Starting my own tool brand, Snap Off. They break on the first try. NO WARRANTY.

snap on keeping mechanics broke for 96 years.

One of the things I learned the hard way is that out of all your tools you don't want to cheap out on your ratchets. Especially since when one breaks your already using a heck of alot of pressure on it and can lead to some real damage when all that tension is let loose (not including the explosion that comes from a busted ratchet mechanism).

best rachets are the old ones you find at garage sales. i have this old 3/8 proto and the fucking things gets beat to shit. still works great

I'm a retired import mechanic and fire truck builder. I have Snap on , Craftsman , Mac , Matco , S.K. , J.C. Penny , and Pow'r Kraft (Montgomery Ward) . Kinda tells you how old I am. When I arrived at the firetruck factory my U.S. made tools began walking away. I bought Indian and Chinese made tools to replace them. Mostly from AutoZone and my local flea market. And you know what? They worked pretty well and nobody wanted to steal them! now, whenever I need a replacement tool it's off to Harbor Freight. I wouldn't want to make my living with them , but for what I need them for they work just fine. I've learned in 40 year of repairing and building vehicles , just because the tool is a Craftsman doesn't mean the guy using it is!

Sidchrome 1/2" & 3/8" ratchets are fantastic, particularly the ones made in Australia up to the 1980's. Other than those, Snap On.

I'm no mechanic, but most of my tools I have are from Harbor Freight. I am working on making my transition over to Tekton since many of their wrench sets don't skip sizes. As for power tool, I went with Makita since they are the only major tool company that has a Coffee Maker.

I grew up as a shade tree mechanic.....then while in high school I worked as an auto mechanic and started collecting my own (good) tools. My father who was a millwright said buy quality tools and they will last a lifetime and you will not bust your knuckles on a cheap tool that breaks. Then he purchased me my Snap-on torque wrench for Christmas. Well, as a average teen I knew better and wanted to buy less expensive tools since I could get my toolbox filled fast. You can guess where this is going! One day I was working on an engine block and the the wrench stripped due to the torque applied and I smacked my knuckles on the manifold. Instantly I remembered what my father said as I was trying to mend my knuckles..... From that day to this I have always purchased the best I could afford and now I have my dads set. BTW I am still using the torque wrench my father purchased for me over 50 years ago.

The higher the tooth count, the smaller, and weaker each individual tooth is. So there is that trade off for getting a short throw.

Im a fleet mechanic and i use 2 Pittsburgh (harbor freight) ratchets everyday. 3/8 and 1/2 flex head fine tooth. They take a beating and keep working for me. If they ever break, i dont care too much since they only cost me $25 each. Rmember it aint a fashion show. If it gets the job done its fine by me!

Glad I bought all my Craftsman before they started making it all in CHINA,,,,

I have 1980's PROTO ratchets my grandpa used at the mine. They are AWESOME. That and my collection of older PROTO closed ends, open ends and adjustable.

For the last 20 years, every job I have had, requires me to keep and use my own tools. I used to buy only Craftsman but switched to Kobalt(Sears just kept giving me sass when I would warranty a tool), The "no questions asked" warranty is amazing (I have had to use it a few times) I also have their 18v cordless drill and it is still going strong after 6 years of regular use. Snap-on does make the best tools but I can't justify spending that much more on a tool that doesn't offer a huge amount of benefit. There are a few exceptions to that, of course.

If you can find them, Proto ratchets are great. I lucked out and found a 3/8" Proto for $6 at a flea market.

Nepros all the way. 90. tooth count ratchet crafted to perfection. A work of art.

After many years of use I found the Matco ratchets to be my favorites. They are smooth strong and compact. I especially like their AFR68LFG it's a 1/4 inch ratchet with a plastic grip handle and a flex head that locks at any angle.. Some guys will disagree, that's fine but they are my pick.

I bought my classic S-K 3/8” ratchet ca 1960 at a 2nd hand store. Still have it. Still works well. Probably my best tool value.

I’ve been using the same Duralast set for the last 8 years. It’s honestly a decent product, and exactly like he said in the video, it’s what feels good in your hand that matters. Making sure you have the lifetime warranty seals the deal and it all depends on your level of usage. As a “weekend warrior” my duralast base set has never failed me, although as expected, as a mechanic progresses, so does his tool set. Good vid 👍

I'm a DYI mechanic/handyman/fixer-upper and Stanley serves me quite well. Though I am looking at Craftsman and Gearwrench since they are decently priced with high rachet tooth count.

Great video brother! Long before I could afford snap on I bought a duralast 3/8 flexhead. It was used for everything from a bottle jack handle to a hammer. I still have it and still works perfectly.

I have a small set of Snap on sockets for, which I use for really tough jobs. But for everything else I use Halfords and Draper Professional! I've owned some of them for 10 years and they all work perfectly!

