The Best Cheap Combination Wrenches of 2020 – Our Comprehensive Review And Testing

When it comes to buying hand tools we all know that Snap-on, Mac, Matco are the kings of the toolbox and are often times given the highest regards among professionals. With those professional grade tools come professional prices, which are too expensive for the average weekend warrior. This leaves the average user with a modest budget looking at cheaper brands like Pittsburg from Harbor Freight, Gearwrench, Tekton, Husky from Home Depot, Kobalt from Lowes, Craftsman, Cresent and Carlyle.

Our goal today is to break down these different cheaper combination wrenches and put them through a variety of tests to gather data on each brand. We want to see if any of these brands provide a better value than one another by analyzing their performance and price.

To test our wrenches we will be attempting to shear off the head of a grade 5 bolt using a cheater bar. We will perform this test with the open end of the wrench by placing a nut on a grade 5 bolt and tightening the nut in our vice.

We will then begin to tighten the bolt with the cheater bar until the bolt shears or gets rounded out by the wrench. We will give each wrench multiple attempts on the same bolt and make use of all the undamaged edges of the bolt. Afterwards we will then observe the head of the bolt as well as the wrench to see how the wrench performed.

The purpose of this test is to put the wrench under extreme conditions to see its maximum performance. Obviously this is misuse of these wrenches, but by pushing them to the limits we can better see any difference between the build qualities of each brand.

The Craftsman wrench is our number one wrench we recommend as it performed the best in our strength tests and was the only wrench that managed to shear off the head off a grade 5 bolt. When performing this test we saw a surprisingly low amount of flex in the open end of the wrench under extreme load from our cheater bar. This is ideal as it means that you are less likely to round off a fastener with this wrench under extreme conditions, which is where a cheaper wrench is most likely to fail. Hands down this wrench performed the best out of the wrenches we tested and we were impressed with its strength.

To see this wrench in our performance test please click play on our YouTube video below.

The Craftsman is not a great looking wrench compared to the others as it lacks the full chrome polish and the letter stamping is not all that great. We wish that Craftsman would add some higher quality stamping on the wrench itself to make it easier to read.

This wrench has a slim profile and is nice and compact in the open end. What we like is it does not have what is commonly know as the “crab claw” which is an overly thick design on the open end. So while it’s not the slimmest wrench we tested, it is certainly on the slim side and what we would consider as average.

This Craftsman wrench made in China completely surprised us as we thought it wouldn’t perform that great since Craftsman moved its manufacturing from the USA to China some years ago. We were blown away by the strength of this wrench in our performance test and stood there shocked as it out performed its so called “better” competitors from GearWrench and TEKTON. There is no doubt this wrench is a great value and our number one pick if having a non-polished wrench is not a problem for you. You can’t go wrong buying these wrenches.

The GearWrench was our second favorite pick from our wrench performance test because of its open end wrench design (similar to Snap-On’s flank drive) and its nice slim profile. This Wrench had a good amount of bite on the fastener in our test, but still failed to sheer the head off the bolt. That being said, we still felt it had impressive performance as the wrench is very slim and still held the same amount of torque as wrenches twice as thick.

To see this wrench in our performance test please click play on our YouTube video below.

The Gearwrench is a good looking wrench with a nice thin design that we really found valuable for reaching into tight areas. The chrome on the wrench is average and seems to hold up to our abuse. One area the GearWrench could improve on is the lettering as we felt it was a little small and hard to read at a distance. Overall a good looking wrench.

The GearWrench has an improved design in both the open end and box end of the wrench allowing you to have better grip under heavy usage. On the open end it features what GearWrench calls “Off-Corner Loading” (similar to Snap-On’s flank drive) which allows the wrench to load up more on the flank side of the fastener instead of the edges. This means it is less likely to round off a fastener under pressure. We believe this is why this wrench performed well in our stress test despite being very thin.

On the box end you will notice a 15 degree offset which is really helpful in high torque situations and often times saves your knuckles when a bolt finally pops loose.

Lastly the wrench is made in a “long pattern” which means it is slightly longer than your average combination wrench. We really liked this and found the extra leverage to be valuable.

We really enjoyed the GearWrench and feel it is a great all around wrench. Its thin design and improved grip is very appealing and valuable in a variety situations. The only reason it did not get first place in our test is because it failed to sheer off the head of the grade 5 bolt putting it just behind the Craftsman. Overall an awesome wrench and your best option if you’re looking for a full polished set of wrenches.

The Husky did surprisingly well in our performance test and was just behind the Craftsman in terms of torque on the fastener. In fact, we thought it was going to sheer the head, but it fell slightly short. That being said, it definitely was the second best wrench we tested in terms of open end jaw strength. This has to do with its “crab claw design” which adds extra rigidity.

To see this wrench in our performance test please click play on our YouTube video below.

The Husky is decent looking wrench with average chrome. The letter stamping and finish is also average and nothing to write home about.

The Husky is designed both well and poorly at the same time depending on how you look at it. The open end of the wrench has an excessive amount of thickness around the jaw that adds extra strength to the wrench and reduces flex. This worked out great for our test as it allowed us to crank out some serious torque before it rounded off the bolt head. That being said, the “crab claw” design makes for a thicker wrench that will not reach into tighter areas as easily, which is why it is a poor design. This is a compensation for a lack of quality steel.

