Hand Tool Reviews

I'm not a big tool junkie, but there's no mistaking the quality of these tools. All the MaxGrip tools I've tried have been outstanding, and this one was no different. They're rock-solid and extremely comfortable. You'll never want to use a tool with bare-metal handles again.

Compared to other adjustable wrenches near this price. This is one is hard to beat. The handle is a major point it's round and fits in the hand without the feel of the standard flat wrench, plus the rubber grip helps really apply torque

Compared to other adjustable wrenches near this price. This is one is hard to beat. The handle is a major point it's round and fits in the hand without the feel of the standard flat wrench, plus the rubber grip helps really apply torque

I got this knif as a gift and I use it all the time.
I love it. it even has a toothpick.
I have opened many a bottle of wine with it also in addition to the extremely useful knives.
I highly recommend it. Its light and compact also.

wanted one with a corkscrew for romantinc wine drinking around a campfire ??!! nice knife. just be careful not to take it on a flight with you, the airport people take it away.

This is a very versatile knife. Victorinox is my only choice in a pocket knife. I have carried this particular model knife for the last 16 years. I did have a Huntsman, but when this was stolen I inadvertantly replaced it with this one, and that is when it became a knife I carried everyday. It is thinner than the Huntsman but you only sacrifice the scissors and a hook thing but you keep the saw. I came by this model by mistake but I have found it a much better option than some of the knives with more stuff.

Also, I highly recomend the saw tool. It is awsome that something so small can cut so well. If you have never used this saw and you do much of anything outside this is a great addition to the standard pocket knife fare.

In 1895, Karl Elsener thought of manufacturing quality Swiss Army Knives (SAK) to be used by Swiss Army, as he was irritated to see the Swiss using a German multipurpose knives during the military operations. What makes Victorinox stand apart from other (so called) manufacturers of SAKs are that it was formed by none other than Elsener himself. For almost a centuary, only two manufacturers ruled the SAK market they were: Victorinox, and Wenger. In April 2005, Wenger was acquired by Victorinox. Now the Victorinox has monopoly in supplying SAK to Swiss Army, and to the retail civilian market.

I am currently using the Victorinox Forester, and the Explorer, but my favorite is the Explorer, as it is comes very handy in your everyday's work. The most used features by me are: Philips screwdriver, scissors, magnifying glass, and of course the large blade.

I am using Swiss Army knives since last 5 years. I tried Wenger (before it was acquired by Victorinox), and I was surprised to see the difference in quality. No doubt, Victorinox came out as the winner here. Exceptional high quality and attention to detail makes them the world's best Swiss Army Knife manufacturer. Don't even think of buying the cheap (made in China) SAK, you will just waste your money. So, the Victorinox is your best bet!

This one has got everything you need and nothing you don't need. Big knife, small knife, scissors, magnifying glass, 3 types of screwdrivers, a corkscrew, a hook, a reamer, and of course the tweezers and a toothpick. The size is right and honestly you won't miss the saws and the pliers. Those features are always available in a Swiss Champ but can you carry the Champ comfortably in your pocket? No. Get the Explorer, you won't regret it.

My favorite Swiss Army knife. I buy one at least every 4 years simply because I lose it and can't live without it. It's the perfect size and has two things I must have, a corkscrew and and phillips head screwdriver. If I recall correctly it is the only SAK with both, outside of the Champion, which is actually a multi-tool not a pocket knife.
The sleeper tool is the magnifying glass. I use it for everything from reading fine print to pulling splinters. Don't think you won't use it! No matter what you buy stick with the Victornix and stay away from the Wenger. The quality is just not the same. Enjoy!!

Works very well and will do a good job for you. The only problem I have is the pin that secures the pump is bending from pressure. However, that seems to be an easy fix. Stay within the tools limitations and you will be pleased with it. Excellant buy for the money.

I am very happy with the hydraulic log splitter, it is very easy to use and makes splitting logs a snap.

I didn't want to spend a lot of money to buy a powered log splitter so I went looking for a manual splitter. I didn't purchase this the the first time I looked at it when I found out how much shipping was. However after some research and looking around locally I could not find a better price (cost + shipping). The log splitter works as advertised. It arrived quickly. I was splitting logs that were 2 to 10 years old and it worked great.

I am a professional horticulturist. I insist each of my crew members has this knife in their pocket while gardening. It's incredibly flexible - great for weeding, deadheading, digging seedlings and a thousand other little jobs.

Though usually sold as a pruning knife, this is a great single blade knife. The cutting edge is only sharpened on one side, and is very sharp.

This knife is sturdy and well made. Consider for a moment, 95% of the time a pocket knife is used, it is to cut something; a single blade knife is perfect.

With no loosening of the blade, mine has lasted for years.

I got the 28" splitting axe and liked it so much I got the 28" chopper. At that time I got the Fiskars sharpener and let me tell you that after a few passes I got both axes to shave hairs off of my forearm. These cost a little more than the regular axes but if you take pride in your tools and like functional beauty they are well worth it. To those that say that the handle still breaks well you can break just about anything if you mis-use it. I hear the warranty is pretty good.

you need to get used to the short handle, but after that you won't use anything else. incredible splitter for how light it is. excellent camp tool. stays sharp , excellent metals

This axe is a lightweight, yet powerful cutter. It's great from removing branches from downed trees and for cutting through the tree itself. Very versatile. It will split wood, or cut through a large tree trunk. Handle is virtually unbreakable. I've used it for a pry bar. The cutting edge can easily be sharpened such that it will shave the hair off your arm!

Klein hand tools are by far the best there is for wiring. I have wired several houses with these hand tools and have been nothing but impressed. Klein's wire strippers are great for stripping wire and for cutting here and there, but if you doing repeated cutting of Romex or any other wire 10 gauge to 24 guage this is the tool you need. It will easily and comfortably cut through Romex with one move. An absolute must for my wiring tool box.

