Does anyone know of a company selling high quality tools for mechanical purposes-For anyone knows about voyage in my landrover - to africa YES it is for that!!!

Thanks

Mark

www.screwfix.com i've never brought mechanical tools from here but i do get a lot of woodworking tools and supplies from them and they're a pretty good mail order company, cheap, very quick delivery, good level of service, good returns policy etc.
sounds like you deicded to go to africa in the end then mate, good choice.

take it easy,
stuart.

In the US I would recomment Snapon and Craftsman (Husky). Durable tools with replacment guarantee if they break.

BAHCO, Knipex,Hazet & Thor "soft" hammers......you can't go wrong.

Have fun

I do not know if you are a member of any LR lists and forums. There are good ones on the internet and from the ones I am involved in I can tell you that they will help you very much.

Sandvik tools are very good professional tools. They are made in Sweden. (My wife used to work in a Swedish company competing Sandvik <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />) I have seen them sold in UK.

They also have sets for different purposes. Not only mechanical they also produce other tools like saws, shovels etc. Maybe a good bargin maybe obtained if you buy a whole set.

IMHO never go for Draper, Stanley or alike. Nice shiny tools:)

Good luck with your trip.

Burak
Istanbul
76 Range Rover
70 Unimog Camper <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Are Husky and Craftsman from the same manufacturer?

Home Depot used to carry Craftsman as their brand tools. Then they switched to Husky and claimed that they will exchange any Craftsman tool to Husky at no charge. I had a box of used Craftsman tools that I bought at Home Depot and brought it back and got Husky. Sales rep said it is the same stuff made by the same factory but under different names to prevent Sears and Home Depot from going at it. I see no difference, everyone insists its the same stuff made by the same company. But what the truth is I have no idea.

Matt

Cheers-very helpful-haven't bothered to go on the LR ftorums but will give it a go-can u reccomend one?

Thnaks to the rest of you guys very useful info and all will be taken into consideration!

Mark

That's cool. You learn something new every day. I'm a Craftsman nut but I do have a Husky socket set that hasn't failed yet.


Chris

Not exactly. Home Depot never carried Craftsman which is a trademark of Sears. However, the tools were made by the same company. Home Depot chooses to honor Craftsman warranty as a marketing gimmick. For some more or less correct info on what tools are made by whom, see http://www.team.net/www/morgan/tech/whotools.html .

Are you sure about Home Depot never carrying Craftsman? I could have swear that when I was buying set of snowblowers from home depot in '97 I also picked up couple of box sets of Craftsman tools.

Matt

Doug is correct Home Depot has never sold Craftsman tools, that name is owned by Sears. Now having said that the same manufacturer may have made Craftsman and Husky. And HD started trading Husky tools for just about any major name brand hand tool just to get you in the store. Personally i would not go for trading a Craftsman (much less a Snap-On) for a husky tool, HD is sourcing more and more of it's tool line offshore, so you would be trading a US made tool for one made in the far east. And i'm not trying to bash far east imports, i own more than one, but US made tools as a rule are of higher quality than ones made in China.

Mark, most of the major tool makers all have reasonable quality tools. My favorite is Snap-On, premium tools, premium prices as well. This is the garage set of tools. In the truck i carry Craftsman, decent tools and much more affordable. And if i am out on the road most cities have a Sears store where i can get a replacement tool, even on the weekends. Now Snap-On is distributed world wide but just try to find a tool truck on a Sunday afternoon. You might want to see if there is brand of tool that is typically carried through the areas you will be travelling and use those, and since i don't exactly travel in your area of the globe i really can't say which brand that would be.

BTW warranties are nice but if you get quality tools and treat them right you will not have to worry about the warranty. I have only broken a few tools through the years that i have used and abused them. And no i have never managed to break a Snap-On even after breaking some one else's tool on the fastener first.

Well, I wouldn't bet my life on it, but damn close...

Home Depot sells product lines with the Craftsman name as part of them, but not tools. Sears is extremely protective of the Craftsman trademark and Sears and HD are fierce compettitors.

Having worked for both er, uh paragons of the capitalist ideal: I can attest Craftsman was never sold at the orange box. They may have taken some in as returns and resold them. Personally, I prefer to haunt tool collectors, retiring mechanics, estate and garage sales. There is a certain pleasure producing a finely forged, walnut handled tool older than the hot shot mechanic who just snapped his latest Snapon. That, and asking if he wanted to try a # 6 Whitworth spanner on the Jowet Jupiter's chain drive sprocket <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Hey Chris, careful about hotshot mechanics with OLD snappy tools. But you are right all of my neat old tools and most of my Snap-on have been acquired through garage sales, estate sales, and the like. And while i appreciate the look and feel of finely crafted tools i usually don't use a cheater bar on them much less the cheater backhoe. Stay away from those Whitworth tools someone might think you like working on old English cars. <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Sorry for the late answer, haven't been on the internet for a while.

Some links for you as starting points,

www.discoweb.org
http://www.landroverclub.net
http://land-rover.team.net

Good luck, don't forget: It is never over with a Rover <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Cheers,
Burak

cheers-much apprdciated-i'll check em out!!!!

Good to find people with similar interest outside survival!

Mark

Well than my memory must be going... Damn butter...

Matt

While admittedly hearsay...

A few years ago, I recall hearing that the Western Auto chain was selling Craftsman tools (having been bought by Sears). Before I was able to get into the one remaining store in town to verify, it closed. The whole chain may be out of business, for all I know.

Just my $0.02. :-)

David

Over the last couple of years, I finally got around to replacing my long-ago-stolen set of Craftsman tools (long story, but I didn't own a car or bike for a while...). The quality of Crafstman tools has dropped precipitously over the last decade. It was so bad that I found myself stopping at every Sears in the tri-state area (I drive a lot for work) looking for the best deals and sales, and picking through the open stock for the best pieces. What a pain in the ass, but at least I have tools I can trust. Who cares about the warranty, if it breaks when I need it, it's likely to cost me more in lost time or worse than the tool was worth anyway...