Great Price SocketSet if anyone is in market for 1.

[MrDavidRoberts]

Fairly sure those screwdriver bits/allen keys are there to just bump up the ''count''.
as for the sockets in different sizes, I think they are crucial..if you are working in tight spaces you really need just the perfect tool every time.
I threw that foam liner already out as It looked to me like a delivery packaging, I quite like the handles of them and if they are made properly they last just as long,time will tell.

 

[garethharvey]

Mine arrived yesterday, well pleased

 

[Simou1]

KS Tools badge-engineer tools produced in factories around the world. They were taken to court in Germany several years ago and fined for using 'Made In Germany' on some of their tools which had never even smelt a bratwurst.

KS socket sets are made in Taiwan, just like Snap-On, Teng, FACOM and the Halfords Professional series. There isn't a factory in Germany that could produce sockets of that quality and quantity at that price and the reason why Wera and Wiha have all their sockets, and many of their tools made in the Czech Republic is because of stratospheric labour costs in Germany. You will still see the German flag on their boxes, but 'Made in the Czech Republic' is printed on the bottom in the same way that some of the new Festool 18v drills are made in Poland.

I have one the Halfords professional socket sets, bought in one of their 'DFS Sofa like half price sales' and for the money it is a cracking bit of kit but I went to a Wera trade day, fell under the spell of the Wera Zyklop socket and Joker spanner sets and spent my children's inheritance with nary a tingling of remorse.

What I like about the Halfords set though is the lifetime warranty which I used when the ratchet went TU. Walked in, no receipt, walked out with brand new ratchet so having Halfords Professional stamped on the handle really does identify it as bought in Halfords!

If you do want proper 'Made in Germany' sockets then look to Stahlwille or Hazet.......but be prepared to pay.

 

[Rorschach]

I wasn't too fussed about where they are made as long as they are well made.

 

[paulrockliffe]

As for the sockets in different sizes, I think they are crucial..if you are working in tight spaces you really need just the perfect tool every time.

I was going to say the same, so many times when I'm spannering my car the available space determines the ratched that can be used, then the socket has to match (or not match) depending on how far you want the ratchet to sit from the bolt head so you can move the ratchet. Not had universal joints before, so hoping they'll help with that massively, but I'd definitely rather have repeat sockets, I suppose some people would prefer some imperial stuff too, for classic cars/machinery.

 

[Simou1]

I wasn't too fussed about where they are made as long as they are well made.

Nor should you, but the OP quoted 'proper German KSTools stuff', which implies that the socket set is German. It isn't, it is proper KSTaiwanese stuff and the very reason why KS Tools were taken to court as some customers, believing they were buying German made tools. felt that "Die Wolle war über ihre Augen gezogen worden" or the 'wool had been pulled over their eyes' as one of my German friends said.

Like the Halfords stuff, these sockets are very well made and should last a lifetime. One thing in Halfords favour, as I found out recently, is that the lifetime warranty will be honoured just down the road in your local branch rather than via Amazon or whoever handles KS in this country.

 

[AJB Temple]

Thanks for this post. Bought a set for my son.

 

[Rorschach]

I wasn't too fussed about where they are made as long as they are well made.

Nor should you, but the OP quoted 'proper German KSTools stuff', which implies that the socket set is German. It isn't, it is proper KSTaiwanese stuff and the very reason why KS Tools were taken to court as some customers, believing they were buying German made tools. felt that "Die Wolle war über ihre Augen gezogen worden" or the 'wool had been pulled over their eyes' as one of my German friends said.

Like the Halfords stuff, these sockets are very well made and should last a lifetime. One thing in Halfords favour, as I found out recently, is that the lifetime warranty will be honoured just down the road in your local branch rather than via Amazon or whoever handles KS in this country.

I priced up a similar set of Halford Pro, even on their half price offer they were still twice the price of what I paid. A lifetime warranty is a good thing to have if you work your tools hard, I do not, I am careful with my tools and even though up until now I have only had cheaper sockets, I have yet to break anything. Other people may find the extra cost is worth it for the warranty, for me, likely not. I doubt I will ever be able to break one of these sockets and of course I have many spares/duplicates. As for the ratchet, unlikely I will break one but we shall see, a lot of the time I use a cordless drill anyway if access allows.

 

[MikeJhn]

Another set of different make on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MU7GDW0?psc=1 Look more useful with spanners and basic live and continuity electrical test bits as well, nice to have spanners as well as sockets in the set so you can hold the other side of whatever you are undoing, Allen keys look a better spec as well.

Mike

 

[Rorschach]

Another set of different make on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MU7GDW0?psc=1 Look more useful with spanners and basic live and continuity electrical test bits as well, nice to have spanners as well as sockets in the set so you can hold the other side of whatever you are undoing, Allen keys look a better spec as well.

Mike

I dunno, that set looks a bit cheap and nasty, at least from first impressions.

This lidl set looks very simliar to the KS tools set, very similar bits and style of the parts. Slightly different parts and layout though. Seems to be a bit more general purpose in it's design since it focuses more on screwdriver bits too.

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Non-Food-Offe ... =2895&ar=6

 

[MrDavidRoberts]

Another set of different make on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MU7GDW0?psc=1 Look more useful with spanners and basic live and continuity electrical test bits as well, nice to have spanners as well as sockets in the set so you can hold the other side of whatever you are undoing, Allen keys look a better spec as well.

Mike

Straight from Poundland =D>
Remember guys it's the sockets / ratchets you should be looking at when buying these sets,not the useless screwdriver bits and other gimmicks they have included just to bump up the ''count''.If we take out all the useless/cheapo stuff from that set we are left with more or less nothing + there is a world of a difference in socket quality between the brands! Buy rubbish sets like those and they will damage all your bolts and the sockets themselves will crack like there's no tomorrow..


Just check the stuff you are buying and think for what exactly you are buying it, I have 3 cars myself , 2 of them old classic cars which I like to tinker with,than I got the duty of fixing/doing all the maintenance on my wifes car as well so I will actually use them on nothing else than car maintenance. I go to garages just to get MOT, everything else I can do myself.

 

[MikeJhn]

It does not look any worse/cheap and nasty than the original posting, but much more useful in any environment as you can take the spanners and sockets with you in one box, perfect for working on the lawn mower and such.

If you are working on classic cars, which I do, you get the best tools that money can buy, any rounding off to nuts and bolts can be a very expensive mistake, but then most of the important fixings on my classic's are Allen head so the sockets have to deal with just the lock nuts which tend to come off OK as most are assembled with copper slip.

Mike

 

[paulrockliffe]

It's pretty obvious when you compare the pictures that the second link is nowhere near the quality of the first!

 

[MikeJhn]

Not obvious to me, and you would be unable to tell unless you had both in your hands and compared like to like.

Draper used to sell the best socket sets you could find, but that was before Snap on existed or any other of the high end sets.

Mike