For years, my favorite ratchet has been a full polish 11” 3/8 drive Craftsman despite the low tooth count. Lately been looking to replace it and think I settled on a 90t Gearwrench.

Agree with you on comfort grip. I use my 3/8 drive 1/4 body ratchet a lot.

My favorite absolute go to ratchet is my Matco 12 inch locking flex head 3/8" drive. I've been using it, putting it through the ringer for a while, and it still works like the day I got it off the truck.

my ex's mom made the best ratchet

Go for Stahlwille with the drive locks. At least you can pull sockets out from deep recesses with your extension

I love tool videos. Wish there was more out there for millwrights. Most of these are small tools which we definitely do use for bench work but for my bigger tools there isn’t a lot that I’ve seen

I have a 100 peice set from Stanley. Used it for scrapping so got some good use out of it I think I have had it for about 10 years . It was affordable . I have since built a nice craftsman collection

As a Dutchie, I'm really used to European toolbrands. For me, Gedore and Facom produce the best ratchets and sockets. I own a few Snap-on tools, unfortunatly none of them is a ratchet, so I can not review them. But, for those looking for other brands besides Snap-On: Gedore and Facom produce really great and professional tools (they are pricey, tho!).

Grey Pneumatic and SK for me! I like to pick up used Matcos when they're available.

I have Matco ratchets and I love them. I have tried, SK Craftsman, Snap On, Mac. And the Matco were always my go to.

I'm a big craftsman fan. But I know a lot of people don't like them like they used to. Surprising to get such a strong reccomendation! I'm happy with my new (1 year old) craftsman ratchets and sockets!

SK Wayne. (Yes, I am that old.). I am addicted to you videos! Thanks.

gearwrench is pretty good too

Very well explained. Thanks

1st, Love your videos...great job. A friend of mines dad gave him an old (mabe 50's or 60's era) 1/2" ratchet and this thing reaks quality. Might be the heaviest duty ratchet I've ever seen and I'm 61 yrs old.(My dad was a certified master mechanic)

Totally agree about Snap-on ratchets. Alot of their other tools are simply way overpriced and not a great value, but Snap-on ratchets specifically blow everything else out of the water.

I actually like the Home Depot "Husky" brand ratchets. They have 72 tooth count which is quite good, comfortable Snap-On type grip, and they are pretty low profile, about 20% thinner than the Kolbalt. And they are only like $20 with a lifetime warranty. Way better than the Craftsman or Kobalt.

I like having many different styles of ratchets, never know what you're going to run into and it's always nice to have options.

Craftsman for me, love my kit, has a more comfortable grip than the older ones like you have here, 96 tooth, etc. Great ratchets

I'm really liking the Tekton brand of ratchets right now. Love the handles on them.

My dad is all about harbor freight tools because they're cheap and good enough. Which I ended up thinking till I became a mechanic. I now understand the reason for buying quality tools if you use them everyday.

Great review. Ty. I reach for Proto just about every time.

Excellent advice, Charles 👍👍👍. As a shade tree guy who only has infrequent auto projects, HF works for me. Also, surprising how much I can do with that 1/4 drive wrench. Right tool for the job of course, but small tools can often getter’ done.

I will say tho that the best tools are often from the good'old manufacturers, who have built a reputation on reliability, performance and comfort!

Many ratchets with great grips are no longer made, so I'd buy any old US made ratchet you can find on eBay for cheap to see what you like. My favorite 1/4" ratchet is an indestro and they haven't been around for probably 30 years by now, there's just something about the decent diameter knurled round grip and oval cross section of the neck that my hand likes.

I am a DIYer and have been using hand me downs from my Dad and recently purchased a few sets from Tekton. I love the warranty and they are local in Michigan. I will admit that I have used some Snap On tools and they are very nice

Try german rachets. Stahlwille, Gedore, Hazet, or as i call it "the holy trinity". Not cheap but quality should be au pair to snap on. Wera has some nice tools as well.

Gearwrench and kobalt are my favorite ratchets for the money. I am a fairly heavy duty weekend warrior, but I have never been let down. I used to like craftsman, but in the past ten years their affordable tools have become cheap Chinese junk, and the modern fine tooth options from kobalt and Gearwrench are much nicer for about the same price

my favorite would have to be the old mac tools, my grandfather had some and now i do, and they are very reliable and well made

My favorite used to be matco (all of my ratchets are matco) but now I love to gearwrench 120XP ratchets I have a 3/8 and 1/4 drive and love them

Bahco tools are the best! or at least they were when they were still swedish made and before they got bought up by snap-on and the manufacturing moved to some foreign country with cheaper labor costs...

Gedore and Hazet are my favorite!

I have that same exact matco ratchet in 88 tooth best one in my tool box considering I have snap on. great videos keep them coming.

