Thanks for watching! Links below, more in the description! - P.I.T. Mini Toolbox: amzn.to/4elZw09 - HF Mini Toolbox: www.harborfreight.com/mini-steel-toolbox-red-72438.html - Snap-On Mini Toolbox: shop.snapon.com/categories/Micro-Boxes/875448
I think the HF box is going to sell like hot cakes lol. They’re cheaper than them too lol! They’re on sale for Black Friday for $9.98. They are perfect gift ideas for those on a budget.
FYI... Kobolt is coming out with a bottom box soon. The Pitt not only has a bottom box already but for a little while they had them available with a small set of tools. Have seen that offered lately so I do know what the status is on that in the future. Great review. 👍
Harbor freight has been stepping their game up about as fast as the big brands have been stepping theirs down. I'm definitely going to pick up one or three of those when I see them
They really have been. Most of my HF tools are not power tools but I couldn't be happier with the value I've gotten from them - hydraulic press, shop crane, tool carts, etc.
@@ShopHumor the Hercules electric ratchets are the best for the price. I have 3 of the 4. The one I dont have is a Matco. My Matco is very nice, and spins faster than the Hercules, but does not have as much torque. But you can buy all 4 Herc ratchets with batteries, and chargers for less than 2 of any other name brand offerings. The Herc 1/2 high torque has also impressed me.
@@ShopHumor hercules impact, hammer drill with like 2 batteries and charger i bought for around 200 for literal industiral work. co workers laughed and so did i when it kept up with milwaulkee and dewalt, used em for around 3 months till i got a milwaulkee bundle and i keep them in my old toolbag as backups. they fr work great
fun fact: made in vietnam products are oftentimes just made in china to dodge certain taxes. theyll make them in china, send them to vietnam where theyll slap on the snapon logo, then ship it to the us
@@ShopHumoryep same with many of the products from Mexico. Amazon has massive warehouses in Mexico where the store Chinese products to import across the boarder as Mexican. Started right after the trump tariffs (maintained by the Biden admin). Raw Steel and aluminum is the same deal. It’s being imported in from other nations for the same reason.
@jorgetorres9643 Losers open with: Fun Fact To be honest Not gonna lie. They are not being sent to Vietnam for decal application. Prove your position with a citation.
It's a mystery lol. They're so good for so much stuff though. I'd bet most people regardless of their interest or hobbies could find a way to fill one up. Doesn't take much!
Isn't this with all brands these days? They put a premium price because they know that people who buy their tools got the money. Just buy the tools from the brand that are known to be good and don't bother on getting their entire collection, this is true even for makita these days, the cordless garbage they release is insane.
@@elijah3807 Indeed. Now, with my singular comment, the public masses will shower this channel with attention and support, and the creator will be elected President of the United States. Thank you for your support by commenting and doing your small part to feed the algorithm.
To be fair, you can physically check out anything from a tool truck before buying it. With that said...anyone buying a novelty like this knows they are only paying for the name and dont care. The Miwaukee fan boys are the worst, God bless-em' lol.
Excellent review. The Harbor Freight mini tool boxes were flying off the shelves the first day they were released. Corporate told all the Harbor Freight stores to hold them till black Friday. They were shocked at how fast they sold out on the first day. Hopefully they come out with a bottom drawer tool box for their mini tool box.
Thanks for the compliment and taking the time to comment! Yeah, I got mine the same week they first came out and then I heard all the complaints about them getting pulled off the shelves. The fact is that even for full price they’re a great value, and at the $10 sale price they’re a steal. I also hope they come out with a bottom chest and I hope they come out with their full color line to at least match their other offerings in the larger tool carts. I suspect they will, given the massive popularity, but time will tell.
@@ShopHumor Problem i ran into is they can never keep the stuff in stock, ive been waiting over a month to get the Gordon Multitool (a gift for a friend as i have one), and even with the limit of 2 per customer on the boxes they were sold fast. Although it seems in some areas people are scalping the boxes and selling them at a 3-4x markup, and they have been doing that to a lot of the harbor freight meme tools (the cool cheap toys that you find at HF that everyone wants). Oh well i was told next shipment date so i will be there when it opens that day. BTW i do have the Kobalt, while not great, at the time when the HF box didnt exist the $20 at Lowes was not bad and i think i got it on sale as well, but when i get the HF one im giving the Kobalt to a friend lol (which right now contains a HF Icon Drop Knife, and a few other cheap trinkets lol
Snap on tools have zero warranty too, unless you have a dealer which i don't as I'm not currently in a garage. When i break a Halfords Advanced tool i take it to the shop and they replace immediately. I have phone my local snap on dealer 5 times about a few tools i need to warranty and he isn't interested because I'm not spending hundreds on the truck.
Crazy isn't it? I was really surprised they didn't even include a warranty for that price. No premium features & no warranty, for only 3 times the price lmao
Alternatively, get ahold of whatever shop is local to you and ask when their snappy dealer comes by, and meet him there. Again, not ideal, but definitely better than having a broken tool in the drawer.
Halfords Advanced stuff is amazing value. Had a couple of failures and replaced in store instantly. Not sure what the North American equivalent is though. Another interesting point warranty NA vs ROW, or at least Europe. A one year warranty is mandatory in many places.
FYI the 3M logo on the paper covering one side of the feet is for the adhesive, unless 3M is molded into the rubber, the actual feet could be from anywhere.
Instant subscribe, superb content. Channels like this are absolute gems. Your extra effort in contacting Snapon and politely but persistently requesting clarification about the warranty was especially commendable.
I see one issue with the entire door construction of the Pit and Snap-On: If i need something from one of the drawers, i always need to open up the top cover as well. Yeah, it's only a minor inconvinience, but those are storage boxes. They serve one purpose: To store stuff until you need to access it. And on that front, a minor inconvinience just doesn't stack up
I've been trying to find a HF one for 4 months now. You can only get them in store and they are always sold out. Doesn't matter how good it is if you cannot get one.
I have one of those Kobalt boxes, it's attached under my router table to hold bits. Mine doesn't have the magnets behind the drawers, but that makes no difference, it's not tipping over. $20 is perfect for this, $150+ is insane. HF didn't have any at the time, that was the first place I went looking. I simply removed the lid by driving out the hinge pin, cut a piece of wood to fit into the upper tray, and screwed it to the toolbox and the underside of the router table. I think I will add another one too to hold all the tools to change bits and whatnot.
Sounds like some cool mods you did to yours. Would love to see it, but I think I can picture it pretty well from your description. After doing this video I have too many tiny toolboxes and I might just do the same mod you did to my Kobalt!
I personally find the many toolbox great to hold precision tools for electronics or hobbyist or your tools for 3D printers and other small tools that you might want to keep around your desktop. It said that the harbor freight one does not have a bottom attachment that could be sold separately, but that could be something that could be fixed by sending emails to the company that makes it, and see if they could create an add on feature.
Found a seriously underrated channel. Love the unbiased review ,really goes to show that any company with a good reputation can ruin it just as easy by making a product with a premium price but not anything to justify the “premium” price.
@ShopHumor No Problem Man! When i see a youtuber putting in hard work i gotta appreciate the work y’know? Especially when its a new youtuber love it when they start off strong.
@@ShopHumor This is honestly why I avoid reading user reviews. Someone'll buy a fish tank, and complain that it did not hold up his pants as well as the belt it was supposed to replace.
great review! > the HF box's drawer slides are a big plus -- most of the video shots where you're opening or closing a drawer we see side-to-side wobble > at 3:17 you show a fantastic use for these mini cabs: storing your collection of spare 100 dollar bills!
Lmao. Thank you for the compliment. My collection of one spare bill that, as of the writing of this comment, no longer exists. Been buying a few new tools to review coming up at the start of the year and man that stuff gets expensive quick
The Snap-On logo is the only reason why anyone buys any of their tools these days, there are tools as good for a fraction of the price but they don't say Snap-On so some tool snobs won't get that warm, fuzzy feeling when buying them. I do sometimes wonder if that warm, fuzzy feeling is still there when they get their monthly Snap-On 20 year mortgage?
