Home Depot has introduced a new Husky 270pc mechanics tool set for the 2021 holiday shopping season.
The new mechanics tool set appears similar to another promo set they have for this season, which is priced at $99.
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The tool case is said to be fully compatible with other Husky Connect System tool boxes, including the new 2-drawer tool box that Benjamen recently posted about here.
Husky organizes the tools into 3 removable trays – one for the sockets, one for the ratchets, accessories, screwdriver bits, and nutdrivers, and one for the wrenches and hex keys.
This actually looks like a more usable setup than Husky’s typical tool sets of this size, which feature removable drawers. For context, I have had tool trays slide out of plastic tool cases before, and I generally dislike cheap blowmolded cases.
The trays load into the Husky tool box from the top, which mean it might take a little more time to retrieve a selection of tools from all of the different trays. As a tradeoff, the case should make the set easier and more secure to move around.
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This 270pc tool set comes with the following rough breakdown:
- 3 ratchets (1/4″, 3/8″, 1/2″)
- 4 extension bars
- (54) 1/4″ sockets
- (61) 3/8″ sockets
- (14) 1/2″ sockets
- (19) 3/8″ drive bit sockets
- 14 combination wrenches
- 101 other tools (screwdriver handle, bits, hex keys)
The ratchets feature 72-tooth gearing mechanisms.
Price: $129
Buy Now via Home Depot
See Also: 270pc Set via Home Depot
Additional Purchase Options
Here is where things get a little more interesting.
You can opt for buying just the tool set with their Husky Connect System-compatible tool trays, for $99. If you find yourself wishing you bought the tool box, you can pick it up separately for $33.
Price: $99
Or, if you want more tool boxes, Home Depot also has a similar Husky 270pc set with a 3pc Connect System tool box combo. This comes with a rolling tool box, the same medium tool box as the set above, and a small parts organizer.
Price: $179
Aaron s
If husky would look like this when I first bought into storage systems I would have done this over tstak. Doesn’t compete with toughsystem on durability though. Husky ascendant?
Julian Tracy
That would be near a perfect tool set if they threw away the cheap ass Allen wrench sets, the driver bits and used the wrench tray to offer a full 10-12pc in both the SAE and metric sizes.
Love that socket tray – simple, looks to be a full selection and no wasted space (Dewalt socket sets anyone?).
MM
Agreed. I bought Craftsman many years ago when I first needed tools but they never had storage trays this useful or the rolling chest. If I were starting anew on a beginner budget I’d look real hard at something like this. The $179 set with the larger tool box combo would be fantastic as a starter set. There’s plenty of room for expansion, and while other modular tool box systems may be more durable it’s hard to argue with the value for money. It wouldn’t cost a whole lot more to dump the allens and the hex bits and replace with better brands, especially in the midst of one of the biggest tool sales of the year, or to fill in those larger wrench sizes. Gearwrench has a nice set of extensions & universal joints, that would be a great add-on for this kit too.
Jared
I think this is pretty clever. I contemplated doing something similar manually with Dewalt’s Toughsystem 2.0 trays.
In my case, I work away from my tool chest almost as often as out of it. With that in mind I’ve made mine highly modular. My sockets are in Ernst trays by size, my screwdrivers in Ernst/Tekton locking trays, my wrenches in a wrench tower, etc. That way I can either open a drawer and grab a tool out of the tray, or lift out the whole tray and put it in my Toughsystem box to wheel it to where I’m working.
This Husky setup seems ideal for a use like that. I also really like how they made the sockets stand vertical to save space.
Were I to gripe, it’s all just based on things that don’t work for me personally. I don’t need a 270 pc tool set at this point in my life – I’m way more likely to buy just a particular tool grouping (say they sold just the socket tray, for example). That doesn’t make this a bad idea though.
I realize bits and hex keys are just “fillers to raise the tool count”, but in my opinion the value is there even if you ignore them. Hopefully Husky has a blank tray too – then you could just substitute that.
Troy
Are there more mechanics sets this year than in years past? At my local HD I saw two Husky, a Milwaukee, Gearwrench, and maybe another I am forgetting. Not sure what is at Lowes yet.
