RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench
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RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench
1–10 of 142 posts
Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench
#2Poorly designed, poorly manufactured, barely works in use and rounds the nuts you use it on so that subsequent attempts will be harder even with better tools.
It feels like there's been a strong Satanic / nihilistic philosophy at work among the hand tool industry for a while now. Started somewhere around the time period when the movie "Rambo" caused a fad for crappy "survival knives."
Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench
#3I've long subscribed to the philosophy that you should buy the cheapest tool you can find and use safely, use it until it wears out, breaks, or your skill surpasses the capability of the tool - and only then should you spend money on high quality tools. Too much money is thrown away in the name of "buy once, cry once" only to discover that you don't need the capabilities offered by the top of the line options.
Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench
#4I've long subscribed to the philosophy that you should buy the cheapest tool you can find and use safely, use it until it wears out, breaks, or your skill surpasses the capability of the tool - and only then should you spend money on high quality tools. Too much money is thrown away in the name of "buy once, cry once" only to discover that you don't need the capabilities offered by the top of the line options.
Agreed. Buy the cheap one first. If you use it enough to break it or outgrow it, buy the best one you can then afford. So many of my tools I need just a few times a year. The harbor freight model is all I need.
Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench
#5Poorly designed, poorly manufactured, barely works in use and rounds the nuts you use it on so that subsequent attempts will be harder even with better tools. It feels like there's been a strong Satanic / nihilistic philosophy at work among the hand tool industry for a while now. Started somewhere around the time period when the movie "Rambo" caused a fad for crappy "survival knives."
I think we are in a death spiral:
10 Some people buy cheap and/or gimmicky crap
20 This is observed by the industry so even some name brands (like Crescent) make cheap and/or gimmicky crap
30 People notice that even name-brands are making crap, so switch from shopping on brand to shopping on price
40 GOTO 10
Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench
#6This goes for everything:
- Know someone who likes books? Buy them good books!
- Know someone who likes coffee? Buy them specialty coffee!
etc.. I never saw the point in "oh they love painting, I'll get them these super cheap paints" or whatever.
Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench
#7I've long subscribed to the philosophy that you should buy the cheapest tool you can find and use safely, use it until it wears out, breaks, or your skill surpasses the capability of the tool - and only then should you spend money on high quality tools. Too much money is thrown away in the name of "buy once, cry once" only to discover that you don't need the capabilities offered by the top of the line options.
> ..you should buy the cheapest tool you can find and use safely, use it until it wears out, breaks, or your skill surpasses the capability of the tool..
I wholeheartedly agree with this view, with one caveat. You shouldn't cheap out on certain specialty tools where failure can pose a risk of injury or damage, a suspension spring compressor is my usual example. Fortunately, purchasing an expensive one-off tool isn't your only option! They're often available for rent from local auto parts stores, to keep with my example.
But yeah, besides that caveat, you'll often be better served by going with a reasonably priced tool. If you use it enough to wear it out, or break it, kudos! Time to upgrade.
Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench
#8Poorly designed, poorly manufactured, barely works in use and rounds the nuts you use it on so that subsequent attempts will be harder even with better tools. It feels like there's been a strong Satanic / nihilistic philosophy at work among the hand tool industry for a while now. Started somewhere around the time period when the movie "Rambo" caused a fad for crappy "survival knives."
It’s a general shift economy wise from the post WW2/wartime ‘build it simple, build it tough’ to optimizing to cheaper and cheaper price points (while maximizing profit) while ‘still works’.
Part of it I think is that most tool buyers now (statistically) are urban/suburban homeowners or renters which are not going to use it much, and are often not even capable of wearing out the old style tools. (And are not the proverbial 500 lb gorilla).
Industrial tools are still quite sturdy. They’re also far more expensive than any normal homeowner would (or should) ever consider.
It’s the market delivering what people will pay for, not what people say they want.
Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench
#9this is not bargain brand, it's more of a gimmick tool (costs more than harbor freight)
Re: RapidSlide Adjustable Wrench
#10I've long subscribed to the philosophy that you should buy the cheapest tool you can find and use safely, use it until it wears out, breaks, or your skill surpasses the capability of the tool - and only then should you spend money on high quality tools. Too much money is thrown away in the name of "buy once, cry once" only to discover that you don't need the capabilities offered by the top of the line options.
Agreed!
If you are a trade professional and regularly have tools crap out on you, that's one thing. But my tools are more likely to need replacing purely out of obsolescence than anything else. And having an overbuilt tool collecting dust is just as much a waste as throwing one away occasionally.