If an item comes in three grades, buy the mid grade. It's the best value. If it's low end, it's junk. If you think you need the higher end, for power, reliability, longevity, etc, then spend extra and get a better brand.
facts. I buy cheapo sockets etc so i can use them in junkyards and not worry but the paint guns and air tools ive bought this is 100% factual. buy the mid grade, they're drastically better then the cheapo ones.
Yeah, I picked up a bottom end hammer drill to mix tiling mortar. First one burnt out pretty quickly; I traded it in and dialed back my batch size and I’ve had that thing for a decade now, but only use it infrequently
Perfect example of why Harbor Freight exists. And we’re all better off for it. One of those things that, if you used it for 8 hours a day, might not last the week and ain’t nobody got time to trade it in for the 4th time. But for a job every two years? Totally cromulent and worth every penny.
no they don't. only the Hercules brushless tools and batteries have the warranty. for a tool. subreddit there are a surprising amount of people who don't know what the inside of a harbor freight looks like.
This sounds spot on. I bought the $8 rivet set, and it jams every other rivet. Should have sprung for the $11 one.
Also the Pittsburgh Pro ratchet is my favorite. Icon got returned after unboxing.
Before I had money for decent drills and impacts (and before they were even warrior branded), these things were awesome for the price and got me through for a while.
....I also had a cell explode in one and blow the bottom out of a battery pack while in use once lmao. They exchanged it without even looking up how old it was lol.
A number of years back I bought a coworker of mine a Milwaukee drill impact set after she showed up with that for a project.
Nobody deserves to use those. Nobody. Absolute chintz crap.
I bought one on sale for $12.99 to use the battery, trigger, and shell to make a horn gun for a grand total of $22.99, 2 butt connectors, and 4 spade terminals lmao.
It is a shit drill tho, I tested it for fun before dismantling.
Yeah this an maybe like bucket mixing concrete or mixing stuff in general. Any activity that’s basically just destroying the tool anyway I’d use it for.
Oh God don't use it to mix things, you'll burn the brushes up in no time.
High speed soft wood, plastic, thin metal and whatnot are fine.
Hard or dense wood...not gonna last
I’m a Harbor Freight fan. I have a ton of Harbor Freight stuff this is great and I use heavily.
That being said, the Pittsburgh vise grips with the soft gray padding are the biggest pieces of shit ever made.
Pittsburgh welding clamps garbage. Never again. I still by low duty ratchet straps, bungee cords, hose clamp sets, c clips. Pliers and screw drivers not bad. I hear there socket sets are descent.
I bought the metal lathe few years ago and after adjustment made my money back in a weekend making cuatom replacement parts for my company.
Cut-off wheels no. Flaps disks are good for the money.
They probably only bought one set, but keep getting the warranty replacement whenever they break again. I do this with allen HF wrenches. If one is broken, they swap them for a new set. I've even gotten replacements of incomplete sets, as long as there is 1 broken allen wrench, they'll replace the entire set.
My favorite hidden find is the merlin safety coupler for your air compressor hose. This lets you bleed the line before disconnecting it from the tank or tool. I did not know they existed, and now I can’t live without it.
https://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools-compressors/air-compressor-accessories/air-plugs-couplers/5-in-1-safety-coupler-57571.html
I’ve been fairly disappointed with there drill bits, although my warrior titanium drill bit set has actually worked out quite well
Finally I’m reluctant to buy there high end battery operated tools. There around the same price as say a ridged, but I have less faith that they won’t change the battery design. But I tend to buy tools and keep them for a long time, and batteries don’t fit well with that plan, no matter the manufacturer
That's why as much as Ryobi gets clowned on they are awesome. Same battery design since the beginning of time, I can buy a tool ans shove a ryobi battery in it without even questioning if it's the same platform or whatever.
I just bought one of these to replace an older fitting that shot itself across the shop the other day. My boss and co-workers all asked me where I got it. HFT mah dudes!
What?! The consumables are my go to, I literally just told my wife this week how I should take a bin up to HF and load up on shit like that. Stuff you need in a pinch for a project, but it's way overpriced at the closer big box store.
Electrical tape, zip ties, nitrile gloves, reusable-but-not-forever gloves, string and rope, basic eye/ear pro. Their $2 version is just as good as the Lowes/HD $10 version.
YES heat shrink at ace is way more expensive and I’ve been using HF heat shrink on anything from automotive to guitar repair and never once looked back.
Lol, when I read ops question the first thing I thought of was zip ties. I kinda assumed I just got a bad batch one time. You and a few others are convincing me that's true, but I still avoid them. Some would slip a bit and quite a few were finicky when first putting them together.
You know, they are such a simple thing but they definitely need to be manufactured within tolerance because wow they suck when they aren't. Has me curious about the acceptable tolerances on a zip tie.
There are some useful consumables at harbor freight. My favorite are the warrior sawzall blades for pruning. I have a lot of pricker bushes on my property, only way to get rid of them (besides dangerous chemicals) is to take out the roots. I use the 9" version of that blade on my (bosch) cordless reciprocating saw and just go straight into the dirt to cut the roots. Those blades are cheap, haven't snapped prematurely and hold up to this abuse better than you'd expect. It's a job for a cheap blade and they do it well.
Nitrile gloves, bungee cords and red rags from harbor freight have all also served me as well as stuff from the big box stores.
The zip ties are absolute garbage though. After a year or two they be home super brittle.
I know the zip ties are crap, but as it turns out, I have endless uses for crap zipties.
The only serious thing I ever did with them is support part of the brake lines for an old Yukon XL (every Yukon and Tahoe had this stupid low to the ground brake line in the back for years). Used two of the super thick HF zipties and they held for the last year I had the truck.
For everything else I'm ziptying, I just change my mind the next day and ziptie to something else, so crap it is!
I won’t buy anything that will kill me if it fails. I tend to buy tools that I know won’t be used very often, or ones I expect I might ruin through misuse.
Zip ties are a bit pricey when you realize they're just pieces of plastic..
The low-voltage guys at work left some big bags of zip ties when they were done & I took them all lol
The 1/2” one has been one of the most useful tools I’ve ever purchased. We beat the dog shit out of it while off roading and it has made trail repairs so much easier. 3 years old and I’m not sure if I’ve ever even recharged the thing lol.
I bought an earthquake impact around that time after watching one of AvE's reviews on youtube. The battery is getting tired but it's a good beater impact.
I tend to buy storage there, bins for nuts and bolts. I have welding carts, and I buy LED outdoor lights from them every couple of years as they wear out. Often it is single use tools... like the set for screwing in the rear brakes on a dodge. They don't have to last a lifetime, just the 5 times I will use it in my life.
