Home Depot launched a new line of Husky BITE wrenches, hex wrenches, and bit sockets, seemingly as a counter to the Craftsman Overdrive tools that launched at Lowe’s last year.
The main claim, at least based on images of the store packaging, is that new Husky BITE mechanics tools design “reduces fastener rounding.”
For the wrenches, Husky says that BITE delivers “45% more applicable torque.”
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The Husky Bite combination wrenches have a non-slop open end and zero-offset 6pc box end. They are also advertised as having a 10% longer beam for greater length and leverage.
The Husky Bite hex wrenches have a similar tip shape, for fitting internal socket fasteners rather than 6pt hex bolts.
Here’s a closeup of the Husky Bite straight hex tip.
Husky says that the “gripping end” delivers “10% more applicable torque.” The tools have a ball hex tip on the long end.
The hex keys are color-coded, with silver for metric and black for SAE.
Home Depot is launching the Husky Bite lineup with 13 SKUs – combination wrench sets, ratcheting wrench sets, nut driver sets, and hex key and bit socket sets.
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As a pricing example, the 10pc combination wrench sets are $50 each, and the 8pc ratcheting wrench sets are $60 each. The 18pc inch and metric hex wrench set is $30.
Discussion
That Home Depot’s newest Husky wrenches have a zero offset box end makes them an immediate deal breaker for me; my primary combo wrenches must have a standard 15° offset box end.
The hex key straight profile looks a bit aggressive to me, and also directional.
The metric sizing is unusual, ranging from 3 to 10mm. I’d rather have a 2.5mm size than 4.5mm.
As I mentioned at the start of the post, Husky Bite looks like Home Depot’s counter to Craftsman’s Overdrive tools at Lowe’s.
That’s not a bad thing, it just invites direct comparison. Which would you pick?
Given the launch timing, I expect to see these Bite tools appear at Home Depot stores in time for the winter holiday deals season. However, the premium pricing suggests they might be a step-up addition to Husky’s regular product line.
I haven’t seen any Husky Bite tools in person yet, but will look for them during my next Home Depot visit.
James Vis
That’s a hard no from me for the hex key. Maybe I could have better torque to tighten bolts, but being 1 direction only, it seems like I would be more likely to strip the bolt when trying to loosen them.
No thanks.
Mike M
James,
Look again, sir. These have their highest bite force in reverse!
JR Ramos
I was just looking at these yesterday. Hard pass – very hard pass. They look nicely finished and the extra +/- 3/4″ length is nice but it’s a piss poor design. 40% “applicable” torque…? I’d venture some of that comes from a little extra length. The heads felt like a sloppy fit with the bolts I brought over to test but they are indeed kind of uni-directional so between that and the flat head it’s extremely limiting in use for many applications (just fine when your fastener is out in the open with plenty of room to approach and turn…which is not generally what confronts me where I need a wrench in lieu of a socket).
The hex wrenches are a terrible idea…that’s just bad.
It’s surprising that Husky would even run with this and bring it to market. The existing simple designs work just great and they work even better when standard tolerances are adhered to, which is the biggest problem today. They keep chasing this non-rounding angle but what most need to do is simply keep those tolerances tight for a good fit. This is why most “high end” and US made wrenches usually shine where cheap wrenches fail. But compounding that is the sloppy tolerances on the vast majority of imported hardware these days – that makes tool tolerances all the more important because Sloppy A + Sloppy B = dissatisfaction, injury, and expense. I think these may have been designed by people that don’t know/use tools or understand the history of wrench/socket designs…probably seems natural to them to toy with it and claim improvement (hey, sometimes it works out that way). These are a fail imho, nice as they look.
fred
I wonder if this was an idea pitched to Home Depot (Husky) by the Apex Tool Group (the OEM). Or maybe Husky asked Apex to come up with something new to differentiate themselves.
JR Ramos
Who knows. It’s a constant trend though, one that probably should just stop in favor of embracing good proven designs. These are probably just fine for the majority of homeowner type stuff (maybe) and the DIY retail crowd really eats up this kind of marketing and “improvement” so it seems. And those that don’t know/don’t have much experience or are perhaps shopping for a gift…seems great to them.
TomD
That’s exactly exactly. It’s purpose. Gimmick tools sell extremely well especially during what’s coming up right now holiday giftgiving season interesting. Interesting. Interesting.
