I have been seeing Gedore Red tools online, and I’m not quite sure what to think about the sub-brand.
Gedore Red tools are significantly less expensive than ordinary Gedore tools, suggesting it’s their budget line of hand tools.
I took a look at Gedore’s official description and marketing language, and it’s a bit ambiguous. They talk about things like “smart approaches” and “clever solutions.” Language about the line being a “clever choice for professionals and DIYers” seems to sum everything up.
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Over at Amazon, they have a Gedore 3/8″ 22pc 6-22mm metric tool set for $184, and a Gedore Red 3/8″ 59pc 6-24mm metric tool set for $95. That’s a big difference.
I have purchased a couple of Gedore tools before, usually from overseas sellers, and the quality is quite good and definitely up to professional standards.
So, what are Gedore Red tools all about? Are they worth looking at? If you’ve used Gedore Red tools before, how would you rate their quality? Is there anything differentiating them from the other lower priced mechanics tool brands?
I know that I should be answering questions rather than ask them, but I’m having trouble seeing the appeal here.
Why buy the Gedore Red mechanics tool set over say a Tekton 3/8″ 43pc 6-24mm metric tool kit, which is currently priced at $89 at Amazon?
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Nathan
first pass I assume Chinese in manufacture – definitely not german or spain.
second pass I notice they are 12 point sorry BI HEX. I see alot of bit sockets which is OK. but their “deep” sockets are probably more medium sockets with pass though – since they appear to be double end.
Nothing wrong with that my impact lug nut set is that way to save on space and parts but they are special purpose.
So cheaper better quality tool set – with a german company name but delineated from their main line name product.
In your comparison to the tekton – I’d recommend the tekton over this easily.
Jared
The Amazon info says COO is Taiwan, so I imagine this is Gedore’s attempt to capture more of the market (rather than just the upper-tier premium stuff). If COO is uber important, obviously this won’t fly.
Some Taiwanese tools are quite good. Wiha is making a lot there too. Wiha is taking a different approach about it though – integrating it with their main line.
It feels like a tough sell for Gedore though. By making this line separate, it’s almost like they’re signaling it isn’t “the good stuff” – and if it isn’t premium quality, then why not save a few bucks and choose one the many worthy Taiwanese-made competitors. It seems like you’d have to just have faith in the brand to choose this set.
Jared
If you read the product description – that’s got to be some google translate work right?
Jared
Ah wait. Belay that. The link auto directed me to the Canadian Amazon site, which had some crazy unintelligible nonsense.
E.g. :
Gedore focal length from 14 mm to – already from April 2018 – An exciting development to: ‘s aim is to bids farewell to from the new line by Carolus and welcomed Einhergehend the GEDORE Red.
So there’s two product lines under the brand names in GEDORE. The in the (company), Blue Colour guided Premium product line includes full range in the high-end area and the second product line, the now be colored in a new red communication world present also come.
Stuart
No – I was reading Gedore’s English brand page.
It didn’t read like a translation. The Amazon US pages don’t have much in the form of descriptions.
Jammer
Gedore’s US page states they are manufactured elsewhere to provide great value while still having a proven design.
Their site is hard to navigate.
MM
I’ve never used or seen Gedore Red tools, though I have used traditional Gedore and I’ve found them to absolutely be pro quality.
The Red series though? It looks like just another generic mid-tier brand. Given the price I very much doubt they are made to the same standards as normal Gedore. To answer Stuart’s question, if I had to buy a set at this price point I’d go for the Tekton as I’m sure it would be easier for me to get warranty service, and I also own Tekton tools currently so I know the sort of quality I’d be getting into rather than rolling the dice with an unknown. It doesn’t really have to be Tekton either, I’d also be looking at Gearwrench, Dewalt, Husky…
teicher
I got pretty much the same take on this. At this tier (which I’m clearly in the demographic for), Gedore Red is just another brand name for a common set of tools that can be bought from other brands. Which is totally fine. The brand has to do the differentiation, not the tool (since they all seem to come from the same factories), so you choose that way. All of the tools are probably quite good and will be useful.
