2024 test10 productsHand Tools
Which Home Tool Kit Brand Wins?
We compared 10 home tool kit options head to head. Kobalt came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Winner
Kobalt
Price shown in test: $129
Check price on Amazon
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Runner-up
Craftsman
Price shown in test: $112
Check price on Amazon
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Budget pick
FastPro
Price shown in test: $60
Check price on Amazon
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
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 | Tools Out Of Position | Piece Count | Weight | Adjustable Wrench Test | Socket Torque Test | Hammer Quality | Hammer Handle Failure Test | Ratchet Arc Swing Test | Ratchet Strength Test | Wrench Strength Test | Screwdriver Cam Out Test | T 25 Bit Test | Utility Knife Sharpness | Made In | Drill Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Kobalt Home Owner's Tool Set$129 | just a few tools out of position | 268 pieces; offers 1/4 in and 3/8 in drive metric and SAE shallow sockets and a 3/8 in drive ratchet | just under 13 lb | 6 in wrench, lightest in the lineup at just over 130 g, smallest jaw opening at 0.82 in, quite a bit of slop; peak torque 52.65 ft-lb (about 25 ft-lb less than the Getuhand 6 in wrench); no visible damage | over 28 g, held up just fine well over 200 ft-lb of torque | close second behind Craftsman in the subjective vibration/wear ranking | 16 oz hammer, handle broke at 203.3 ft-lb, second-best handle strength of all kits, behind Craftsman | 92-tooth ratchet with a narrow handle, won this test outright at 18.8 passes to complete a full rotation, described as running 'circles around the competition' | third place at 245.6 ft-lb; the 3/8 in drive held up fine but the internal gear set let go | skipped - kit does not come with a full-size wrench for this second strength test | Phillips #2 cammed out at 86 in-lb, described as 'actually pretty good' | 135 in-lb, took third place from Craftsman | sharpness score of 105, second place behind Getuhand's 95 (lower score is sharper) | not tested | not tested |
| 2Craftsman$112 | only two tools out of position | fewer tools than many other kits (exact count not stated); comes with a blow-molded carrying case and a lifetime warranty | 12.58 lb | 6 in wrench, pretty light at 133.8 g, jaw span 0.94 in, quite a bit of slop for a 6 in wrench; peak torque 56.35 ft-lb (gave up pretty early); no visible damage | almost 30 g; more than enough strength, narrator ended the test way too late at 232 ft-lb without failure | best hammer in the subjective vibration/wear ranking | 16 oz hammer, handle broke at 242.3 ft-lb, the strongest handle result of all 10 kits | smaller handle helped it move into a distant second place at 23.6 passes, behind Kobalt's 18.8 | initial failure at 150 ft-lb, described as 'pretty disappointing'; a secondary-impact torque-spike figure is missing from the transcript ('caused a torque to spike ft lbs' with no number given) | skipped - kit does not come with a full-size wrench for this test | Phillips #2 cammed out at 100 in-lb, second place behind Eastvolt | 121 in-lb, moved into third place behind Sundpey and FastPro before Kobalt later took that spot | sharpness score of 145, described as 'sharper than average' | China | not tested |
| 3FastPro$60 | not tested | 236 pieces, includes a 12 in wide mouth open storage bag; pliers claimed forged steel and heat treated, sockets and combination wrenches claimed chrome vanadium steel | 9.2 lb | 8 in wrench, weighs 263.59 g, jaw opening just over 1 in, less slop than Sundpey and about the same as Getuhand; peak torque 88.64 ft-lb (best result at that point in testing); held up better than the Sundpey | 26.48 g, survived the 200 ft-lb load without a problem | not tested | 8 oz hammer, handle broke at 142.2 ft-lb, moved into the lead over Sundpey at that point | narrower handle than Sundpey/Getuhand gave a slight advantage, moved into the lead at 23.8 passes (third place in the closing recap) | 253.2 ft-lb, second place; drive broke but the handle did not bend | wrench gave up at just under 60 ft-lb (59.91 ft-lb), third place in the closing recap; lower jaw had a deep gouge, upper jaw badly damaged; closed/box end held up and became badly bent at 145.8 ft-lb, the best result yet at that point | performed a little better than Getuhand at 83 in-lb; tip sheared off as it cammed out | tied for first place with Sundpey at 144 in-lb; bit twisted right before it sheared | sharpness score of 145, described as 'pretty sharp' | China | not tested |
