The best tool kits for DIY home projects

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best toolkit

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  • With a good set of tools, you can repair a crooked chiffonier, hang a shelf or picture frame, melody up your bike, or fix a leaky pipe under the sink.
  • The Stanley 65-Piece Tool Kit is our acme choice because it has simply the tools y'all need and each item is well-fabricated.

One of the best gifts I take ever received was something I didn't know I needed: A basic tool kit, gifted when I left for college. Over the subsequent four years, I used the screwdrivers, hammer, pliers, measuring tape, and other kit essentials to do everything from repair a cleaved bed frame , to hang shelves, assemble article of furniture, and work on sets and lighting design for student movie projects.

After college, that same kit made a cross-country move with me where it remained in service throughout the early years of my working life and union. My wife and I used it in our beginning apartment as we fabricated innumerable repairs and updates. While I've lost quite a few items over the past sixteen years, I still take the hammer, level, and needle-nose pliers. The fact that i basic set of tools — a ready that probably price around $30 and fit into one slender conveying case — served equally my only tool kit for so long is pretty remarkable and speaks to why yous should own one if you don't already.

We selected a range of kits that are well priced, thoughtfully curated, and sure to fit the needs of many people. When considering which tool kit is the best lucifer, make sure to think almost which tools you will likely use the almost often, as well as those you might never touch.

We only included elementary kits for a reason: The aim is to arm yourself with everything you'll need for basic projects and repairs, not clutter your dwelling with needless extras. You lot can always add together on specialty tools if the occasion arises, only these kits should save you from realizing mid-project that you're missing 1 of the basics. Read on to see which kit is all-time for your needs.

Here are the best tool kits:

  • Best overall: Stanley 65-Slice Tool Kit
  • Best value: WorkPro 100-Piece Kitchen Drawer Home Tool Kit
  • Best compact size: Cartman General Household 39-Slice Tool Kit
  • Best for use on the road: AmazonBasics 65-Piece Home Bones Repair Tool Kit Gear up With Bag

Updated on eight/13/2020 to edit titles, prices, and remove third-party ratings and reviews because we've found them to exist unreliable in the past.

The best overall

Stanely/Business organization Insider

The Stanley 65-Piece Tool Kit comes with well-made tools that you lot will use ofttimes and information technology should last for years.

Every Stanley tool I take ever bought is nonetheless in good working condition after many years of use, and you tin expect the same level of quality from the carefully selected tools you'll find in the Stanley 94-248 65-Piece Tool Kit.

The 65 pieces in this kit include 30 screwdriver bits and 10 Allen wrenches (also chosen hex keys), and eight ratchet attachments, and so you're only getting virtually a dozen actual individual tools.

Each of the said tools is durable and precision-crafted, and are certain to last for years fifty-fifty if you use them regularly. The screwdrivers take reinforced tips, the xiii-ounce hammer is rock solid, and the 16-foot tape measure offers excellent standup ability.

This kit costs a few dollars more than near options, but when it lasts twice as long, you'll concord it was worth the modest investment.

Pros: Loftier-quality tools, durable difficult-shell storage example, no superfluous tools

Cons: Tools frequently slip out of place inside the case

The best value

WorkPro/Business Insider

The WorkPro Kitchen Drawer 100-Piece Tool Kit costs less than $thirty but comes with dozens of useful tools and hardware in a lightweight soft-shelled conveying case.

Considering this kit comes with more than twice as many items every bit the most inexpensive gear up, the WorkPro Kitchen Drawer 100-Piece Tool Kit represents the strongest value on our list.

This kit has all the basics y'all'd rightly expect to find, such equally a claw hammer, needle-nose and standard pliers, a wrench, and multiple screwdriver bits. It also has iv precision screwdrivers, which are corking for working with electronics (even if that just means removing the battery casing) or for repairing eyeglasses. The 9-inch magnetic level features three vials, allowing for accurate positioning and easy reading.

All of the many components of the kit tuck away into a lightweight but durable soft-sided storage pouch that, as the proper name suggests, can fit into a drawer with ease. As for those xl cable ties (AKA aught ties), y'all'll exist amazed at merely how frequently they prove useful, from cord management to a stopgap plumbing repair, or helping support plants in the garden.

Pros: Great cost point, lightweight well-made case, includes precision screwdrivers

Cons: Short tape measure, hammer also light for some uses

The best compact size

Cartman/Business organisation Insider

The Cartman General Household 39-Slice Tool Kit is small-scale enough to fit in a drawer, but has most of the bones hand tools needed for minor repairs and hobbies.

The Cartman kit is the least expensive tool kit on our list, and its compact size is ideal for storage, but it is admittedly missing a couple of items that you will about surely have to purchase separately, which volition substantially negate its low cost. I certainly wish the brand had included a level and a pair of needle-olfactory organ pliers instead of those scissors.

That said, the tools that are included are decent considering its affordable price, and the modest size of the kit is a definite reward. The Cartman General Household 39-Piece Tool Kit is pocket-size enough to slip into a kitchen drawer, your car's trunk, under the seats, or even in a big glovebox, prepare to assist with roadside repairs.

The tool kit has multiple screwdriver bits that fit in a driver handle only note that the commuter does non ratchet. It comes with 4 precision screwdrivers, a pair of bones pliers, a rather modest hammer, and a few other useful tools. With the addition of needle-nose pliers and a level, I would telephone call this a great tool kit for the toll. Equally is, one can still appreciate its small size and small cost.

Pros: Not bad low price, compact size, heat-treated chrome-plated tools

Cons: Missing level and needle-nose pliers

The best for employ on the route

AmazonBasics/Business Insider

Whether you're headed to a friend'south house to help them go settled in later on a move or you demand to brand repairs around the store or the office, the AmazonBasics 65-Piece Home Repair Tool Gear up is always prepare to go.

The AmazonBasics 65-Piece Home Repair Tool Set has all the nuts and each item is of above-average quality, also. It comes with a solid 13-ounce hammer, standard and needle-nose pliers, a 16-human foot record measure, a trim little prepare of mechanic'due south tools, screwdrivers, and a level, amid other items.

As you expect from the AmazonBasics brand, these tools are of decent quality considering the price. This set is likewise notable for its carrying case. The soft-sided bag-way carrier features both a handle and a shoulder strap, making it remarkably piece of cake to move around with your tools.

If you need to spend fourth dimension on the road and want tools close at hand, or if you often move around your property (or role, shop, or friend's house) while working, the ease of portability will be a major plus.

Pros: Easy portability, thoughtful curation, solid hammer

Cons: Weak ratchet machinery

Steven John

Freelance Writer

Steven John is a freelance writer living near New York City by fashion of 12 years in Los Angeles, iv in Boston, and the first xviii near DC. When non writing or spending time with his wife and kids, he can occasionally be found climbing mountains. His writing is spread beyond the web, and his books can be institute at www.stevenjohnbooks.com.

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