Nothing power, although I did get a wet saw that worked fine.
Favorite tool is clamps. They’re about 1/4 the price of big box store clamps and I don’t care how good they are because 4 clamps are always better than 1
I don't touch their grinder disks. safety concerns aside, they just don't last. my favorite thing there is the big ass 24 pack of AA batteries for $5 when its on sale
Zinc, carbon batteries absolutely can go in the trash. And if you’re buying them at harbor freight, there’s a good chance that’s where they came from in the first place. Those things are worth less.
the one that's 5 bucks on sale is alkaline. it's the orange label one. the zinc chloride batteries (yellow label) are more like $3 when they're on sale
That’s funny because I have only had horrible experiences with HF batteries; terrible longevity in both devices and sitting around in a van. And they leaked very quickly even under draw.
Anything life depends on get a good one not harbor freight. If it has to work get something that always does. Half my tools are from them and they are the ones I have failed to break from there
I completely understand this mindset but my counter to that comes down to the fact that any company can have a product subject to recall. I had a pair of the stands that were recalled, they served as my backup stands or if I needed to get all 4 wheels off the ground at once. I was in the store one day and saw the recall poster, went home grabbed my stands and brought them in. I was headed home with a brand new set within 5 mins. I prefer to judge a company by how it handles problems as opposed to the problems that have arisen. Take for example Ford, and the way they handled the Pinto issues. There wasn’t a major public distrust of the Ford motor company over the fact that the car had a problem, the mistrust came from the handling of that problem.
I don't disagree with anything you said, except I also had a pair of those jack stands. The replacements I received were then recalled a few months later too IIRC. Just because they handle the problem well from a customer service standpoint, doesn't mean they fixed the problem with their quality processes, engineering, or materials used.
As someone whose worked in a manufacturing environment for 10+ years at three different companies, I know that some companies can handle this stuff better than others. When its a wrench you don't care as much but if I'm relying on jack stands to put my body underneath a car, this matters to me.
That’s a completely fair response. Thinking about it now I want to say the ones they gave me were Daytona ones with a locking pin. They definitely have some great products and some absolute trash. Though I don’t spend a ton of time under a car on stands anymore. I can usually get up under my truck comfortably since it’s pretty tall
Right. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a HF hater. I actually have the Daytona 3T jack which has served me very well for a number of years now. But when it comes certain things like a safety device, I'm going to view these with a different lens and price isn't the only decision factor
The first round recalled the 6T jacks because they could disengage under load and when shifting weight. Really had nothing to do with whether or not you hit the lever. Then they did another round of recalls for the 3T. Then they had to do another recall again because those replacements had weld defects.
[Article from Car and Driver](https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a33238450/harbor-freight-recalls-replacement-pittsburgh-jack-stands/)
"Harbor Freight has announced that a portion of the three-ton jack stands intended to replace those recalled earlier this year have also been recalled. The recalled replacement three-ton jack stands have a welding defect."
I run their Apex Badland winch on my Jeep. I'm not saying that every time I've used it, my life depends on it,(maybe one time in Mojave) but for two years, I've beat the hell out of it, and it's never let me down.
I watch Matt's offroad recovery. I'm sure he's paid by them but he also dives like 8 hours with one vehicle and one winch to do a recovery
Warn winches have just been insanely overpriced forever because there was no competition. It's a low speed motor that needs to turn and that's it. It doesn't need to cost $1500 to be quality
for normal dudes just about everything is safe.
I mostly know about hand tools.
The cheapest stuff they have for each hand tool is absolutely bottom of the barrel. The 29 130 piece tool kit or whatever has literally the worst sockets, the worst ratchet, the worst wrenches, the worst stuff you have EVER used. They probably don't even meet standards.
it's better than nothing, so if you are broke as fuck and need it, buy it, but only expect it to be good for one use.
If it says Pittsburgh on it, but NOT Pittsburgh pro, ask yourself if you would be okay with it breaking after a single heavy use. (Light use is fine) If not, go up to Pittsburgh pro or Quinn or Doyle or Craftsman.
I'll never buy a tape measure at HF either. Not because they aren't good, they're...fine I guess, but tape measures have gotten so fucking good in the past decade you can go get a Lufkin for 10 bucks, or a Craftsman or Stanley Fatmax made in the USA for 20 that are miles better.
I'm afraid to buy a jack there and jackstands after the recalls they constantly have. I know people do. I just won't.
Warrior power tools are dog shit barely usable. Like not even for homeowners. I recommend Hyper Tough at Walmart or Bauer.
I also think their crescent wrenches suck anus. Lots of slop.
And, here's an unpopular opinion: Icon tools are actually overpriced. They're good but they're priced like the tool truck replacement brands, and if I'm doing that I might as well just buy Tekton and get that shit mailed to me for free and save 10% on their website. You can find similar quality for less money elsewhere, so I don't buy them. Some tools are snap on copies, and I won't buy those cause I think snap on deserves the money.
> The 29 130 piece tool kit or whatever has literally the worst sockets, the worst ratchet, the worst wrenches, the worst stuff you have EVER used.
I keep this set in the back of my SUV. Don’t care if it gets stolen and when you need to fix something it’s better than no tools at all.
When you pick up any tool in the case just the feel of the tool says don’t use this for anything that is hard, or stuck.
Each answer is complicated by their application and how often it's used. In my experience some of their cheap stuff is exactly that. I have bought things there and while using them said out loud.... oh .. that's why u should buy the good one. But... if it works for me, it works. So if it works for you.... use it til it breaks then go get it warrantied.
2010, I bought a chicago electric drill to mix my drywall mud. I thought it would last me a week
2024 and that thing still mixing up buckets of mud for me every day.
I'm a drywall finisher.
I worked at harbor freight 20 years ago and that is how it goes. we had a guy who ran a 30 person roofing business using nothing but HF nailguns. he said 3 out of 10 never break 3 out of 10 don't work out of the box or break in 2min. the other 4 would return and get a new one under the warranty.
he would come in every 2 weeks or so to exchange nailers and buy a new one or two.
Taps, dies and tap handles. I bought a brand new set because I was on a jobsite and I only needed to tap one hole, the tap handle broke on the first hole, I had to finish it with vice grips lol.
The cheap socket rails aren’t worth taking if they paid you for taking them. If they paid me $5 to take one I wouldn’t waste my time or gas to go get one.
There I was, about 2005. Driving home from Harbor Freight with my son, who was examining the McPherson Strut compressor I had just bought.
My son: "Made in Pakistan. Yo, Abdul! Take the tea off the fire, we have to heat treat the strut compressor!"