| 4Sundpey$52, least expensive kit tested | a lot of tools within the kit are out of position | claimed 281 pieces; does not include clamps, locking pliers, scissors, hacksaw, or utility knife | 10.5 lb | 8 in wrench, weighs almost 300 g, jaw span just over 1 in, a lot of slop; peak torque just under 55 ft-lb (gave up early); the soft coupling nut used in testing actually caused damage to the wrench | under 21 g, blew out at 136.3 ft-lb, 'definitely not the best durability and strength as advertised' | not tested | handle broke at 113.5 ft-lb | only about 15 degrees of progress per pass in the 30 degree space; needed 24 right-to-left passes for a full rotation, 'definitely not very efficient' | handle began bending at 130 ft-lb, ratchet broke at 213.2 ft-lb ('isn't too bad'); internal ratcheting mechanism was the failure point | gave up at just under 55 ft-lb again, jaw stretched with significant damage to upper and lower jaws; closed/box end began bending around 100 ft-lb, test ended at a peak of 128.4 ft-lb, wrench badly bent | cammed out at 80 in-lb and was completely destroyed during the test, described as 'pretty soft' | tied for first place with FastPro at 144 in-lb, 'a lot better than expected'; bit began twisting right before it sheared | skipped - kit does not include a utility knife | China | not tested |
| 5Eastvolt$63 | not tested | 218 pieces, claimed 'professional grade tools' | 12.9 lb, heaviest kit at that point in testing | 8 in wrench, just over 270 g, jaw spread just over 1 in, build quality about the same as FastPro; peak torque just over 92 ft-lb (92.05 ft-lb final tally), the single best adjustable-wrench result of all 10 kits; no visible damage | only 21.32 g ('on a serious diet'), blew out at 117.6 ft-lb, 'definitely not the best durability and strength as advertised' | not tested | handle bent and then broke at only 67.8 ft-lb, 'really struggled in this test' | much larger handle than the first three ratchets got in the way; 24.4 passes for a full rotation | gave up sooner than Sundpey at only 154.3 ft-lb when the mechanism let go; catastrophic failure occurred at 156.8 ft-lb | threw in the towel quickest of all kits at only 47.15 ft-lb; deep gouge in the lower jaw, big dent in the upper jaw; closed/box end held up and became badly bent at 139 ft-lb | performed very well at 105 in-lb to take the lead at that point, despite 'struggling on most of the tests in this review'; tip sheared off during the test | gave up early at only 107 in-lb despite the strongest Phillips-screwdriver result; bit was 'way too soft' and twisted badly | sharpness score of 135, third place, 'even sharper than the Fast Pro' | China | not tested |
| 6Pittsburgh$65, sold at Harbor Freight | about half the tools out of place ('with the help of FedEx') | 146 pieces: 3/8 in ratchet, 33 8-in quarter-inch-drive sockets, 12 combination wrenches, 22 hex keys, 81 miscellaneous tools | 13.7 lb | just over 278 g, second heaviest at that point, jaw spread 0.94 in, quite a bit of slop; peak torque only 63.38 ft-lb ('threw in the towel early'); the thumb screw suffered catastrophic damage, 'this wrench is now ruined' | over 26 g, easily handled the 200 ft-lb load | distant third in the subjective vibration/wear ranking | strongest hammer of the light-duty group at 161.7 ft-lb (larger physical hammer than the others) | narrow handle but a sloppy ratcheting mechanism; struggled at 27 right-to-left passes, the worst result of the arc-swing test | solid drive but poor metal quality; drive broke at only 170.3 ft-lb | wrench broke into two pieces at 58.51 ft-lb; narrator jokes 'I see why some people call it Hazard Freight' due to the eye-injury risk; closed/box end held up but became badly bent at 117.7 ft-lb | cammed out at only 52 in-lb, struggled; the tip survived but with a lot of damage | 104 in-lb, bit was 'way too soft' | no score stated in the transcript for this brand | not tested | not tested |
