Stanley tool kit review

Keep reading to get our take on whether it belongs in your house. There are certain tools homeowners need regularly. General kits should have a hammer , tape measure , screwdrivers , a socket set , and pliers. These are simple tools that make life easier and let you take care of home maintenance.

We hung a picture, replaced batteries in toys, and cut boxes using the Stanley tools. None of them were big projects, but each required basic tools to get the job done.

Our first project revealed something that seems to be an issue with this tool set—inconsistent quality. At 13 ounces, the hammer is a decent weight for putting nails in a wall stud, and the tape measure extends, stops, and retracts easily.

Sockets, hex keys, and pliers are all of good quality. The level stands out as a weak spot, however. It was broken before we took it out of the case. The hardshell case has an assigned space for each tool.

It creates a pretty tight fit. It would be easy to break the thin plastic piece along the top of the level when trying to insert or remove it in the case.

Thankfully, Stanley provides a limited lifetime warranty on their tools. Overall, it was great. The hardshell allowed us to stack other items on top of it or around it without damaging the tools inside.

Each tool has a plastic molded holder in the case, which we also liked. We were always rummaging around trying to find the right tool amongst a sea of sharp edges. The tape measure fell out every time we opened the case, and the pliers fell out once, too. It was not a huge issue, but it wasn't fun reorganizing as soon as we opened the case. Simultaneously, other tools were held so tightly that we had a hard time getting them in and out.

The Stanley kit has the basic tools you need for minor home maintenance tasks and DIY projects. While we love the selection with this kit , we wish it had wrenches or an adjustable wrench. Basic plumbing and bolts that fall either above or below the provided sockets will require additional tools. This set includes:. Although we had a few minor issues with the Stanley tool kit, we found the balance of tool quality to price to be well worth it. The weight and quality indicate they should last quite a few years with standard home use.

A limited lifetime warranty covers all of the tools. It includes a cordless drill with a hole saw and spade bits. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. This kit from Cartman might not contain the best tools that we tested but, for the price, it's more than adequate to meet your basic repair needs.

Editor's Note: This kit proved very popular over the holidays. As such, it's currently sold out. We'll let you know just as soon as it comes back into stock. This set came with everything we were looking for, with the exception of a level.

The handles on the two dedicated screwdrivers—a slot-head and a Philips—were just as comfortable to hold as the interchangeable screwdriver. The grip on the Cartman hammer felt comfortable and, in use, the hammer made me feel that the force of each blow was being directed downward instead of vibrating up into my arm. Additionally, the small roll of electrical tape and a box full of nails and screws included in the kit allows you to start working right away, avoiding an extra trip to the store for supplies.

The tool quality in this kit was slightly lower than that of the others tested for this guide. The needle-nose pliers, for example, were sticky to open and the box cutter felt flimsy. However, considering that this kit can be found at almost half the price of the others in this roundup, the lower quality of tools, which are still highly functional, feels like a reasonable compromise. The price of the Cartman tends to fluctuate, often.

The Apollo DT is comparable to the Cartman in price but lacks a number of the tools that the Cartman comes with. This kit includes a foot tape measure, an eight-ounce claw hammer, a set of six-inch needle nose pliers, a selection of five wrenches, a bit driver and bit connector, a nine-piece socket set, a snap-off utility knife, five precision screwdrivers, 12 hex keys, a small roll of insulated tape, a box with screws and nails, and 30 screwdriver bits.

We found the best starter toolkit by testing every tool in each of the kits that this guide had to offer. My name is Rebecca Boniface. As I live full-time, in a foot long motorhome, my path to homeownership might not be the same as yours, but much of the maintenance I do inside of our RV is similar to the repairs you might encounter in your house or apartment.

When my partner and I moved into our RV, one of our first purchases was a starter toolkit. We anticipated plenty of small repairs and adjustments we would need to do on the move. Most of the tools from the kit have some rust on them now. We designed the tests for this guide based on the sorts of common tasks a handy person, like you, might encounter: hammering or pulling nails, putting screws into a board, as well as using a pair of pliers to remove nails or bend wire, to name a few.

In order to test how resilient each tool was, I dropped them onto a laminate floor, while standing on the third rung of a ladder. Additionally, I left a tool from each kit typically, the adjustable wrench in a basin of tap water, overnight, to see if it showed any signs of corrosion. Not all steel is created equal. Tools made of metal with a large amount of carbon in it can rust easily.