Any electrician can tell you that Klein makes some of the best tools in the industry. So when my company decided to do all of our own wiring (data and telephony) I grabbed my kit of Klein screwdrivers, side cutters and pliers and went to work. After installing over 3 miles of cat5 (multiple runs to 12 offices and a medium sized data center for which we custom made all of our cables) I expected to have to get my pair of D248-8 pliers sharpened. That was over a year and a half ago.

Durability aside, these pliers are so comfortable to work with and so ergonomic that I rarely ever use wire strippers. This pair of Klein cutters allows me to cut, strip, and bend the wire all without picking up another tool, and without nicking or marring the wire. Besides my Leatherman, this is the only other tool I call essential.

Other pluses: + 8 inch length is extra convenient for measuring the distance of wire protruding out of a wall box (necessary for NEC), + red handles indicate use with softer wire whereas Klein also make a set of blue handled cutters for lower gauge wiring and bolts (D2000-48), + angled head really does keep you from whacking you hands, and allows for greater mobility in tight spaces, + plastic handles are soft and comfortable yet I haven't had a tear or a hole in any of my Klein plier handles, + how Klein made a tool that is so ergonomic, yet feels the same for both right and left hands is beyond me.

I got this kit from my local walmart for $39 a couple of years ago. The grass shearer is very easy to use and the other tools come handy in various garden jobs. With Amazon one-day sale the price is $22.99 - what a great deal!

I can't believe someone reviews a product without actually owning it, that isn't fair to the product. Anyway, it DOES include a battery (not sure exactly what type) but it's inside of the grass shearer. Just plug it's cable into the A/C and it charges. When it's ready to be used, it works like a charm in hard to reach areas of the garden. For me, I find it especially useful around patio lights that can't be mowed around easily. I'm sure I'll find other areas of the garden too!

The included tools are very nice. They have rubberized grips and look like quality tools. The kneepad could be a little softer, but it'll do. The hand pruner worked perfectly to oust a HUGE weed in the garden. Gloves are decent too.
The carrying bad is large, tough, and better than expected. A great addition!
It even comes with a 30-day no risk satisfaction guarantee. How can you go wrong for $24.99? If you bought all these items seperately, it'd be way more than that. Just a pair of garden gloves can be $15!

We just moved into our first single family home less than a week ago and I took a risk and pre-ordered this Black and Decker gardening set. It's a perfect set. Great for first time home owners like me, who literally don't own one gardening tool! (NONE!) A great set, and I am happy with it!

Happy gardening!

Ok Ok , I admit it...I was a cordless drill junkie. At first it was the 12v high, then the 18v rush!!!!

Well, all went well until that dreaded day when the batteries wouldn't hold a charge anymore. That day when I came to gripes (yes , gripes) with forking out $60 to $85 for batteries that also had poor lifetimes written all over them. Let's face it, the drill gets used maybe once a month and spends the rest of the time being charged with the usual "delta V" or , in the cheaper models, "V threshold" charge techniques. The NiCad batteries just sit there, essentially being topped off when the charge declines. This does not make for a long lifetime for this battery chemistry. (those drills are in a box with their dead batteries...too expensive to throw away!!).

That being said, the VPD850 offers a good quality, medium duty drill that uses inexpensive 3.6v NiCad batteries ($15) that can be used in other BD products. I have found that practically all my heavy work can easily be done using a corded drill (yes, CORDED) with the VPD850 handling the lighter jobs. This is a surprisingly well-designed, good torque 7.2v drill with its only problem being that you can't find it anywhere! I was both amazed and pleased that Amazon markets this. I have looked everywhere. It has plenty of torque and charge for a wide variety of household jobs. Admit guys... do you REALLY need a high-powered cordless drill? Their starting torque is a fraction of a corded drill. And if you do buy a corded drill...don't skimp. My Milwaukee Magnum Hole Shooter has been thru many big jobs and runs like new.

Put this in your toolbox before B&D discontinues it. I can't blame them. It really could take away a chunk out of the lucrative higher voltage drill product line.

It took a lot for me to say this but, LOW VOLTAGE IS GOOD!!

This is an excellent light-duty drill screwdriver. Rated at 7.2 volts, it is not a full time use tool, better for the weekend user or light duty task.

This drill has some very nice features: A light, to help when drilling in dark areas, with a separate on/off switch. The battery level indicator keeps you informed as to the charge left in the batteries. The keyless chuck is almost stanard with home use drills. The two speed operation allows for both a drill speed and a driver speed.

Powered by the VersaPak batteries, which are interchangable with other Black and Decker VersaPak tools, the charging of the batteries with the included charger (I now have several spares). A nice system.

If you need a commercial quality drill that you will use much of your day every day, you need to look at heavier duty products. If you need a drill for home (and a high power screwdriver), this drill, in my opinion can't be beat.

The tools are top notched, but that is only half of it. The case is well organized and easy to snap the sockets in-and-out.

Over the years I have had many tool sets - especially socket sets. There's a reason for that - sockets easily fall out of the case when you open them and it is hard to keep things organized. Not so with this set. Each tool is secure in its own place - no falling out and getting lost. In addition the quality of the tools seems excellent. With both SAE and metric sizes this is a really nice set and the price is right.

I decided to purchase a real socket wrench set after I knocked my 15 year old cheep-o set on the floor one too many times - and got tired of putting everything back in the case.

First let me say that this case is designed so that WHEN you knock this set on the ground all the sockets stay in place. Second, this set is very well made and thought out. (For instance the metric and standard allen wrenches are different colors - so you can tell them apart at a glance.) These wrenches fit the hand just right and are a pleasure to use.

I highly recommend them.