Tried a cheap crimper from Harbor Freight to save $40

Snapped the ratchet on my third termination and spent an hour redoing all the ends with my old Klein. Anyone else had a tool fail right when you needed it most?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_henry19d ago

Man that stinks. Nothing worse than a tool failing when you're already in the middle of a job. I've had similar bad luck with discount store tools before, a cheap multimeter that gave me wrong readings and cost me a whole day of troubleshooting. You learn the hard way that saving a few bucks upfront can cost you way more in time and frustration later. At least your Klein was there to save the day, sounds like it earned its keep. Did you have to buy a new crimper right away or were you able to borrow one to finish up?

miles_grant3519d ago

Oh come on, it's not like the cheap one exploded or something. It just didn't work right, you grabbed another one, and moved on. People act like a bad tool is a life tragedy when it's really just a minor inconvenience. I've had good and bad luck with both cheap and expensive stuff, it's never as black and white as people make it sound.

loganhart19d ago

Eh, I dunno if I'd call it "earning its keep" in some dramatic way. It's a crimper. It crimped. That's literally what it's supposed to do. I get being frustrated when a cheap tool fails, but the whole "Klein saved the day" thing feels like a bit much. It's not like it pulled you out of a burning building. Maybe it's just me, but I've had cheap tools last years and expensive ones break on day one. It's all kind of a crapshoot with manufacturing nowadays anyway.