what kind of tools should I get?

[4seasons69]

ok so I am starting school in the fall and have to buy a bunch of tools and I am wonder what kind of tools anyone on here recommends. some of my choices are craftsman, napa, sk, matco, snap-on

[blageo23]

I dislike napa and SK. If I went back and did it again I would get snap on. I have craftsman and they are good.

[xveganxcowboyx]

I'm a fan of craftsman. Good compromise between quality and price. Lifetime warranty (on most things anyway). A lot of cheap brands offer a lifetime warranty as well, but you WILL have to use it.

[HiImBrian]

http://www.dsmstyle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15970
That thread has some good opinions in it.

[JET]

Nobody has the best of everything, but I like Matco and Mac the most. Snap-on is good, but usually spendy. SK makes nice sockets, the strongest I have found. Craftsman is mediocre for a lot of stuff, but the price is nice too. For things you don't use a lot, they are fine. I am actually really happy with Stanley ratches and sockets. Olympia makes a nice ratchet too (Norther Tool), they have the best feel I have found, especially the 1/4".

[DWs97GST]

I would start out with Gear ratchets. I love mine. Then some gear wrenches too. Got mine from Sears, lifetime warranty and honestly I use them more then any of the tools at the shop. But you will need another socket set. I suggest Craftsman. Thats all we use at the shop and never have any warranty problems.

[tim]

If you are dead set on turning wrenches for a long time then go with Snap-on or Mac. They do cost a lot more but it is for a reason. The wrenches fit your hand so much nicer and the the tolerances seem to be a lot tighter.

I will never buy anything more then Craftsman for the garage at home but now that I turn a wrench for 60hrs a week I will be definitely seeing the snap-on guy for the tools that I use the most.

As far as tool boxes though. The Craftsman Professional boxes are damn nice for the money. You are going to drop a pretty penny to be able to advertise snap-on or mac when in my opinion a nice Craftsman box will work just as good.

[Speedfreak]

By far my favorite is Husky. They have fared much better then my Craftsman or Snap On tools(over 6 years of heavy/severe use). Then you compare prices and it's a no brainer. If I had to do it all over again, I would not have wasted so much $ on Snap On, big waste if you ask me.

[4seasons69]

at school we get a 50% discount on snap on and a 55% discount on matco so I think I might look into one of those two. I would consider mac tools but I don't think we can get a deal on them through school and I don't want to have to pay full price for those right now

[tim]

50% off snap-on is a great deal. I cant imagine they give you much of a deal on Craftsman though do they? 50% off snap-on should be damn close to full price Craftsman. Maybe still a little more expensive but getting close anyway.