The combination wrenches I own are 40+ year old Craftsman raised panel. Now that I am olderwiser, and arthritis kind of blows, I was considering replacing my wrenches.

Snap On combo’s have a wonderful length, but can hurt like hell with their narrow beams. Not to mention the %*=#?!~ price.

After quite a bit of research, Wright combination wrenches look promising. My biggest concern is that I’m aware that they are shorter than Snap On wrenches. Does anybody have a set of Wrights, and are they significantly longer than my old Craftsman’s to make a difference?

The raised panel wrenches have never been comfortable, but I’ve not had arthritis in the mix until the last 2 years or so.

I’m open to any suggestions anyone has. I don’t wrench for a living but I have almost always done my own maintenance be that auto or general home projects.

I have Craftsman that have served me well since my dad bought me my first set back in the late 1980's. Craftsman today is not the same.

I'm buying Icon for my sons when they go on sale. As a matter of fact, their Icon wrenches are 35% off this week. You need to be a "club" member for the early part of the week (Mon - Thurs), but it opens to non-members on Friday. I'm not a club member so I wait. The sale happens a few times per year.



ETA: The website isn't reflecting the sale prices. Make sure they are on sale if you decide to go Icon. In store only.

I've been happy with Gearwrench. Made in Taiwan.

https://www.gearwrench.com/

I have these

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GSCZCPM

If you want long. I don't own

https://www.amazon.com/GearWre...s%2C169&sr=8-18&th=1

Proto makes some good wrenches, but a little pricey. Zoro tools sells them.
You could sell your old craftsmans, some guys collect them.


.

You will want long pattern wrenches, less narrow and smoother is better for your situation.

The above link to the Gearwrench set above would be excellent, and the price is great.

Just make sure your new ones are longer than your old Craftsman raised panel wrenches, which at the time, and to a degree, are still top of the line quality even by today's standards. Most of those were made by Andersen, who went out of business several years ago. They made the best extra long ombination wrenches of all time, and I have three of them I bought explicitly for that purpose, after they went out of business while there was still old stock left over, but there are no more these days.

You should check out the Icons as well. Those would be the only brand from Harbor Freight I would get for wrenching on anything that's important. They're so good many pros use them for certain applications.

The Wright brand wrenches are probably the best in terms of thickness and shape for sensitive hands, and I have a set, but that company doesn't make any long pattern wrenches at all.

Somewhat off topic, but look into GOOD mechanic's gloves as well.

My hands have aged to the point that I use a cordless impact on anything it can reach or the longest wrench that will fit (for more leverage).

I really need to follow my own advice and start using gloves but they're a double-edged sword: Enough padding to make wrench use less painful also reduces dexterity. Having to put on gloves to use a wrench and then take them off to pick up the hardware has always been more of a pain in the ass than it was worth.

I'm at the point of re-thinking that.

I've got a mix of tools between work and home, and I have been very happy with gearwrech tools.

Tekton Tools...I've purchased one of their Combination Wrenches in oversized/odd size I needed (21mm) and based on that wrench, I can highly recommend them!

https://www.tekton.com/wrenche...combination-wrenches

Their standard length Combination Wrenches seem fall between my Craftsman Professional Fully Polished Regular and Long Pattern Wrenches in terms of length, so they're definitely worth a look. As an example, the lengths for my 17mm Craftsman Professional Wrenches are 8" Std and 9.5" Long pattern and the Tekton Std Combination Wrench is 9" long, so definitely favoring the long pattern length. The beam on my Tekton Combination Wrench seems similarly substantial to my Craftsman Wrenches so they'd probably work quite well for you. The Tekton Tools website provides accurate dimensions (at the bottom of the page) so it should be easy to rule them in or out based on your preferences. Hope this helps!

I have mostly Snap-On wrenches, but what works well is to have a set of long combination wrenches, and a set of short wrenches.

If you need leverage use the long. They are a little narrow, but they are also easy to clean. I hate the raised panel Craftsman wrenches:
1. Dirt gets stuck in the many corners.
2. The edges are sharp, and not comfortable to use.
Craftsman are what we used when 18 years old, but after using quality tools they would be my nearly last choice.

Also notice how thick the open ends are? That is because the steel is not that strong. The thickness often is a problem. Mack tools have been narrow, but the open ends stretch on tight bolts.

I wish I could try every brand that’s been mentioned. I don’t have a clue where I could put Wright’s in my hand. Icon I could try. SK, Proto, Carlyle, I’d have to order to try. Gearwrench might be available at HD to try.

Mechanics gloves are a good idea, although not good enough to make Snap On prices reasonable. A set of fingerless gloves may help with dexterity issues. I know Mechanix brand gloves are highly recommended for shooting. I need to find the Shot Show version of tools.

After years of use, I finally wore out a pair of fingerless shooting gloves I picked up at a gun show. They were made of a thin leather but still remained stretchy when needed.

The leather came up to just under the knuckle of each hand so you could pick up nuts or washers with ease but my old hands were still cushioned in using the wrench. I have yet to find a pair just like them, but I'm looking.

I'm in the process of replacing my hodgepodge kits with Tekton. A buddy of mine has a garage full and I like their quality and price.

I'm crazy, but not Snap-on crazy.

Wright or Williams are good
For Taiwan made I like Infar-made Carlyle or Channellock. They are longer pattern with anti-slip open end. I have Tekton/Chang-loon too but prefer my Wright and Channellock combination wrenches.

Wright tools is an expensive venture. Quality for sure but the price ? Too many are ratcheting combos now. Shees...I got whole sets of them. I vote for the long series Capri tools wrenches. Im buying their double box end long wrenches that dont ratchet. I love the box ends. I noticed if I look at old, like new Craftsman sets on Ebay, the metrics are 2 to 3 times the price of SAE. Capri tools for me.

I gotta add something to this topic. If you want to see the Samari Sword of ratchet wrenches Kyoto tool of Japan. I believe they are now made in Taiwan but the beauty is evident. Such beautiful wrenches.

Do not pass up looking at garage sales / flea markets. Sometimes you can find very good prices on top quality tools.

I agree with the garage sale idea. You can some nice quality tools there.
At work I have Wera Joker wrenches. They are too narrow. I have Stanley which are too narrow.
I have Blackhawk which are longer but are narrow.
At home I have SK which are a little thicker than the ones mentioned above. I got them on Amazon years ago and feel nice in my hands.
I also will use another wrench and fit it in the round part to get more leverage at times.

For many of us we don’t need Snap-on everything, yes, it would be nice, SK too.

Harbor Freight has the order of Pittsburg, Quinn and Icon, chances are something along that line will work for most of us. Of course I have some Craftsman, SK, Wright & others with better history.

There is a YouTube channel that compares various hand tools like wrenches against eachother and the Icon brand at HF is as good and in some cases better than Snap On, Matco and the like particularly when you consider the price difference.