In the end, the wrench performs well, but doesn’t have the thin profile that we love and find incredibly useful in certain situations.

The Husky is a good wrench and can be a solid option if Home Depot is an easy store for you to buy from and warranty. The wrench is a little thick, but it performs well and has a good amount of bite. Although we feel Craftsman is better all around, we still like the Husky.

The Tekton performed poorly in our tests because the open end flexed way too easily under load causing the bolt to round out very quickly. We were pretty surprised to see such poor results as we have seen multiple websites recommend the Tekton brand and compare it to the old school USA Craftsman.

To see this wrench in our performance test please click play on our YouTube video below.

The Tekton is a good looking wrench with a full chrome design that has a good finish. We did notice it scratching easily, but most of the chrome wrenches we tested did the same. The lettering on the Tekton is above average and easier to read compared to the Gearwrench and Craftsman.

The Tekton is a bit thicker around the open end of the wrench and almost has a bit of what we call “crab claw.” While it is not as severe as the Husky we tested, it is still pretty thick. Often times with this thick design on the open end comes more strength, but that wasn’t the case with the Tekton as it performed poorly in our tests.

So overall we are not happy with the design as it is neither strong or slim.

We cannot recommend the Tekton as it simply did not perform very well in our tests and has a rather thick design. Sure it’s a great looking wrench, but you get a lot bigger bang for your buck from the Craftsman.

The Carlyle was a wrench that looked great, but performed pretty poorly. This wrench rounded off the head of the bolt in our test very quickly. The amount of “bite” this wrench had was little to none.

To see this wrench in our performance test please click play on our YouTube video below.

The Carlyle was one of the best looking wrenches of the bunch and had a nice deep chrome that was great to look at. The lettering for the sizing and logo was also well defined, big and easy to read. We loved the way this wrench looked and it without a doubt had the best finish of them all.

The Carlyle had a nice thin profile with a wide middle section making it a nice wrench in hand. Overall nothing to complain about.

This wrench looks good and had me convinced it would be one of the best among the bunch, but it performed pretty lousy in our test. I love the letter stamping as it is a lot bigger and easier to read than the other brands. At the end of the day it just simply performed poorly and is not a wrench we would buy.

The Pittsburg is a very inexpensive set of wrenches (the whole set is under $10) and as you can expect the performance was pretty poor in our tests. The jaws opened up quite easily and rounded off the fastener. That being said, it really was not that much worse than some of the other wrenches that performed poorly. So is this a good wrench? No not really, but for $10 it’s a decent value. I’d rather pay $10 for a set of these, than $100 for a set of Carlyle.

To see this wrench in our performance test please click play on our YouTube video below.

The Pittsburg is labeled as a “full chrome wrench,” but the chrome is rather dull to the eye. You can see from the factory that it has imperfections and a lousy finish. The lettering on the wrench doesn’t look the best, but is large and surprisingly easy to read.

The Pittsburg wrenches have a rather slim profile with wide middle handles making them rather pleasant in hand. The open end of the wrench is slim and allows you to get in tight places. Overall we like the design and our only recommendation would be to make it slightly longer.

The Pittsburg is not a high performing wrench by any means, but neither are some of the other brands like the Tekton or the Carlyle. For that reason we like the Pittsburg for how inexpensive it is. We don’t really see a big enough difference between this wrench and the Tekton/Carlyle to justify spending six times more money. Sure it doesn’t look pretty, but who cares for the price.

The Kobalt had average performance and was nothing special. It performed very similar to the Tekton and rounded the bolt rather quickly while it heavily relied on the corners of the bolt for any real torque pressure. Nothing special here.

To see this wrench in our performance test please click play on our YouTube video below.

The Kobalt looks nice with a chrome finish and a red stripe near the tail of the wrench to let you know if it is SAE (red) or metric (blue). The chrome on this wrench looks the same quality as the Tekton, Gearwrench and Husky. It’s rather shiny, but doesn’t have a “deep chrome” like we saw on the Carlyle.

This wrench is rather thin around the open end and has pretty wide center section. It feels comfortable in hand and has the appropriate length for the different sizes. Nothing to complain about here.

The Kobalt is nothing special and seems similar performance to Tekton, Carlyle and Pittsburg. For the price you are better off getting the Craftsman as it is a stronger wrench for the same price.

After testing all of these wrenches it’s clear that one stood out from the rest and it is the Craftsman. This wrench was the only wrench that could successfully shear the head off of a grade 5 bolt. The Craftsman design is not pretty and shiny, but it showed superior strength with a rather slim profile that we really find valuable in certain sitations. If you want good inexpensive combination wrenches we believe craftsman raised panel wrenches will give you the best performance and value.

If you want a set of full polished wrenches and the raised panel craftsman is not to your liking the Gearwrench would be a good option for you. With a good amount of bite and a very slim profile you’ll get a strong wrench that can get in very tight places. Keep in mind though the Gearwrench is a bit pricey for what you’re getting.

A Husky wrench can be a good choice if strength and full polish is a priority, while thickness is not. The Husky had a good amount of bite and was very close to shearing the head off a grade 5 bolt with its “crab claw” open end design. It just simply lacked the slim profile that we love on the Craftsman and Gearwrench. That being said for the price the Craftsman is still a better buy as it is slimmer and stronger, but the Husky is a worthwhile alternative.