On Hazet Superiority

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Y_K

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Trying to avoid derailing the other thread where it was claimed that Hazet is "the best".

I owned and still own a few German tools, namely Hazet, Stahlwille, Karl Walter, Gedore (gone), Matador, Wiesemann, Heyco, Elora, Wiha, Felo, Wera. When I lived in Germany and owned German cars (and this is what you should there for a number of reasons), buying *specialised* tools from Hazet saved me a lot of money: I could do thousands and thousands worth of maintenance myself. And I like the aesthetics of German tols, I am neither a Gypsy nor a magpie, so shiny objects are not my attraction. But, if you take some regular hand-tools, for example the 600N combo wrenches, they are still stuck in 19th Century with their open end design.. Gedore discredited itself after moving production to 3rd World and QA slipped quite a bit. They still own the biggest press in Europe, so they can make any custom tool of any size. Stahlwille is still making most of their tools in house. Karl Walter is my favorite compliment to Wright Tools arsenal, but Hazet? yes, their marketing is good, they impressed a lot of managers (the folks who never worked with the tools they buy), still they are 3 times overpriced over a good tool. Over there, at home, they are affordable and Snap-on doesn't make much sense with their triple markup. How can one tool brand be the best?

Another factor: Euro is falling like a rock, and the vendours are still trying to charge as if it is still at 1.61 level (it has broke 1.09 at the time of this writing)
 
The knurling on Hazet sockets makes them worthwhile and is a very useful feature. They also seem to be very strong, as are their ratchets and 600N combination wrenches.

Originally Posted By: Y_K
Trying to avoid derailing the other thread where it was claimed that Hazet is "the best".

I owned and still own a few German tools, namely Hazet, Stahlwille, Karl Walter, Gedore (gone), Matador, Wiesemann, Heyco, Elora, Wiha, Felo, Wera. When I lived in Germany and owned German cars (and this is what you should there for a number of reasons), buying *specialised* tools from Hazet saved me a lot of money: I could do thousands and thousands worth of maintenance myself. And I like the aesthetics of German tols, I am neither a Gypsy nor a magpie, so shiny objects are not my attraction. But, if you take some regular hand-tools, for example the 600N combo wrenches, they are still stuck in 19th Century with their open end design.. Gedore discredited itself after moving production to 3rd World and QA slipped quite a bit. They still own the biggest press in Europe, so they can make any custom tool of any size. Stahlwille is still making most of their tools in house. Karl Walter is my favorite compliment to Wright Tools arsenal, but Hazet? yes, their marketing is good, they impressed a lot of managers (the folks who never worked with the tools they buy), still they are 3 times overpriced over a good tool. Over there, at home, they are affordable and Snap-on doesn't make much sense with their triple markup. How can one tool brand be the best?

Another factor: Euro is falling like a rock, and the vendours are still trying to charge as if it is still at 1.61 level (it has broke 1.09 at the time of this writing)
 
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I have them, and the knurling is better on Wera sockets. Hands down. I have a few, where I do need knurling more than anything else, and I simply ordered the sizes I need. The knurling on Hazet sockets is no better than the knurling on SnapOn, I have both of them. As for strength and precision, it's kinda normal in our day and age to have good sockets. We are talking about the best, whatever that means. Perception vs reality. I am not even touching the subject of warranty of European anything in USA..
 
In New Zealand we have no tool industry, so no local tool company to support - so we have always been able to get tools made in every country in the world that makes tools. My 1/2'' drive socket set is Hazet - in 40 years I have broken the 30mm socket (welded up and used at home) from use with an impact gun over decades. The ratchet broke the direction lever, dodgy repair and now at home - not happy with warranty claim ''That model is not available anymore, so no claim.) The powerbar has cracks and now at home too. I also have a long handle flex ratchet, the handle broke, it's welded and I still use it at work...carefully, it's just so dam handy. I have ring and open end spanners, long and short in metric, SAE and Whitworth (Whitworth now at home).

So I've broken a socket and powerbars from abuse, they are still at the top of my list for quality and use. I also have a lot of Stahlwille stuff too, a little Heyco and Gedore. German quality is impressive - I also own a Mercedes and a BMW motorcycle.
 
If you are referring to the roll around tool cart from Hazet i said was the best thats a fact. They have been real life tested in daily use over decades.
There are very few like it, there are some clones but they fall way short in quality.

Every German shop has a few or more of these rolling around and many are twice as old as the new guys now using them. Many are really beat up, never even been wiped down never mind cleaned and they just keep rolling.
 
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