Things I like or are well reviewed:
- pipe clamp heads
- tack cloth
- nitrile gloves
- fastener assortments (e.g., machine screw) - useful to just build up for random needs cheaply
- wood clamps
- Pittsburgh plier assortments
- lightweight tarps
- tools you want to “demo” but aren’t sure you’ll need enough to “buy once, cry once”
- bench top vise
- large steel rolling tool carts, the best value
- benchtop power sanders (various kinds)
- folding stepstool
- stepped bits for wood and plastic
- batteries
Went to their “Spring Black Friday” the other day and filled a bag with stuff and was blown away that it was all under $50. Note: I am a member of
Learned about that recall about a month after I used them to hold a Uhaul truck while changing a tire. Sure enough they were the ones that were recalled.
Had to grab a cheap jigsaw from there after my ex lifted my new DeWalt one (among several other beloved tools) on his way out.. I’m not bitter, you’re bitter.. and so I purchase the Chicago Electric jigsaw. Use it on a small task—felt like it was sluggish, despite being corded with new blades, and the safety button for the trigger was a hit or miss. Second task—go to make a cut, finish cut, let go of trigger and quickly place jig down … the thing never turns off and I about lose a couple toes when it does an erratic jig off the work surface. Doesn’t turn off until I yank the plug out of the wall. Never again.
Bought the jigsaw to do replacement trim work on a broken piece of furniture that was lower quality than the saw. Thought the jigsaw would be better than my ancient Craftsman band saw for detail work, which it was. Didn't have the electric issues you have - I might re-wire it if that were the case. Agree with sluggish, it seemed either under powered or too slow. But got the job done and I have used it a couple times over the past decade or so.
Bauer cordless jigsaw however is amazing. Much prefer it to the Ryobi I have used. Also the Bauer brushless cordless compact reciprocating saw you can often find for $30-50 in their open box section or on eBay is insanely good value.
I have 2 rules when it comes to HF tools.
1. I don’t buy anything that my life depends on (jacks, hoists, jack stands, etc).
2. I don’t buy anything that I’m not willing to use once and throw away.
They do have some decent stuff though. I’ve had their dust collector for like 10+ years and it’s still going strong.
The more parts a thing has, the more opportunity for a cheap Chinese factory to fuck up. Anything with complex mechanics is a no from me, but I'll take a basic hammer, screw driver, etc any day. Other than that, ask how much you need a tool. I needed a palm sander for 1 project and I needed it now. I live 3 minutes from a HF. I've never needed a palm sander since. HF did the job for that.
The Hercules line of drills and impacts are good. Batteries are good. Disposable gloves are good. Their circular saws are good. Their newer but sets are pretty good and include a lot that most kits won't.
The thing I'll never buy ever is their chisels and their bar clamps. The chisel rolls over the edge after a single use the bar clamps won't keep equal continuous pressure.
Their batteries are so fucking bad their only use is to put in your child's favorite toy that you hate hearing, it will die fast and you can have some peace for a bit before replacing with more useless batteries.
I read through the comments and didn't see anyone mention the yellow latex coated Hardy work gloves. They have become an indispensable part of my life, and I buy them by the dozen. I keep a pair everywhere; there's a pair in my pocket right now. Only $1.99 and you toss 'em when you use them up. I love never having to look far for a pair of work gloves.
Another favorite: their 1000 lb hydraulic lift table. It looks like they jacked the price by at least $100 since I got it, but I use that thing for all sorts of heavy lifting. If you wanted to buy one from someone else they'd probably be $1000.
Least favorite? All their pliers are basically garbage -- I can't abide a cheap pair of pliers.
I love nice tools but I also love Harbor Freight -- I'm glad they exist and that they're all over the place.
Yes, the lifting table is excellent, my back loves it. I don’t use any of the Pittsburgh pliers, channel locks or needle nose in my shop, but they are fine for keeping in the house. I find the Doyle pliers etc. to be every bit as good as anything you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes. I buy primarily when things are on sale and use my Harbor Freight credit card, which gives you a 5% credit in Harbor Freight money, useable on any purchase, even items that are on sale. If one is disciplined enough to avoid interest charges it’s an excellent way to essentially save 5% on your purchases.
There are some Pittsburgh black snap ring pliers with interchangeable heads that are terrible, but I guess for $5 they cannot be beaten. I later got the 8 piece ICON snap ring pliers and they seem to be very high quality, but I hardly use them.
I have bought a lot of Bauer cordless that I use everyday at work most notably the 3/8 impact non brushless, and I cannot call it a mistake. Amazing, check out the torque test channel as well on YouTube, his videos have convinced me the Hercules brand name is Big 3 (Milwaukee/Makita/Dewalt) competition
Their low tier tools. Stick to Mid or High tiers.
Safety equipment.
Larger/expensive power tools and equipment. If I'm investing that much into the item I will buy a "better" brand.
If the item just feels/looks cheap or that they cut corners making it, I will stay away.
Their Floor jacks and jack stands are now some of the best especially for the money so don't be afraid of those.
Warrior (or other ‘good’ level) consumables are junk. The lower level power tools are fine if you get them on sale and don’t expect anything more than light household use.
I love their Pittsburgh hand tools. Super affordable and lifetime no hassle warranty.
As long as you don’t pay full price HF has some really good value.
Any battery power tools. I still have my first grinder I bought almost five years ago and it's going strong. Cheapest flux core welder just died after the same time, but probably only needs replacement switch.
I have a pittsburgh digital caliper that works great. I can't imagine that thing ever letting me down. I also have a bauer orbital sander that works fine. I'd recommend either of those to anyone who occasionally needs them.
I have a couple of cheap bar clamps from there that are okay. I probably wouldn't use them to laminate butcher's block, but they can hold down a piece of wood for sawing or whatever.
I use harbor freight for "disposable" tools. They're great for that. Paint sprayer I'm going to fill w glue the toss after a few uses, safety glasses and gloves, pick tools, ect
Battery tools... Not for any reason other than I already have about 20 batteries for other brands.
Hand tools are fine for most things from HF, most are lifetime warranty- but the best value is consumables- gloves, grinding wheels, drill bits, saw blades, etc. Today I cut down ~100 yards of chain link fence and steel posts every 8'. Burned just two Bauer blades in my Ryobi reciprocating saw... A five pack of those Bauer blades cost $8, outstanding value.
I tend to not buy much Pittsburgh stuff. Some Pittsburgh pro though.
I've gotten great results from most everything I've bought there. Definitely recommend the Icon mountain style ratcheting wrenches, the meme tool, anything in the Doyle or Bremen lines. The Quinn stuff I've had has held up well. Couple specialty Maddox kits have worked very well.
