Which Ratcheting Screwdriver Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 14 ratcheting screwdriver options head to head. PB Swiss came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
PB Swiss
Price shown in test: $144
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LTT
Price shown in test: approximately $70
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Black and Decker
Price shown in test: $16
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The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“And the PB Swiss came out on top with the highest average ranking of 3.3.”
Best in 4 of 9 measurements, including Shaft rotation in lock position, Magnet strength and Bit retention/grip strength.
Best in 3 of 9 measurements, including Arc swing efficiency, Ratchet back drag and Shaft wobble.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Arc swing efficiency (passes for one rotation)
- 1PB Swiss9.8 passes
third position
- 2LTT9.3 passes
best of all brands
- 3Megapro9.5 passes
took the lead from Milwaukee at that point
- 4Williams11.8 passes
good enough for third position at that point
- 5SATA 19-in-112.5 passes
moved into the lead at that point
- 6Lenox 8-in-112 passes
took the lead from SATA at that point
- 7Husky11.9 passes
barely edged out Lenox
- 8Klein Tools 15-in-112 passes2nd
two way tie for second place with Lenox
- 9Milwaukee10 passes
a commanding lead over Husky at that point
- 10Irwin 8-in-112 passes
performed just like Lenox
- 11GearWrench11.6 passes
barely edged out Williams
- 12Wera14.5 passes
the worst efficiency result of all 14 brands
- 13Snap-on13 passes
- 14Black and Decker14.7 passes
the most of the brands tested early in the video
Ratchet back drag
- 1PB Swiss66.98 g
about six and a half times as much back drag as the leader
- 2LTT9.08 g
best of all brands
- 3Megapro19.48 g
took the lead from Black and Decker at that point
- 4Williams13.88 g
took the lead from Megapro at that point
- 5SATA 19-in-1240 g
about eight times more than Black and Decker
- 6Lenox 8-in-1129.5 g
more than four times as much as Black and Decker
- 7Husky44.88 g2nd
second place behind Black and Decker at that point
- 8Klein Tools 15-in-139.89 g
better than Husky
- 9Milwaukee38.38 g
barely edged out Klein Tools
- 10Irwin 8-in-1319 g
about 20 times as much back drag as Megapro
- 11GearWrench39.8 g
more than twice as much back drag as the leaders
- 12Wera29.8 g
better than average, but twice as much as Williams
- 13Snap-on30.88 g
about the same as Wera, three times the back drag of LTT
- 14Black and Decker
very close to 30 g, about 1 oz; performed fairly well for a budget screwdriver and held the early lead
Shaft wobble (build quality)
- 1PB Swiss0.058 in
barely more than Snap on, not enough to take the lead
- 2LTT0.041 in1st
three way tie for first place with Megapro and Irwin
- 3Megapro0.041 in1st
three way tie for first place with LTT and Irwin
- 4Williams0.048 in
performed almost as well as Megapro/Irwin/LTT
- 5SATA 19-in-10.061 in
- 6Lenox 8-in-10.048 in
least amount of shaft wobble recorded up to that point
- 7Husky0.081 in
about twice as much slop as Lenox
- 8Klein Tools 15-in-10.072 in
performed a little better than Husky
- 9Milwaukee0.152 in
most slop of any brand recorded up to that point
- 10Irwin 8-in-10.041 in1st
three way tie for first place with Megapro and LTT; narrator notes this brand has the most back drag of all, which helped this particular result
- 11GearWrench
over a quarter inch of movement, worst of any brand recorded up to that point
- 12Wera0.066 in
about 50 percent more side to side movement than Megapro and Irwin
- 13Snap-on0.061 in
more slop than the top three brands
- 14Black and Decker0.142 in
quite a bit of slop
Shaft rotation in lock position
- 1PB Swiss0.17 in
about 2 to 3 degrees, best of all brands
- 2LTT0.745 in
notably worse than Megapro despite less back drag
- 3Megapro0.42 in2nd
second place behind Milwaukee
- 4Williams0.556 in
better than average but almost twice the Milwaukee's rotation
- 5SATA 19-in-10.519 in
about 8 degrees
- 6Lenox 8-in-10.637 in
better than Black and Decker but not as good as SATA
- 7Husky0.495 in
moved into the lead at that point
- 8Klein Tools 15-in-10.547 in
could not quite match Husky
- 9Milwaukee0.308 in2nd
about 5 degrees, moved into the lead at that point and finished second overall on this specific test
- 10Irwin 8-in-10.718 in
about 11 degrees, about the same as Black and Decker
- 11GearWrench
over an inch, struggled due to the two position handle contributing to movement
- 12Wera
almost an inch, struggled on this test
- 13Snap-on0.599 in
very close to average
- 14Black and Decker0.708 in
about 11 degrees
Magnet strength
- 1PB Swiss199.48 g
(restated as 199.5 g in the closing recap), best of all brands, more than twice the next competitor
- 2LTT89.9 g2nd
took the lead from Wera at that point (second best overall behind PB Swiss); only brand with a dedicated magnet included in the bit set, strong enough to lift the screw, a block of wood, and the scale at over 300 g
- 3Megapro
not magnetized
- 4Williams68.89 g
