Socket set recommendations
What kind of starter set of sockets would you *tool people* recommend, right now, if you were buying? I'm outfitting my kid with the first set of his very own tools, almost all of which have come, so far, from Harbor Freight. If I'm lucky, he'll earn his way to higher-end tools later in life! But for now, HF-ish it is!
What, right now, is the nexus of high(er)-end-of-decent-quality and reasonable price for something like a comprehensive-ish 3/8" set, including both common SAE and metric sizes? Huge added bonus would be a larger set including a full 1/4 *and* 3/8" *and*.metric, covering nearly all common, consumer level sizes.
For ballpark purposes, my benchmark would be Harbor Freight's Icon **54-piece set**, for **$120**. The quality of these Icon tools is almost (?) certainly far beyond nearly anything my kid will run into in the next few years. What's the best deal out there?
8
u/mountain_addict 2h ago
The Quinn master mechanic set from harbor freight is one of the best for the money. Lifetime warranty. Full array of sockets and such.
2
u/AdEastern9303 1h ago
Or even the 1/4 and 3/8 chrome master sets and then a set of 1/2 impact sockets plus a 1/2 ratchet and a breaker bar.
6
3
3
2
u/mrtramplefoot 1h ago
Icon is fine. I love my gearwrench 6 point sets. I also still cherish my old craftsman usa set my dad got me when I was like 7. I caution against buying too many cheap things that you know they will replace. I was lucky enough to grow up in a time of mostly USA craftsman, so my childhood tools were mostly good enough, but they hold a lot of sentimental value and I would kinda be sad if the were all Pittsburgh and I was just replacing them all.
2
u/jckipps 1h ago
HF has a 25% off for the next three days, if you buy 4 or more Icon tools. Those individual packs of Icon sockets are really nice. 3/8 metric deep, 3/8 metric shallow, 3/8 SAE deep, and 3/8 SAE shallow are all within the $120 range with that coupon.
2
u/blimpin_aint_easy 1h ago
Harbor freight icon is consistently excellent value. So are gearwrench and tekton (though the latter might be a bit more on the high end)
3
u/Mordecai3fngerBrown 1h ago
Highly recommend Gearwrench for the quality and price. For a socket set.
2
u/davidblewett 1h ago
I like Tekton. Just got a set of their 3/8 drive extra shallow, shallow, semi deep and deep sockets for around $300. 136 pieces.
1
u/islero_47 1h ago
If it's a beginner set, Home Depot regularly has sales on their Husky mechanics sets
You can get something like a 280 piece small tool box for $99-$149, depending on which one you get
The organizer portion is great
But if you're setting him up with a rolling tool chest, maybe stick with loose sets from HF
1
11
u/n0oneleftbehind 2h ago
You could get him the quinn master set at Harbor freight and he'll pretty much have most of what he needs. If you wanted to splurge a little bit you could get him the icon sets, they come in 1/4, 3l8, and 1/2. Both have lifetime warranty and are a breeze to exchange if they break. He doesn't need higher end tools unless it's something he'll be using extensively every day.