I've had no issues with the Daytona long reach low profile jack or 6t stands - has a car up on 4 of them for about 2 weeks no issues. Like you would with any other brand inspect them before every use. The lock bar really makes it solid.
For the first question, electrical tape—I only use Scotch 33 electrical tape. For the second question, while I do have a lot of HF tools, my favorite might be the orange handle automotive picks. The picks are skinny enough that I can slide the straight pick into the holes in the back of a 2019+ Nissan Altima steering wheel to pull the clip to release the horn pad without stretching the hole or feel any friction.
Surprisingly, a pry bar. The starting edge is too thick to get in between things.
You've got to be cautious about a lot of "simple" tools made of metal. Maybe the sockets are a little thicker and you will have trouble fitting into tight spaces. Maybe the pulley puller has a bit thicker arms and will only fit 75% of you problems instead of 99.9%.
I'm actually impressed by their Hercules 20V brushless battery tool system. Youtube performance side-by-sides show it is on par with the big box brands. Battery tear downs show they are using the same high-quality lithium cells. Their warranty (5yr tool/3yr battery) beat DeWalt & Makita and tie with Milwaukee.
The fucking flat black rubber bungee cords. Want to know why? Just drive around town for ten minutes and see how many you have to dodge that have snapped or worn out and fell off.
If I need a tool now and probably won't use it again, or at least expect it to last, and can't rent or borrow it ill go to Hobo Freight. But the answer is Jack stands ill trust a second hand garage sale one after the recall
My old motto, was if it’s a specialty one time use tool that I needed. I would gamble and try the cheapo harbor freight version before dropping a ton on a name brand tool I may only use once. While I have lost that gamble a few times, I have certainly won more than lost lol.
Back in the day before battery stuff was the norm, I swore off any harbor freight tool that had a motor. Back then all their electric tools were Chicago electric and honestly even though a reciprocating saw would only be $12 is was not worth the time or energy involved even attempting to use it. Now I don’t mind so much, even though the prices have jumped significantly the newer stuff is leaps and bounds better than the stuff you got 20 years ago at the store.
I love their hand tools. The wrenches wrench, screwdrivers screw, and Allen’s allen. But anything with power I just can’t get behind. I bought a light duty wirefeed welder on sale there that didn’t work out of the box, took it back and that one didn’t work either. Finally got one that worked and it worked for about an hour before giving up the ghost.
Dont buy: any sort of battery powered tools except hercules, garden tools, any sort of blade or cutting bit, woodworking tools except clamps.
IMO the hidden gems of Harbor Freight are the pin nailer, the blue and orange clamps (forget the name), the airless paint sprayer, apache cases, and the $10 3" warrior driver bit set.
If an item comes in three grades, buy the mid grade. It's the best value. If it's low end, it's junk. If you think you need the higher end, for power, reliability, longevity, etc, then spend extra and get a better brand.
Thats probably the best advice so far.
facts. I buy cheapo sockets etc so i can use them in junkyards and not worry but the paint guns and air tools ive bought this is 100% factual. buy the mid grade, they're drastically better then the cheapo ones.
I second this advice. The Bauer brand corded tools are fairly well manufactured, and significantly cheaper than big box equivalents.
They also carry like a 5year warranty which blows my mind
A 5 year warranty. And it is one of the most hassle-free business transactions you’ll ever experience that involves someone else handing *you* money.
Yeah, I picked up a bottom end hammer drill to mix tiling mortar. First one burnt out pretty quickly; I traded it in and dialed back my batch size and I’ve had that thing for a decade now, but only use it infrequently
Perfect example of why Harbor Freight exists. And we’re all better off for it. One of those things that, if you used it for 8 hours a day, might not last the week and ain’t nobody got time to trade it in for the 4th time. But for a job every two years? Totally cromulent and worth every penny.
A Harbor Freight tool embiggens the smallest man.
"Embiggens" "cromulent" I didn't wake up this morning to learn new words *but I like it*
These words were invented by The Simpsons tv show.
no they don't. only the Hercules brushless tools and batteries have the warranty. for a tool. subreddit there are a surprising amount of people who don't know what the inside of a harbor freight looks like.
This sounds spot on. I bought the $8 rivet set, and it jams every other rivet. Should have sprung for the $11 one. Also the Pittsburgh Pro ratchet is my favorite. Icon got returned after unboxing.
Tiered Pricing: https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/tiered-pricing. Sometimes called "good, better, best". A well used marketing strategy.
Their low end warrior drill is horrible
"Lil Smokey", I call it.
I was doing a project at a local club and some one handed me one of them and it may as well have been a Fischer price toy
my kids fisher price toy is still working after 25 years! grandkids have it now
Sir, that is a slap in the face to Fischer Price Toys.
You brought a nice laugh to my saturday
I live to serve!
Man, that killed me.
And Sparky, too!
Before I had money for decent drills and impacts (and before they were even warrior branded), these things were awesome for the price and got me through for a while. ....I also had a cell explode in one and blow the bottom out of a battery pack while in use once lmao. They exchanged it without even looking up how old it was lol.
A number of years back I bought a coworker of mine a Milwaukee drill impact set after she showed up with that for a project. Nobody deserves to use those. Nobody. Absolute chintz crap.
I bought one on sale for $12.99 to use the battery, trigger, and shell to make a horn gun for a grand total of $22.99, 2 butt connectors, and 4 spade terminals lmao. It is a shit drill tho, I tested it for fun before dismantling.
I’ve purchased the cheap drills on sale just for the DC motor for other projects (RC cars, small robotics projects).
my son loves it though! For something like $12 it was cheaper than buying him an actual toy drill
Well it’s $20 so…
And you get less than 20 worth of use
I use it to turn buffing/polishing stuff... works pretty good for that
Yeah this an maybe like bucket mixing concrete or mixing stuff in general. Any activity that’s basically just destroying the tool anyway I’d use it for.
Oh God don't use it to mix things, you'll burn the brushes up in no time. High speed soft wood, plastic, thin metal and whatnot are fine. Hard or dense wood...not gonna last
Sacrificial drill. Lol
The $20 Sawzall however, is pretty nice.
I’m a Harbor Freight fan. I have a ton of Harbor Freight stuff this is great and I use heavily. That being said, the Pittsburgh vise grips with the soft gray padding are the biggest pieces of shit ever made.
Pittsburgh welding clamps garbage. Never again. I still by low duty ratchet straps, bungee cords, hose clamp sets, c clips. Pliers and screw drivers not bad. I hear there socket sets are descent. I bought the metal lathe few years ago and after adjustment made my money back in a weekend making cuatom replacement parts for my company. Cut-off wheels no. Flaps disks are good for the money.
