There are some great tools at Harbor Freight if you know where to look! To help Harbor Freight shoppers get the most for the money we assembled this HUMONGOUS list of those Chinese gems and stinkers from the tool store we all love to hate! To find these tools I looked in forums where metal workers, woodworkers, farmers, gardeners and mechanics discussed the quality of items that theyve bought from Harbor Freight. I read well over 1000 individual forum posts to harvest out the good enough, the bad and the abysmal tools and materials from Harbor Freight.

Do you have a favorite tool from Harbor Freight? Is there a tool or product you think STINKS? Tell everyone in the comments!

Even though there are more than 150 tools in the good enough section below you have to remember BUYER BEWARE! You always get what you pay for, especially at Harbor Freight.

Hey Got Harbor Freight Buying Guide?

Sections of this article:

1) Developing Your Harbor Freight Shopper Philosophy

2) Top Ten Things NOT to Buy at Harbor Freight (Humor)

3) Derogatory yet Slightly Loving Harbor Freight Nicknames

4) My Harbor Freight Prediction: Prices Way Up Soon End of the HF?

5) The List: Good Enough, the Bad, and the Abysmal

6) Harbor Freight Tips and Tidbits

7) Harbor Freight Resources Used in this Article

1) Developing Your Harbor Freight Shopper Philosophy

I did an article on woodworking with pallets. Salvaging pallet wood takes patience and diligence and yields small slats best suited for small projects. You have to have the pallet mentality. Shopping at Harbor Freight requires a certain mentality too. It definitely helps if youre the type who enjoys fixing/tinkering with your tools. Also, familiarize yourself with The Harbor Freight Return Policy .

To best capture the spirit of shopping at Harbor Freight I thought Id offer some quotes I found while scrounging around through over 1000 individual forum posts (not threads). If youve never shopped at Harbor Freight these will prepare you with the proper philosophy. If you have, youll probably start nodding your head. As always, Im quoting the collected opinions of others so your mileage may vary.

if your life or income depends on it, dont buy it ay harbor freight.

I read these sentiments over and over. That said, there are lots of pros who buy stuff at Harbor Freight, especially consumables like gloves and blades and for cheap tools they can lend out at jobsites with no expectation of return.

if I use the tool enough to wear it out or break it, I use it enough to buy a better brand as a replacement.

Some people use HF purchases to help them decide whether it makes sense to invest more money in a higher quality tool. If they use it enough to break it, then go for it. If not, then they saved the cost of the more expensive name brand. This can be pricey, but if you buy TOO MUCH tool then youve wasted money also.

tools require the usual harbor freight break in

You will find yourself having to repair/replace/rebuild Harbor Freight tools right out of the box. For regular HF customers this is standard operating procedure. HF has an excellent return policy though, with very few to no questions asked. Also they have a life time trade in policy on hand tools.

Overall, I try and stick to things without moving parts

For folks who concentrate on the consumables this was a common sentiment.

If you need a CHEAP tool that you will only use once or twice then go to Harbor Freight.

Why pay for more tool than you really need?

And for every guy who swears against buying anything from Harbor Freight with a battery theres at least one of these: I really like their 14 volt series of cordless tools. It seems like the best price/performance ratio. Anytime I buy one I buy at least one extra battery. Theyre cheap enough that I keep one drill with a drill bit in a keyed chuck and another with a screwdriver bit in a keyless chuck. That really speeds up assembly.

2) Top Ten Things NOT to Buy at Harbor Freight (Humor)

10 Things I Wouldnt Buy from Harbor Freight:

2) Fire Extinguishers

5) Birth control devices

7) Bullet proof vests

9) Pitons (I didnt know what this was either)