2025 test20 productsHand Tools
Which Bolt And Screw Extractor Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 20 bolt and screw extractor options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Ranked first
Craftsman
Price shown in test: $9, the least expensive bolt extractor tested
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Damaged screw extraction torque | Grade 3 (soft) bolt torque | Grade 8 (hard) bolt torque | Damaged screw extraction torque (multi-spline style) | Grade 3 (soft) bolt torque, multi-spline style | Grade 3 (soft) bolt torque, spiral flute style | Grade 8 (hard) bolt torque, multi-spline style | Initial damaged screw test | Grade 3 bolt drilling retest | Final deck screw test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Craftsman$9, the least expensive bolt extractor tested | lost grip at only 15 in-lb, worst of the bolt-extractor group in this round, and experienced a lot of damage | broke at 91.27 ft lbs | broke at 154.8 ft lbs, second place behind Irwin | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 2GearWrench$20 | lost grip at 55 in-lb, small amount of damage | gave up early under 45 ft lbs; no spiral flutes, so performance depended heavily on hammered-in depth | just under 98 ft lbs, more than double its grade 3 result | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 3Bosch 12-piece kit$28 | the extractor broke, with the broken piece left embedded in the screw | eclipsed Craftsman at over 91 ft lbs before breaking under 110 ft lbs, with extractor pieces flying everywhere | not tested, skipped after breaking on the grade 3 bolt | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 4Thinpro$30 | lost grip at 70 in-lb, the best result so far at that point in testing, small amount of damage | gave up soonest of all extractors tested to that point, under 30 ft lbs, with a lot of damage | broke early at 70.53 ft lbs, leaving a broken extractor embedded in the bolt | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 5Topec$32 | extractor broke at 128 in-lb after gaining a very strong grip; a piece of the broken extractor stayed stuck in the screw | lost grip at 124.2 ft lbs, third place, extractor still in very good condition | lost grip at a figure the transcript states as '116.6 in lbs' while every other grade 8 result in this section is given in ft lbs; likely a unit caption error, kept verbatim; moved into second place behind Craftsman | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 6Neiko$35 | broke at 133 in-lb, better than Topec's 128 in-lb | lost grip at 98.49 ft lbs, extractor still in very good condition | lost grip at just under 68 ft lbs | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 7Irwin$40 | struggled to gain a good grip, let go at only 39 in-lb, but held up well with only a small amount of damage | lost grip at 89.49 ft lbs | broke at 197.7 ft lbs, best of all bolt extractors tested on the hard grade 8 bolt | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 8Icon$60, sold at Harbor Freight | broke at 135 in-lb, moving into the lead over Neiko; extractor left stuck in the screw | just under 136 ft lbs (135.9), second place behind Coobeast | lost grip early at just under 73 ft lbs despite the strong grade 3 result | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 9Coobeast 35-piece kit, multi-spline and spiral flute styles$70 | not tested | not tested | not tested | its own drill bit broke before finishing; switched to prior drill bit; extractor broke at only 88 in-lb | 115.5 ft lbs | 163.8 ft lbs, best of all bolt extractors tested on the grade 3 bolt, though it split the bolt | lost grip early at 74.3 ft lbs, then broke at 148.6 ft lbs, third place | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 10Stahlwille$99 | broke at 95 in-lb, moving into fourth place behind Topec | lost grip at 92.8 ft lbs, minor damage | gave up early at 51.67 ft lbs; the flutes were too soft and became bent when pounded into position | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 11Snap-on$108 before shipping, handling, and tax, or $144 after | did not break; test stopped at 201 in-lb to protect the torque adapter, the best result of all bolt extractors | lost grip at 102.9 ft lbs when the bolt split | gave up early at just under 95 ft lbs, struggling on hard metal like the other multi-spline extractors | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 12Mata1$5, the least expensive screw extractor tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | reached only 3 in-lb of torque, far too little to extract a screw; drill bit used up and extractor described as not having an aggressive bite | reached 67 in-lb before slipping; drill bit leading edge in very bad condition but extractor still in pretty good shape | drill bit struggled badly and experienced a lot of damage; extractor did not offer enough grip to extract the screw |
| 13TNTLEAYS$8 | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | 71 in-lb, second place among screw extractors behind Grabit Pro's 115 in-lb | 153 in-lb, 86 in-lb better than Mata1's 67 in-lb; drill and extractor still in pretty good condition | drill bit could not penetrate the screw, described as in very bad condition |
| 14THOSAF$9 | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | lost grip at 47 in-lb, third place among screw extractors tested that round, drill experienced some wear | reached 252 in-lb, moving into the lead for that round; drill bit and extractor still in very good condition | did the best job of the round at drilling into the screw, but the extractor still could not gain enough grip to extract it |
| 15RIYCOUWT$10 | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | drill bit destroyed by a relatively soft screw; screw itself remained in very good condition, extraction failed | drill bit too soft and dull, destroyed; test skipped | brand new drill bit turned into metal dust on contact, extraction failed again |
| 16AHYBZN Gold$13 | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | gave up very early at only 20 in-lb; drill bit and extractor both badly damaged | drill bit too soft, gave up at 41 in-lb, not nearly enough to extract a deck screw; drill and extractor both in pretty bad condition | drilled slightly better but was destroyed almost immediately; not enough progress for the extractor to gain a grip |
| 17Yakamoz 22-piece mini damaged screw extractor kit$13 | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | reached only 11 in-lb; drill bit and extractor both experienced heavy damage | drilled into the bolt fairly well but the extractor only reached 7 in-lb of grip; drill bit used up | made some drilling progress but not enough to be effective; extractor could not gain a good enough grip |
| 18Titan$14 | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | very brittle, broke on contact with the screw; not enough progress to test the extractor itself | drilled the relatively soft bolt easily; extractor performed well at 223 in-lb before losing grip, drill and extractor still in very good condition | broke apart again on contact with the screw, described as definitely too brittle |
| 19SpeedOut$15 | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | turned into metal dust on contact with the screw, described as super soft | still had not improved since a test 4 years earlier per the presenter; drill bit badly damaged | drill melted on contact with the screw |
| 20Grabit Pro$30 | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | came out on top of all screw extractors at 115 in-lb, drill bit and extractor still in very good condition | the number 3 drill bit was not properly shaped and could not make enough progress to test the extractor | the only extractor able to successfully extract the screw, and was even able to extract additional screws without first drilling into them |
How it was tested
- baseline torque to remove undamaged screws (context test, not extractor-specific)
- damaged/rounded screw extraction torque test, bolt-extractor style (in-lb)
- soft grade 3 bolt extraction torque test (ft-lb), bolt-extractor style
- hard grade 8 bolt extraction torque test (ft-lb), bolt-extractor style
- screw-extractor style drilling and extraction torque test on a damaged screw (in-lb)
- screw-extractor style drilling-into-a-grade-3-bolt retest (in-lb)
- screw-extractor style final retest on 3.5 inch deck screws driven into a 4x4