I visited Lowes today to check up on some of the Holiday Deals. While none of the deals were as jaw dropping as the Home Depot deals and discounts, I thought it was worth mentioning some of the better deals I saw.
I snapped photos of the tool displays I thought were either worth mentioning or that had the largest discounts. When I got home, I checked online to verify that these indeed were on sale nation-wide and not just at that particular Lowes Store manager’s discretion.
If there are other tools at Lowes that you are interested in that I didn’t cover here, it still might be worth it to take a look at the website or cruise the aisles at your local Lowes. You never know when prices are going to drop.
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Certain items might drop to new lows after the New Year if still in stock. In past years this was true for Lowes’ main Kobalt hand tool deal, but there really wasn’t any flagship Q4 tool this year.
Buy Now(Lowes Holiday Savings Tool List)
Kobalt 69pc Tri-Fold Tool Set
This 69 piece tool set looks like it’s designed to give the homeowner or apartment dweller all the tools they’d need for common household tasks. The tools all fit nicely in a blow molded case with a top that is split open along the center and each side folds out — thus the label Tri Fold.
Stuart called it on this one, he figured we see this set drop to $50 or $65 later on in the season. He shouldn’t have second guessed himself, because now it’s later and Lowes has the set marked down to $50. The new lower price is supposedly only good until Jan 29th, 2016.
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Kobalt 119 Pc Auto Tool Set
This mechanics tool set has 1/4″ and 3/8″ drive 12 point socket sets in SAE and Metric. It only comes with one ratchet that includes an adapter so you can use it on both sets of sockets. It also has a screwdriver with 60 different bits, and 10 ball end hex keys that fit into the ratchet with another adapter.
They were selling this 119 pc se for $120, but Lowes has marked it down to $80. Again this new lower price is supposedly only good until Jan 29th, 2016.
Kobalt Right Angle Bit Driver Sets
They had the 35pc and 24pc Kobalt Right Angle Drive sets all mixed together, I didn’t notice this until I got home. Both of these sets used to be $20. The price for the 24 pc set was marked down to $10, but I never spotted the price tag for the 35 pc set. After checking the website I found that indeed the 35 pc set was also marked down to $10.
Stuart’s Note: I think that these dropped in price earlier in the season, but $10 is still a great price for what you get.
Stuart is like an oracle or something, he called it again. In a previous Kobalt holiday hand tools post he said he had a feeling these sets would be marked down to $10 soon, and that’s just what Lowes did. There’s no date on when this deal ends. If your store has any left after the New Year, you might be able to find them even lower priced.
Buy Now (24 piece right angle drive set)
Buy Now (35 piece right angle drive set)
Hammerhead Cordless Screwdriver
This is the Hammerhead Li-ion Cordless Screwdriver with Circuit sensor that a reader reviewed for us here. If you thought $40 was a little steep, Lowes dropped the price down to $20. This particular deal is supposedly ending with 2015.
Well, these are the best deals I could find at Lowes. If you’ve found some good markdowns on holiday deals at Lowes that I’ve missed, let everyone know in the comments.
Additional Mentions
Kobalt’s parallel-jaw compound leverage pliers are now on sale for $15. We’re not very impressed with these pliers, but for $15, they might be worth a closer look.
The Kobalt Flip Jaws pliers set is now on sale for $20.
Jerry
The parallel jaw pliers look like a great idea. When you say not impressed, do you mean their design, or build quality. I was originally going to get these for a gift, but after poking around Amazon a bit, I found a pair of 9 inch parallel jaw pliers from CH Hanson for under $12 with good reviews. Anyone have opinions on this? Better, wors, or just different than the Kobalt? I have the Knipex pliers wrench, and think they may be a decent lower priced alternative for times when smooth jaws aren’t needed.
Jerry
Link
http://www.amazon.com/Hanson-30900-Auto-Grip-LockJaw-Self-Adjusting/dp/B002GWVL3K/
Benjamen
Those pliers you link to don’t look like parallel jaw…
On the Kobalt parallel jaw pliers, Stuart actually added the mentions. I’m not sure about his opinion, but he probably was referring to comments I’ve made about them.