| 7Amazon Basics$70 | a few tools out of position, but better than Pittsburgh | 173 pieces: 8 combination wrenches, 3/8 in ratchet, 22 hex keys, 6 in slip joint pliers, 6 in long nose pliers, and more | 11.2 lb | not included in this kit; excluded from the adjustable-wrench torque test and leaderboard | just over 21 g, surprisingly survived over 200 ft-lb of torque | not tested | 8 oz hammer, handle broke at 135 ft-lb, described as performing well | large handle like Getuhand; completed one full rotation in 24 passes | began bending at only 100 ft-lb, ratcheting mechanism broke at only 160.2 ft-lb, 'definitely a very light-duty tool' | gave up early at only 38.89 ft-lb, a lot of damage to upper and lower jaws even at that low torque; closed/box end slightly stronger than Pittsburgh at 131.8 ft-lb when it became badly bent | made of pretty soft metal, gave up at only 56 in-lb, tip destroyed | skipped - kit does not come with a T25 bit | sharpness score of 215, 'just isn't very sharp for a utility knife blade', the worst (least sharp) score of all kits tested | China | not tested |
| 8DEKOPRO$90 | most tools stayed in the proper location, 'definitely the best yet' at that point in testing | 218-piece general household hand tool kit; claimed forged from high-strength impact grade chrome vanadium steel; claimed to meet or exceed ANSI critical standards | just over 14 lb, heaviest kit at that point | 8 in wrench, 277.1 g (about the same as Pittsburgh), largest jaw span yet at 1.19 in but with quite a bit of slop; peak torque 71.58 ft-lb (about 20 ft-lb less than Eastvolt); small amount of damage to the lower jaw | just over 30 g, easily withstood well over 200 ft-lb of torque | not tested | not tested | the transcript's phrasing for this test is ambiguous between this kit and the DEKOPRO Pink Tool: it states 'the Deko is finally finished in 24.5 right-to-left swings. And the Deko paint looks different than the Deko Pro, but it performed the same at 24 back and forth passes' - kept both figures (24.5 and 24) but the exact assignment between the two Deko products is uncertain, flagged rather than guessed | ratchet let go at 156 ft-lb; a secondary impact inside the gearbox caused a torque spike to 171.9 ft-lb, 'definitely a light-duty ratchet' | won this test outright per the closing recap, finally letting go at just over 75 ft-lb; lower jaw has a deep gouge, upper jaw a large dent; closed/box end became badly bent at 119.3 ft-lb | performed very well at 78 in-lb; tip completely mangled | 108 in-lb, outperformed Pittsburgh but not by much; some twisting before it sheared | sharpness score of 225 (worse than Amazon Basics' 215), 'also struggled in this test' | China | not tested |
| 9DEKOPRO Pink Tool$90 | just about all tools stayed in place, like the regular DEKOPRO kit | 238 pieces (vs 218 for the regular DEKOPRO kit); includes a 12V cordless drill with a 1.5 amp hour rechargeable lithium ion battery | not tested | smaller jaw opening than the regular DEKOPRO at 1.04 in, weighs about 12 g less; a lot of slop in the jaw; peak torque 86.38 ft-lb, third place in the final adjustable-wrench standings behind Eastvolt and FastPro; small amount of damage to the lower jaw | only 21.35 g, 'might just be in trouble'; blew out at 193.6 ft-lb, a sudden blowout narrator says 'will definitely cause some busted knuckles' | not tested | compact hammer, handle broke at 133.8 ft-lb, described as performing well for a compact hammer | see the regular DEKOPRO entry's notes; transcript's 'the Deko paint looks different than the Deko Pro, but it performed the same at 24 back and forth