How many of you have actually worn out or broken a Dollar Store tape measure or pliars? I'm still using the same $5 set of taiwanese sockets I bought $20 years ago, and it's not for lack of wailing on the ratchet with a hammer! A lot of people look at price as a determining factor in quality, but that's not true- marketing plays a HUGE role. I look at everything when I buy a tool, including design, tolerances, etc. The sad truth is that the expensive tools are usually just as shoddily built as the cheap ones. And there's not a whole lot of difference in the metellurgy of a screwdriver shaft. And yes, there are some that really ARE crap that I stay away from (Dollar Tree levels, lol). But there's nothing wrong with dollar tree pliars, tapes or the solid screwdrivers.
There are two schools of thought when it comes to tools. One is to get a really good tool that lasts forever. The other is to get a bunch of cheap tools and replace them frequently. I tend to lose my tools a lot. And my wife tends to leave them out in the rain. Between us, we destroyed 3 really nice tape measures (though these were from normal use, not mistreatment, I SWEAR!) before I just said "**** it!" and bought a handful of $1 16' tapes at Dollar Tree- and have YET to see any of them break. Same goes for the pliars and the screwdrivers. The worst that's happened to my dollar tree tools is when the Japanese equivilent of TSA confiscated them at Narita as potential weapons (go figure).
I've got a few high quality tools- I have two quality hammers, for instance- but I also have about 4 $2 hammers that get just as much use because I usually have one handy, wheras the good ones are tucked away in the toolbox in the garage. You can NEVER have too many screwdrivers, pliars or tape measures.
In short, guys, don't cop the same attitude to your tools that audiophiles cop to gold-plated breaker busses
