Harbor Freight Reviews

Link: http://HarborFreightReviews.com

Item: 52-Piece Socket Set (SAE & metric)
Item number: 35338
Retail price: $9.99
Regular sale price: $7.99 (with coupon)
Target price: $7.99
Item Link

Click here for coupon through 02 August 2010

This 52-piece socket set contains both SAE and metric sockets. For us baby boomers, it's a marvel of modern technology: not because of its function (yes, my son, socket sets have been around for a long time ) but because of its price. It doesn't seem that long ago that a socket set covering just SAE or just metric cost several times this much. And therein lies much of the appeal of Harbor Freight™ for many of us 'older' folks.

A little (more) Harbor Freight™ tool-buyer's philosophy:
I still have my first socket set. It was a gift from my brother (now deceased) and a rather expensive item at that. It's a Craftsman™ set covering basic SAE sizes and cost around $20 at the time (that would be $40 or $50 in today's money; hum, am I giving away my age?). I've used this set over the years for all of my work (mostly automotive and home repairs) and considering it's a 3/8" drive size certainly abused it on occasion (i.e., should have been using at least 1/2" drive for the work I was doing). It has held up well and I still use it today. Sears™ certainly sold me on the quality of their Craftsman™ tools with this early purchase -- they could have given the set away for the imprinting it performed, keeping me a loyal Craftsman™ customer over the years and having me extol the quality of their products to others.

Even as I purchased socket and wrench sets as an adult, the prices always seemed rather high for quality tools and the imports were strictly junk that broke after regular use and were never capable of even a little abuse. Each time I purchased a set I was faced with the dilemma of whether to buy the traditional SAE or the newer metric size as an increasing number of products were being imported using metric-sized nuts and bolts. Enter Harbor Freight™ tools.

Harbor Freight™ provides an outlet for generally medium-quality tools at deep discount prices (In my book they accomplished their mission of making "it easier for working people to get the best value possible on top-quality tools.") For many of us baby boomers it's like a child in a candy store each time we visit Harbor Freight™. What am I going to buy next? So each time I enter my local Harbor Freight™ store I instantly feel like a rich man: I can 'afford' to buy all sorts of tools that were too pricey in my recent memory. And I buy, buy, buy, admittedly today shopping for the best possible price on each item.

Younger people have different expectations. Many of them are use to getting everything 'on-the-cheap' and expecting good-quality at very low prices. Then they're disappointed when their 'cheap' item doesn't hold up to heavy use. But then they live in an era where coffee is drunk out of a Styrofoam cup most everywhere (Yes, even the self-proclaimed upscale coffee shops have switched from china to disposable cups -- how crude! ) and where everything is seemingly disposable. What did they expect from an inexpensive socket set? For us 'older' folks Harbor Freight™ is great (nice rhyme, perhaps that should be their mantra). They provide low-cost tools that are generally acceptable quality for all but 'professional-level' work and they even fit that bill with some items.

This socket set makes our Hot Buys list as a light- to medium-duty set (click here for a discussion of: Is it light or is it medium duty?). The convenience of having both SAE and metric sockets in a compact storage case outweighs any minor limitations in the quality of the item. Other online reviewers have complained that this set doesn't hold up to regular use, but then their expectations may be much different than ours (hey, buy a Craftsman™ for that serious work). In all honesty we haven't used this set very much yet. If we find, after more extensive testing, that it doesn't hold up to home and light-shop use, we'll be happy to revise our preliminary review and product recommendation accordingly. Meanwhile, this is a great buy at the target price as a duplicate set for normal home and occasional light-shop use.

Follow up:

Addendum: "Doctor heal thyself." Shortly after writing this review this morning I made a large pick-up of Harbor Freight tools, stuffing items into every nook and cranny I could find in my wife's wheelchair-lift equipped van. I was doing very well, slowly and methodically using every inch of space until the fork-lift driver brought out the large woodcutting bandsaw that I had just purchased at a very good price (product review to follow in the upcoming months). Oops, where's that going to go? Ah, the base can be removed from the top splitting the 179-lb saw into two more manageable pieces. Uh, this is my WIFE'S van and even though I have to do the driving for her I neglected to add my usual assortment of automotive tools to the luggage space. So over the course of the next half-hour I slowly and painfully wrestled it into the van. Guess what? I'm going out tomorrow (too late tonight) to buy another one of these 52-piece socket sets myself for her van! It would have covered the nuts that needed to be removed, whether they were SAE or metric. (I would have gladly paid double the full retail price to have had use of it today.) Meanwhile, the only 'nut' that moved was me, slowly and painfully squeezing the heavy bandsaw into the van as one large piece.

Moral of this story: buy the damn socket set and put it where you think you might need it someday, and then be thankful you did when it finally saves your butt. If you want a set of sockets for heavy, everyday use, buy Craftsman™ -- you'll probably be happier. But don't degrade the usefulness of this nice little set which will cover a lot of your other needs and the entire needs of some people. Thank you Harbor Freight™ for saving my butt, next time, by making these comprehensive sets available inexpensively. (FYI: I do keep a small tool kit in my Jeep and quite a large assortment of tools in our motor home, but my wife's van, well, I missed that one and paid dearly for my negligence today.) "Doctor, heal thyself!"

Bottom line: A good buy for a light-duty socket set which makes an excellent 'extra' set or a compact travel set for emergency roadside repairs. Don't expect it to stand-up to heavy use despite the item's lifetime warranty and you won't be disappointed.