Best Ratchets for the Money Today

For a mobile kit, something that you throw in the back of the truck, I would just get a Tekton set of sockets and ratchets. The ratchets are smooth, and high-quality, the sockets fit well, and the blow molded case will take being bounced around in the back of your truck.

Their combination wrenches are good as well, good fit, no skipped sizes.

They’re what I chose for the back of my truck if that’s of any help.
 
Nothing with rubber or plastic for a handle. Those are just something to break, mold, burn, chemical attack and crap out at some point in time. Anyone remember the rubber items from overseas that turned into sticky gum? Bad enough having plastics etc for screw drivers handles.
 
I have an old cheap Craftsman ratchet and some husky sockets in my trunk. And one of those dogbone tools. Had a misfire code and rough idle in my Camry about 100k miles ago. It's never returned, but I carry a spare ignition coil with me. I've been mostly happy with my HF tools, especially the ratchets and sockets, so I'd go there if you have one nearby.
 
Timmastertech said:
My opinion is Snapon. All of my ratchets are snapon for a couple reasons. One, I like the way a Snapon chrome handled ratchet feels in my hand. I dont like screwdriver handles. Second, its a buy once cry once. When the head gets loose on a flex head or a ratchet starts skipping I can easily get it serviced. I have ratchets that my grandfather bought in the 60s and 70s that can still easily be serviced.
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I inherited this Snap-On Ferrret, years ago - WW2 era. It has an "Industrial" finish because chrome was scarce then.
I had to service the head - but it still works well.

IMG_5605.webp
 
burbguy82 said:
I have done some research on ratchets recently. Of old, the selection field was much smaller, as it comes to quality ratchets. Today, legacies still persist, such as with Snap-On, but some indicate that others such as ICON and others has caught up in the quality realm.

Recently, I got a good deal on some SK sockets, full set, SAE and metric, 3\8s and 1\4 with a holder for the sockets, and was looking online for respective ratchets for the set to add to my collection. I was thinking about the SK matching ratchets, but the China made version seem to get mixed reviews.

There are a few brands to me that have stood out, Kyoto, Koken, Wera, Gearwrench, etc that have caught my eye. Indexable, standard and swivel type............not sure which.

Whats yalls opinion? Purpose would be general, likely a mobile kit, an on the side of the road kit.
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The best ratchets for the money are all Taiwanese made. Icon, Gearwrench, Capri, Tekton, etc are all Taiwanese. If you find better, it’s only slightly better and costs a LOT more.

The Icon G2 are nice but with them pushing $70 now, they are hardly the value that HF used to be.

The latest Capri 90t are VERY nice if you don’t mind the extra long handles (I’m partial to them now that I’m getting older and weaker I like leverage.

https://capritools.com/shop/90-tooth-locking-flex-head-ratchet-set/

I have Gearwrench 90s, Tektons, Icons (g1), and Capris. All of them are very nice and are pro-grade enough for me at a fraction of the price of traditional tool truck brands.
 
Exhaustgases said:
Nothing with rubber or plastic for a handle. Those are just something to break, mold, burn, chemical attack and crap out at some point in time. Anyone remember the rubber items from overseas that turned into sticky gum? Bad enough having plastics etc for screw drivers handles.
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I've got some vomit scented Craftsman screwdrivers that are older than me and holding up very well thank you.
 
RooflessVW said:
I've got some vomit scented Craftsman screwdrivers that are older than me and holding up very well thank you.
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You can smell my toolbox from 15 feet away thanks to the vintage Craftsman acetate handles it used to contain.

It was only within the last 10 years that I learned it was due to the acetate handles breaking down and giving off butyric acid-- which is a stomach acid you smell in vomit.

I've purged basically all acetate handles. I find the glass-filled hard handled MUCH nicer.

Tekton's latest hard handles are VERY nice.
 
