Craftsman Allen has come out with a new gearless ratchet that is said to provide a zero point swing arc and requires less than 2° of movement to operate.
I reviewed Kobalt’s Direct Drive gearless ratchet last year, and it worked surprisingly well. The only downside was that it was slightly bulky. This new Allen gearless ratchet looks like it might be a little more compact, thanks to its teardrop-shaped head, but it’s hard to say.
Advertisement
The new Craftsman Allen gearless ratchet is not reversible. Well, it is, but not in the same way as most other ratchets. In order to reverse this one, you push the drive tang through the head to the opposite side, and then flip the ratchet over.
Generally, I’m not much a fan of flip over to reverse ratchets and ratcheting wrenches. In some usage scenarios, ratchets and ratcheting wrenches can be trapped between a fastener and obstruction, and the easiest way to remedy the situation is to reverse the ratchet. This mostly happens (at least in my experiences) when removing a fastener and backing a tool into a bad spot.
Still, gearless ratcheting is nice and can be a big help when working in tight corners. A ratchet like this is less advantageous if you already have a 90-tooth ratchet, 120-position ratchet, or other very fine-toothed ratchet. But if you have coarser ratchets, such as with 60 teeth or even fewer, a gearless ratchet might be good to have around.
There’s only one gearless ratchet size (so far?) – 3/8″, and according to Sears’ specs it’s 10-1/4″ long. It has a full polish finish, which Sears and Allen say is for professional appearance.
Price: $20
Buy Now(via Sears)
Advertisement
Over at Sears, this is listed as a Craftsman ratchet, but the imagery shows Allen branding, both on the handle and packaging. My guess is that the gearless ratchets are so new that the Sears product photographer hasn’t even gotten one yet, so they used the Allen Pinpoint ratchet instead.
Update: This is an Allen product. Someone at Sears screwed up and labeled it as Craftsman.
Apex Tool Group, which owns the Allen brand, manufacturers many mechanics hand tools for Craftsman.
My experience with Kobalt’s Direct Drive gearless ratchet has been positive, although I don’t keep one in my main toolbox. I anticipate that the Allen gearless ratchet works as well, or maybe better, but I still don’t like push-through reversing ratchet designs.
On the other hand, push-through ratchets are sometimes stronger than traditional reversible mechanisms, with the Wera Koloss 1/2″ ratchet ($102 via Amazon) being a great example. Perhaps that’s Allen’s motivation for designing their gearless ratchet in this way.
Porphyre
I’m always interested in new Craftsman stuff… initially, anyway.
COO?
Toolfreak
At $19.99, COO is almost guaranteed to be China.
Stan
Likely made in China similar a majority of what Sears sells these days. Wasn’t always that way and man do I miss those days. Back then country of origin mattered to more people and generally buying American was seen as important.
This ratchet design has been around for decades and companies such as New Britain Machine, Black Hawk, Snap-On, Bonney, Husky, Duro/Indestro to name a few used a design that used a plug. Prior to the introduction of 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 inch sockets there was a different design that didn’t use what is shown but resembled the modern drag link sockets. “Eli” handles were also used.
One of the main issues with this design is, should the “socket plug” go missing, this type of ratchet becomes unusable. Perhaps for a period there will be replacements, but that doesn’t help if you are in the middle of a project.
Dave McDaniel
The post/lug/anvil won’t come out unless you disassemble the ratchet.
Toolfreak
Is there anything showing that this is actually being rebranded as a Craftsman item and it’s not just an error on the site, putting the brand as Craftsman instead of Allen?
Wouldn’t be the first time.
The only thing that makes me think it could be a new Craftsman item is that they discontinued the USA-made 84T Full Polish ratchets, which had lots of bad reviews stating that the ratchet jammed, making it so the reverse lever was stuck.
This would actually be a heck of a response to that, if this is a replacement product, though replacing a premium USA-made $80+ product with a $20 China-made one says a lot about where the Craftsman brand is headed.
I actually do like the styling on this, but do agree the push-through anvil is gimmicky, but it makes sense as a way to eliminate the reversing lever, and also reduce costs. If Allen made a set of these with a regular anvil and reversing lever, it would make for a very nice set of ratchets.
Stuart
Turns out that someone at Sears screwed up and labeled it as Craftsman. It’s definitely being sold under Allen branding.
Joey
I love my 84 teeth ratchets… Have only broken one in the years I have had them. Too bad they got rid of them. I can attest to the gear switch getting stuck though
magic
I love my ratchets of that design. I did have one sieze, but the vise fixed that and some 3n1 oil stopped it so far.
Tom
This seems much better than their typical Christmas time stuff. I’d rather get this as a gift than a Mach Series Adjustable Wrench!
Jerry
I would much rather have the push-through style as opposed to reversible, in a fearless ratchet. I’ve seen the bendix style mechanisms, and they can be made stronger, more reliable, and more compact, if they only have to work in one direction. I have owned fearless ratchets of one kind or another for almost 20 years now, and the only problem I have ever had with one, was the reversing mechanism failed, more than once. The seller replaced it with a push-through, which has outlasted both of the previous reversing ones, and still works fine.