I've seen a bunch of kids come and go from the automotive industry over the last several years. Only 1 has had the proper mindset when it came to buying tools. In fact, he was so determined he wasn't going to overpay for tools, I had to literally drag him to the tool truck to look at a toolbox. It was an older Husky toolbox that someone had traded in. The Snap-On dealer was selling it for $100. Full retail for a similar size box starts around $1000.... It was a steal. Unfortunately, I've had a lot of kids new to the industy tell me flat out, if it doesn't say Snap-On, Matco or Mac on it, it's not worth buying.... And they usually end up with multiple tool mortgages within a few months and then decide to change careers due to cost.....
Great review…glad I ran across your channel. Hey, I bought four of the Harbor Freight mini tool boxes on Black Friday for $10 each. Will give as Christmas presents. They are sweet and the ball bearing slides blew me away. I also have their Icon full size roller chest with a stainless steel top with a hutch mounted on top…two end cabinets with drawers and two storage cabinets on top. Awesome tool system…less than 17% the cost of SnapOn with a lifetime warranty. They are actually heavier than the similar SnapOn cabinets which mean better build and quality. The drawer weight capacity is higher than SnapOn. Harbor Freight has their foot on SnapOn’s throat and they will not let up. No SnapOn for me…ever!!
Man I am sooo jealous of your Icon full size roller lol. What a fantastic box that must be. Also, those boxes are going to make great gifts. Well done! Thank you for leaving the comment, I enjoyed it.
A facebook group that i'm a part of became obsessed with the KOBALT boxes 😂 I was gifted a black one, and it's okay. I bought the lime green one myself as part of a theme project. They both sit full of small flashlights and box cutters. None of these extra features mentioned mean anything to me and I have no desire or need to buy anymore, but the one with magnets, that's a nice touch.
I hadn't thought of purchasing any of these boxes for any reason but I was drawn to your review nonetheless. THANK-YOU for an excellent video where I can't find any fault with the video and audio presentation and editing. No crappy AI voice was probably the best of all! I'm thinking I might just buy the Harbor Freight box just for the price & quality and then find a use for it!
Great content, love a good honest review, and this one was well put together being both thorough and to the point with no filler. I’m currently looking to outfit a work trailer with some kind of storage system for irrigation parts and have been looking at everything from DIY wood shelves to large metal toolboxes to plastic storage drawers as options.
Following a works van when the back door quickly flipped open and shut but just enough time for a small tool to fall out and bounce along the road. Popped a u-turn on my motorbike to find a lovely small Snap-on ratchet screwdriver which was none the worse for wear after its fall. That was twenty odd years ago and it still performs flawlessly.........
That’s cuz you missed the point. But it has many use cases. What, did you think people where purchasing it for their entire wrench and socket sets, or as their primary box? Clearly not.
@@ChrisS-oo6fl I can't imagine anybody buying those little pieces of junk for anything other than "My first tool box" for a kid, as I said earlier. HF got it right, pricing it at $20.
It looks like a good gag gift if you have money to blow. “Got you a snapon tool box, merry xmas” a home hobby would feel like I’d need multiples of them.
2005 Haruki Murakami black LV Speedy 30, near mint, from a pawn shop in the bay authenticated (but girl, I knew it from the pictures). I snagged it for $1000 while all the others were gone!! I hope itâs not haunted!! Haha!! Love your channel!! â¦Um, I bought a Dooney Florentine Nano Satchel and a medium Amelia Florentine from kislux â¦but wait, Kurt Geiger Kensington, Chanel 19 denimâ¦and a Hermes Officier Birkin 30, gold togo with double, yellow swift stripe/left front and yellow interior/palladium. Look at this, so chic!!!
Nice review my wife saw the us general box just before black Friday for $10 at harbor freight she bought 2 for her sewing room. Great for all kinds of little sewing stuff that gets lost in bigger drawers
I'm either very busy being handy or too lazy to put things away, but I keep about 100 small tools scattered around my computer desk in various open cans, plastic trays or just laying around my desk, even on top of my laptop. Yep, I'm picking up 4 of those Hardly Bright toolboxes on my next trip. I've been there 3 times helping a friend with his youthgroup recently and never noticed these. Thanks for the heads up, I never realized how much I need these.
You're welcome. I think you'll find that they'll suit your needs perfectly. Maybe call ahead before you go because I've had quite a few comments from people saying they're sold out (but others from HF employees saying they're getting more in stock occasionally). Very popular item it seems like.
Thank you so much! I hope you can find one. I've seen a few posts saying they've been getting more stock in lately, so hopefully they'll be available soon.
Thank you for your honesty. The tool market is not what it was 20+ years ago. Snap-On seems to offer less and less for their steep and climbing prices compared to their competition. Meanwhile "discount" and "knockoff" brands like Harbor Frieght keep putting up quality that far exceeds anyone's expectations. This illustrates that point better than any of the many other similar comparisons I've seen over the years. With bespoke low volume hand tool companies growing in popularity on the high end, and companies like Milwaukee now making performance matching hand tools for the mass market... Snap-On better adapt or they're gonna be in trouble very soon.
I had two of these and used one at work for storing frequently used endmills. The second one was for my calculator, notepad, pens and storing my phone and keys.
What an eye-opener! I have no need at present for such a small box, but appreciate the time and effort you have put in. I have to wonder if Lowe's or Home Depot have such items and how they stand in this?
The Kobalt box is actually from Lowes. There are other mini toolboxes around - I know Menards has one too - but as far as I know the Harbor Freight is the winner for features / price / value.
The Harbour Freight toolbox fits in the tray where the fuel tank used to sit behind the seat in my 1954 3100 pickup.. It'll hold a 1/2, 9/16, sparkplug wrench, pliers AND screwdrivers for MOST emergency needs...
One of the best comparison videos I have seen in a long time. Snap on has been going down hill for a long time and Harbor Freight has been going no where but Up. Now thanks to you, everyone will know the truth. Liked and subscribed Great job sir..
Currently on Harbor Freight's website these are sold out. I've been of the mind for a long time that most of Snap On is just brand hype, my Dad has Craftsman tools he bought at Sears in the 90s that still work just fine, my grandfather had tools he also bought at Sears in the 70s that he used until he died earlier this year. On the rare occaision they broke one they swapped them out no questions asked. Kobalt and Craftsman have the same lifetime warranty on most of their tools that Snap On does, I asked a Snap On dealer one time why I should go with his tools when their competitors were cheaper and had the same warranty, he said you'd never need to use the Snap On warranty. He said that while he was at the trade school I was attending so he could replace sockets and screw drivers that were damaged and covered under warranty.
Sorry about your Grandpa. That's hard, I've been there myself. You know as far as that lifetime warranty goes, you're exactly right. Craftsman tools had it forever, and there are just a lot of companies these days offering comparable quality tools to Snap-On, that also come with a lifetime warranty, and cost a small fraction of the price. Much better value.
I agree with you... Why would you pay so much from Snap-On tiny box other than the brand name and just like Festool or Cryobi (Ryobi), why the lime green color? I don't really like that color per se. But I don't see the value over the Harbor Freight for something like that. I have my tool chests made by Craftsman before it got sold out... err... off, to some company that cheapened the quality. Glad I have some nice stuff, it will last me a lifetime and then some.
Well I can say one thing about the color... you won't ever lose it lmao. I like my red - I have a red rolling tool cabinet, but I don't hate the bright colors really. Just not my first choice. I'm sure your vintage craftsman boxes will last forever. My favorite tap and die set is actually a craftsman that's from the early 70s and it works perfect
@@ShopHumor You and I both know what old-school quality tools are all about. As far as the color scheme... That Lime green is so obnoxious that it makes it practically theft-proof, and if it is stolen, they did you a favor LOL
While I would usually say drawer slides are preferred, in the (not very) long run, cheap drawer slides will fail and then you're stuffed. The small drawers can't really store enough weight to be too heavy, so plain metal guides will work ok in this case and will be more durable.
These drawer slides actually seem to be decent, but how could they be for the price? Time will tell. You're 100% right though - I'd rather have a plain metal drawer guide than a broken drawer slide.
Great comparison! I've had the HF big red 40 whatever inch tool box in my garage for over 10 years. Apart from needing to grease the drawer slides, it's been fantastic. Same for the tool cart. If I needed a micro toolbox I'd grab theirs. No clue what I'd put in it though. Maybe I'll get one for my 3d printer tools and replacement parts
Disappointing. Hard to justify the value when there is so much more competition that is comparable quality for a lot less money and the same lifetime warranty.