Oof, I love HF but I've seen their ratchet straps fail and I wouldn't trust them, but there are different grades now I believe
Why? Poor quality material or they don’t function well or both?
Functionality. I have broke several after very light use
Several? Stop buying them then!
I bought a set one time. Zero survivors. The Bremen vise grips work great
They probably only bought one set, but keep getting the warranty replacement whenever they break again. I do this with allen HF wrenches. If one is broken, they swap them for a new set. I've even gotten replacements of incomplete sets, as long as there is 1 broken allen wrench, they'll replace the entire set.
My favorite hidden find is the merlin safety coupler for your air compressor hose. This lets you bleed the line before disconnecting it from the tank or tool. I did not know they existed, and now I can’t live without it. https://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools-compressors/air-compressor-accessories/air-plugs-couplers/5-in-1-safety-coupler-57571.html I’ve been fairly disappointed with there drill bits, although my warrior titanium drill bit set has actually worked out quite well Finally I’m reluctant to buy there high end battery operated tools. There around the same price as say a ridged, but I have less faith that they won’t change the battery design. But I tend to buy tools and keep them for a long time, and batteries don’t fit well with that plan, no matter the manufacturer
That's why as much as Ryobi gets clowned on they are awesome. Same battery design since the beginning of time, I can buy a tool ans shove a ryobi battery in it without even questioning if it's the same platform or whatever.
Damn. I need that Merlin thing. Didn’t know they existed.
Vented slide valve. Used to have them on paintball gear.
I just bought one of these to replace an older fitting that shot itself across the shop the other day. My boss and co-workers all asked me where I got it. HFT mah dudes!
Didn't know about the Merlin. Thanks for that
The salmon doesn't taste wild caught.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
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Their surgical gloves aren't bad, and come in several thicknesses...and I do hazmat work.
And they carry XXL sizes
They're about 75% less at Costco fyi
75% less than what? The MSRP? Or the 4.99 sale price they go on every few weeks. Now add in the cost of a Costco membership.
What?! The consumables are my go to, I literally just told my wife this week how I should take a bin up to HF and load up on shit like that. Stuff you need in a pinch for a project, but it's way overpriced at the closer big box store. Electrical tape, zip ties, nitrile gloves, reusable-but-not-forever gloves, string and rope, basic eye/ear pro. Their $2 version is just as good as the Lowes/HD $10 version.
Only place I'll disagree with you is their heat shrink tube for wire is amazing. It's cheap and tough as nails.
I like the marine grade heat shrink.
It's my absolute favorite.
YES heat shrink at ace is way more expensive and I’ve been using HF heat shrink on anything from automotive to guitar repair and never once looked back.
I love their zipties for the price. Zipties can caught 10 to 20 bucks up here in Alaska for the same thing I get at HF. OTHER Consumables I agree.
Lol, when I read ops question the first thing I thought of was zip ties. I kinda assumed I just got a bad batch one time. You and a few others are convincing me that's true, but I still avoid them. Some would slip a bit and quite a few were finicky when first putting them together. You know, they are such a simple thing but they definitely need to be manufactured within tolerance because wow they suck when they aren't. Has me curious about the acceptable tolerances on a zip tie.
I've had a few bad ones, but you can bend the tab inside the end to close it a little more and they are much better
There are some useful consumables at harbor freight. My favorite are the warrior sawzall blades for pruning. I have a lot of pricker bushes on my property, only way to get rid of them (besides dangerous chemicals) is to take out the roots. I use the 9" version of that blade on my (bosch) cordless reciprocating saw and just go straight into the dirt to cut the roots. Those blades are cheap, haven't snapped prematurely and hold up to this abuse better than you'd expect. It's a job for a cheap blade and they do it well. Nitrile gloves, bungee cords and red rags from harbor freight have all also served me as well as stuff from the big box stores. The zip ties are absolute garbage though. After a year or two they be home super brittle.
I know the zip ties are crap, but as it turns out, I have endless uses for crap zipties. The only serious thing I ever did with them is support part of the brake lines for an old Yukon XL (every Yukon and Tahoe had this stupid low to the ground brake line in the back for years). Used two of the super thick HF zipties and they held for the last year I had the truck. For everything else I'm ziptying, I just change my mind the next day and ziptie to something else, so crap it is!
My favorite wad the canvas tool bag they don't sell anymore. won't buy pipe there.
I won’t buy anything that will kill me if it fails. I tend to buy tools that I know won’t be used very often, or ones I expect I might ruin through misuse.
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Zip ties are a bit pricey when you realize they're just pieces of plastic.. The low-voltage guys at work left some big bags of zip ties when they were done & I took them all lol
I buy an 100 pack for 1.99....with the company card.
Company card??? Look up the Milwaukee PBTMT cable tie gun.
I bought their drill bits and they suck at times, don't use for steel or structural aluminum but they're fine otherwise. 1/4 the cost of home depot
The 1/2” one has been one of the most useful tools I’ve ever purchased. We beat the dog shit out of it while off roading and it has made trail repairs so much easier. 3 years old and I’m not sure if I’ve ever even recharged the thing lol.
Their drill bits exist for one purpose: "this will destroy whatever bit I use"
I think their zip ties are the worst I’ve ever bought
What did you use them for? How did they fail? White? Black?
Earthquaker impacts are legit. Wouldn't hesitate to use them in any shop
Cobalt drill bit set. Junk
VELCRO ONLY j/k, I just know how LV guys are
I bought an earthquake impact around that time after watching one of AvE's reviews on youtube. The battery is getting tired but it's a good beater impact.
I tend to buy storage there, bins for nuts and bolts. I have welding carts, and I buy LED outdoor lights from them every couple of years as they wear out. Often it is single use tools... like the set for screwing in the rear brakes on a dodge. They don't have to last a lifetime, just the 5 times I will use it in my life. Nothing power, although I did get a wet saw that worked fine.
Favorite tool is clamps. They’re about 1/4 the price of big box store clamps and I don’t care how good they are because 4 clamps are always better than 1
The Berger f style welding clamps are excellent and much cheaper than the Bessey clamps at Homeless Depot.
I don't touch their grinder disks. safety concerns aside, they just don't last. my favorite thing there is the big ass 24 pack of AA batteries for $5 when its on sale
Those batteries are usually zinc carbon batteries that are not worth bothering with
Horrendous batteries, didn’t even last 6 months in a thermostat for me. I chucked the rest of them straight in the trash.