I have had similar problems with reversible ratcheting box end wrenches, the reversing mechanism jams or fails, which has yet to happen to me with the kind that require you to flip the wrench to turn the other way.
Mike
If the head is actually compact I can forgive the reversing mechanism. It’s hard to tell from the photos. Just curious, why does Sears advertise it as needing less than 2 degrees while the Allen packaging clearly states less than 1? I guess 1 technically is less than 2…
$15.99 for club members right now and it looks like it’s actually in stock at my local Sears. I might check it out this weekend.
Toolfreak
Now it’s on sale for $14.99.
The Craftsman Club discount isn’t what it used to be. You can usually get something on sale for less than any Craftsman Club price, at least from the prices I’ve seen in the past few years.
typhoon
My local Sears has this on display. It’s Allen-branded, just like in the pictures. I’d be surprised if we see a Craftsman-branded variant at the same time.
It’s interesting to see the same handle design as the Danaher Kobalt ratchets (often confused with the Armstrong handle but different). I don’t think they’ve ever used it for Allen before (the USA Allen ratchets all had knurled handles and the import ones that were essentially the same as the Evolv ratchets had polished round handles).
I don’t mind the push-through square drive on this, since it addresses a limitation of the design. All of the reversible gearless ratchets I’ve seen have large, thick roundheads, whereas this one is pretty much the same size as a Craftsman teardrop ratchet. It looks and feels better made than all the other cheap gearless ratchets I’ve seen, so I might pick one up. It’s a bit gimmicky in that I don’t think a gearless mechanism has any real advantage over a fine-tooth geared ratchet, but it’s kind of neat and the novelty of it doesn’t get in the way of being a useful tool.
Dave McDaniel
My store did not have any on display, but when I asked, there was one at the service desk. It is exactly as the pix show: Allen brand and packaging. Sears even uses the Allen part number 58380R on its website: “Description Item # 00920700000P Model # 58380R”
Overall quality appears good and outstanding for a Chicom ratchet. Handle seems a bit heavy. Mechanism is smooth as one would expect and wonder-of-wonders, it comes prelubed!
Head measures 1.368″ wide and 0.537″ thick. Weight is 12.25 oz if my scale is correct.
I had to ask for the member discount even though my card was scanned prior to the sale. The clerk had to make a manual entry for the discount.
Beforehand I ran several searches for more information. Nothing found and I could not find it on the Allen website. The part/model number, 58380R, is stamped/engraved on the reverse side of the handle from the Allen branding. Spaced following the part#, there is “AE” which I believe is one of the Apex Tool Group codes Sears uses. Bar code on the packaging has only 58380 with no “R”.
SteveR
Fortunately, we don’t come across it often, but a non-reversing wrench can be a problem in close quarters. To avoid getting stuck, regardless of the type of ratchet I was using, I also had an open-end wrench available to switch to. After I broke the fastener loose, I’d switch to the open-end wrench, which can’t (normally) get caught. Just keep turning it until the bolt or nut can be removed by hand. The socket or closed-end of the combination wrench is faster, but is hamstrung by the amount of space you have to back the fastener out. The closed end also has to be removed and reset after each turn, and you may run out of space to do this. If that happens, the open-end wrench can simply be pulled out.
Depending on the orientation, you may also be able to employ crows-foot wrenches. They are offset enough that the wrenchhead plus an extension may work for you.
You may have to resort to low-profile (1/8″ thick) wrenches to turn a bolt. Remember, though, that low profile = low strength, so use them only after the fastener has been broken loose. Another possibility (space permitting) is the “Engineer” adjustable wrench (from Japan) that has its jaws pared down to 2mm at the tips, or the Channelock/Irega versions at 4mm.
Zachary
Like tool freak said, it is $15 at my store too. It was pretty comfortable and felt nice. The edges on the head looked ugly in a few spots, had the same issue on my gearwrench 84t. Head was about the same size as my 84, so the push through mechanism did made for a big reduction in size. China coo, I might pick on up if I get some points at sears.
magic
That handle looks just like Armstrong
jesse
No.
Dave McDaniel
At first glance I was reminded of Armstrongs but they have different handles:
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/armstrong-maxx-locking-flex-head-ratchet-review/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Sledgecrowbar
Harbor Freight had these ratchets years ago, long before Kobalt or this. They used the same Sprague clutch setup inside. The guts were non-removable, the head had thin zinc-plated sheet steel plates pressed onto the front and back which locked everything in and you couldn’t clean them, which was I think their downfall in my toolbox because they were really gritty even though they worked fine. Kobalt’s setup is the best because it’s reversible but that functionality requires a much larger head. This style isn’t as easy to work with because if you want to reverse, you have to pull the socket off and flip it, but it is very compact.
Overall, they were good ratchets but I never used them enough to test out their durability. I do still have them but they’re in the unused-tool-drawer way at the bottom.