Picked two of the Harbor Freight models up a couple of weeks ago. They make great back corner drawers for my standing desk. They even double as speaker stands.
@@ShopHumor A Flexispot E7. It has one of the best height ranges and feature sets I could find for home use without paying a huge premium for little more. And a 15 year warranty is long enough. It's great for in the house and I've been finding that I've been using it as a workbench more and more. Thinking about picking up an Uplift 4 leg v2 commercial base for the workshop. It looks like it's the most stable one I can find and with a 500+lb lifting capacity it should lift almost everything I get up to these days.
I bought one of the snap-on three-door boxes back in either 1994 or 1995. The price of that time was nearly $100 it still had no warranty and was made in China. But I really liked it and almost 30 years later I was looking for another one. I found the Pitt on Amazon and bought one. Comparing my 90's vintage snap-on, it was identical. So much so that I actually think that somehow Pitt got hold of the original tooling. I have no proof of this, but the original snap-on has the same fit and finish faults that you pointed out on the pitt. I wound up buying two of the pitt 5 drawer cabinets. Including a blue one to match my snap-on. The color match was excellent. So it appears that snap-on has improved their quality control with the Vietnamese product. But the Pitt is just 1990s Snap-on. The lack of warranty doesn't really surprise me because it was always sold as a novelty product, not a tool.
@@ShopHumor I like them. It would have been nice if there were a lip around the top to capture the 3 drawer, but it really isn't needed. I use one of them for parts and tooling for my 3D printer. And I use the other for tooling for my sherline lathe.
Sounds perfect for that. I’m using one for my CNC mill speciality tooling, one for the lathe specialty tooling, and one for pocket knives. But one for the 3D printer stuff sounds good too.
I grabbed an ifixit copy tool kit from harbor freight last year for $23 vs the $90 from ifixit. The quality is completely identical and similarly comes with a lifetime warranty. I was going to get an ifixit one, but they pissed me off saying a sale was coming for black Friday. Only for them to raise the price then cross it off to the exact same price it was before the sale.
I'm happy that harbor freight is finally getting their praise over the past few years. I've had their drill and reciprocating saw for a year or now, and it's just as good if not better than some brands for $20 less
If you're buying strapon from a website, then you aren't their customer. Sure they are willing to do it, but that isn't what they want to do. Their customers are professionals at car repair shops and other mechanical type shops. They sell product by forging relationships with their customers and being ahead of what they need. Did I mention they drive to your location or near regularly? Now I'm not a strapon fan (as you should be able to tell by how I'm naming them). The actual hand tools they sell are always in the top three for any hand tool, but for most people (even including pros) harbor freight is the best balance of value and quality for 90% of the hand tools out there. If not them, there are a lot of brands that could fill that void too. However the two brands simply aren't comparable, because they do wildly different things. There is a reason my garage is full of Harbor Freight and the place I work is full of strapon.
I know that their primary business model is not direct to consumer via their website, but I don't think it really changes the point. They ARE selling products like this directly to consumers, at ridiculously inflated prices, via their own website. They chose the design, they chose not to include premium features, and they chose to set the ridiculous price. I agree with you about Harbor Freight for value. Generally speaking you can get a tool that will do the job you need it to do, and it will do it for a lot less money.
I have the bottom chest for the P.I.T. Tool box ,so does my son . Also Santa Clause the better half ,is getting us the bottom tool chest for the Kolbart ones ,if you can still find them. I do a lot of modeling and miniatures so I use them to store alot of speciality drill bits ,flat bottom bits , photo etch stencils etc .
I bought 2 of the Kobalt ones on Black Friday for $12 each. I was going to get the Harbor freight ones for $10 but Lowes is much closer to home. I got one for me for small tools and one for my wife, in lavender color, for her crafts stuff.
@@ShopHumor I don't open and close them a lot, so the differences in drawer slides with the Kobalt is not a problem. I thought about getting the U.S General from Harbor Freight but the store was much further away than Lowes. My wife likes the color choices with the Kobalt.
Yeah, for sure about the color choices. The Kobalt is a fine box, and at the $12 price it's a steal. The drawer slides are great as long as they hold up, but it's something that you ever have to worry about failing on yours.
Great review. In the past, I found Harbor Freight sold trash. But since then, I realized many of their products are very good for the money. That's especially true for items (tools and other equipment) you don't need for "a lifetime." Maybe only a couple years. The most important thing you pointed out is the number of repurchases possible for less money. Even if the Harbor freight only lasted 5 years. At #10 for the price of one Snap-on, you could spend less money over 50 years by just rebuying one if/when it breaks. This same concept can be applied to almost everything. Cookware, cars, clothes, computers, etc. Unless it's a very specific item or need, there's no reason to spend money just for a brand name label. That's especially true when that brand's reputation is starting to tarnish.
Harbor Freight has definitely been improving their quality over the last couple decades and now really can compete with the big boys, hands down. Very good comment, thank you.
I have the largest tool chest that HF sells, bought at least a decade ago. It is the single best thing I have ever dragged out of that store, a great purchase!
That would be great. I would be really surprised if they don't do that - it seems like they'd make a killing, and they're really common for this style of box. Maybe a 5 drawer chest that's about twice as tall for this one to sit on top of, or could be used stand-alone too.
just got 2 u.s. general boxes for 9.99 each and already loving them, drill bit, allen key/hex/star and other bits holder the 2nd box holds all my little needle files and small picks and other assorted things.
Thank you so much for the comment, I appreciate you taking the time to leave one! Hope you manage to find these when you go to HF. I know they've been running out of stock.
Bought two of these to give as birthday gifts to my buddies and I decided to wait until the Black Friday sale to get my own which was a huge mistake. Every store in my area sold out the first day and you had people waiting before opening to grab one. Guess I'll have to wait several weeks for the hype to die down.
Yeah, they're really popular. I guess that happens when you make something that is actually well built, with premium features, and then sell it for a more than affordable price. I was planning on buying a couple more during the black Friday sale as well but I'm just waiting until they restock.
Harbor Freight is certainly the overall winner in this comparison. I own the Kobalt because I am a huge Lowe's fan and it came in black and it looks good in my office.
Great review video! Thanks for posting it. I do not own any Snap-on Products and as a (home mechanic) NEVER will. they have some quality items but for most people's needs they are WAY overpriced.
Thank you so much for the compliment. I’m just an at home workshop guy so value is my driving force behind my purchasing decisions, but I wanted to make this video because I was curious about the extreme price difference and the popularity of the mini toolboxes these days, I thought it would be fun to make.
It's been decades since I bought my tools off the Snap-On truck. As I understood back then, there existed a no questions asked, lifetime replacement policy. Don't know it it applies to their products today.
I really don't know what actually falls under their lifetime warranty anymore. The warranty section on their website is legalese gibberish to the point of being indecipherable. When I emailed them asking if this tiny toolbox was covered under their warranty, they said it was only covered by their 30 day return policy.
thorough, to the point and awesome! when you write dual dimension use parentheses for the other measure standard not an equal sign. example: 4.25in (10.8 cm). The equal sign is an odd read [4.25in=10.8cm]
Thanks for the feedback. Trying to include the metric dimensions for the folks whose countries known how to count to ten, but I'll improve the formatting. Thanks again.
Something as simple as drawer slides can make all of the difference. When I needed to replace my 30+ year old Amana refrigerator, I was going to buy a domestic brand but when I did my hands on at the big box store, the one glaring difference I found was that the Korean brands had smooth sliding bins and drawers, that felt like they were on rollers while the domestic brands had cheap feeling, grabby, sticking drawers and bins that did not justify the $1500+ price that they wanted. Harbor Freight ? What a deal!
I have a snapon mini box and the only reason I bought it is because it was the 100 year anniversary edition. Yes it is overpriced for what you get but you should already know that buying from snapon. As for the warranty, if you think no warranty on the micro box is bad, ask about the warranty on their full size toolboxes. Those don't have a lifetime warranty either.