Trav said:
Mr Subaru also said Icon prices are creeping up closer to near Snap on levels, the man needs to back up off that crack pipe just a tad, the price is not even in the same universe tariff or not.
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He posts a YT video where he found a cheap 3/8" ratchet with sockets set for $40 and compared it to an Icon 3/8"ratchet at that price. He claims the cheap ratchet is identical to the Icon, even with the same part/model number on the handle.<shrug>
 
willbur said:
He posts a YT video where he found a cheap 3/8" ratchet with sockets set for $40 and compared it to an Icon 3/8"ratchet at that price. He claims the cheap ratchet is identical to the Icon, even with the same part/model number on the handle.<shrug>
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Cheap tools from Amazon are mostly trash, they knock off a lot of products including tools from Infar. I like Mr Subaru but he is a HF (and anything to do with them) hater in the worst way. A few years ago he tested the impact gun that they now sell as a kit for 249 inc bat and charger. He bought it all piece by piece and complained about the price, they often have a 30% off sale on this stuff. The guy is an extreme Milwaukee koolaid drinker.
 
Trav said:
Cheap tools from Amazon are mostly trash, they knock off a lot of products including tools from Infar. I like Mr Subaru but he is a HF (and anything to do with them) hater in the worst way. A few years ago he tested the impact gun that they now sell as a kit for 249 inc bat and charger. He bought it all piece by piece and complained about the price, they often have a 30% off sale on this stuff. The guy is an extreme Milwaukee koolaid drinker.
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To his credit, he admits he's a HF hater and begrudgingly said the new G2s are surprisingly nice -- but that was also when he made the claims about price that didn't entirely make sense to me.

Regardless, in a world where partisans masquerade as impartial news, at least Mr Subaru tells you up front he is not impartial, and I respect that.

Was it the G2s that showed inconsistent metallurgy in TTC's testing?
 
Mechanician said:
I inherited this Snap-On Ferrret, years ago - WW2 era. It has an "Industrial" finish because chrome was scarce then.
I had to service the head - but it still works well.

View attachment 321682
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I have that same ratchet and mine still works, too! I don't really like using it because it weighs a ton and has very low tooth count (36???) but I can't part with that old thing.

Back to the topic. Travel sets often have limited space so they should include tools with maximum versatility. IMO this would include swivel-head ratchets of all three sizes. Fixed-heads have their place but I have yet to find a job a fixed-head can do that a swivel can't (flex-heads are different and can reach around corners so add one of these if you have space). I have the Pittsburgh swivels and really like them. In fact, I sold my SO swivels because I like the Pittsburgh handles better than the square hard plastic SO handles (flame suit on). But if the OP is anti-HF then the Tekton swivels would be a good choice (AFAIK they are exactly the same as Pittsburgh but with red handles instead of green).
 
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Kira said:
Just be aware that real cheap tools are built to a sloppy standard and will round off many-a-fastener.
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That's really not true anymore. The entire market has been using some version of flank drive for many years. Regardless of where tools are made, tolerances are generally quite good, even for the cheaper stuff. I haven't seen a sloppy fitting socket in a long, long time.
 
Trav said:
Cheap tools from Amazon are mostly trash, they knock off a lot of products including tools from Infar. I like Mr Subaru but he is a HF (and anything to do with them) hater in the worst way. A few years ago he tested the impact gun that they now sell as a kit for 249 inc bat and charger. He bought it all piece by piece and complained about the price, they often have a 30% off sale on this stuff. The guy is an extreme Milwaukee koolaid drinker.
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He did give the HF impact a mostly great review, except for price. But like you said, it's available as a kit for a very reasonable price.
 
It's almost hard to find truly substandard tools now. Even the amazingly nonsensical Chinese Amazon brands aren't the trash of 30 years ago. Most are at least not going to break the first time you use them.

I don't carry a travel tool set with me in my vehicles (because frankly I've never had a roadside emergency that they would help). If I did, I'd probably get a blow-mold case Tekton set that's metric only with maybe one additional drive tool option. They're a pretty solid value at just over $100 or so IIRC for a basic 3/8 metric set.

More useful roadside emergency tools are 1) zipties with multipurpose pliers that can cut them off (like lineman's), 2) heavy stainless lock wire with safety wire pliers and/or wire cutters, 3) foil HVAC tape, 4) Trex tape.

IME, the need to tighten or remove a hex by roadside is almost nil. But the need to tape, ziptie or wire up something is infinitely more likely. Anything more than that and you're probably not making hit home even if you had a socket set.
 
i just bought a full set of the icon G2 ratchets and they have been excellent. hard to beat for the money and feel very much like snap on
 
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