After completing these tests, I took the four highest-scoring toolkits and used them to complete one final test: hanging a shelf on a wall and then removing it. Beyond this, small repairs, like adjusting hinges on a cupboard door or tightening the loose bolts on the legs of a footstool, result in your home working better. When thinking about the sort of tools that should be found in a starter toolkit, I considered my own most common repairs in my home, as well as looking at sources like This Old House.

The Workpro WA avoids all of this by packaging its tools in a tool bag. However, the WA does come with some thoughtful additions that the Stanley kit lacks. Some of the common heads come with multiples of the same type and size: a generous bonus should they become stripped from frequent use.

You should know that when I emailed the company for information regarding the warranty, I received no response. The toolkit contains a inch zippered tool bag with outside pockets and a carrying strap, a nine-inch torpedo level, a set of 16 hex keys, a three-meter tape measure, a mini hacksaw, three pairs of pliers, six precision screwdriver set, a utility knife with 10 replacement blades, 40 black cable ties, a ounce claw hammer, a combination wrench with clamp, an adjustable wrench and replaceable head screwdriver with 60 bits.

If my toolkit recommendations were based solely on the number of pieces in a kit, this would have been our main pick. However, the warranty for this kit is a suspiciously short 30 days. It had a fairly comfortable handle, however, the rubber was softer and the grip was not as secure as the Stanley. The pliers and screwdrivers in this kit, however, really shone, with a ratchet on the interchangeable head screwdriver and magnetic tips on the dedicated flathead and Roberts screwdrivers.

Most of the extra pieces in this kit looked useful, including some clips that were stronger than expected. Otherwise, stick with a smaller kit of higher quality and purchase individual tools as needed. This toolkit contains a set of nine hex keys, 22 drive sockets with a ratchet and socket adapters, 28 screwdriver bits, three pliers, a set of six combination wrenches, a set of five precision screwdrivers, four screwdrivers, one adjustable wrench, one hammer, a utility knife, a hacksaw, a level, a foot tape measure, four spring clamps, a box with an assortment of wood screws, a foot roll of insulating tape and a wire stripper.

The quality of the tools in the AmazonBasics kit was merely passable, with the exception of the tape measure: it was one of my favorite tested for this guide as it comes with an auto-lock.

I was unimpressed with the thin handle on the pliers, which made them uncomfortable to use. Additionally, the bag fabric on the inside felt like tissue paper. The kit includes a tool bag with a carrying strap, a piece Allen wrench set, a ounce hammer, an auto-locking foot tape measure, a torpedo level, utility knife, two sets of pliers, a Phillips screwdriver, a slot-head screwdriver, an interchangeable head screwdriver with a piece bit set and a ratchet with eight sockets.

The zippered case that comes with the kit uses elastics to tuck each tool away in a soft-sided case. Unfortunately, the tools are of poorer quality than the other Workpro set featured in this guide. This toolkit is contained in a tool bag and includes two sets of pliers, an adjustable wrench, an eight-ounce claw hammer, four precision screwdrivers, a foot tape measure, 40 cable ties, a snap-off knife with 10 replacement blades, a torpedo level, an eight-piece set of hex keys, a interchangeable head screwdriver with 20 bits and nine sockets.

While the screwdriver, level, and tape measure were all of average quality—which, given the DT's price, is impressive—the hammer was easily one of the worst tools we tested for this guide. During testing, the hammer tended to bounce rather than direct force downward into the nails I was attempting to drive.

This toolkit contains one set of needle-nosed pliers, an adjustable wrench, an eight-ounce claw hammer, a digital voltage tester, a foot tape measure, a torpedo level, six precision screwdrivers, an interchangeable head screwdriver with 20 bits, a set of four wrenches and a set of 16 Hex keys.

Starter toolkits that come in a container with space for additional tools you may buy down the road should get some sort of recognition. But not this kit. The Apollo DT's toolbox had very specific cutouts for tools it did not include—there was a space designed for a socket set in the lid. However, no socket set is included in this kit. I checked to see if this was a mistake: perhaps the sockets were accidentally excluded when the kit was assembled by Apollo.

The only difference between these two Apollo kits is the case that they ship in. This toolkit comes with a hard-sided plastic toolbox, one set of needle-nose pliers, an adjustable wrench, an eight-ounce claw hammer, a digital voltage tester, a foot tape measure, a torpedo level, six precision screwdrivers, an interchangeable head screwdriver with 20 bits, a set of four wrenches, and a set of 16 Hex keys.