Peitro
Wrenches get flipped over for other direction; same can’t be said about hex keys.
I am natural skeptic about claims made by manufacturers. Snug fit is better in my opinion.
PW
This was my gut reaction when I saw them by happenstance the other day: they seemed sloppy and gimmicky. The opposite of what I want.
I could be wrong. I would be interested in a detailed hands on review.
ITCD
They’re following the trend. Craftsman Overdrive. Mac RBRT. Snap-on Flank Drive Plus. GripEdge RPT. Craftsman V Series hex. Proto ASD, and Proto previously featured a similar design to Craftsman on hex and now has GripEdge. WrightGrip. Capri WaveDrive. Icon anti-slip, Carlyle, Milwaukee. Matco Optigrip. Williams Supercombo. Some like Supercombo just are meant to keep the wrench planted a little more firmly, others are designed with a lot more grip in mind. Some are mild enough to easily be daily driver while others are very specialized.
The GripEdge (originally introduced to many mechanics through Mac RBRT) has taken the automotive sector by storm and are seen as must-haves by a bunch of people now. The Husky Bite hex wrenches don’t infringe on the RPT patent but do try to offer their own take on them.
YouTube channels and other sources and regular old word of mouth has fired up the idea of wrenches that grab better as well. WrightGrip and Proto ASD dominating tests, Torque Test Channel posting the proof in the pudding that advanced jaw profiles have a real benefit and have *bite* (hehehe) to go with their bark.
The standards require fasteners to be nominal at the high end of their tolerance, and are allowed a little room to be undersize as well. Standards for tools that go on them deliberately set a minimum that’s above nominal by some fair amount which we’re not talking 0.5mm on a 17mm wrench or anything but it isnt a super tight tolerance sticking extremely close to nominal either. Because of that, while an absolute perfect fit would be the ideal with a 17.00mm head mating with a 17.00mm wrench, it never happens and the standards don’t even ask it to happen. So then we have to address the weaknesses of the hex. Loading on the corners isn’t ideal but it’s what open ends on wrenches do with a basic design. Box ends can afford to move away from the corners but there’s limits when keeping it 12-point.
If everyone had to work with only fasteners that were always nominal and kept in lab conditions you wouldn’t need any of this stuff. But people are out there working on cars in the rust belt, working on coal conveyors that run outside the plant, working on a machine that’s been in operation 60 years and isn’t in a climate controlled shop. And even fasteners that were alright at the time may have corroded etc. And that’s where the Bite comes in, and it’s very clear that they aren’t intended to be daily drivers just like GripEdge and WaveDrive. They’re specialty tools for when the normal stuff, even the normal stuff with good tolerances, doesn’t work.
Stuart
I don’t think these will be marketed as specialty tools to grab when your other wrenches slip.
I’d bet these will be marketed in place of standard tools, in a “buy these, they’re better” kind of way.
Nathan
So is it more torque fastening or more torque loosening? I assumed loosening and therefore not a terrible idea. But I’d also agree not a universal tool
JR Ramos
Loosening, as for whatever reason they abandoned the usual simple corner relief geometry and made these semi-one-way. There’s a fair amount of slop before it grabs, too (not sizing tolerance, just the design). The open end is pretty fat, too, compared to quality wrenches/steel.
fred
Hmm! I agree that the Hex wrench geometry does seem like it would be problematical. I’ve tried the Wera Hex-Plus style on bicycles – and can’t say that I see it as a big improvement over my ones from PB Swiss. But I don’t use them in any sort of production mode where they might meet Wera’s claims about improving the life of socket screws.
https://www-de.wera.de/en/great-tools/hex-plus/
Phranq
What is up with Hex wrenches these days? Or maybe it’s the fasteners themselves. I have lately needed to half millimeter sizes more and more often. Are they really making more products with incremental metric sizing? Or is the manufacturing so sloppy that they decided to throw in some more sizes. I’m referring to the 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5 sizes. And it has happened that I got in a fight with a fastener and none of my metric or SAE wrenches would fit. Went and bought a 3.5 and that was perfect.
Vards Uzvards
I bought these Tekton hex wrenches six years ago, and they have all the half-millimeter sizes you mentioned.