passes' likely refers to this pink unit relative to the regular kit, but the exact attribution is ambiguous | handle began bending at 115 ft-lb, ratcheting gear set let go at 164.7 ft-lb when the mechanism completely failed | very light-duty result: lower jaw broke at only 30 ft-lb (not enough torque to damage the upper jaw); wrench broke into two pieces at 114.1 ft-lb, 'a very poor quality wrench built with very poor quality metal' | performed better than the regular DEKOPRO kit at 87 in-lb; flutes began twisting and the tip sheared off | performed a little better than the regular DEKOPRO at 110 in-lb; small amount of twist just before the bit broke | sharpness score of 170, outperformed the regular DEKOPRO kit's 225 | China | the only kit in the video with a drill; drove a 3.25 in screw in about 3.5 seconds, stalling at 26 in-lb; also tested against a lag bolt and again stopped at 26 in-lb; verdict: 'not a bad drill but definitely designed for very light duty' |
| 10Getuhand$60 | not tested | 188 pieces, comes in a large-mouth tool bag with 15 pockets; claimed to meet or exceed ANSI standards | 11.12 lb | 6 in wrench, very small and light at 138.95 g (less than half the weight of Sundpey's), pretty big mouth at 0.81 in; peak torque 77.74 ft-lb, 'pretty impressive for a 6 in adjustable wrench'; held up quite a bit better than Sundpey | under 21 g, gave up even sooner than Sundpey at very close to 90 ft-lb, 'that's a lot of damage' | not tested | handle broke at only 89.5 ft-lb, 'really struggled in this test' | making about the same progress per pass as Sundpey (15 degrees); finished in 24 right-to-left passes, same as Sundpey | won this test outright at 264.5 ft-lb, 'much better build quality than the Sun Pay'; ratchet handle did not bend, but the drive broke | second place in the closing recap at 72.25 ft-lb, 'actually pretty good for a home tool set wrench'; however soft metal caused pretty bad damage to upper and lower jaws; closed/box end held up and began bending around 100 ft-lb, test ended at just under 130 ft-lb with the wrench badly bent | cammed out at 89 in-lb with catastrophic damage, 'better constructed than the Sun Pay' | 104 in-lb, 'outperformed the Sun Pay on most of the tests, but not this time'; bit was 'just way too brittle' | sharpness score of 95, the sharpest of all kits tested, 'did a fantastic job' | China | not tested |
How it was tested
- adjustable wrench torque test (peak torque before failure, calibrated torque wrench tester with a soft coupling nut)
- socket torque/durability test (piece of Allen wrench held in socket, torque up to and beyond 200 ft-lb)
- hammer quality (subjective vibration/wear ranking) and handle failure load test
- ratchet working arc swing test (passes needed to complete a full rotation in a 30 degree space)
- ratchet strength/failure load test
- second wrench strength/durability test (jaw damage and bend point using Allen wrench pieces)
- Phillips #2 screwdriver cam-out load test (drill press with weighted lever arm, about 70 lb downward force)
- T25 star bit failure load test
- utility knife sharpness test (Best Certified Sharpness Tester)
- cordless drill screw-driving test (only the kit that includes a drill)
- tool positioning/organization inspection after shipping
- weight
“the Kobalt has the best overall finish or ranking of 3.1”
Data notes and caveats
The transcript's 'DeWalt Pro' and 'DeWalt pink' kits are judged to be systematic auto-caption mishearings of 'Deko'/'DEKOPRO' (the brand appears directly as 'Deko Pro' once and 'Duko' twice elsewhere in the same transcript, and the description lists no DeWalt product at all, only DEKOPRO and a separate 'Deko Pink Tool'). Resolved both to DEKOPRO (regular and Pink Tool variants) rather than treating them as a real DeWalt product. One numeric gap: the Craftsman ratchet-strength secondary-spike torque figure is missing from the transcript. One ambiguous attribution: the ratchet-arc-swing figures for the two Deko products (24.5 vs 24 passes) are not clearly assigned to which of the two kits.