Which Ratchet (3/8 In Drive) Brand Wins?
This head-to-head test of 16 ratchet (3/8 in drive) options has the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Crescent
Price shown in test: $14
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Weight
- 1Duratech323 g
- 2Crescent303.6 g
- 3Capri Tools279.9 g
- 4Craftsman344.9 g
- 5Gedore239.7 g
the lightest recorded up to that point
- 6Ko-Ken235.9 g
- 7FACOM248 g
- 8GearWrench XP120331.3 g
- 9Hazet259.6 g
- 10Asahi Lightool176.9 g
by far the lightest of all 16 brands
- 11Teng Tools263 g
- 12Matco274.6 g
- 13Stahlwille275.2 g
- 14Nepros412.3 g
- 15Proto Stanley Proto423.8 g
- 16Snap-on gearless305.8 g
Working arc swing
- 1Duratech24.5 passes
for one 360 degree rotation (claims a 4 degree arc swing, actually making about 14.5 degrees of progress per pass)
- 2Crescent24 passes
took the lead from Duratech at that point (claims 5 degrees/72 teeth, actual about 15 degrees per pass)
- 3Capri Tools35.7 passes
struggled badly (claims 5 degrees/72 teeth, actual only about 10 degrees per pass)
- 4Craftsman24.5 passes2nd
a two way tie for 2nd place with Duratech (claims 120 teeth, actual about 14.5 degrees per pass, too much slop to work efficiently)
- 5Gedore36.5 passes
struggled, medium tooth reaction with a very large handle
- 6Ko-Ken24.2 passes2nd
2nd place behind Crescent at that point
- 7FACOM24 passes
a two way tie with Crescent
- 8GearWrench XP12022.6 passes
moved into the lead over Crescent and FACOM at that point
- 9Hazet22.5 passes
barely edges out the GearWrench XP120 to take the lead at that point
- 10Asahi Lightool24 passes
the same as Crescent and FACOM
- 11Teng Tools35.5 passes
very close to Capri Tools, struggled badly
- 12Matco17.6 passes
by far the best of all 16 brands
- 13Stahlwille20 passes4th
4th best of all 16 brands, 2nd place behind Matco at the time it was tested
- 14Nepros18.6 passes3rd
3rd best of all 16 brands, performing even better than Stahlwille
- 15Proto Stanley Proto18 passes2nd
2nd best of all 16 brands, close to Nepros
- 16Snap-on gearless22 passes5th
5th best of all 16 brands (claims a 0 degree arc swing and has no audible clicking, unlike every other brand)
Back drag
- 1Duratech397 g
- 2Crescent293 g
better than Duratech
- 3Capri Tools366 g
2nd behind Crescent at that point
- 4Craftsman372 g
very close to Capri Tools
- 5Gedore598 g
extremely stiff, well over a pound
- 6Ko-Ken224 g
took the lead from Crescent at that point
- 7FACOM443 g
more backdrag than most other brands
- 8GearWrench XP120515 g
the dual pawl design is described as really hurting this test's performance
- 9Hazet456 g
about the same as FACOM
- 10Asahi Lightool170 g
by far the best recorded up to that point
- 11Teng Tools833 g
by far the most of any of the 16 brands, almost 2 lb
- 12Matco388 g
(this figure appears in the transcript attached to the unresolved brand-like phrase "the backhoe," but process of elimination against the surrounding sentence order and the stated comparison "a stall will perform quite a bit better than the Matco on this test at 283 grams" identifies it as Matco's own figure)
- 13Stahlwille283 g5th
tied 4th/5th best, performed quite a bit better than Matco
- 14Nepros277 g5th
tied 4th/5th best, barely edges out Stahlwille
- 15Proto Stanley Proto364 g
about the same as Matco
- 16Snap-on gearless89 g
by far the best of all 16 brands
Directional switch force
- 1Duratech404 g
- 2Crescent217 g
outperforms Duratech
- 3Capri Tools418 g
about the same as Duratech
- 4Craftsman339 g
- 5Gedoreover4,000 g
(about 8.8 lb) to press the square coupler through, by far the stiffest switch of any brand
- 6Ko-Ken353 g
about the same as Craftsman
- 7FACOM171 g
by far the best of all 16 brands
- 8GearWrench XP120190 g2nd
performed almost as well as FACOM, 2nd place
- 9Hazet475 g
- 10Asahi Lightool345 g
better than average
- 11Teng Tools521 g
more force than average
- 12Matco371 g
- 13Stahlwille271 g
100 g better than Matco
- 14Nepros596 g
pretty stiff
- 15Proto Stanley Proto647 g
pretty stiff
- 16Snap-on gearless1,356 g
about 3 lb, the stiffest switch effort of all 16 brands
Torque failure load
- 1Duratech243.3 ft lb
drive finally broke, small gear damage but both pawls in great shape
- 2Crescent262.2 ft lb
drive finally broke, drive gear and pawl still in great shape
- 3Capri Tools212.9 ft lb
gave up early, a clear problem inside the ratcheting mechanism
- 4Craftsman252.4 ft lb2nd
2nd place behind the $14 Crescent at that point; the drive is the source of failure just like Duratech and Crescent
- 5Gedore208.7 ft lb
the lowest recorded up to that point; the square coupler gave up early, the square drive is very soft and twisted quite a bit during failure
