I'm generally not a fan of Harbor Freight, and less a fan of chineseium. I'm looking for a replacement for my Craftsman 1/4 inch drive ratchet sets. My son handed me 2 ratchets, one a SnapOn, the other, an ICON. The build quality of the ICON surprised the heck out of me. I've still not made the purchase, but does anyone here have experience with, and an opinion of ICON tools?

I'm a homeowner level user, I do not like cheap tools.

It is strongly suggested on YouTube (Mr Subaru would be one of the bigger) that the ICON line is the same thing found from MAC tools in a different package.

I’ve unfortunately inherited so many hand tools of late that I haven’t needed to supplement and see for myself.

Yes, they're quite good...especially for the price.

I have a couple... prefer: Tekton, Williams, or if you can find any: US made SK

Mostly Craftsman here but I do have some Icon and for just a DIY guy it’s great.
I cherry pick sales usually.

This is probably my favorite Icon set. Supposed to be a coupon for it next week taking it down to $27 I believe.

https://www.harborfreight.com/...-35-piece-58074.html

Icon is all made in Taiwan, I believe. They seem on par with NAPA Carlyle, which I’ve found to be quite good.

I am an SK, Wright, and Proto tools type of guy along with my American Made Craftsman.

But.. When I am traveling working shutdowns at steel and saw mills, power plants, etc.. I use Icon and Tekton sockets and wrenches.

I try to keep my tools as close to me as possible but every so often some still have a tendency to walk off.

I was/am surprised how well my ICON and even Pittsburgh have held up.

For ratchets though I use my Proto or SK.

I have nothing to compare my Icon 1/2” drive split beam torque wrench to but a clicky Craftsman I’ve had forever and a cheap one I bought on sale at a national auto parts store to leave in the truck. With a good coupon and made in Taiwan, I figured what the heck. Seems to work well.

there is a video on youtube comparing them to snap on with the snap on rep there and the icon out performed the snap on tools. hard to believe I know but search for it.

Just bought Icon metric socket set to do engine mounts on my Ford. Made quick work with no issues and nice snug fit on bolts.

I work maintenance at a mental health facility, and I use mostly Icon and Knipex at work.
At home, I have a mixture of Snap On, USA Craftsman, ICON, and GearWrench. They all work fine for what I do.

I do feel a difference between Icon and Snap On ratchets, mainly the back-drag being a lot more in the ICONs.

Having a HF store a half mile away from my home is a huge plus.

ICON's copy successful designs like Knipex and others. I bought an interesting pipe wrench that I ended up not needing. The ease of HF returns should be an invitation to check out some other ICON tools, no risk, maybe a nice tool, still reasonable prices.

Won't the tariffs put a hurting on HF?

As somebody that owned a tool company for over 20 years, I will buy some of their tools for home use. As a business, we were always pushing the top tear tools for commercial constant use. And rebuildable when they fail.

Having said that, I do have some HF tools for home use. Ratchets and other hand tools are pretty darn good for occasional use. Their torque wrenches are pretty damn accurate compared to the big boys at a fraction the price. I will NEVER buy any of their abrasives as I know of a few that were injured by spinning exploding sandpaper and grinding wheels. I also do not buy any of their power tools. Some of their air tools are decent and their paint sprayguns are an outstanding value for occasional use. Again, in a commercial constant use environment they are a waste of money.

While I generally try to avoid China tools, for occasional use the value works out for home use.

quote:

Originally posted by blueye:

Just bought Icon metric socket set

How long did it take to lose the 10mm socket?

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Harbor Freight 10mm socket set

Cannot lie, I have one of those! I’ve lost more 10mm sockets than any other size with 13mm coming in second.

That's funny. I've never lost a socket of any size, but I did lose a 13mm wrench out of one of my sets. I just know I'll find it someday!

I have a few tools. They are on par with Gearwrench, Tekton, Capri, etc. What's nice about them is the lifetime warranty with walk-in replacements if you have a store near you. I have mostly Tekton because I prefer the no-skip sizes being in the rust-belt.

Royalty Auto Care has a number of videos (you tube, IG, FB) he’s done comparing snap on to icon. The guy has spent easily over 200k on snap on. Often finds the icons on par or better

I'll shop at Harbor Freight occasionally for limited use tools or things that are otherwise hard to find or where I don't need a top of the line version. However, I draw the line at wrenches, sockets and ratchets. I am fortunate to have acquired an extensive set of Snap-On stuff when I was younger, mostly used, for a fraction of the cost new or even what it would cost used today. I've never lost or broken a Snap-On tool in over 25 years of wrenching, so I'd say it was a pretty good investment. If I was starting out today, not sure what I'd do. Back when in the 90s, Craftsman was a very viable option. Today, there aren't many affordable options that aren't made overseas.

I've always had a low opinion of Harbor Freight, starting from back in the 90s when I lived in LA and most of what they sold was pretty junky. Their quality has come a long way since then, but it's still one of those companies I'd prefer not to support very much, especially if you look into the politics of the owner (it is privately held).