You don’t mess with a man’s tools—we all know that. But what if you don’t have any tools to mess with in the first place, and you’re embarrassed to even enter your garage due to this lack of testosterone? Don’t despair, as Kobalt has a cost-effective solution to set up your workspace.
Although the company has been manufacturing weekend warrior weapons since 1998, its Mechanics Tools line has been upgraded with help from the Number 48 Hendrick Motorsports team. That’s right—NASCAR boys. Watch one race and you’ll know they put their tools to the test from all the paint tradin’. The team helped update the Mechanics line with some key insight that makes the tools feel just right in a consumer’s hand. Features like a chrome vanadium steel construction and chrome finish look tasty, but it’s the upgraded tooth count within the ratchets and 150 percent spec of American National Standards Institute (ANSI) that assure durability and proper feel.
The Mechanics kits come in a variety of sizes ranging from a set small enough to tote on the bike all the way up to the 227-piece kit for the garage. Either kit (and all in between) comes in a handy carrying case so you can take them along to the lot or the track.
Metric tools are the most important to a lot of us, but occasionally there’s a need for the SAE sizes as well. Kobalt color-codes the two so it’s immediately obvious at a glance. The 227-piece kit includes four differently sized ratchets and 117 sockets, which should allow for the completion of nearly every job on a bike. There are 71 other tools to help you with odd jobs around the house as well, making the largest available kit in the Mechanics line a wise choice to put on your Christmas list.
The Details
-Lifetime warranty
-Lose a socket and Kobalt will send you a new one in the free Sockets for Life program
-Ratchets upgraded to 72 teeth count with five degrees of arc
-Sockets have the size laser etched on the socket and are color-coded with a red (SAE) or blue (metric) band
-Ratchets feature quick-release function for fast swap-out
Price: $199
Contact: kobalttools.com
Sockets for Life
The Mechanics Tools line comes with a lifetime guarantee that if any socket, ratchet or wrench is damaged or broken it’ll be replaced for free. But Kobalt has taken the notion to a new level with the Sockets for Life program. Should you lose a socket you’ll get it replaced for free after registering in the program.