Since I'm not a professional and on a budget, I got a Craftsman set for home and a Harbor Freight Pittsburgh set for my truck. I just used the Pittsburgh 1/4 and 3/8 ratchets a couple weeks ago for some light repairs and they did fine. They're 72 tooth and that came in handy for small spaces. For occasional use at a very low price, no complaints.

So far for I've loved the gearwrench 120xp over my snap on ratchet I had before. Better feel and just as reliable so far.

There a few companies who make good Tools. Out of germany for example: Hazet, Gedore, Stahlwille, Atorn, Matador and Wera. From france there is Facom and from Italy Usag and Beta.

I still have my bent handle flex head Snap-on like yours, I bought new in 1988, It's been rebuilt twice and is still a go to tool.

I also love my PROTO and S&K tools. Lots of Proto's, and they have never done me wrong, except a few worn out sockets after heavy use

I just bought a Stahlwille 3/8 inch ratchet. I think it's better than Snap On. Wera is another phenomenal German ratchet company.

I always had older craftsman, husky and SKY. I like the SK.

My favorite rachet is an old easco that i have had for about 30 years. nice fine teeth in the rachet and a smooth, comfortable handle.

I am with you, Snap On for most things.. having said that, my Three favorite ratchets are a 1/4" drive 90 tooth Kobalt, a 3/8" drive Snap On, flex head wooden comfort handle. (I hope it never breaks, the replacement is plastic and yes I bought it in the mid sixties.) and The square handled 1/2" drive Craftsman. I find it does not dig into my hand like the thinner rounded handled ratchets under pressure. My next group of heavily used ratchets, short and long handled Snap On 1/4" drive. Straight long Handled Snap On 3/8" Short handled Proto 3/8" drive, 1/2" drive long handled comfort Grip Mac Tool 1/2" drive. All my specialty ratchets off-set handled and flex head are Snap On.

Stahlwille, Gedore, Hazet. In that order.

I have a few Williams brand ratchet, torque ratchets and breaker bars. They are over 50yrs old and still going strong. Also have Indestro and S. K. brand.

Have a Snap on stubby 3/8 flexhead bought great tool love it

My favorite ratchet is a 3/8 drive, long handalled Master Mechanic. The head can be swung left or right and locked in place It does have a handle grip shaped very much like a snap - on . I buy snap on tools I know will get a lot of use, but buy mostly Craftsman for infrequent and light duty

I grew up on SK - I miss them - They used to be in just about every parts house, that was very convenient.

I work on farm equipment and I prefer MAC, Fluke, Starrett, Mastercraft and Westward. If Snap-On tools were any more overpriced they would be painted green, the Snap-On dealer also takes forever to order tools. Mastercraft and Westward sockets and wrenches are good for cutting custom tools without ruining more expensive MAC tools, AGCO Massey Ferguson equipment tends to need a lot of special tools.

Started using Milwaukee ratchets. They are amazing. Even the blow-mold case it comes in is great. You can just take out the tray and put it in your cart.

I'm a Heavy Duty Diesel Tech (semi's). I picked up a Duralast 3/8" drive ratchet from AutoZone about 10 years ago as a "get-me-by" until I could get the Matco ratchet I broke replaced. After that, the Duralast became my backup. Over the years, I managed to break my Matco two more times, and I have now been exclusively relying on that cheap Duralast ratchet for the last 5 or so years without ever breaking it. I regularly use the end of a two piece jack handle as a cheater pipe on this thing and it still holds up. My only complaint is the lower tooth count. This $20 ratchet is what convinced me to at least start giving the cheaper tool a chance. Wright Tools makes some awesome WrightGrip wrenches that will put my SnapOn Flank Drives through their paces. But Wright Tools tends to require a copy of your receipt to honor their lifetime warranty. As for the Craftsman tools, their warranty is no longer valid if you use the tools as a professional mechanic. I have had Craftsman at multiple locations in multiple states refuse to warranty broken hand tools. That turned me off of Craftsman real quick.

You should do an update on this, since there has been a lot of advances recently and better technology with ratchets

Best ratchet is the one you have within reach

I just got two snap on ratchet and they are awesome ratchets. They have 80 tooth and very smooth to use. Way better that my other cheaper ratchets.

I have a Harbor Freight 72 tooth flex head ratchet, 3/8, and I love that thing more than I would have ever imagined. It has taken the rank as my number 1 used ratchet, beating out my Snap On even. The worst part about it is that I have to tighten up the hinge about once a year. Aside from that, I love, love, LOVE this thing. It's the cheapest I own, too. It's awesome.

Hazet made in germany is the best ;)

My favorite ratchet has become the Stanley flex head extendable handle one. Got it at walmart for $20. The flex head locks in position and when you need a little more torque just extend the handle out. I use these for about 90% of what I do. My favorite 1/4 ratchet is an old proto I picked up from a yard sale for about $1 about 20 years ago. Fine tooth and very very slim head.

stanley has worked wonders for me I've even used then on my 1/4 inch impact and no problem personally

Knowledge is the first tool you should acquire, otherwise you will face failure even if you own tools from Mars!

