As part of a paid partnership we have with Home Depot, they send over an assortment of tools for review consideration. This quarter, one of the hardest tools to talk about has been Husky universal combination wrench sets.
The hard part is complicated. I generally don’t like universal-style wrenches, but these don’t offend me. I guess I’ve warmed up to spline-style universal box ends in recent years, even buying a number of open-stock Proto wrench sizes.
Advertisement
The quality is good – better than I expected for the price point.
After these Husky wrenches arrived, another brand sent over an entry-price mechanics tool set for evaluation. The difference in comfort and finish are significant. That raised my opinion of the Husky wrenches more than just using them, adding to the difficulty of finding the right words to describe them.
These are value-priced tools that don’t suck.
There are not many mid-level tools these days that I would consider go-to recommendations, but I think Husky is slowly filling that role. Well, they’re not slowly filling the role, but it’s more that I’m starting to see them in that role.
The downfall of Sears’ Craftsman lineup left a big hole, and it’s been slow for me to see Husky as a brand that could fill it, at least the mechanics tool vacancy. Stanley Black & Decker’s Craftsman brand is a long way away from filling it.
So here’s the bottom line – these are good wrenches, and they are practically a steal. And that’s coming from someone who was once wholly convinced that no universal-style wrenches had a place in my tool box.
The open ends have “Surface Grip” profile, with special recesses that ensure the wrench grips fasteners on their flats, and not their corners. This is a tried-and-true feature that you typically find in higher-priced wrenches.
The box ends have spline-style universal-type profiles. I have only ever used these on 6pt sockets, and they work well without complaints.
The several sizes that I used never slipped, and were comfortable to use. I like the black finish, and easily visible laser sizing etches.
I found the wrenches to be comfortable to use.
I took the wrenches for granted a little, until I compared the tools side by side with another brand’s entry price offerings.
I upgraded my combination wrenches over a decade ago, going from an adjustable wrench and some loose sizes to a Craftsman 9pc SAE set. That set of raised panel wrenches cost me $20. At the time, I was debating whether to buy the 2 sizes I needed, but rationalized that the price of the set would be worth it if I needed to buy 3 loose sizes total.
These are 10pc sets, with long pattern wrenches, and comfortable slim handles, at the same $20/each price points (at least as of the time of this posting).
At $20 for each 10 wrench set, these are very good buys.
SAE Sizes: 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 7/16, 1/2, 9/16, 5/8, 11/16, 3/4, 7/8 inch
Metric Sizes: 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19 mm
I wish that the SAE set came with a 11/32″ wrench, which I use often on #8 machine screw nuts. But besides that, I can’t find much to complain about.
I cannot think of any other wrenches that offer this level of quality at pricing anywhere near what Husky delivers with these sets. Are they my top choice? No. But they’re good tools I’d use, and if I had to start over with no wrenches and a slim budget as was the case a decade ago, these would be the tools I recommend to myself.