Best Wrench Set Overall

These are the fundamental wrenches in a tool set. It is important to invest in the highest quality possible in the critical core sizes because they will get a lot of use. These wrenches are called combination wrenches. They have one size per wrench, a “box” or complete enclosure on one end and an “open end” on the other. The information here will apply to metric sets as well as the ones on this list. I am just doing the SAE wrench sizes first. The core sizes in fractional wrenches (US sizes) are 3/8” to 1 inch by 1/16ths of an inch. So the manufacturers all market a set with these sizes.

Anything larger than 1 inch will not be used on any kind of regular basis unless you are doing a lot of heavy equipment work. So you can buy good quality less expensive wrenches for those sizes. This will also save you a lot of money because prices go up sharply with the size of the wrench.

Fundamentally it is very difficult if not impossible to judge the quality of a set of wrenches until you have used them for awhile. The fit to the fasteners, the finish, the balance, the strength, the durability over time, are the factors to be judged. You can only judge some of these qualities in a wrench by actually using the tool. And even then some of those qualities will be personal to each user. So I have relied on personal experience and reputation in making this list.

Features: All of these wrenches feature the following. The open ends are rotated by 15 degrees for access, when viewed from the top. The box ends are tilted 15 degrees to the side for the same reason. Most of these wrenches apply the force not to the corner but to the flat, back from the edge where the fastener is stronger. This was originally done by Snap-ON and marketed as “Flank Drive”. Now most makers offer what looks to me, as a tool user, to be another version of the same thing. But each manufacturer claims it under their own name.

All of these sets feature a lifetime warranty, but some companies are going to easier to return things to than others. Not because of their policies but because there is not a tool truck at the mall open 7 days a week. So Snap-On is the only tool truck vendor I have listed.