Craftsman, Kobalt, or Husky?

Craftsman isn’t the same that it used to be.

Craftsman is now owned by Stanley Black & Decker. Their new stuff is pretty decent for a homeowner. It's a mix between Porter Cable and Dewalt.

Every single Kobalt tool I've had ends up rusting fairly quickly. About the same with Husky.

Craftsman isnt bad. Not what it used to be but good for a store brand.

Now that craftsman is at Lowe’s, it’s like kobalt. Lifetime warranty is still in place. If it breaks, change it out for a new one.

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Honestly though between those 3 brands you wont see much of a difference. Good for homeowners but if you plan on putting the tools to work you need to go up a level with brands

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Agree, not much difference between the three of them. I would probably go with Craftsman or Kobalt between the three of those. All three would do fine for DIY work.

I buy rigid or dewalt

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Now that craftsman is at Lowe’s, it’s like kobalt.

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kobalt is a lowes brand fwiw

Milwaukee.

I think the OP should clarify whether he means mechanics tools or power tools. When I see the OP's three brands listed I think mechanics tools but it is clear some posters think he means power tools.

Regarding mechanics tools Craftsman is in the midst of reinventing itself and you have to look at each tool individually. With some careful consideration Craftsman is probably the best of the three currently but again you can't take that as a blanket statement.

That said I think the average homeowner often looks at mechanics tool buying incorrectly. IMO many focus on buying large sets of tools and thus goes the Chinese route. I would suggest buying fewer tools of higher quality that are a pleasure to use and will last a lifetime. It is rare an average DIY guy uses more than a small core group of tools and when they do encounter a specialty need it is still likely that the 200+ piece socket set won't have what they need either. I suggest buying a small 3/8" drive socket set along with a small variety of screwdrivers and pliers along with a set of 1/4" drive bits. These along with a good quality drill and impact will cover the vast majority of DIY situations.

Below are some quality brands that make excellent products and can be found for good prices if you search. Amazon.de is an excellent place to buy quality German handtools.

Wera
Knipex
NWS
Gedore
Stahlwille
Bondhus
Felo
PB Swiss

Again my suggestion is, for a set budget, to buy fewer higher quality tools versus buying the big Chinese sets that a DIYer may use 10% of over their life.

garagejournal is an excellent forum for advice whether your budget is small or huge. In fact, it is more useful if you are on a tighter budget because they do a good job sifting through the cheaper tools to find the gems like Harbor Freight Pittsburgh ratchets.

Whichever is cheapest and needed. There’s really no difference from what I noticed.