Phranq
Thanks, I did just buy that last month as well. The Wera and Wiha options were lacking the half millimeter sizes.
Vards Uzvards
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I5THF4W/
Reflector
Feels like these are loosen once and be done with tools for semi-stuck (“but rusted on hard”) fasteners. The aggressive profile is going to leave nasty gouging to just below levels of Knipex Cobras or Vessel Haszels worth of damage on the engagement surfaces.
Saulac
This may sound superficial but I tend to be skeptical of “innovations” from 3rd class brands. In this case, the ideal simple and the execution is also simple. So the question is: why top brands had not already been tried to profit from the design?
Stuart
Top brands do have various products that offer improved grip, but I don’t recall seeing anything with profiles this aggressively shaped before.
A few years ago multi-fitment “universal” spline tools were popular. Before that, dog bone-style wrenches.
These could be good, but I don’t find the designs very enticing.
ITCD
Capri WaveDrive has been doing that style of box end for some time now. Matco Optigrip also uses it.
IronWood
I have Proto’s ASD wrenches. They’re very nice wrenches, well executed, but I still don’t really notice any difference with the anti slip grooves. I agree with you that innovations from low-end brands are suspect at best; probably much more gimmick than anything. Those hex wrenches are case in point, what the heck is that shape?
TMedina
That wave pattern reminds me of the Capri WaveDrive Pro wrenches.
I have a couple of the Capri models and I’ve never noticed any special, other than the longer reach.
dale clark
I think its more abou the bigger brands feel a need for upgrades every year or so just to keep the brand and products in the news (Reviews, ads, announcements, etc). Lay dormant and you may turn into S&K
Stuart
Retail consumer brands tend to do this, such as Husky and Kobalt.
Jared
I don’t like wrenches without an offset box end, so these are out.
What I like about the Overdrive wrenches is that they’re clearly inspired by RBRT and I trust they work. You don’t need massive profile changes for the effect.
Putting that tech on an affordable line of tools seems like a win for the consumer. I’m surprised SBD was cool with that because , if it does work, it undermines the difference between mid and pro level tools.
That said, the Husky profile looks like it digs in on removal and works like a standard wrench for installation. That might work despite my skepticism.
Grokew
If the handle of the nut drivers is compatible with the blades of their Interchangeable Blade Screwdriver Set, then that would make for a great compact set. Especially if you use a tool roll. Still, even if they are not compatible, they seem to use standard 1/4 power bits, so just get a few 6″ power bits, and you are good to go.
JR Ramos
The nut drivers are a quandry. I looked at those too and given the comparatively low torque that can be applied with hand nut drivers I just don’t even see the need for the corner profiling at all. Perhaps better for the smallest aluminum and brass nuts or cheese steel hardware. That said, probably no issues in use, either.
Grokew
The handles do have a hole to use a ratchet or breaker bar for additional leverage, or the bits could be used with an impact driver, or a drill.
You are right about the soft fasteners, and hopefully the profile of the nut drivers does reduce the amount of damage caused to the fasteners.
tim Rowledge
The flat end means you flip it over for ‘reverse’.
TomD
Yep. This is exactly why it doesn’t have the standard end. They understand the reversible problem so they could’ve done two sets with on off, but that would be even more complicated and looks silly enough that the marketing gimmick wouldn’t work.
Nathan
So these compete with things like the “turbine” or max grip sockets. But as wrenches. I mean if I ran into alot of smeared heads or too tough bolts in tight spots I’d consider a set. Same with the hex key if I ran into a lot of smeared hex items.
But I wouldn’t replace my normal wrenches.
Alexk
Icon flex head mini ratchet kit is $24 at HF. Just bought one for myself and one to gift a friend. Seems well made. For the price, I’m lovin’ it.
scott taylor
After looking at the torque test channel, who I would put up in the same standard as Stuart when it comes to truth telling, they would say these newer style “better” grip wrenches from many different are better. They tested 10 or so different styles of better bite and results were not what I would have guessed. I assumed they were “all hat and no cattle” but most of them were better some to a degree that was amazing.
scott taylor
here is on of the links for the testing they did
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxtgWSpTC0o.
I put link in separate post so if it violates the rules it will be easy for stuart to remove it.
SamR
I got the Powerbuilt version. It helped me a lot when I was working on my Harley.