I’d be interested on ToolGuyd’s thoughts on the comparison between the sets this year and what is the best pick.
Stuart
It’s not that there are more sets, but that they’re more visible.
I added the Milwaukee set to the DealGuyd post – https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/overflow-tool-deals-112021/%3C/a%3E . I bought Milwaukee sets last year and have been thrilled with them.
Husky is a good bang for the buck option.
I’ve been running to different Home Depot stores, trying to find the larger Gearwrench set. I might snag the bit ratchet set for the drive tools, and the smaller promo set seems like a good travel set.
Gearwrench is a sponsor, and I’ve been writing and rewriting my post trying to temper my enthusiasm for it.
There are ALWAYS a lot of high bang for the buck sets, but this year there seem to be more *better* options, if that makes sense.
The drawer-friendly Gearwrench set is also promo-priced again. https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/gearwrench-mechanics-tool-set-120xp-eva-organizer/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
The challenge is that there is no “best pick,” but the “best pick for you.”
There are more options this year, in addition to the usual mass-interest sets that are based on price point. But that’s also what makes this fun. =)
If you need any help, send some criteria my way and I’ll try to help you sort through all the options.
I would normally advise waiting until Black Friday or Cyber Monday to see what other deals are there, but this year it might be best to have a deal-in-hand rather than risk things selling out, just in case. This applies to any “I must buy it this season” purchases.
Nathan
funny I was going to say that socket arrangement looks like a big jumble. all in one place but wow.
I would have prefered they at least seperated the 1/2 drive from the 3/8 and 1/4. or something to cut down how many you had to look through in th one tray – also I bet that is the heaviest tray of the set.
agree completely on the remove the allen keys and the screw bits to cut down on the count but it seems all the companies are doing this now. and also agree if I was putting it together I would have had the more complete wrench set – or put another way – a wrench for every socket size of the 3/8 set at a minimum.
Dave the tool
I wish Husky would use all 6pt sockets in their sets like Dewalt. My 12pt sockets continue to sit gathering dust as almost all socket sets came with 12pt back in the 1990’s and prior so that’s why I have quite a few still. Granted the old Craftsman Ratchets were not fine tooth back then so 12pt made sense but with nearly all companies offering fine tooth ratchets today there is no reason to continue with 12pt sockets unless you like to gamble on rounding off a bolt! Kinda funny as I have a set of metric and sae Craftsman 6pt combination wrenches I purchased on a whim years ago and they rarely see use either.
MichaelT
So 169 piece toolset for $99?
Ball_bearing
Having to remove the trays in order to access the tools is way better than opening a blow molded case from the wrong side… I hate it when that happens.
>Something I don’t understand. Why include the nut driver inserts instead of a spinner handle? A spinner with the sockets is more versatile. Hmm… I haven’t seen a Husky spinner handle.
Stuart
Nutdriver bit are convenient – in my opinion – because they can also be used with other tools.
Some kits come with a spinner handle, this one comes with a 1/4″ hex handle to fit the screwdriver bits.
Could you replace the nutdriver bits with a spinner handle that works with the 1/4″ drive sockets? Sure.
I gave up on trying to understand marketing decisions that go into mechanics tool set configurations.
Having to remove trays from the top is also better than tilting a cheap drawered box and having all of the drawers slide out and dump their contents on the floor.
fred
I’m still partial to my Williams NM-110 spinner handle – 1/4 male at the tip, 1/4 female at the top of the handle – and the handle can be disengaged to act as a rotating collar
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-williams-nm-110-4-drive-477174940
Bought mine in the 1960’s
fred
BTW – what in this set might have been influenced by both the HD tool buyer and Apex Tool Group as the OEM. I suspect that there are a lot of such discussions around questions like: What items should be included? and What price points are attractive?
Ball_bearing
Drawers have another disadvantage, if the content of the drawer is out of place, or if it’s overstuffed (a rag or some extra stuff) it can get stuck, and the complete thing may break if you aren’t careful when trying to open it.
Albert
For those who are comparison shopping, here is the Dewalt tool set for $129 ($10 more than last year):
https://www.homedepot.com/p/310827235
It still has lots of allen keys and hex bits, few combination wrenches, and good case.