty, even on the batteries. (Not sure if that is still the case, but I'm certainly grandfathered in).
Battery replacement process is a bit of a pain, especially if you don't have spares, but it's about a week's turn around from dropping it off, passing their inspection, to a call to pickup a new set of batteries.

Tool chest is a mix of canadian Mastercraft Max (lifetime warranty as well) and Pittsburg (sold at Harbor Freight) tools.
Stuff I throw in the vehicles "in case of emergencies" are all HF tools.

Spare breaker bars are all HF..
 
For what its worth, I was at my local Lowes trying to replace a damaged 10mm socket I had (go figure) and they had a bunch of Kobalt stuff on clearance sale that I pillaged (bits, sockets, extensions, screw drivers etc), got quite a bit of stuff for $20.

I also spoke with a team member and even though they're getting rid of Kobalt, if you have a damaged Kobalt product, they'll allow you to exchange it for Craftsman as a replacement. I'd assume this applies to sockets/ratchets/wrenches, not sure how that criss crosses for larger or more technically specific items (torque wrenches etc).
 
I don't usually shop at Lowes since Home Depot is closer but I am partial to Husky and Ryobi tools. I have a Husky tool case with tools that survived through three jeeps and this 4runner (10 yrs)and it saw ALOT of use. My Ryobi 18v set has been flawless and awesome.
 
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