I worked with a millwright and he always bought tools from Sears, Lordco, Canadian Tire etc. I asked him why as Snap On had premium tools. He said he can buy a replacement tool two or three times before he has met the price of Snap On. It worked out cheaper for him to simply buy tools that were good quality and pay for replacements.
as flimsy as they all are i would go for 10 of the HF over 1 SO. all appear to be one drop from destruction rather it be 15 bucks rather than 150 when it will eventually will. Bty way just did get 10 HF. Got a lot of little shat to put in them Might need more as for stacking: seeing as how they are small and open only from front build cubbies stacked to put them in. Might just end up with a wall of them if I like them that much.
Pretty in depth comparison and analysis of what i would look at as the top of the line name brand product and similar or almost identical mainstream competing products that would be first choice in immediate available option this video shows how sometimes as a consumer we tend to overlook some of the real important hidden details that offer more convenience versatility and function as well as durability and sturdiness and finish as a working person in an industry that requires one to own the tools required sime dont have the time to fully do ones homework as sometimes we just put too much faith on the specific brand that once a product is seen and like what we see we end up being geared to make that purchase and end up dissapointed and stuck with a mediocre product that we had high expectation for because of branding loyalty and pricing which i now see id done for a few reasons profit high ticket value to make us think its from a reputable company known for its quality products and think to ourselves that its monet well spent as why would so and so sell crap to its consumergives false senseof security and see it a sale and business tactic fo belp offloadsome ofthe products that were a bad investment choice the tool companies are digging their own financial grave and to put it short biting the hand that feeds them putting out there that they can get away selling crap to consumers making it seem if a mechanic was dumb to pay that much foraflashight that was not cost more than pennies on dollar to fabricste its an insult and its going to brinng ist reputation down and i start to see more us general brand in even tbe most bougie and high end shops which says a lot about tbe direction in quality o and respect for its long time consumers and while many think china or out of u s is low qualiity its not alwags the case and now my dealbreaker is warranty oeriod and functionalitgand price to feature .ratio
At work we have 10 snap on boxes filled with tools. Some are the 36 inch cabinets and some are the 48 inch cabinets. Anyway, we scan our badges and check out whatever we need. The past few months of using them are my first experiences with snap on tools. I am not impressed at all. I'd say at best they're just a little bit better than icon tools or any other decent brands. In some ways they suck. The dikes and the wire strippers are two tools that are subpar to store brands. The boxes placed around the building are convenient and well thought out and stocked. Just the snap on quality is not what I was expecting. For those wondering we have all sorts of tools in there. Anything from ratchets and sockets to torpedo levels, pullers, 1/2 inch impact guns, hammers, clamp on amp meters, 36 inch pipe wrenches, etc. Wide variety.
DO NOT BUY THE KOBALT. Returned mine from Black Friday. It had warped drawers that were hard to pull out, they were super loose and hard to close, had paint chips and scratches, metal on metal sliding drawers AND it off gassed terribly so the room smelled like paint fumes. Go harbor freight.
They're really putting out more and more high quality products on a regular basis. And you can actually afford them without having to take out a second mortgage.
You're welcome! I really like them for small tools that tend to get lost in big drawers, but they're absolutely not for everyone. I appreciate the comment :)
Thanks for watching! Links below, more in the description!
- P.I.T. Mini Toolbox: amzn.to/4elZw09
- HF Mini Toolbox: www.harborfreight.com/mini-steel-toolbox-red-72438.html
- Snap-On Mini Toolbox: shop.snapon.com/categories/Micro-Boxes/875448
I think the HF box is going to sell like hot cakes lol. They’re cheaper than them too lol! They’re on sale for Black Friday for $9.98. They are perfect gift ideas for those on a budget.
@@willhutton1516 crazy how cheap they are, they’re such a good value. Very well built for what they cost.
Excellent review my guy, your in depth analysis does not go unnoticed!! Subbed
FYI...
Kobolt is coming out with a bottom box soon.
The Pitt not only has a bottom box already but for a little while they had them available with a small set of tools. Have seen that offered lately so I do know what the status is on that in the future.
Great review. 👍
@@kings3411 thank you so much!
Harbor freight has been stepping their game up about as fast as the big brands have been stepping theirs down.
I'm definitely going to pick up one or three of those when I see them
They really have been. Most of my HF tools are not power tools but I couldn't be happier with the value I've gotten from them - hydraulic press, shop crane, tool carts, etc.
@@ShopHumor the Hercules electric ratchets are the best for the price. I have 3 of the 4. The one I dont have is a Matco. My Matco is very nice, and spins faster than the Hercules, but does not have as much torque. But you can buy all 4 Herc ratchets with batteries, and chargers for less than 2 of any other name brand offerings. The Herc 1/2 high torque has also impressed me.
@@ShopHumor hercules impact, hammer drill with like 2 batteries and charger i bought for around 200 for literal industiral work. co workers laughed and so did i when it kept up with milwaulkee and dewalt, used em for around 3 months till i got a milwaulkee bundle and i keep them in my old toolbag as backups. they fr work great
The warranty is the biggest thing.
@@dj2slicc that’s awesome
fun fact: made in vietnam products are oftentimes just made in china to dodge certain taxes. theyll make them in china, send them to vietnam where theyll slap on the snapon logo, then ship it to the us
I didn’t know that… I wonder if that happened here
@@ShopHumoryep same with many of the products from Mexico. Amazon has massive warehouses in Mexico where the store Chinese products to import across the boarder as Mexican. Started right after the trump tariffs (maintained by the Biden admin). Raw Steel and aluminum is the same deal. It’s being imported in from other nations for the same reason.
@jorgetorres9643 Losers open with:
Fun Fact
To be honest
Not gonna lie.
They are not being sent to Vietnam for decal application. Prove your position with a citation.
@@ChrisS-oo6fl A president does not create tariffs.
@@I_Am_Your_ProblemWait until Jan P2025
Suddenly i NEED a mini tool box
IDK why.
It's a mystery lol. They're so good for so much stuff though. I'd bet most people regardless of their interest or hobbies could find a way to fill one up. Doesn't take much!
Because they're cute lol
You should get a Snap On, I hear they’re great
I know what you mean. Never did black Friday before but I was standing in line at Harbor Freight on Friday to pick up 2. Using one for my edc
@ worth it. They’re so good
$150 bucks for THAT??Damn SnapOn,have you no shame?
Crazy, right? They ought to be embarrassed
No
well idiotic sycophants are the ones who will buy snap on branded toilet paper and claim it wipes their ass the best!
Daylight robbery. A disgusting practice.
Isn't this with all brands these days? They put a premium price because they know that people who buy their tools got the money. Just buy the tools from the brand that are known to be good and don't bother on getting their entire collection, this is true even for makita these days, the cordless garbage they release is insane.
Excellent quality, small channel. I believe I've found a diamond in the rough boys.
Thank you lol :) I appreciate you taking the time to comment
Thank goodness you approve
@@elijah3807 Indeed. Now, with my singular comment, the public masses will shower this channel with attention and support, and the creator will be elected President of the United States. Thank you for your support by commenting and doing your small part to feed the algorithm.
Most definitely 💯
@@ShopHumorShorts algorithm just brought me here. Good work
And that's why physical stores are important. You can check each brand's product before they can scam you.
Lmao, always better to see it coming than get taken by surprise
To be fair, you can physically check out anything from a tool truck before buying it. With that said...anyone buying a novelty like this knows they are only paying for the name and dont care. The Miwaukee fan boys are the worst, God bless-em' lol.
@@Douglas1ro Snapon fan boys are the worst.
@@RVthereyet25 I will meet you half way...Someone shilling for any brand is the worst.
Excellent review. The Harbor Freight mini tool boxes were flying off the shelves the first day they were released. Corporate told all the Harbor Freight stores to hold them till black Friday. They were shocked at how fast they sold out on the first day. Hopefully they come out with a bottom drawer tool box for their mini tool box.
Thanks for the compliment and taking the time to comment! Yeah, I got mine the same week they first came out and then I heard all the complaints about them getting pulled off the shelves. The fact is that even for full price they’re a great value, and at the $10
sale price they’re a steal.
I also hope they come out with a bottom chest and I hope they come out with their full color line to at least match their other offerings in the larger tool carts.
I suspect they will, given the massive popularity, but time will tell.