Me, I’d go with Tekton. I have many of their hand tools and will be adding many more. They are a brand leader in this tier. Their website has clearly written policies, detailed measurements and specs for each tool they offer, and the customer support is top notch. The only benefit to going with Husky or Kobalt is being able to take a tool to the store to get warranty replacements that same day, and even that can be hit or miss (especially at Lowes for non-hand tool Kobalt warranties). I’d rather fill out the form on the Tekton site and have the replacement FedEx’d in a couple of days.
Tekton doesn’t get enough coverage on Toolguyd in my opinion. They’re doing all the right things to make me a satisfied customer.
garrett
Luckily, the German word for Taiwan is…Taiwan, so I’ll check more on their website(s) later. However, that brings up good questions. For one, how many consumers will pay the few extra dollars for a Taiwanese tool with a German brand name? And two, how much difference can a company make with a Taiwanese tool line by utilizing their own specs and QA processes. My thought on the first is – There’s a sucker born every minute. German tool reviews have not been kind. I think the word I keep coming across is “Gelegenheitsnutzer” or occasional user. For the second question, I imagine a company could produce something extraordinary in Taiwan, but probably not if they are developing the product to a similar price point. Gonna have to say ‘hard pass’ on this one. Tschuss!
Franck B.
Gedore Red is what used to be Carolus, a lower end brand, normally made in Taiwan (as has been already pointed out). It was like Apex/Danaher used to have K-D (a lot shared with Armstrong/Allen/Matco), but then K-D had Gearwrench as a lower cost, off-shore manufactured line of the K-D brand. The later difference is that while Gedore brought the sub-brand as a line in the main brand, Apex only kept the off-shore sub-brand as the new main brand, closing or spinning off the premium lines, and then later expanding globally its even LOWER cost (read “quality”) brand (SATA).
I remember 17-ish years ago when Craftsman had their nice reversible ratcheting combination wrenches (they were the standard length Armstrongs), but the price at the time was pretty high. So they started selling the Gearwrench sets as an “affordable” option, along with some of the GW Vortex pass-thru sets. I think most of those were Taiwanese and pretty decent, and that “good enough” quality spiraled down to where we are today in mechanics tools.
I do still use a lot of Gedore mechanics tools though. I’d equate them to industrial-level, like Armstrong. They’re great, but they’re not Hazet.
fred
Not surprising. Many companies have a second line of tools and distinguish the COO – by altering or slightly altering the brand name. I’m thinking that that may be a bit more consumer friendly than just ignoring the COO and having a mix of different COOs scattered about the offerings. When you buy SnapOn Bluepoint tools – you don’t expect that they are USA-made – so Gedore seems to be following this model. Others like Heyco, Wera and Wiha, seem to be slowly outsourcing a few items to an OEM in Taiwan – sort of like what Klein has been doing.
BTW there are other German mechanic’s tool purveyors (like BGS Technic KG) that seem to be strictly re-branders (BGS tools made by Listol in Taiwan)
Meanwhile, over the years I have purchased only a few Gedore tools having been introduced to the brand when looking for a Whitworth (British standard – go figure) 11/16 wrench. Later I bought some of their Oschenkopf (OxHead) brand adzes which I found were not as good as some older Grânsfors Bruks ones that I was used to.
Franck B.
Along with BGS, K-S Tools is a major (well outside of the US it is major) German brand that mostly sells TW-mfgd tools, most of which are good quality (but again, not Hazet level). They had a really handy line of Triple-Plus spline drives that although multi-sized, I never had slip or round on me, but no longer available.
MOB Peddinghaus also make mechanic’s sets which are obviously TW sourced and not nearly the quality they should be to match their legendary hammers and other hand tools.
Stacey Jones
Made in Taiwan is good quality, but there are plenty re-branding stuff made there. Craftsman for instance. Personally, I’ll just go buy that stuff directly from AliExpress/Alibaba unless the rebranding company wants to offer a lifetime guarantee.
JC
I was in a torque wrench rabbit hole recently when I was looking for a 1/4 dremometer.
To the point: Gedore Red torque wrenches are made in Germany.
