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Review on SK Hand Tool Drive Ratchet by Shane Jess

Revainrating 4 out of 5

First impressions are good but be aware you will receive

Firstly what I received is NOT the product shown in the retail box. There was no box, no parts, just a ratchet in a zipped pouch with the SK logo wrapped in bubble wrap. I think it's deceptive. I *don't need* the bit pack shown in the photo, but I really hate the bait and the switch. Real ratchet is good. The one I got had nice chrome plating and no obvious imperfections, cosmetic or otherwise. The rolling is excellent. Slightly rounded, with a good balance of grip and comfort and shine on the face. This ratchet is SMALL. It's significantly smaller than any other 1/4" ratchet I own. I photographed it alongside a Wright 1/4 round head ratchet and a classic C-man 1/4 US ratchet for size comparison. Good or bad, it depends whatever you want. Holding the bit feels solid but not impressive. Judging by the pictures I figured a regular 1/4" hex bit would fit nicely in the holder. However, the magnetic assembly inside the holder takes up about half of the interior space. As a result, a regular bit will stick out a few millimeters beyond the recess, if any. I've tried to illustrate how far the bit will hold in the attached photo. Also, there's a bit of play in the bit holder doesn't have the snug, secure fit you get from, say, German tools at this price point. , appears to be a 60 tooth, 2 pawl design, meaning you get 120 "clicks", but they are made up of 60 teeth (each pawl balances and provides 2 "clicks" per tooth) The result is that it's somewhere between a fine-tooth and a coarse-tooth ratchet, doesn't have the zipper feel of a really thin ratchet, but it's definitely thinner than my Wright 45-tooth round head. I did a few test runs and rated it as average in terms of stiffness. and setback. Subjectively it seems solid and I can't imagine breaking it by doing something that could be done with a hex screwdriver. The double latches don't seem to work quite evenly. This. it's not "click-click-click-click" but "click-click-dead-space-click-click". So it's not quite the action you would get from a real 120 tooth ratchet. This is similar to other double pawl round heads I've used. If you know what they are like, you know what to expect. unexpected problems. I don't usually like looking through tools until I get more use out of them; but I could not find any meaningful reviews for this product online and I hope this description helps others to understand what you are getting. The price for a hex head ratchet is steep - essentially you're paying more for labor and steel in the US. My example had no bugs and works fine but has some design quirks. Please note this is NO RETAIL PACKAGING and select accordingly.

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