@@ShopHumor Problem i ran into is they can never keep the stuff in stock, ive been waiting over a month to get the Gordon Multitool (a gift for a friend as i have one), and even with the limit of 2 per customer on the boxes they were sold fast. Although it seems in some areas people are scalping the boxes and selling them at a 3-4x markup, and they have been doing that to a lot of the harbor freight meme tools (the cool cheap toys that you find at HF that everyone wants). Oh well i was told next shipment date so i will be there when it opens that day.
BTW i do have the Kobalt, while not great, at the time when the HF box didnt exist the $20 at Lowes was not bad and i think i got it on sale as well, but when i get the HF one im giving the Kobalt to a friend lol (which right now contains a HF Icon Drop Knife, and a few other cheap trinkets lol
theyve upped the price already it seems. im seeing it priced at 18 now
I got two harbor minis for $10 each and they match my other boxes.
Snap on tools have zero warranty too, unless you have a dealer which i don't as I'm not currently in a garage. When i break a Halfords Advanced tool i take it to the shop and they replace immediately. I have phone my local snap on dealer 5 times about a few tools i need to warranty and he isn't interested because I'm not spending hundreds on the truck.
Crazy isn't it? I was really surprised they didn't even include a warranty for that price. No premium features & no warranty, for only 3 times the price lmao
Alternatively, get ahold of whatever shop is local to you and ask when their snappy dealer comes by, and meet him there.
Again, not ideal, but definitely better than having a broken tool in the drawer.
Halfords Advanced are actually really good tools in my experience.
Halfords Advanced stuff is amazing value. Had a couple of failures and replaced in store instantly. Not sure what the North American equivalent is though. Another interesting point warranty NA vs ROW, or at least Europe. A one year warranty is mandatory in many places.
@@rtechlab6254 Wish we had your consumer protection laws over here in the States.
FYI the 3M logo on the paper covering one side of the feet is for the adhesive, unless 3M is molded into the rubber, the actual feet could be from anywhere.
Good catch, thanks!
Nonsense. What are you basing that on?
Could be fake 3m as well.
Instant subscribe, superb content. Channels like this are absolute gems.
Your extra effort in contacting Snapon and politely but persistently requesting clarification about the warranty was especially commendable.
Thank you so much. I truly appreciate the compliment and that you took the time to comment. It means a lot!
Pretty clear to me , the us general wins it hands down , better quality , better value and better features !
Not available.
It's definitely the winner for pure value and actually the build quality seems to be the best too
Now if it wasn't as rare as a three-headed unicorn to find.
I see one issue with the entire door construction of the Pit and Snap-On:
If i need something from one of the drawers, i always need to open up the top cover as well. Yeah, it's only a minor inconvinience, but those are storage boxes. They serve one purpose: To store stuff until you need to access it. And on that front, a minor inconvinience just doesn't stack up
It's purely an aesthetic / style choice. Definitely a trade off - and one that I agree with you, doesn't seem worth it.
I've been trying to find a HF one for 4 months now. You can only get them in store and they are always sold out. Doesn't matter how good it is if you cannot get one.
Update....Lady let me buy 3 today. Says new colors are dropping this week.
Saw your update. That's awesome. Glad she hooked you up and DAMN new colors will go crazy if true.
I hope the US General box goes back in stock. Having a EDC tool box sounds so fun.
I'm sure they will. The $10 black Friday sale price is crazy. Even for full retail they're an incredible deal..
I kinda need something like this. 🎉
I heard Feb was when they were thinking they'd be available.
Keep checking your local Harbor Freight. I work at one, and we're getting them in about 20 at a time.
@@MrTelephos Awesome, thanks for the tip!
I have one of those Kobalt boxes, it's attached under my router table to hold bits. Mine doesn't have the magnets behind the drawers, but that makes no difference, it's not tipping over. $20 is perfect for this, $150+ is insane. HF didn't have any at the time, that was the first place I went looking.
I simply removed the lid by driving out the hinge pin, cut a piece of wood to fit into the upper tray, and screwed it to the toolbox and the underside of the router table. I think I will add another one too to hold all the tools to change bits and whatnot.
Sounds like some cool mods you did to yours. Would love to see it, but I think I can picture it pretty well from your description. After doing this video I have too many tiny toolboxes and I might just do the same mod you did to my Kobalt!
I personally find the many toolbox great to hold precision tools for electronics or hobbyist or your tools for 3D printers and other small tools that you might want to keep around your desktop. It said that the harbor freight one does not have a bottom attachment that could be sold separately, but that could be something that could be fixed by sending emails to the company that makes it, and see if they could create an add on feature.
Lowes has bottom chest for their's this year if you can still find them . Better half ordered a few back in October for Christmas for us .
My Harbor Freight mini was made in Cambodia. Was thinking about the P.I.T. as well, glad I saw your review first.
Thanks for commenting! Hope you like your HF mini. I love mine :)
Found a seriously underrated channel. Love the unbiased review ,really goes to show that any company with a good reputation can ruin it just as easy by making a product with a premium price but not anything to justify the “premium” price.
Thank you so much! I appreciate the encouragement. Very new to TH-cam so still getting it figured out. Thanks for commenting, and I agree.
@ShopHumor No Problem Man! When i see a youtuber putting in hard work i gotta appreciate the work y’know? Especially when its a new youtuber love it when they start off strong.
Those reviews from people buying mini toolboxes and then complaining about them being small - LMAO
Lmao that got me too
Happens all the time if you read Amazon reviews.
These are TEMU’s favorite humans
" not '
"Now if he doesn't know the difference between feet and inches is not my problem."
"But you're not as confused as Nigel."
@@ShopHumor This is honestly why I avoid reading user reviews. Someone'll buy a fish tank, and complain that it did not hold up his pants as well as the belt it was supposed to replace.
great review!
> the HF box's drawer slides are a big plus -- most of the video shots where you're opening or closing a drawer we see side-to-side wobble
> at 3:17 you show a fantastic use for these mini cabs: storing your collection of spare 100 dollar bills!
Lmao. Thank you for the compliment. My collection of one spare bill that, as of the writing of this comment, no longer exists. Been buying a few new tools to review coming up at the start of the year and man that stuff gets expensive quick
An extra point for the Kobalt because they have a bottom chest available. You can also keep on stacking the bottom chests as high as you want 👍
Good tip thanks for letting me know!
So one could stack garbage endlessly?
The Snap-On logo is the only reason why anyone buys any of their tools these days, there are tools as good for a fraction of the price but they don't say Snap-On so some tool snobs won't get that warm, fuzzy feeling when buying them. I do sometimes wonder if that warm, fuzzy feeling is still there when they get their monthly Snap-On 20 year mortgage?
I've seen a bunch of kids come and go from the automotive industry over the last several years. Only 1 has had the proper mindset when it came to buying tools. In fact, he was so determined he wasn't going to overpay for tools, I had to literally drag him to the tool truck to look at a toolbox. It was an older Husky toolbox that someone had traded in. The Snap-On dealer was selling it for $100. Full retail for a similar size box starts around $1000.... It was a steal. Unfortunately, I've had a lot of kids new to the industy tell me flat out, if it doesn't say Snap-On, Matco or Mac on it, it's not worth buying.... And they usually end up with multiple tool mortgages within a few months and then decide to change careers due to cost.....
Great video, love it when people just do real talk about quality instead of simping for corporations or advertisers.
Thank you so much. I really appreciate the kind words and that you took the time to comment.
Great review…glad I ran across your channel.
Hey, I bought four of the Harbor Freight mini tool boxes on Black Friday for $10 each. Will give as Christmas presents. They are sweet and the ball bearing slides blew me away.
I also have their Icon full size roller chest with a stainless steel top with a hutch mounted on top…two end cabinets with drawers and two storage cabinets on top. Awesome tool system…less than 17% the cost of SnapOn with a lifetime warranty. They are actually heavier than the similar SnapOn cabinets which mean better build and quality. The drawer weight capacity is higher than SnapOn.
Harbor Freight has their foot on SnapOn’s throat and they will not let up.
No SnapOn for me…ever!!
Man I am sooo jealous of your Icon full size roller lol. What a fantastic box that must be. Also, those boxes are going to make great gifts. Well done! Thank you for leaving the comment, I enjoyed it.
@ Thank you! It is a sweet tool system. Subbed and can’t wait for more content from you. Merry Christmas! Cheers…
Merry Christmas to you too!