Dave the tool
I have never heard of Gedore tools personally. Reading through Stuart’s article and the comments I have to ask why do we always think the USA is the the main market these companies are looking to sell in? We are way over saturated in tool choices including many newer editions since Craftsman kicked the bucket 15-20 years ago! That being said I cannot believe Gedore is looking to take over a big piece of the American Pie. Amazon is an international company and sells worldwide and if Gedore can sell some in the US market than why not?
Stuart
Gedore is a European hand tool brand, on par with more pro and industrial focused brands such as Proto or Williams in the USA.
Gedore Red is NOT targeted towards North America.
As an aside, many tool enthusiasts are familiar with Wiha, Wera, and Knipex. There’s no reason why mechanics tool brands – Hazet, Gedore, Stahwille, Beta, and others cannot grab some USA market share.
Here, Proto has Blackhawk as their more value-priced line. Snap-on has Bluepoint. Williams has an imported tool line and another that’s at least primarily USA-made.
European brands typically don’t do this, at least not from what I’ve seen. The exception might be Bosch, which has Bosch blue aimed at pros, and Bosch green aimed at DIYers.
Some brands have limited value-priced offerings, such as Wiha.
But from the pricing, Gedore Red looks to be several levels lower than the main Gedore line, and this seems very atypical to me, hence the post.
fred
I, for one, also find it interesting as it may be a harbinger of more to come in the European tool trade. At one time, I heard that Facom was the largest single supplier of mechanics tools in Europe. They fell on hard times – and were acquired by Stanley in 2006. Like Stanley’s other European brand (USAG) – some of their offerings may still be made in the EU (France, Italy, Czech Republic) – but other tools come out of Taiwan and China.
As far as I know some of the other European competition seems mixed on COO – and may include manufacturing beyond my list:
Beta – Italy
BGS – Taiwan
Elora – Germany
Felo – Germany
Gedore – Germany, Austria, Taiwan
Hazet – Germany, Slovenia
Heyco – Germany, Taiwan
Knipex – mostly Germany
NWS – Germany
Stahlwille – Germany
Wera – Czech Republic, Germany, Taiwan
Wiha – Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan, USA, Vietnam
Brian M
Just to add, some of the new Craftsman stuff will be rebranded Falcom/USAG.
Franck B.
I had picked up some of the Craftsman V-series screwdriver sets to give out for Christmas, and kept a Torx set and a standard set. They look just like Facom and are made in France like the Facom.
Some of the other Facom-looking items offered by Craftsman in the V-series are made in Taiwan, though. I’ve not purchased any to see how the quality is, I’m waiting for the USA factory to come online. 🙁
Franck B.
I have some Gedore insulated screwdrivers that I think were from a lower line than their standard … they are red and blue rather than the normal red/yellow. I’m pretty sure they are made in Slovenia. Regardless, they’re in my miscellaneous tool box and get abused quite heavily, and haven’t missed a beat! I’ve found them to be more reliable than a lot of Felo drivers I’ve had.
Plain grainy
Gedore (GE-DO-RE), is an acronym for GEbruder(meaning brother, multiple brothers of one family). DOwidet(last name of three brothers who owned company). REmsheid( hometown of the Dowidet brothers, Remsheid, Germany.
).
fred
Interesting trivia!
Remscheid is one of many towns – like Solingen and Wuppertal – east of the Rhine – known for steel and tool manufacturing. Nice to visit the area if the Rhine isn’t flooding
Wouter
Remscheid is also home to the Hazet company!
Both Gedore and Hazet are the highest quality tools money can buy. I have used them profesionally for over 25 years and I would choose them over any other brand.
I also have some experience with the Carolus brand which is the predecessor of Gedore Red and it is very good value-priced tool brand. It has never failed me.
Mike
Correct. The last name is spelled with an “a”, Dowidat. They have – or at least had when I lived there – a parallel brand to Gedore called… Dowidat.
Both brands are professional/industrial quality, with Gedore being a bit better known. It’s the standard name for pro tools there. They’re not as “elegant” as Stahlwille or Hazet, but are more affordable and are much more commonly used. A good comparison to Gedore/Dowidat is the old Proto Professional line – rock solid, a bit clunky at times, but perfect for a working pro.
I lived over there for 16 years and have many Dowidat and Gedore tools. You can spend more, but you won’t get better tools.