- 6Ko-Ken260.1 ft lb
held up well, no visible damage to the gear or pawl
- 7FACOM286.2 ft lb
the strongest recorded up to that point, described as very compact and light
- 8GearWrench XP120295.8 ft lb
took the lead from FACOM, no visible damage to the pawls or drive gear
- 9Hazet303.2 ft lb2nd
2nd best of all 16 brands, described as the strongest yet at that point despite being very light (259 g); pawls and drive gear still in great condition
- 10Asahi Lightool186.6 ft lb
gave up early, tied with Proto for the lowest failure load; one of the two pawls lost all of its teeth
- 11Teng Tools267.5 ft lb
fairly good, all ratcheting mechanism internals still in good condition
- 12Matco280 ft lb5th
5th best of all 16 brands, held up a long time with no visible damage to the drive gear or pawl teeth
- 13Stahlwille254.3 ft lb
narrator notes it is "not built to handle as much torque as some of the other brands" despite its strong arc swing and back drag results
- 14Nepros229.7 ft lb
narrator notes its long handle gives extra leverage but it is "definitely not built to take a lot of abuse"
- 15Proto Stanley Proto186.6 ft lb
gave up early, tied with Asahi for the lowest failure load of all 16 brands; unlike Asahi, notable damage to the drive gear teeth and pawl
- 16Snap-on gearless310.8 ft lb
the best of all 16 brands; withstood more torque than the narrator anticipated and ultimately broke apart dramatically, sending parts across the shop, with some pieces never recovered
Head side-to-side profile
- 4Craftsman29.94 mm
- 6Ko-Ken27.9 mm
the narrowest of all brands measured
- 7FACOM29.3 mm
- 14Nepros29.78 mm
- 15Proto Stanley Proto29.56 mm
- 1Duratechnot tested
- 2Crescentnot tested
- 3Capri Toolsnot tested
- 5Gedorenot tested
- 8GearWrench XP120not tested
- 9Hazetnot tested
- 10Asahi Lightoolnot tested
- 11Teng Toolsnot tested
- 12Matconot tested
- 13Stahlwillenot tested
- 16Snap-on gearlessnot tested
All measurements (1 more)+
Head front-to-back profile
- 12Matco12.2 mm
the shortest of all brands measured
- 1Duratechnot tested
- 2Crescentnot tested
- 3Capri Toolsnot tested
- 4Craftsmannot tested
- 5Gedorenot tested
- 6Ko-Kennot tested
- 7FACOMnot tested
- 8GearWrench XP120not tested
- 9Hazetnot tested
- 10Asahi Lightoolnot tested
- 11Teng Toolsnot tested
- 13Stahlwillenot tested
- 14Neprosnot tested
- 15Proto Stanley Protonot tested
- 16Snap-on gearlessnot tested
How it was tested
- working arc swing (back and forth passes to complete a 360 degree rotation within a 30 degree space)
- back drag using a 7/8 in socket, fishing line, and a scale (grams of force)
- directional switch force (grams of force to flip the reverse lever or press the square coupler)
- maximum torque/failure load using a calibrated Proto torque wrench tester (foot pounds until the drive or ratchet fails)
- ratchet head dimensions, front-to-back and side-to-side profile (millimeters), reported for only a subset of brands
Data notes and caveats
16 ratchet brands (Duratech, Crescent, Capri Tools, Craftsman, Gedore, Ko-Ken, FACOM, GearWrench XP120, Hazet, Asahi, Teng Tools, Matco, Stahlwille, Nepros, Proto, Snap-on) across 4 tests, referencing but not retesting a 17th, the $34 90 tooth GearWrench from the channel's prior ratchet video. The narrator explicitly declines to crown one single overall winner: Crescent ($14) is the named best-value pick; Hazet ($51) and Stahlwille ($121) are both separately named best all-around performance picks ("performs well in all categories"); and the narrator states his personal overall favorite remains the cheaper 90 tooth GearWrench from the prior round, which is not even part of this round's lineup. A partial combined average-finish ranking is given for only 2 of the 4 tests (arc swing plus back drag): Snap-on 3rd, Nepros 3.5, Proto and Stahlwille tied 4.5, Asahi 5th, with 1st and 2nd place never named. Given this, winner/runnerUp/verdictQuote are left null per the standing rule against forcing a single winner onto a tiered/no-clear-winner verdict, while budgetPick is set to Crescent since that recommendation is explicit and unambiguous. This transcript has unusually heavy brand-name mangling even by this channel's standard, most severely for Hazet (rendered at least 5 different ways: hazard, has it, it hasn't, half has it, the German mate has it, and possibly the backhoe) and Gedore (godor, ghidor, Ghidorah); every mangle was resolved via consistent brand testing order, price sequence, and the description's Products Tested list rather than by sound alone. No meta chapters exist for this video.