A facebook group that i'm a part of became obsessed with the KOBALT boxes 😂
I was gifted a black one, and it's okay. I bought the lime green one myself as part of a theme project. They both sit full of small flashlights and box cutters.
None of these extra features mentioned mean anything to me and I have no desire or need to buy anymore, but the one with magnets, that's a nice touch.
What kinda group? Just curious if you don't mind sharing!
@ShopHumor
Olight
I picked up 2 US General mini boxes with coupon for 10/ea. Sold out quickly. Great buy
Fantastic value at $10 each. They're a great value at full price, but $10 is ridiculously good
Just picked up the harbor freight box for all my compact impact sockets and extensions and mini ratchets, fits a surprising amount.
It's actually a freaking awesome little toolbox. I got mine before the black Friday sale so I paid $15 but I plan to buy some more eventually.
Might be buying a Harber Freight mini tool box for my night stand.
Going through that many condoms? You're my HERO buddy.
I hadn't thought of purchasing any of these boxes for any reason but I was drawn to your review nonetheless. THANK-YOU for an excellent video where I can't find any fault with the video and audio presentation and editing. No crappy AI voice was probably the best of all!
I'm thinking I might just buy the Harbor Freight box just for the price & quality and then find a use for it!
Nicely done! GREAT video!
Thank you, and thanks for taking the time to comment!
Great content, love a good honest review, and this one was well put together being both thorough and to the point with no filler. I’m currently looking to outfit a work trailer with some kind of storage system for irrigation parts and have been looking at everything from DIY wood shelves to large metal toolboxes to plastic storage drawers as options.
I love how he translate sizes and weights to worldwide language instead of U.S Only measurements, awesome!
Thanks! Ive been trying to remember to include the conversions - I missed a few in my first couple videos but have been getting better at it.
Following a works van when the back door quickly flipped open and shut but just enough time for a small tool to fall out and bounce along the road.
Popped a u-turn on my motorbike to find a lovely small Snap-on ratchet screwdriver which was none the worse for wear after its fall.
That was twenty odd years ago and it still performs flawlessly.........
That's fantastic. Good story, good find, nothing better than free lol
seems like a kid's toy, to be honest.
They're great for little tools, hobby stuff, etc.
That’s cuz you missed the point. But it has many use cases. What, did you think people where purchasing it for their entire wrench and socket sets, or as their primary box? Clearly not.
@@ChrisS-oo6fl I can't imagine anybody buying those little pieces of junk for anything other than "My first tool box" for a kid, as I said earlier. HF got it right, pricing it at $20.
It looks like a good gag gift if you have money to blow. “Got you a snapon tool box, merry xmas” a home hobby would feel like I’d need multiples of them.
I could see something like that for Tig torch parts, plasma cutter parts, that kind of stuff.
And that is the reason why you can't get the HFT tool box because as fast as they come in they're gone, people realize what a great value they are.
I appreciate your review. Straightforward and honest without any gimmicks or annoying music.
Thank you so much. I appreciate your comment!
2005 Haruki Murakami black LV Speedy 30, near mint, from a pawn shop in the bay authenticated (but girl, I knew it from the pictures). I snagged it for $1000 while all the others were gone!! I hope itâs not haunted!! Haha!! Love your channel!! â¦Um, I bought a Dooney Florentine Nano Satchel and a medium Amelia Florentine from kislux â¦but wait, Kurt Geiger Kensington, Chanel 19 denimâ¦and a Hermes Officier Birkin 30, gold togo with double, yellow swift stripe/left front and yellow interior/palladium. Look at this, so chic!!!
Nice review my wife saw the us general box just before black Friday for $10 at harbor freight she bought 2 for her sewing room. Great for all kinds of little sewing stuff that gets lost in bigger drawers
Thanks for the compliment. Your wife is right - they're perfect for little things like sewing supplies and craft stuff.
I have come to know my wife is always right😂
Lmao, an important life lesson isn't it
I'm either very busy being handy or too lazy to put things away, but I keep about 100 small tools scattered around my computer desk in various open cans, plastic trays or just laying around my desk, even on top of my laptop. Yep, I'm picking up 4 of those Hardly Bright toolboxes on my next trip. I've been there 3 times helping a friend with his youthgroup recently and never noticed these. Thanks for the heads up, I never realized how much I need these.
Wait, my son-in-law and daughter are neat as pins, but I think they will like the cuteness of these boxes! Cheap Chanukah gift, sure to bring a smile!
You're welcome. I think you'll find that they'll suit your needs perfectly. Maybe call ahead before you go because I've had quite a few comments from people saying they're sold out (but others from HF employees saying they're getting more in stock occasionally). Very popular item it seems like.
100%! Great video. Now I want a harbor freight mini tool box!
Thank you so much! I hope you can find one. I've seen a few posts saying they've been getting more stock in lately, so hopefully they'll be available soon.
Thank you for your honesty. The tool market is not what it was 20+ years ago. Snap-On seems to offer less and less for their steep and climbing prices compared to their competition. Meanwhile "discount" and "knockoff" brands like Harbor Frieght keep putting up quality that far exceeds anyone's expectations. This illustrates that point better than any of the many other similar comparisons I've seen over the years. With bespoke low volume hand tool companies growing in popularity on the high end, and companies like Milwaukee now making performance matching hand tools for the mass market... Snap-On better adapt or they're gonna be in trouble very soon.
I had two of these and used one at work for storing frequently used endmills. The second one was for my calculator, notepad, pens and storing my phone and keys.
Perfect use for both
What an eye-opener! I have no need at present for such a small box, but appreciate the time and effort you have put in. I have to wonder if Lowe's or Home Depot have such items and how they stand in this?
The Kobalt box is actually from Lowes. There are other mini toolboxes around - I know Menards has one too - but as far as I know the Harbor Freight is the winner for features / price / value.
I love the vibes and humour. This feels like PROJECT FARM before that channel blew up and is in the growth phase
The Harbour Freight toolbox fits in the tray where the fuel tank used to sit behind the seat in my 1954 3100 pickup.. It'll hold a 1/2, 9/16, sparkplug wrench, pliers AND screwdrivers for MOST emergency needs...
NICE! I bet that's an awesome pickup.
Like others, it's my first time seeing this channel but there's a reason this video has so many views. Nice job! Subscribed!
One of the best comparison videos I have seen in a long time. Snap on has been going down hill for a long time and Harbor Freight has been going no where but Up. Now thanks to you, everyone will know the truth. Liked and subscribed Great job sir..
Thank you so much for the compliment and for watching. I truly appreciate it.
Currently on Harbor Freight's website these are sold out.
I've been of the mind for a long time that most of Snap On is just brand hype, my Dad has Craftsman tools he bought at Sears in the 90s that still work just fine, my grandfather had tools he also bought at Sears in the 70s that he used until he died earlier this year. On the rare occaision they broke one they swapped them out no questions asked. Kobalt and Craftsman have the same lifetime warranty on most of their tools that Snap On does, I asked a Snap On dealer one time why I should go with his tools when their competitors were cheaper and had the same warranty, he said you'd never need to use the Snap On warranty. He said that while he was at the trade school I was attending so he could replace sockets and screw drivers that were damaged and covered under warranty.
Sorry about your Grandpa. That's hard, I've been there myself. You know as far as that lifetime warranty goes, you're exactly right. Craftsman tools had it forever, and there are just a lot of companies these days offering comparable quality tools to Snap-On, that also come with a lifetime warranty, and cost a small fraction of the price. Much better value.
I agree with you... Why would you pay so much from Snap-On tiny box other than the brand name and just like Festool or Cryobi (Ryobi), why the lime green color? I don't really like that color per se. But I don't see the value over the Harbor Freight for something like that. I have my tool chests made by Craftsman before it got sold out... err... off, to some company that cheapened the quality. Glad I have some nice stuff, it will last me a lifetime and then some.
Well I can say one thing about the color... you won't ever lose it lmao. I like my red - I have a red rolling tool cabinet, but I don't hate the bright colors really. Just not my first choice. I'm sure your vintage craftsman boxes will last forever. My favorite tap and die set is actually a craftsman that's from the early 70s and it works perfect
@@ShopHumor You and I both know what old-school quality tools are all about. As far as the color scheme... That Lime green is so obnoxious that it makes it practically theft-proof, and if it is stolen, they did you a favor LOL
Lmao
Husky in Canadian home Depot made a tiny single drawer tool box for 20$, even smaller than the snapon and pit and still features roller drawer slides
Crazy that the cheap brands can include features that the premium ones can’t, and do it for a lot less money
I bought 2 harbor freight mini boxes , couldn’t be happier . They are built well
They really are. Surprisingly well built, and for the price they're incredible.
