My "favorite" brand of tools are the old "S-K" and "Blackhawk" lines from 40+ years ago. Something about their crude, no nonsense castings which appeals to me. Nostalgia I guess. Probably has to do with the fact of those lines were the ones available at the old time auto parts stores when I started turning wrenches. Geez, I must be a dinosaur!

Most used? Snap-On for hand tools (98%), some Matco specialty stuff, OTC for the bigger HEAVY duty stuff, K-D tools for engine specialty work, Mostly Matco tool boxes (still have my Snap-On Bi-Centennial Collector's edition top and bottom set which I purchased new in '76 though), Central tools for all my mic's and measuring gear, blend of brands for my air tools, mostly Ryobi for my battery powered stuff.

Craftsman, Great Neck and all those other brands are in my "loaner" box of tools. Decent enough tools but I don't trust MY hands with them. Tool "snob" I guess.

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“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now

I've had good luck with kobalt and husky brand tools.

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hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

I use Proxxon and Elora - and have been using the same tool kit for ages now, pliers etc are of Knipex and also have some peddinghaus hammers along with a nice set of Felo screwdrivers, I also have a set of proxxon torx and XZN bits - really held up to the brute torque of VW and MB cylinder heads.

For other bits n bob sockets for my DIY use - I buy Northern tool sockets here - like the 46mm for the tank strainer was 10 dollars - good for me as I would only use it to take out that strainer - nothing high torque.

A 150 piece miniature toolkit and wrench sets was lost in transit when I came to the US - full elora items too.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

these things are the cats meow! i always swore there was no reason to use anything but craftsman until i bought a set. what a difference. they very rarely slip

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

Craftsman, but mostly any USA made tool.

Lowes store brand Kobalt has a surprising number of USA made offerings.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Mostly garage sale stuff, new on sale (really good price sale if I dont need it), mostly Craftsman new for standard stuff. HF if its USA (there is some USA stuff there) or Taiwanese, Taiwan stuff is a lot better than cHINESE, , ,

-corne-

Only Snap-On I EVER bought was a nozzle socket for my 6.2 diesel. like $45.00 each.
Got a lot of S-O stuff from garage sales over the years, a lot of military stuff, they wont exchange it tho, & make you believe his kids will go barefoot when you try to exchange the rest of it.

Exactly why i dont buy from snapon. 90% of them wont exchange anything.

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

I have a bit of everything mentioned here, but one guy I know has nothing but New Britain which he picks up on Ebay. It all looks like something from the 40's or 50's.

I still have, and use, Craftsman tools I picked up over 45 years ago. At the time I was told that Craftsman tools were made by Snap-On; sort of their 'second brand' like Tudor was to Rolex.

I just turned in a Craftsman 1/2 in ratchet wrench that was at least 40 years old and totally worn out. They just replaced it with no questions asked.

Have to agree with the "free" being best. after that I like "value"... Value is subjective. I don't really care where I get a tool, but I don't want to pay through the nose for them, and I want it to stand up to my level of abuse. I find that low quality made in America tools are my favorite. Most people I know get on me for liking the value pack of craftsman screwdrivers, or the value box of craftsman wrenches. I had a friend who had a really nice set of matco screwdrivers, I get it, their nice... but when doing a motor swap and i need a smallish prybar, hes like "oh no not my matco screwdriver..." Do you have a small prybar? NO... ok well this is why I have like 6 sets of the value craftsman screw drivers. and if I bend it to look like an S i just go get another one. I tend to shop black-friday and only buy the cheap made in America door busters and then get out of there.

Whats really making me upset lately, is that all the value level tools at sears are getting shipped to china. :/
I've been picking up older tools at flea markets as a result, but this is only a stop gap measure. If I can't take the craftsman tool back for a new made in America one, then why buy it at all. If I want a Chinese tool I shop at Harbor Freight.

Its actually kind of interesting to see, but in the last 5 years sears quality has been going down as they outsource more, and Harbor Freights quality is going up as the Chinese get better at making tools because they're slowly becoming the worlds tool supplier. I wonder if someday HF will surpass Sears? Or if Sears will pull its head out of Kmart's rear-end and start selling quality low priced "value" tools again.

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Craftsman is what I tend to buy because it is convienient.

Hazet for specialty German applications.

I have some Proto and Kraeuter stuff in the box as well. Picked up some Popular Mechanics one time from Wal Mart back when their slogan was still "Made in the USA".

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2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid SEL Premium (Sparky)
http://badges.fuelly.com/images/smallsig-us/193500.png

It's a car not a science experiment! Open the throttle!

or, you get a small pry bar and save money by not having to continually buy screw drivers to bend.

when you get that time machine working, stop by my friends house and give me one

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Or you can use a craftsman screwdriver, bend it, take it in and get a replacement...


FWIW - I have snap-on ratchets. I really like their fine teeth, and their ability to take a cr@-pload of torque before giving out.

For sockets - its a mixture of harbor freight and craftsman. It gets the job done, and takes more abuse than I am able to dish out. Plus, sears and harbor freight are 5 minutes from my house, so I can get them exchanged within minutes if something does happen, and I am not stuck waiting for the truck to come.

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

I wish I could afford snap-on and matco even. I've been trolling yard sales in the area looking for tool sets but haven't found much (live in a wealthy area where everyone just takes their cars into indie shops, which are very very good around here for German and italian cars!). My favorite is Craftsman because at least where I am right now financially they're a great compromise between quality and price. I know they're not what they used to be but they're still pretty good. Kobalt is around the same level but there's something nostalgic about a craftsman wrench in your hand when you've pretty much been raised with them.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

i go to my matco guys house

ive got a few craftsman ratchets as backups. usually get used when more than one person is working at the same time or my son has stolen one of the good ones.

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it