ridgid hand tools

Sounds like you couldn't be worse off

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>I'm always kind of amazed when toolmakers commit that kind of engineering compromise - but, as a friend of mine (ex-engineering major) once pointed out, the art of engineering is the making of the desired product at the lowest possible price.

I'm always on the lookout at garage sales for Snap-on screwdrivers and have collected a couple - good handle, GREAT steel.

My very favorite screwdriver *LINK*

Russell Seaton

>is the Craftsman/Klein 5 in 1 screwdriver. #1 and #2 Phillips and small and medium flat screwdriver all in one package. Nice comfortable handle too. All for $5 for the Craftsman brand or $6 for the Klein. I think both are Klein. A great, wonderful, perfect, etc. screwdriver.

Now I have lots of other single purpose non combination screwdrivers, but the 5 in 1 is always kept close because I never know which type and size of screw is going to need screwing today. Don't get the 10 in 1 screwdrivers. They are too busy. Maybe in the car glove box for an emergency tool they are OK, but not for a use it everyday tool.

This opinion has absolutely nothing to do with your post. But this is the internet and nothing really has to be on topic.

This is the 10 in 1 screwdriver.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00947480000




5 in 1 screwdriver

Re: Sounds like you couldn't be worse off

Jack from Maine

>Take any one of your snap-on screwdrivers to a shop when you see a snap-on truck up front. They'll put in a new blade free of charge. Forever.

I like those six-in-one screwdrivers they sell everywhere. The bits are hardened.---Crackerjack

Re: ridgid hand tools

Randy Johnson Connersville, IN

>Forget any of the brands you have mentioned.

Go to Lowe's or Sears and get screwdrivers made by Kline. Their phillips heads are particulary good.

Don't blame the manufacturer

Bill Tindall, E. TN

>Klein makes an excellent screwdriver. The Phillips hold up well.

There has been a great change in American manufacturing in the past 20 years. In the past Stanley, and other manufacturers, decided what was a good screw driver, made it and stocked it in a multitude of hardware stores across the land. Now nearly all of Stanley's (and other's) business is concentrated in Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot. These giant purchasers now tell Stanley what price to meet to be a screw driver supplier to them. Stanley meets the price by cutting cost what ever way they can, or they loose the business. As a result, quality declines and manufacturing goes to cheaper labor sources. I worked at a company that was the plastic supplier to Stanley and I know first hand what was happening to their products as a result of their customes(Walmart) dictating price. I saw the same thing in other products, for example tape.

In cases, brand name companies now make products just for these retailers. For example the Michelin tires one gets at Sam's are not the same as one gets from an independent tire store. One presumes cost(and performance?) has been cut on the Sam's model. Ditto for Coleman products and lighting fixtures.

If I am looking for quality I don't shop at the big stores.