While I would usually say drawer slides are preferred, in the (not very) long run, cheap drawer slides will fail and then you're stuffed. The small drawers can't really store enough weight to be too heavy, so plain metal guides will work ok in this case and will be more durable.
These drawer slides actually seem to be decent, but how could they be for the price? Time will tell. You're 100% right though - I'd rather have a plain metal drawer guide than a broken drawer slide.
Great comparison! I've had the HF big red 40 whatever inch tool box in my garage for over 10 years. Apart from needing to grease the drawer slides, it's been fantastic. Same for the tool cart. If I needed a micro toolbox I'd grab theirs. No clue what I'd put in it though. Maybe I'll get one for my 3d printer tools and replacement parts
I've had the red Harbor Freight 42 inch tool chest for over 10 years too! It's been a workhorse for me.
I didnt know these exist. I have boxes in the garage for my work tools but I'd love this for my art and stationary stuff on my desk.
They're actually fantastic for desk stuff and art stuff both. Completely agree.
I work as a mechanic for the USGovt. All of the old tools in our boxes are Snap on. Almost no replacement tools are snap on anymore.
Disappointing. Hard to justify the value when there is so much more competition that is comparable quality for a lot less money and the same lifetime warranty.
Picked two of the Harbor Freight models up a couple of weeks ago. They make great back corner drawers for my standing desk. They even double as speaker stands.
What type of standing desk do you have? Pretty great for desk storage for sure.
@@ShopHumor A Flexispot E7. It has one of the best height ranges and feature sets I could find for home use without paying a huge premium for little more. And a 15 year warranty is long enough. It's great for in the house and I've been finding that I've been using it as a workbench more and more. Thinking about picking up an Uplift 4 leg v2 commercial base for the workshop. It looks like it's the most stable one I can find and with a 500+lb lifting capacity it should lift almost everything I get up to these days.
Thanks for letting me know. I've looked at Flexispot myself a few times.
I bought one of the snap-on three-door boxes back in either 1994 or 1995. The price of that time was nearly $100 it still had no warranty and was made in China. But I really liked it and almost 30 years later I was looking for another one. I found the Pitt on Amazon and bought one. Comparing my 90's vintage snap-on, it was identical. So much so that I actually think that somehow Pitt got hold of the original tooling. I have no proof of this, but the original snap-on has the same fit and finish faults that you pointed out on the pitt. I wound up buying two of the pitt 5 drawer cabinets. Including a blue one to match my snap-on. The color match was excellent. So it appears that snap-on has improved their quality control with the Vietnamese product. But the Pitt is just 1990s Snap-on. The lack of warranty doesn't really surprise me because it was always sold as a novelty product, not a tool.
How do you like the 5 drawer chest? I think I might get one for the PIT.
@@ShopHumor I like them. It would have been nice if there were a lip around the top to capture the 3 drawer, but it really isn't needed. I use one of them for parts and tooling for my 3D printer. And I use the other for tooling for my sherline lathe.
Sounds perfect for that. I’m using one for my CNC mill speciality tooling, one for the lathe specialty tooling, and one for pocket knives. But one for the 3D printer stuff sounds good too.
I grabbed an ifixit copy tool kit from harbor freight last year for $23 vs the $90 from ifixit. The quality is completely identical and similarly comes with a lifetime warranty. I was going to get an ifixit one, but they pissed me off saying a sale was coming for black Friday. Only for them to raise the price then cross it off to the exact same price it was before the sale.
That's such a shady practice (raising a price before a sale). I hate that. How do you like the tool kit you ended up getting?
Great review! Covered all the important points and showed the difference.
Thank you, and thanks for taking the time to comment!
I'm happy that harbor freight is finally getting their praise over the past few years. I've had their drill and reciprocating saw for a year or now, and it's just as good if not better than some brands for $20 less
They really are getting pretty good.
I bought 2 on black friday for $10 with my Insider Membership. I would have paid full price @ $17.99! They are pretty nice.
Yep, I got mine for $15 the first week the came out - before the black Friday sale - but even at full retail they're a fantastic deal.
If you're buying strapon from a website, then you aren't their customer. Sure they are willing to do it, but that isn't what they want to do. Their customers are professionals at car repair shops and other mechanical type shops. They sell product by forging relationships with their customers and being ahead of what they need. Did I mention they drive to your location or near regularly?
Now I'm not a strapon fan (as you should be able to tell by how I'm naming them). The actual hand tools they sell are always in the top three for any hand tool, but for most people (even including pros) harbor freight is the best balance of value and quality for 90% of the hand tools out there. If not them, there are a lot of brands that could fill that void too. However the two brands simply aren't comparable, because they do wildly different things. There is a reason my garage is full of Harbor Freight and the place I work is full of strapon.
I know that their primary business model is not direct to consumer via their website, but I don't think it really changes the point. They ARE selling products like this directly to consumers, at ridiculously inflated prices, via their own website. They chose the design, they chose not to include premium features, and they chose to set the ridiculous price.
I agree with you about Harbor Freight for value. Generally speaking you can get a tool that will do the job you need it to do, and it will do it for a lot less money.
The Torin version of these has a nice single, deeper drawer, premium drawer slides and the lid opens to just over 90 degrees.
I haven't seen that one, gonna take a look now.. thanks for the tip!
I have the bottom chest for the P.I.T. Tool box ,so does my son . Also Santa Clause the better half ,is getting us the bottom tool chest for the Kolbart ones ,if you can still find them. I do a lot of modeling and miniatures so I use them to store alot of speciality drill bits ,flat bottom bits , photo etch stencils etc .
I bought 2 of the Kobalt ones on Black Friday for $12 each. I was going to get the Harbor freight ones for $10 but Lowes is much closer to home. I got one for me for small tools and one for my wife, in lavender color, for her crafts stuff.
How do you like yours?
@@ShopHumor I don't open and close them a lot, so the differences in drawer slides with the Kobalt is not a problem. I thought about getting the U.S General from Harbor Freight but the store was much further away than Lowes. My wife likes the color choices with the Kobalt.
Yeah, for sure about the color choices. The Kobalt is a fine box, and at the $12 price it's a steal. The drawer slides are great as long as they hold up, but it's something that you ever have to worry about failing on yours.
Excellent review. Objective comparisons with competing products. I'm checking out more of your videos now.
Thank you! I'm still pretty new to TH-cam so I don't have many videos out there yet. Still trying to figure it all out. I appreciate the compliment!
Great review. In the past, I found Harbor Freight sold trash. But since then, I realized many of their products are very good for the money. That's especially true for items (tools and other equipment) you don't need for "a lifetime." Maybe only a couple years. The most important thing you pointed out is the number of repurchases possible for less money. Even if the Harbor freight only lasted 5 years. At #10 for the price of one Snap-on, you could spend less money over 50 years by just rebuying one if/when it breaks. This same concept can be applied to almost everything. Cookware, cars, clothes, computers, etc. Unless it's a very specific item or need, there's no reason to spend money just for a brand name label. That's especially true when that brand's reputation is starting to tarnish.
Harbor Freight has definitely been improving their quality over the last couple decades and now really can compete with the big boys, hands down. Very good comment, thank you.
I have the largest tool chest that HF sells, bought at least a decade ago. It is the single best thing I have ever dragged out of that store, a great purchase!
That's awesome. I have a mid sized one, I think it's a 42" and it's maybe 10-12 years old now. I really have gotten a lot of use out of it.
I would love a large version of the harbor freight one. not big big, just taller with more drawers.
That would be great. I would be really surprised if they don't do that - it seems like they'd make a killing, and they're really common for this style of box. Maybe a 5 drawer chest that's about twice as tall for this one to sit on top of, or could be used stand-alone too.
just got 2 u.s. general boxes for 9.99 each and already loving them, drill bit, allen key/hex/star and other bits holder the 2nd box holds all my little needle files and small picks and other assorted things.