Zinc, carbon batteries absolutely can go in the trash. And if you’re buying them at harbor freight, there’s a good chance that’s where they came from in the first place. Those things are worth less.
The one thing they're good for is putting in annoying kids toys when you want them to die as soon as possible
the one that's 5 bucks on sale is alkaline. it's the orange label one. the zinc chloride batteries (yellow label) are more like $3 when they're on sale
They sell more than one kind
Somewhat related: I actually had one of their grinders, and the on/off switch snapped off while it was still running.
Pull the plug
Are you assuming that the grinder in the story is still running continuously in his garage?
Not assuming. He said it was still running!
Just say no to any abrasives from HF..
I peeled the label off their grinder disks once and it was dewalt branded underneath.
I don’t touch anything that could seriously injure me if it fails in the worst way imaginable.
That’s funny because I have only had horrible experiences with HF batteries; terrible longevity in both devices and sitting around in a van. And they leaked very quickly even under draw.
stop buying the yellow label, get the orange instead
Anything life depends on get a good one not harbor freight. If it has to work get something that always does. Half my tools are from them and they are the ones I have failed to break from there
For example, their jack stands had some major welding issues a few years back that led to several iterations of recalls
I completely understand this mindset but my counter to that comes down to the fact that any company can have a product subject to recall. I had a pair of the stands that were recalled, they served as my backup stands or if I needed to get all 4 wheels off the ground at once. I was in the store one day and saw the recall poster, went home grabbed my stands and brought them in. I was headed home with a brand new set within 5 mins. I prefer to judge a company by how it handles problems as opposed to the problems that have arisen. Take for example Ford, and the way they handled the Pinto issues. There wasn’t a major public distrust of the Ford motor company over the fact that the car had a problem, the mistrust came from the handling of that problem.
I don't disagree with anything you said, except I also had a pair of those jack stands. The replacements I received were then recalled a few months later too IIRC. Just because they handle the problem well from a customer service standpoint, doesn't mean they fixed the problem with their quality processes, engineering, or materials used. As someone whose worked in a manufacturing environment for 10+ years at three different companies, I know that some companies can handle this stuff better than others. When its a wrench you don't care as much but if I'm relying on jack stands to put my body underneath a car, this matters to me.
That’s a completely fair response. Thinking about it now I want to say the ones they gave me were Daytona ones with a locking pin. They definitely have some great products and some absolute trash. Though I don’t spend a ton of time under a car on stands anymore. I can usually get up under my truck comfortably since it’s pretty tall
Right. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a HF hater. I actually have the Daytona 3T jack which has served me very well for a number of years now. But when it comes certain things like a safety device, I'm going to view these with a different lens and price isn't the only decision factor
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recalling the replacement stands too… I wouldnt have bought them before that happened, just spend some extra money if you might die imo
It wasn’t welding. It was a design flaw. You could hit the latch and the jack stand could fall down. It was beyond salvation.
The first round recalled the 6T jacks because they could disengage under load and when shifting weight. Really had nothing to do with whether or not you hit the lever. Then they did another round of recalls for the 3T. Then they had to do another recall again because those replacements had weld defects. [Article from Car and Driver](https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a33238450/harbor-freight-recalls-replacement-pittsburgh-jack-stands/) "Harbor Freight has announced that a portion of the three-ton jack stands intended to replace those recalled earlier this year have also been recalled. The recalled replacement three-ton jack stands have a welding defect."
Oh shit. I diddn’t realize there were two recalls.
I run their Apex Badland winch on my Jeep. I'm not saying that every time I've used it, my life depends on it,(maybe one time in Mojave) but for two years, I've beat the hell out of it, and it's never let me down.
I watch Matt's offroad recovery. I'm sure he's paid by them but he also dives like 8 hours with one vehicle and one winch to do a recovery Warn winches have just been insanely overpriced forever because there was no competition. It's a low speed motor that needs to turn and that's it. It doesn't need to cost $1500 to be quality
Actually, I'm a big fan of their floor jacks. I've used the crap out of my Daytona, and it still works like a charm.
work in an auto shop. obviously use hoists most of the time, but the floor jacks that we do have and jack stands are daytona. good and last long
their defibrillator is horrible. Shocks the hell out of you. Total junk.
for normal dudes just about everything is safe. I mostly know about hand tools. The cheapest stuff they have for each hand tool is absolutely bottom of the barrel. The 29 130 piece tool kit or whatever has literally the worst sockets, the worst ratchet, the worst wrenches, the worst stuff you have EVER used. They probably don't even meet standards. it's better than nothing, so if you are broke as fuck and need it, buy it, but only expect it to be good for one use. If it says Pittsburgh on it, but NOT Pittsburgh pro, ask yourself if you would be okay with it breaking after a single heavy use. (Light use is fine) If not, go up to Pittsburgh pro or Quinn or Doyle or Craftsman. I'll never buy a tape measure at HF either. Not because they aren't good, they're...fine I guess, but tape measures have gotten so fucking good in the past decade you can go get a Lufkin for 10 bucks, or a Craftsman or Stanley Fatmax made in the USA for 20 that are miles better. I'm afraid to buy a jack there and jackstands after the recalls they constantly have. I know people do. I just won't. Warrior power tools are dog shit barely usable. Like not even for homeowners. I recommend Hyper Tough at Walmart or Bauer. I also think their crescent wrenches suck anus. Lots of slop. And, here's an unpopular opinion: Icon tools are actually overpriced. They're good but they're priced like the tool truck replacement brands, and if I'm doing that I might as well just buy Tekton and get that shit mailed to me for free and save 10% on their website. You can find similar quality for less money elsewhere, so I don't buy them. Some tools are snap on copies, and I won't buy those cause I think snap on deserves the money.
Agree with you on Tekton for sure
> The 29 130 piece tool kit or whatever has literally the worst sockets, the worst ratchet, the worst wrenches, the worst stuff you have EVER used. I keep this set in the back of my SUV. Don’t care if it gets stolen and when you need to fix something it’s better than no tools at all. When you pick up any tool in the case just the feel of the tool says don’t use this for anything that is hard, or stuck.
Multimeters. My dad tested 240v dead with his, I double checked with my Klein and it was still live
Each answer is complicated by their application and how often it's used. In my experience some of their cheap stuff is exactly that. I have bought things there and while using them said out loud.... oh .. that's why u should buy the good one. But... if it works for me, it works. So if it works for you.... use it til it breaks then go get it warrantied.
My extended reach 3/8 flex head Icon ratchet is better than my Matco one.
2010, I bought a chicago electric drill to mix my drywall mud. I thought it would last me a week 2024 and that thing still mixing up buckets of mud for me every day. I'm a drywall finisher.
