Usually, If you are not intending to use a steel tool(Wrenches, Sockets/Ratchets, Screwdrivers and so on) on a daily basis for a number of years to come, the quality, fit, function and price(as well as warranty) of name brands such as: Craftsman, Kobalt, Husky, Pittsburgh, and Northern are great for the do-it yourselfer. The only fault(as a busy mechanic) that I find with these five brands is that you must take them to the store to get them warrantied. For the shadetree this is great. Sears, Lowes, Home Depot, Harbor Frieght, and Northern tools and equipment all warranty their own tools fairly readily under most any circumstance of breakage. Caution to the consumer that many of these stores also sell other brands of the same kind of tools that may or may not have a "lifetime waranty" claim printed on the packaging. Depending on the store, staff, tool, circumstances of breakage, and wheather or not the employee authorized to warranty such product, that is wheather or not they "KNOW" you are a frequent customer, you may experience difficulty getting other brands warrantied. Napa (for the most part) sells quallity tools(and they carry ALOT of speciallty tools you can't find in the other stores) also Carquest carrys many of the very same tools. Lisle tools ARE guarenteed for life and are sold @ Napa, Carquest, Sears, Snap-on, Matco, Mac, Cornwell, so on, and are of the highest quality that is possible for everything they make, and in many cases they are the only one who makes it. AS FOR THE BIG FOUR, Snap-on, MAC, Matco, and Cornwell... IF YOU KNOW A DRIVER(and he is reputable, established, and trustworthy) and are in a possition to see him(or her) when you need to, TREAT THEM WELL and THEY WILL TREAT YOU WELL! Keep in mind that they are in the business of making money, IT IS NOT A HOBBY, DRIVING A TOOL TRUCK, ADN NO ONEDOES IT FOR FUN! Snap-on tools(just about across the board of their product line) are of the absolute highest quality!!! Keep in mind that air/power tools usually have only a limited warranty on them, and sometimes this applies to the blue point brand hand tools as well. Matco also makes a very fine product, as long as i have a driver, i will own and buy matco tools as well. Matco(to a certain extent), MAC, and CORNWELL HAVE all experienced an extreme shortage of drivers and have therefore become considered less reliable suppliers in the industry. I have never found a place that will waranty SK without a reciept except a mac dealer that sold it to YOU. Some people I have known have had better luck. Without a doubt MAc and Matco both make certain tools that snap-on just doesn't make exactly the same(example.... Matco Sells Semideep Swivel Impact 1/2" drive metric sockets, I have done exstensive looking and find NO ONE else that sells this set. As for diagnostic equipment, Anyone who knows anything about multimeters knows fluke sets the standard(HINT: Craftsman, Sanp-On, Matco, and MAC ALL sell FLUKE, only Matco's actually say Fluke but don't be fooled here, you can't go wrong with the nasme preceding. In closing, A tool that is gauranteed for life(as stated above) Holds Its Value! Unfortunatly the whole industry has become very political and companys have merged(for instance Stanley owns MAC) but this has also seemed to have certain advantages as they all become more competitive sometimes tool dealers will seem to do almostanything to gain a customers loyalty. Thanx 4 Reading...Americanautomobile PS!!! PLEASE VOTE!