There are quite a few Dewalt tool and accessory holiday deals that are currently underway. I recently posted about the various Dewalt bit set deals that are available at Home Depot and Lowes, and a reader asked for more commentary about the 130pc Dewalt bit set.
Cosine asks:
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I want to hear your opinion on this deal: Dewalt 130 piece bits
He’s talking about the pictured 130pc bit set that’s on sale as a Home Depot “special buy” for $30.
With this set, you get a lot of screwdriver bits, but a lot of those are duplicates. It looks like you basically get a lot of Phillips #2 bits with a couple of #1s and #3s mixed in, Torx bits – probably only T15 and T25, Robertson square drive bits – mostly #2 with a couple of #1s and #3s, and a bunch of slotted bits in 2 or 3 sizes. There are also a couple of bit holders and nut drivers.
As for the drill bits, they’re basic bits. It looks like they’re TiN-coated and you get a nice selection, but these aren’t Dewalt’s premium PilotPoint bits.
This 130pc bit assortment does look to be worth the money, but it does not offer a lot in the way of variety. It’s really going to be a better replenishment set for users who know they’ll go through a lot of common bit sizes, such as Phillips #2.
A quick count of the bits in the image shows that nearly 60 out of the 130 pieces of this assortment are 1″ or 2″ Phillips #2 bits.
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Would I buy this set? Possibly. I would keep the small bit box, the small MaxFit assortment, and the drill bits, and would give away the plain bits that don’t look to be special. Maybe that plain bit assortment should be swapped for an impact bit set to make this combo more appealing.
I checked around, and it’s not easy to put together a better Dewalt bit assortment for the same $30. A 14pc drill bit set with similar sizes costs about $15, which doesn’t leave a lot to work with to spend on a good Dewalt assortment. The MaxFit set shown here is also sold as a separate 30-piece assortment for $13. There are a couple of other assortments in the $12-$18 range, but none that are much better than the one included here.
So… although this set doesn’t offer a lot of variety, its value is hard to beat. You could spend the same amount of money on separate Dewalt bit sets and assortments, but in doing so you would get less.
Will I buy this set? No. That’s because I often need size and style variety, and not quantity. This set is a good deal and a good value, but not if you would spend less to only get the bits and accessories you need.
Buy Now(via Home Depot)
skfarmer
i don’t understand who puts those kits together. about 80-90% of what is in each kit is the same. i have more phillips insert bits than i will ever need and usually am short of the power bits.
then take two or three of those very similar kits and put them together trying to fool you into thinking you get this great assortment when all they really are is just a bunch more phillips insert bits. i looked at several sets at home depot yesterday and none of them appealed to me to buy them. i have several similar kits already, most of them missing the bits that are not included or have very few of them in those kits. no need to add 50 more phillips insert bits (to the 250 or so i already have) when what i need is new torx, and square power bits.
the upper left hand kit is pretty good imop but it still seems lacking. my ideal kit would have the nut driver bits, several each of phillips, square , flat and torx bits, the finder drivers and a small assortment insert bits.
Chris
I always “rate” these kits on how many bits arent the dumb 1″ inserts.
Give me a kit full of 2″ or longer bits and Id pay what its worth.
I have so many of the adapters that hold the 1″ inserts its not even funny. The one that came with my Milwaukee ShockWave set isnt bad, at least its magnetic. But I reach for the 2″ long bits all the time. When I was putting up metal studs, a 3″ long bit was perfect. Cant remember the last time I used the adapter and a 1″ bit.
Johnny
Agree with SKFarmer & Chris. These kits need more 2″ or 3″ Robertson (aka square), nut drivers and Torx bits. Might I also suggest throwing in some 2″ metric hex bits so I can work on my bicycles and ski racks. I certainly do not need anymore Philips #2.
Caleb
I find it interesting that kits either come with only a couple #2 Phillips or a ridiculously huge amount of Phillips #2. They are definitely the ones that get used the most and they tend to break more than the other increasingly common heads. But I don’t go through them 40x faster than everything else. Maybe they should stick with about a 5 to 1 ratio.
I agree that longer bits are more useful. I prefer 2-4 inch bits for most everything.
But I have a struggle with buying stuff that I don’t need in case I need it. Especially if it is well organized. Bits are sadly one of those areas.
fred
I always thought of commonly used bits like PH #2 or Robertson #2 to be “consumables”. We’d buy Wiha insert bits in 30, 50 or even 100 count packages (e.g. Wiha 71199) to get the price down to a decent level. We might buy an assortment of the more oddball sizes and security specialty bits – to keep on the truck just in case we encountered an odd situation on a remodeling job.
Stuart
While true that bits are consumables, these sets are aimed at holiday shoppers who will often take a long time to go through a couple of bits, let alone 58 Phillip #2’s.
John
One of those kits has a really really neat floating magnetic screw holder independent of the bit.
A guy at class had it and it really is worth getting imo.
I have like 4 or 5 varieties of these “yellow” boxes already including a black impact box and I still will really really have to hold back on this…. it’s pretty cool… it even comes with a mock screw to test with.
Nathan
Best “shotgun approach” bit set is the Ryobi 90 piece one for $30 (blue not fluorescent green). It has, all in one set, a range of spade bits and ring saws (including what you’d need to install a door), masonry, etc. etc. twist bits, most driver heads, and even a countersink and depth rings. Sure they’re not great quality, but it’s the most comprehensive kit and it’s relatively compact. When one breaks you can replace it and you’ve always got about every bit you could need right in one place.