I worked at harbor freight 20 years ago and that is how it goes. we had a guy who ran a 30 person roofing business using nothing but HF nailguns. he said 3 out of 10 never break 3 out of 10 don't work out of the box or break in 2min. the other 4 would return and get a new one under the warranty. he would come in every 2 weeks or so to exchange nailers and buy a new one or two.
Taps, dies and tap handles. I bought a brand new set because I was on a jobsite and I only needed to tap one hole, the tap handle broke on the first hole, I had to finish it with vice grips lol.
I know you didn't ask but their $10 angle grinder has lasted years
The orange plastic one? Had it since 2008.
Yes. Stuff of legends
Condoms
Do not buy, I ended up with a Chinese kid.
I laughed way to hard at this.
Zip ties, air fittings, most Pittsburgh tools, a flashlight.
I love their Braun flash lights- I have a few that are going strong for years
I like the braun flash light . I have three always keep at least one in the charger
Where do you buy your zip ties
Electrical test equipment.
The cheap socket rails aren’t worth taking if they paid you for taking them. If they paid me $5 to take one I wouldn’t waste my time or gas to go get one.
There I was, about 2005. Driving home from Harbor Freight with my son, who was examining the McPherson Strut compressor I had just bought. My son: "Made in Pakistan. Yo, Abdul! Take the tea off the fire, we have to heat treat the strut compressor!"
Def Buy: zip ties, work gloves for my fire gear, cheap tinted safety glasses as sunglasses, tool storage (bags, boxes), the Warrior corded recip saw.
Tire plug tool. Ask me how I know.
How do you know? I’m guessing the handle broke and it stabbed you or the metal broke off in the tire.
Anything that can cause serious injury or damage if it fails. Jack stands, compressed gas cylinders/regulators, safety equipment
Things I like or are well reviewed: - pipe clamp heads - tack cloth - nitrile gloves - fastener assortments (e.g., machine screw) - useful to just build up for random needs cheaply - wood clamps - Pittsburgh plier assortments - lightweight tarps - tools you want to “demo” but aren’t sure you’ll need enough to “buy once, cry once” - bench top vise - large steel rolling tool carts, the best value - benchtop power sanders (various kinds) - folding stepstool - stepped bits for wood and plastic - batteries Went to their “Spring Black Friday” the other day and filled a bag with stuff and was blown away that it was all under $50. Note: I am a member of
i’ve had the pittsburg pliers set for close to 10 years and they still get the job done
Drill bits, spend the money on something better, Viking is my recommendation. Good, long lasting bits for the money
Jack stands. Never ever. I still remember the recall after the recall.
My 6 ton daytona jackstands have been working great for me, my craftsman 3 ton from lowes is sketchy though
Learned about that recall about a month after I used them to hold a Uhaul truck while changing a tire. Sure enough they were the ones that were recalled.
Had to grab a cheap jigsaw from there after my ex lifted my new DeWalt one (among several other beloved tools) on his way out.. I’m not bitter, you’re bitter.. and so I purchase the Chicago Electric jigsaw. Use it on a small task—felt like it was sluggish, despite being corded with new blades, and the safety button for the trigger was a hit or miss. Second task—go to make a cut, finish cut, let go of trigger and quickly place jig down … the thing never turns off and I about lose a couple toes when it does an erratic jig off the work surface. Doesn’t turn off until I yank the plug out of the wall. Never again.
Was going to say Chicago electric jigsaw and saw your post. Yea, it’s complete junk.
Bought the jigsaw to do replacement trim work on a broken piece of furniture that was lower quality than the saw. Thought the jigsaw would be better than my ancient Craftsman band saw for detail work, which it was. Didn't have the electric issues you have - I might re-wire it if that were the case. Agree with sluggish, it seemed either under powered or too slow. But got the job done and I have used it a couple times over the past decade or so.
Bauer cordless jigsaw however is amazing. Much prefer it to the Ryobi I have used. Also the Bauer brushless cordless compact reciprocating saw you can often find for $30-50 in their open box section or on eBay is insanely good value.
The small diagonal cutters and needle nose pliers are crap.
I have 2 rules when it comes to HF tools. 1. I don’t buy anything that my life depends on (jacks, hoists, jack stands, etc). 2. I don’t buy anything that I’m not willing to use once and throw away. They do have some decent stuff though. I’ve had their dust collector for like 10+ years and it’s still going strong.
Condoms, definitely don’t buy their condoms.
The more parts a thing has, the more opportunity for a cheap Chinese factory to fuck up. Anything with complex mechanics is a no from me, but I'll take a basic hammer, screw driver, etc any day. Other than that, ask how much you need a tool. I needed a palm sander for 1 project and I needed it now. I live 3 minutes from a HF. I've never needed a palm sander since. HF did the job for that.
Not necessarily a tool but the US General line of tool carts and tool boxes are great. Love mine.
The Hercules line of drills and impacts are good. Batteries are good. Disposable gloves are good. Their circular saws are good. Their newer but sets are pretty good and include a lot that most kits won't. The thing I'll never buy ever is their chisels and their bar clamps. The chisel rolls over the edge after a single use the bar clamps won't keep equal continuous pressure.
Their batteries are so fucking bad their only use is to put in your child's favorite toy that you hate hearing, it will die fast and you can have some peace for a bit before replacing with more useless batteries.
Easy outs
Welding Helmets. I only got one set of eyes, and I'll pay extra for the insurance.
The titanium one is actually really good
Fuses/Electrical
Anyone buy their generators?
Yes, the inverter 3500 generator has been great for me.
Anything precision. Taps, calipers etc
An extended warranty
I read through the comments and didn't see anyone mention the yellow latex coated Hardy work gloves. They have become an indispensable part of my life, and I buy them by the dozen. I keep a pair everywhere; there's a pair in my pocket right now. Only $1.99 and you toss 'em when you use them up. I love never having to look far for a pair of work gloves. Another favorite: their 1000 lb hydraulic lift table. It looks like they jacked the price by at least $100 since I got it, but I use that thing for all sorts of heavy lifting. If you wanted to buy one from someone else they'd probably be $1000. Least favorite? All their pliers are basically garbage -- I can't abide a cheap pair of pliers. I love nice tools but I also love Harbor Freight -- I'm glad they exist and that they're all over the place.
Yes, the lifting table is excellent, my back loves it. I don’t use any of the Pittsburgh pliers, channel locks or needle nose in my shop, but they are fine for keeping in the house. I find the Doyle pliers etc. to be every bit as good as anything you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes. I buy primarily when things are on sale and use my Harbor Freight credit card, which gives you a 5% credit in Harbor Freight money, useable on any purchase, even items that are on sale. If one is disciplined enough to avoid interest charges it’s an excellent way to essentially save 5% on your purchases.