Small files and picks are a great thing to store in them
What a GREAT review! Thank you. Subscribed for more!!! Thanks again.
Headed to HF tomorrow to find 1 or 2 of these.
Thank you so much for the comment, I appreciate you taking the time to leave one! Hope you manage to find these when you go to HF. I know they've been running out of stock.
The Members Mark from Sams Club (and available on Amazon) for $20 comes with some basic tools. I would like to see the others do that as well.
That's not a bad idea at all
The TH-cam algorithm does it again. 10/10 review! Thank you so much. This was very useful and helpful.
Thank you so much! I appreciate the comment and the compliment. Made my day!
Bought two of these to give as birthday gifts to my buddies and I decided to wait until the Black Friday sale to get my own which was a huge mistake. Every store in my area sold out the first day and you had people waiting before opening to grab one. Guess I'll have to wait several weeks for the hype to die down.
Yeah, they're really popular. I guess that happens when you make something that is actually well built, with premium features, and then sell it for a more than affordable price. I was planning on buying a couple more during the black Friday sale as well but I'm just waiting until they restock.
Harbor Freight is certainly the overall winner in this comparison. I own the Kobalt because I am a huge Lowe's fan and it came in black and it looks good in my office.
There's nothing wrong with that!
Great review video! Thanks for posting it. I do not own any Snap-on Products and as a (home mechanic) NEVER will. they have some quality items but for most people's needs they are WAY overpriced.
Thank you so much for the compliment. I’m just an at home workshop guy so value is my driving force behind my purchasing decisions, but I wanted to make this video because I was curious about the extreme price difference and the popularity of the mini toolboxes these days, I thought it would be fun to make.
wow a damn good review Thanks for the video
It's been decades since I bought my tools off the Snap-On truck. As I understood back then, there existed a no questions asked, lifetime replacement policy. Don't know it it applies to their products today.
I really don't know what actually falls under their lifetime warranty anymore. The warranty section on their website is legalese gibberish to the point of being indecipherable. When I emailed them asking if this tiny toolbox was covered under their warranty, they said it was only covered by their 30 day return policy.
I got a Harbor Freight one for my tools and cutters for my 3d printer. Perfect size.
They're really great for tools like that.
thorough, to the point and awesome! when you write dual dimension use parentheses for the other measure standard not an equal sign. example: 4.25in (10.8 cm). The equal sign is an odd read [4.25in=10.8cm]
Thanks for the feedback. Trying to include the metric dimensions for the folks whose countries known how to count to ten, but I'll improve the formatting. Thanks again.
I have a big us general toolbox and im honestly impressed with the build quality of it, its been a trooper
I have a medium one, I've had for a lot of years. It's the 42" version. It's held up really well.
@ShopHumor yep I'll never own a snap on toolbox, they're a toolbox not a vehicle lol
Crazy expensive arent they
Something as simple as drawer slides can make all of the difference. When I needed to replace my 30+ year old Amana refrigerator, I was going to buy a domestic brand but when I did my hands on at the big box store, the one glaring difference I found was that the Korean brands had smooth sliding bins and drawers, that felt like they were on rollers while the domestic brands had cheap feeling, grabby, sticking drawers and bins that did not justify the $1500+ price that they wanted. Harbor Freight ? What a deal!
It really is a good deal. I'm shopping for a new fridge right now, what did you end up getting?
I particularly like the blunt ending:
Why is it 10x more? The logo.
Thank you! I thought it closed out the segment pretty well :)
These would be handy for working on computers or similar tech with small screws and other tiny parts require tiny tools.
They’re perfect for that!
This would be perfect for my drafting tools if they were wide enough to fit rulers.
That would be a really good use for them. Maybe they'll make a size up that would accommodate.
I have a snapon mini box and the only reason I bought it is because it was the 100 year anniversary edition. Yes it is overpriced for what you get but you should already know that buying from snapon. As for the warranty, if you think no warranty on the micro box is bad, ask about the warranty on their full size toolboxes. Those don't have a lifetime warranty either.
That's crazy. For what they're asking for those full size boxes they ought to offer a lifetime warranty for me and my kids and their kids.
Personally, I want one of those mini harbor freight deals for my indoor tools and such.
I worked with a millwright and he always bought tools from Sears, Lordco, Canadian Tire etc. I asked him why as Snap On had premium tools. He said he can buy a replacement tool two or three times before he has met the price of Snap On. It worked out cheaper for him to simply buy tools that were good quality and pay for replacements.
Sounds like a smart guy!
as flimsy as they all are i would go for 10 of the HF over 1 SO. all appear to be one drop from destruction rather it be 15 bucks rather than 150 when it will eventually will. Bty way just did get 10 HF. Got a lot of little shat to put in them Might need more
as for stacking: seeing as how they are small and open only from front build cubbies stacked to put them in. Might just end up with a wall of them if I like them that much.
I was actually surprised at the quality of the HF. It feels even sturdier than I expected, though admittedly my expectations weren't high
Northern tool has a mini toolbox as well called strongway it only comes in blue and very similar to the kobalt but only has one drawer
Thanks for the tip, do you know if it’s built any better than the kobalt or about the same?
@ShopHumor same quality as kobalt it's cheaper $15
Pretty in depth comparison and analysis of what i would look at as the top of the line name brand product and similar or almost identical mainstream competing products that would be first choice in immediate available option this video shows how sometimes as a consumer we tend to overlook some of the real important hidden details that offer more convenience versatility and function as well as durability and sturdiness and finish as a working person in an industry that requires one to own the tools required sime dont have the time to fully do ones homework as sometimes we just put too much faith on the specific brand that once a product is seen and like what we see we end up being geared to make that purchase and end up dissapointed and stuck with a mediocre product that we had high expectation for because of branding loyalty and pricing which i now see id done for a few reasons profit high ticket value to make us think its from a reputable company known for its quality products and think to ourselves that its monet well spent as why would so and so sell crap to its consumergives false senseof security and see it a sale and business tactic fo belp offloadsome ofthe products that were a bad investment choice the tool companies are digging their own financial grave and to put it short biting the hand that feeds them putting out there that they can get away selling crap to consumers making it seem if a mechanic was dumb to pay that much foraflashight that was not cost more than pennies on dollar to fabricste its an insult
and its going to brinng ist reputation down and i start to see more us general brand in even tbe most bougie and high end shops which says a lot about tbe direction in quality o and respect
for its long time consumers and while many think china or out of u s is low qualiity its not alwags the case and now my dealbreaker is warranty oeriod and functionalitgand price to feature .ratio
Thanks for the comment
At work we have 10 snap on boxes filled with tools. Some are the 36 inch cabinets and some are the 48 inch cabinets. Anyway, we scan our badges and check out whatever we need. The past few months of using them are my first experiences with snap on tools. I am not impressed at all. I'd say at best they're just a little bit better than icon tools or any other decent brands. In some ways they suck. The dikes and the wire strippers are two tools that are subpar to store brands. The boxes placed around the building are convenient and well thought out and stocked. Just the snap on quality is not what I was expecting. For those wondering we have all sorts of tools in there. Anything from ratchets and sockets to torpedo levels, pullers, 1/2 inch impact guns, hammers, clamp on amp meters, 36 inch pipe wrenches, etc. Wide variety.
That's too bad they're disappointing quality. What kind of work do you do / what sort of shop do you work in?
This was so good. Gonna hit Harbor Freight this weekend :)
Thanks! Good luck, I hope you find one.
DO NOT BUY THE KOBALT. Returned mine from Black Friday. It had warped drawers that were hard to pull out, they were super loose and hard to close, had paint chips and scratches, metal on metal sliding drawers AND it off gassed terribly so the room smelled like paint fumes. Go harbor freight.
Wish the Kobalt was a slightly better product! Was thinking of gifting a few since the color selections is so nice.
I wish harbor freight would come to Australia...
4:05 the snap on feet are probably not 3m.
The double sided adhesive tape used to attach them is 3m.
Good observation, probably correct
Harbor Freight has really been stepping up their game recently
They're really putting out more and more high quality products on a regular basis. And you can actually afford them without having to take out a second mortgage.
Thanks! Good info! They're CUTE as all get-out, but not useful enough for my workshop!
You're welcome! I really like them for small tools that tend to get lost in big drawers, but they're absolutely not for everyone. I appreciate the comment :)