I was actually in store a while ago to pick up the set. I did like the little pliers they had out for demo, but then I started playing with the large jaw pliers and found that while they closed on a nut properly they got stuck while trying to open the pliers again. They didn’t operate as smoothly as the little pair. Also the locking mechanism didn’t always work the first time, for either locking or unlocking. I tried many pairs and they all had the same issues.
I don’t know if the little pair on display was broken in by so many people playing with it. I couldn’t test another set of little ones, because they are trapped in the blister pack.
They might be fine after a little use, but I would rather save my money for something I know is going to work right out the store.
fred
Benjamin:
The jaws don’t exctl look parallel in the picture but the Amazon description says: Patented mechanism maintains parallel jaw for optimal grip” I’m guessing that they got this verbiage from CH Hanson.
Jerry
If you read the reviews, some mention parallel jaw action. No mention of compound action, but for less than $12 I ordered a pair just to find out for myself. I think it may be a special price, as the 9 inchers are cheaper than the 6 inchers.
Michael
I have a pair that a friend gave me because he hated them. They are not true parallel but close enough for bolts. They do have compound leverage. The adjustment is a bit odd. They do work though and for the discount price, might be worth it.
Jerry
I received mine today and played with them a bit. They seem well made and strong, and they do work, gripping strongly. However, they are not 100% parallel the way the Knipex or even these Kobalt tools seem to be. However, they do seem good enough to grab bolt head flats and for general use provided you don’t mind marring the finish with the jaw teeth. Construction seems to e of forged steel, no laminations or stampings.
While it does work, the self adjusting mechanism, as well as the compound leverage system can best be described as unusual, and maybe even goofy. They act like run of the mill self adjusting pliers in the way the jaw opens against a sort of spring mechanism, but as the jaws begin to apply gripping force, the jaws tighten to more or less parallel, then the linkage system causes the jaws to grip tightly with a more or less parallel action. Never saw anything quite like it, and it is unique to say the least, but they do grip strongly with an ‘almost’ parallel action, but not quite the true parallel action throughout its full jaw movement the way the Knipex pliers wrench do.
Stuart
I have a demo pair of those pliers, and they’re okay.
From what I can tell, they’re comparable to the Kobalt Magnum Grip pliers that Lowes used to carry, but they’re forged and not laminated, giving them a stronger construction.
Compared to Knipex, which might be unfair given the enormous price difference ($15 for 2 pliers vs. $45-55 for 1), they leave a lot to be desired in regard to fit, finish, and jaw style. But when compared to say Irwin GrooveLocks, these Kobalt pliers look a lot more appealing.
I know Ben has his reservations about the pliers as well, hence the “we’re not impressed with them” part.
To be frank, if a hand tool cannot hold up to a couple of days of “try me” handling, then they’ve got no place in my tool box. Then again, they might serve a casual DIYer user a lot better.
Michael
I did find it interesting that once the cam action takes place, you have full griping force with little hand pressure. Squeezing harder doesn’t seem to increase the jaw pressure.
JamesOuzts
I posted this on the home depot page but it wasn’t updated. I think maybe people have stopped checking it but the dewalt maxfit driver set is down to $10. That’s a pretty good deal.
Benjamen
Thank you for mentioning the Dewalt screwdrivers, I have the 8 piece MaxFit set that isn’t on special and I really like them.
I’ve also noticed not only the screwdrivers, but many of the other holiday displays are marked down even more. I’ve thought about another HD post or even having Stuart update the post again, but the problem at this point is these reduced price tools are cleared out of many stores and there are a lot of other posts I want to get to.
Scott
I was in HD over the weekend and a lot of the deal bins were cleaned out. Most of the Milwaukee stuff was gone.
John A
Lowe’s also has one day deals…..
Toolfreak
Waiting for the 250pc Kobalt set to go down to $49.98.
Now THAT would be a deal for what you get.
Adrian
It is at $79 and the 119-piece is $49 now.
240pc: http://www.lowes.com/pd_221073-22328-86213_1z0wcfv__?productId=4640241&pl=1
119pc: http://www.lowes.com/pd_747832-22328-89928___