I ran across a used Indian-made Gedore open-end wrench set a few years ago and bought them out of curiosity. They’re functional and the steel seems good, but the finish is not surprisingly sloppy. I hadn’t heard of this Red brand, but it’s not surprising that they’re doing that as a side line. They still have their quality pro tools though.
Rob
GEDORE RED is all about GEDORE changing the name of their Carolus budget line. I think it was a dumb move. It devalues the GEDORE brand.
They already did a number on themselves years ago when they offered horrible peeling wrenches from India (not that have anything against India, it’s just where they were from) in the States with GEDORE branding.
Alas, this is the final step in their 10-15 year move to having one unified brand. They slowly changed the name of their subdivisions and acquisitions (Habero, Dako, etc). All but Ochsenkopf should be labelled GEDORE now.
Mike
Agree. They should have left Carolus as their budget brand. I have a few of them and they’re like Craftsman. They work, that’s all.
I have an old set of their Indian wrenches. They’re solid but the finish is amateurish. They were not sold in Germany, at least I never saw them, and branding them Gedore and selling them in the US was also a dumb idea.
Matt
I’m pretty sure Klann is still semi-independently so nice being acquired be Gedore.
I have a smattering of Gedore things in my box, along with a number of speciality Klann automotive tools. Everything is top notch inclusive of a 20+ year old Carolus locking 1/4 drive ratchet.
I also have numerous Stahlwille tools. They are now operating out of Wisconsin an Stahlwille NA and have quick warranty service for the few times things have worn out.
Hazet on the other hand remains overrated. Their offerings are no better than the other European names, but their warranty process is the worst by far I’ve ever dealt with. After twice sending in Allen bits out of a strut top set to have them reject warranty, I will NEVER buy another Hazet. Even used.
Charles
Try plugging this into your browser
https://www.gedore.com/en-at/product-lines-and-brands
JP Michaels
Gedore was founded in Germany more than 100 years ago. So this brand was like second to Hazet in quality ( more or less). I worked with their tools in the late 80’s, early 90’s
Very good quality. Back then there was the “Made in Germany” what convinced people of a product being good.
Stuart
That’s Gedore – but what about Gedore Red?
JR Ramos
Interesting about Carolus…wasn’t aware of that. I’ve never been too familiar with Gedore and hadn’t even heard of Carolus. My initial thought about this was that is was a stab at remaining viable in a market that has increasingly shifted to less expensive tools for various reasons, but if it was just an internal shift of branding and such, maybe that’s all it was.
I’ve got a handful of Gedore items and bought a couple of Red things from Amazon last year before I even realized what “Red” was all about. The Red items are actually excellent. There was a fantastic deal on a cross pein hammer and punch set for awhile…I think $19 for the hammer and eight punches…so I snatched up one before they were gone. The hammer is made in Taiwan but there is zero indication of that anywhere on the tool or the box…handle is a bit cheaper and rougher but still great and well-attached to the head. The punches were surprisingly all made in Germany and they appear to be identical to the regular-Gedore-branded punches I have already.
To me this is just like when Gerstner introduced their “International” China-line. Their traditional prices just became out of reach for most people, even many professionals who either had less use for the items or didn’t want to spend that amount of money on them. So it’s a way to stay viable, perhaps beat the quality of other much lower quality items on the market with just a slight price premium which people are willing to pay for. Reintroducing the middle-tier quality, so to speak. It seems like there is a healthy mix of German- and Taiwan-made products in the line and I understand there are also some from China and Italy.
Country of origin certainly does not always mean now what we’ve become accustomed to over the decades. Taiwan is hit and miss now, China has the capability of greatly improved quality in certain areas, German doesn’t necessarily mean what it used to, and Swiss has really vastly diminished. This statement is and always has been true for US…it is what it is. Japanese quality seems to have maintained itself although there are some manufacturers who have started sourcing off the mainland for some things but they’re usually clear about that.
All of this is fine…except when it’s extremely difficult to still find some items in the high quality that you might want/expect and it isn’t there anymore. At least with major companies like Gedore you can have some level of trust that if they put their name on it, it won’t be junk, or at least they’ll stand behind it.