# Craftsman Pro Vs. Klein



## Frasbee (Apr 7, 2008)

Craftsman's forever warranty is hard to beat, even if some of their tools are complete trash.


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## Jmohl (Apr 26, 2011)

I have had great luck with Klein pliers and whenever I did have a problem, the supply house never gave me any trouble with a replacement. Big Box orange store, not so much.... That said, don't rule out knipex. I have been eyeballing the linemans and pump pliers for a little while now, and I think my tool kit is gonna get an early Christmas.... Sears USED to have a great return policy with craftsman,but now that they're Kmart, not so good. Yeah you got a bad tool they will replace it, with one that they refurbed....


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## Jamuz (Aug 8, 2007)

Jmohl said:


> I have had great luck with Klein pliers and whenever I did have a problem, the supply house never gave me any trouble with a replacement. Big Box orange store, not so much.... That said, don't rule out knipex. I have been eyeballing the linemans and pump pliers for a little while now, and I think my tool kit is gonna get an early Christmas.... Sears USED to have a great return policy with craftsman,but now that they're Kmart, not so good. Yeah you got a bad tool they will replace it, with one that they refurbed....



I never have a problem getting NEW Crapsman tools for warrantied stuff. They tell me to go to the shelf and grab what I need. How do you exactly refrub a screwdriver????


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

Jmohl said:


> I have had great luck with Klein pliers and whenever I did have a problem, the supply house never gave me any trouble with a replacement. Big Box orange store, not so much.... That said, don't rule out knipex. I have been eyeballing the linemans and pump pliers for a little while now, and I think my tool kit is gonna get an early Christmas.... Sears USED to have a great return policy with craftsman,but now that they're Kmart, not so good. Yeah you got a bad tool they will replace it, with one that they refurbed....


 
The Lowes closest to me has a set of two Knipex pump pliers (6"/10") for $19.99. I picked a set up this past weekend and have been using them all week. Nice pliers. They also had "clearance" tags on a long set of Knipex dikes and one of the linemens pliers.


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## Legion (Oct 19, 2010)

obrienp23 said:


> Any thoughts on which is better, or any ideas on a different. These are the two brans I keep being told about when the time comes for the initial apprentice tool kit. Just thought I would get some feedback!


Craftsman essentially is a marketer of tools, more so than a manufacturer. When dealing with their "Pro" line of tools, some times you're receiving an amazingly high quality tool at a heavily discounted price... other times, not so much. They also regularly change vendors, hence the continual and radical change in their tool lines. Their ease of warranty is a feature to consider.

Klein makes great tools and they're an American staple, particularly in the electric trade.

Some other brands that might be worth looking at are Knipex, Witte, NWS, Wiha, Ideal, Greenlee, Armstrong, Wera, and Crescent. Everyone is different, thankfully there is a lot of great choices out there.


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