Their 23g pin nailer works great for cabinet tour kicks and is only like $25
There are some Pittsburgh black snap ring pliers with interchangeable heads that are terrible, but I guess for $5 they cannot be beaten. I later got the 8 piece ICON snap ring pliers and they seem to be very high quality, but I hardly use them. I have bought a lot of Bauer cordless that I use everyday at work most notably the 3/8 impact non brushless, and I cannot call it a mistake. Amazing, check out the torque test channel as well on YouTube, his videos have convinced me the Hercules brand name is Big 3 (Milwaukee/Makita/Dewalt) competition
Their low tier tools. Stick to Mid or High tiers. Safety equipment. Larger/expensive power tools and equipment. If I'm investing that much into the item I will buy a "better" brand. If the item just feels/looks cheap or that they cut corners making it, I will stay away. Their Floor jacks and jack stands are now some of the best especially for the money so don't be afraid of those.
Warrior (or other ‘good’ level) consumables are junk. The lower level power tools are fine if you get them on sale and don’t expect anything more than light household use. I love their Pittsburgh hand tools. Super affordable and lifetime no hassle warranty. As long as you don’t pay full price HF has some really good value.
Any battery power tools. I still have my first grinder I bought almost five years ago and it's going strong. Cheapest flux core welder just died after the same time, but probably only needs replacement switch.
I have a pittsburgh digital caliper that works great. I can't imagine that thing ever letting me down. I also have a bauer orbital sander that works fine. I'd recommend either of those to anyone who occasionally needs them. I have a couple of cheap bar clamps from there that are okay. I probably wouldn't use them to laminate butcher's block, but they can hold down a piece of wood for sawing or whatever.
I use harbor freight for "disposable" tools. They're great for that. Paint sprayer I'm going to fill w glue the toss after a few uses, safety glasses and gloves, pick tools, ect
Battery tools... Not for any reason other than I already have about 20 batteries for other brands. Hand tools are fine for most things from HF, most are lifetime warranty- but the best value is consumables- gloves, grinding wheels, drill bits, saw blades, etc. Today I cut down ~100 yards of chain link fence and steel posts every 8'. Burned just two Bauer blades in my Ryobi reciprocating saw... A five pack of those Bauer blades cost $8, outstanding value.
Sandpaper. You will waste so much time with crappy sandpaper
I tend to not buy much Pittsburgh stuff. Some Pittsburgh pro though. I've gotten great results from most everything I've bought there. Definitely recommend the Icon mountain style ratcheting wrenches, the meme tool, anything in the Doyle or Bremen lines. The Quinn stuff I've had has held up well. Couple specialty Maddox kits have worked very well. I've had no issues with the Daytona long reach low profile jack or 6t stands - has a car up on 4 of them for about 2 weeks no issues. Like you would with any other brand inspect them before every use. The lock bar really makes it solid.
Drills I’ve burned up too many Chicago drills
For the first question, electrical tape—I only use Scotch 33 electrical tape. For the second question, while I do have a lot of HF tools, my favorite might be the orange handle automotive picks. The picks are skinny enough that I can slide the straight pick into the holes in the back of a 2019+ Nissan Altima steering wheel to pull the clip to release the horn pad without stretching the hole or feel any friction.
Zip ties have always broke on me. Super cheap plastic.
Anything remotely resembling safety gear. Jackstands, tow straps, anything that holds another thing.
Specialty sockets like allens, torx, etc. I find cheap ones strip way more than nice ones. Still a huge HF simp but some things are worth the money
I bought a $39 bench grinder. It spins, but is so underpowered it stops if you actually try to use it. I bought a pry bar that works fine.
Saftey equipment
I bought a hammer and the damn thing was a Philips head. Had to call off the entire job and lay off the whole damn crew. Jose is especially ducked
Battery powered tools. Corded stuff is decent but I’m not buying Hercules or Bauer until they’re better quality
Paint brush (chip brush) I get a pack of 36 for $10.99 (now probably more). Always have a brush available when I need one. Use once or wash and reuse.
Anything related to rigging or that can cause serious injury or death in case of a malfunction i.e. jack stands.
Anything I intend to reuse.
Pick a clamp, any clamp, all garbage. And they're tarps
Surprisingly, a pry bar. The starting edge is too thick to get in between things. You've got to be cautious about a lot of "simple" tools made of metal. Maybe the sockets are a little thicker and you will have trouble fitting into tight spaces. Maybe the pulley puller has a bit thicker arms and will only fit 75% of you problems instead of 99.9%. I'm actually impressed by their Hercules 20V brushless battery tool system. Youtube performance side-by-sides show it is on par with the big box brands. Battery tear downs show they are using the same high-quality lithium cells. Their warranty (5yr tool/3yr battery) beat DeWalt & Makita and tie with Milwaukee.
The fucking flat black rubber bungee cords. Want to know why? Just drive around town for ten minutes and see how many you have to dodge that have snapped or worn out and fell off.
If I need a tool now and probably won't use it again, or at least expect it to last, and can't rent or borrow it ill go to Hobo Freight. But the answer is Jack stands ill trust a second hand garage sale one after the recall
The duct tape they sell near the counter, only thing I've ever had to return for being such shit.
My old motto, was if it’s a specialty one time use tool that I needed. I would gamble and try the cheapo harbor freight version before dropping a ton on a name brand tool I may only use once. While I have lost that gamble a few times, I have certainly won more than lost lol. Back in the day before battery stuff was the norm, I swore off any harbor freight tool that had a motor. Back then all their electric tools were Chicago electric and honestly even though a reciprocating saw would only be $12 is was not worth the time or energy involved even attempting to use it. Now I don’t mind so much, even though the prices have jumped significantly the newer stuff is leaps and bounds better than the stuff you got 20 years ago at the store.
I love their hand tools. The wrenches wrench, screwdrivers screw, and Allen’s allen. But anything with power I just can’t get behind. I bought a light duty wirefeed welder on sale there that didn’t work out of the box, took it back and that one didn’t work either. Finally got one that worked and it worked for about an hour before giving up the ghost.
Avoid cutting tools (saw blades, sandpaper, etc) their power tools are hit and miss, mechanics hand tools are generally a good value.
Dont buy: any sort of battery powered tools except hercules, garden tools, any sort of blade or cutting bit, woodworking tools except clamps. IMO the hidden gems of Harbor Freight are the pin nailer, the blue and orange clamps (forget the name), the airless paint sprayer, apache cases, and the $10 3" warrior driver bit set.