S-k tools . But they are expensive. I usually run Craftsmen. And I have a three-quarter inch break over bar why waste a good ratchet

Same! My favorite ratchet by a good margin is my Snap-on ones. I have a Craftsmen ones from when they where still made Merican' and there good but clunky, drag back a lot having to hold on the socket with your hand for it to "ratchet" but little slop. But for wrenches I picked up a large set of Ace Professional, amazingly good for the price then swivel ratcheting wrenches I have a set of Gearwrench when they first came out and made in Merica 15+ years ago. I use those most of all and every year I think its amazing that they haven't broken or even worn down.

I really love my Crafstman rachets. I love the grip! I dont need that round handle snap on. With the Craftsman, you will get used to it. Just takes a while. You will love it! Its a nice heavy rachet.

Glad to hear you didn't bash harbor freight. Thanks. :)

There's alot of other great brands if you look outside the "US makers".

Learned a bit here 88 teeth thing but the smoothness of action is what I tuned in for

After years of general abuse of my 3/8 flex head ratchet without breaking, I actively started trying to break it to see how strong they are. A 1/2 17mm deep impact socket fits perfectly over the handle. With a long extension you can put out some serious force. It’s still perfect. I’ve also run my impact gun on 120psi of nitrogen and it took it no worries.

my son is a Mechanic that works at a GM dealer the Snap on salesman pushes his product on them! The thing I have seen with his snap on tools is they can find excuses to not warranty there tools!

Snap on its my go to

SK (Sherman-Klove Co.) been turning wrenches for over 40 years. Still my favorite sockets and ratchets.

I love my old Bonney t-207k. It is one of the first "fine-tooth" ratchets ever made. Instead of fine teeth, it has two seperate ratchet pawls that are offset by one-half of a tooth.

I don't really play favorites as long as it works. I have the harbor freight copies of the snap on long handle flex heads like you have with the soft grip in both 3/8 and 1/2, and the only gripe I had was the flex joint loosened to the pint of being floppy, but was easily fixed. I have Craftsman, Stanley, I've got some old Benchtop Pro ratchets and sockets that Kmart used to sell that I've had for 15 years that never gave me any trouble, Recently have bought some of the Tekton stuff from Amazon, and my most recent thing is these super long ratchets made my performance tool, but like you said those ratchets, the Tekton, and the harbor freight ones are backwards. Also the long ratchets are 36 tooth, but I noticed they were identical in construction to the other 2, except the Tekton and hf had 72 tooth count. They were cheap enough so I bought an entire set of just standard length and took the 72 tooth guts out and stuck them in the long ones, stuck the 36 tooth gears and pawls in the standards and keep them as back ups. I will say that I don't have a preference to pear head with a switch or the old style round head. But if I buy a round head it has to have the wheel on the outside to spin it with your thumb. Also one thing I always do if I buy a new ratchet is to immediately take it apart and put a light coat of grease on all the teeth and around the casing. Just regular old moly grease or axle grease. Whatever I have on hand. Makes a world of difference.

I Agree I use the crap outa my 3/8 flex head ratchet from snap on. I think Gearwrench has some pretty good ratchets too though. Have you ever tried any of them?

Love the Founders sticker in the back!! Great stuff!!

Mmm still love my old easco rhft 1/4 3/8 1/2 keep them regularly lubed and oh man feels like new so smooth

you never see the industrial tools included in these.. SK, Proto, Armstrong all great tools that have stood up to crazy abuse from me.

Love my Snappy ratchets for the higher tooth count, much less swing to reset, However, I have had quite a few failures when you really put the giddy-up on them. Too much pressure & you shear off those tiny little teeth. On the other hand, the lower tooth count units typically have large teeth. I've got an ancient Proto 1/2" that has 15 teeth..... I sawn the handle off & use it with a 6' cheater pipe....... 140 Ft/Lbs + 180 degrees is that spec.....

I like buying tool truck tools used since I can still use the warranty and someone else took the initial price hit. I can also sell them for about what I paid for them for minimal loss, if any. I have some HF tools at home and work and the only problem I have is the potential resale being low, but that's all. Ratchets especially are a personal preference thing. Keep the videos coming!

I've just bought Draper hand crafted, Forged ratchet set made in Japan for 30 quid.... Guy had them for 20 years and used it only twice... Retches that will last you a life time, no one makes this high quality forget tools today, as they were in the past!

My favorite is Tekton I’m just a diy guy who wrenches in his Xterra. I have craftsman and my dads old mac but still love the Tekton brand

Gear Wrench makes a sweet 120 position dual pawl ratchet. You should check it out.