Hand Tools, Matco and other names I haven't heard of

For the most part I know of craftsman, Dewalt, Milwaukee, Klien, snap on, but i never really heard of Matco. What I do know is that they are expensive compared to other brands. What makes these tool so expensive is that they ask for such a high price of entry? I will eventually purchase a set to replace my aging spline craftsman set of sockets.

When i comes to tools what do you consider to be your top 6 brands?

 

It is a combination of made-in-usa, better materials, better quality control, marketing.
Here are some other tools I have: Makita, Sunnex, SK, Capri, Klein, Irwin, Neiko, Urrea, Crescent, Gearwrench, Performance Tool, SATA, Pittsburgh, and quite a few others. I am not counting electronics nor some bike tools I use on vehicles.
The top brands will depend on the sought tool.

 

20 years ago the price goes, Snap on $$$$, MAC tools $$$, Matco tools $$, craftsman $.

 

I got a set of Neiko ( not sure of the name at the moment but they are used to remove the drain plugs on bmw f15 engines) and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and fitment.
Afterwards I started looking at more of what they had to offer .

 

For tool related stuff garagejournal.com is a great resource.

I have all manner of tools and have used them for decades. Snap-on remains, for most things top tier. I wouldn’t bother with Mac or Matco anymore. For the price they are asking you can get equivalent tools for less. My old GearWrench 80t ratchets have been outstanding. My old USA craftsman sockets have not let me down. My matco sockets are also good as well as the snap-ons. The Snap-On’s have better quality control and for a pro this makes a difference. Their sockets will be more uniform and fit a bolt head a bit better. Will you ever notice this for occasional use? I would guess not. Therefore they aren’t worth the price premium for the enthusiast.

I would buy some Gearwrench ratchet sets and whatever the sale set of “mechanics tool set” is available near you. The usual 200-300 piece sets that have all the various 6pt and 12pt sockets. GearWrench, craftsman, kobalt, husky, whatever. That’s your base. Then build out what you need from there.

Don’t forget Craigslist, estate sales, and pawn shops. There’s great deals to be had.

get yourself some flex head ratcheting wrenches as well and you’ll be good to go with the above for most of the jobs you’ll be tackling. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4fYXfyQgfY

I have used some cheap husky ratcheting wrenches and some craftsman’s as well as gear wrenches and SK matco and snap on. The SK’s are my favorite, But I find myself abusing the cheap husky ones and they have never let me down.

I will say for the more expensive stuff some of it is worth it. depending on your situation, I have found knipex pliers, snap-on screwdrivers, snap-on ratchets and torque wrenches to be worth their weight in gold.


almost forgot the new guy on the block, there has been a lot of chatter about Tekton recently and it’s nearly all been good. https://www.tekton.com/more/bundles

As always, Your mileage may vary

link to some of the basic mechanic tool sets you can find for cheap on whatever sale they happen to be on (ONLY buy these when they are on a heavy sale) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iEsW-eMLSbM

 

Gearwrench has some decent mechanic tool set sales going on now at Home Depot if that interests you.

I’m luckily enough to have accumulated tools from every tool brand listed in this thread so far and each one works just fine. The higher end brand really shine when it comes to specialty tools. I don’t believe Matco actually makes their own tools anymore; they just license out the manufacturing to different places. Hence why you can always find their exact same tool under a different brand for cheaper.

If you’re looking for some high quality hand tools for a good price I’d look at Japanese brands. Tone, Koken, Merry all make phenomenal stuff. I just recently found out about these guys in the last couple years and have been slowly switching over. Love my Koken sockets. Great bang for the buck.