first brand in the testing order with a genuinely productive magnet
- 5SATA 19-in-18.1 g
not very strong
- 6Lenox 8-in-18.3 g
about the same as SATA
- 7Husky
offers very little help, not able to lift a screw
- 8Klein Tools 15-in-1
performed about the same as Husky, not able to lift a screw
- 9Milwaukee
not magnetized
- 10Irwin 8-in-12.58 g
struggled to register on the scale
- 11GearWrench49.88 g2nd
second best magnet recorded up to that point, about 20 g less than Williams
- 12Wera69.8 g
barely edged out Williams to move into the lead at that point
- 13Snap-on54.9 g4th
good enough for fourth place behind Williams
- 14Black and Decker
not able to pick up a screw at all
Bit retention/grip strength
- 1PB Swiss2,199 g
about 4.8 lb, best of all brands
- 2LTT1,201 g
about 2.7 lb
- 3Megapro890 g
close to Husky
- 4Williams898 g
very close to Megapro and Husky
- 5SATA 19-in-11,227 g
about 2.7 lb
- 6Lenox 8-in-11,216 g
very close to SATA
- 7Husky899 g
gave up a little sooner than the competition at that point
- 8Klein Tools 15-in-11,155 g
- 9Milwaukee1,181 g
fourth position
- 10Irwin 8-in-11,220 g
second position, almost the same as SATA
- 11GearWrench
almost made it to 1,000 g before letting go
- 12Wera1,436 g2nd
about 3.2 lb, strongest hold recorded up to that point, finished second overall on this test
- 13Snap-on498 g
gave up early on this test
- 14Black and Decker989 g
about 2.2 lb
Phillips number 2 bit failure load
- 1PB Swiss144 in lb
strongest bit of all brands
- 2LTT128 in lb
broke without twisting the flutes
- 3Megapro130 in lb
took the lead from SATA at that point
- 4Williams110 in lb
bit was brittle and broke without twisting the flutes
- 5SATA 19-in-1126 in lb
bit twisted noticeably before breaking
- 6Lenox 8-in-1115 in lb
bit was extremely brittle and snapped without visible twisting
- 7Husky120 in lb
- 8Klein Tools 15-in-1111 in lb
first bit to experience cam out; badly twisted but stayed in one piece
- 9Milwaukee108 in lb
gave up a little sooner than average; tip of the bit broke off with some flute twisting
- 10Irwin 8-in-1127 in lb
barely edged out SATA for second position; bit is very hard and broke without significant flute bending
- 11GearWrench141 in lb
refused to break and cammed out instead, taking the lead from Megapro at that point; bit badly damaged
- 12Wera118 in lb
refused to break and cammed out instead; oval shaped flutes offer less grip than other brands
- 13Snap-on105 in lb
snapped off, 9 in lb better than Black and Decker
- 14Black and Decker96 in lb
bit sheared without twisting the flutes
Destructive handle/ratchet failure load (excluded from overall ranking)
- 1PB Swiss
ratcheting mechanism began spinning out inside the handle at 230 in lb, but the mechanism held up fine, no full failure recorded
- 2LTT295 in lb
before letting go, described as far exceeding its performance rating
- 3Megapro
gearbox held up fine but the shaft finally failed at 252 in lb
- 4Williams404 in lb
- 5SATA 19-in-1
handle finally broke at 477 in lb after the ratcheting mechanism refused to give up
- 6Lenox 8-in-1
not individually stated for Lenox in this segment of the transcript
- 7Husky
ratcheting mechanism began grinding parts at 361 in lb
- 8Klein Tools 15-in-1
ratcheting mechanism broke free inside the handle at 326 in lb
- 9Milwaukee
gearbox described as more durable than the handle, failing at 319 in lb
- 10Irwin 8-in-1
ratcheting mechanism broke free inside the handle at an eye popping 552 in lb
- 11GearWrench468 in lb
before the ratcheting mechanism gave up
- 12Wera602 in lb
the most of all 14 brands before letting go
- 13Snap-on
began grinding teeth at 335 in lb, shaft finally failed at 433 in lb
- 14Black and Decker
ratcheting mechanism first popped out of position at 213 in lb
All measurements (1 more)+
Overall average ranking
- 1PB Swiss3.3
best overall, declared winner
- 2LTT3.8
runner up
- 3Megapro5.33rd
- 4Williams5.54th
- 5SATA 19-in-1not tested
- 6Lenox 8-in-1not tested
- 7Huskynot tested
- 8Klein Tools 15-in-1not tested
- 9Milwaukeenot tested
- 10Irwin 8-in-1not tested
- 11GearWrenchnot tested
- 12Weranot tested
- 13Snap-onnot tested
- 14Black and Deckernot tested
How it was tested
- working arc swing efficiency (back and forth passes to complete one full rotation within a 50 degree space)
- ratchet back drag (grams of force to advance to the next gear tooth)
- shaft wobble/build quality (inches of side to side shaft movement)
- shaft rotation in the locked position (inches of rotation measured 4 in from the shaft)
- magnet strength (grams of pull needed to drop a screw from the bit)
- bit retention/grip strength (grams of force needed to pull a bit free)
- Phillips number 2 bit failure load under a drill press (in lb)
- screwdriver/handle destructive failure load under a drill press, excluded from the overall ranking (in lb)
- internal teardown and gearbox/pawl design comparison (Megapro vs LTT)
“And the PB Swiss came out on top with the highest average ranking of 3.3.”
Data notes and caveats
14 brand head to head across 7 measured sub-tests plus a separate destructive failure test that the narrator explicitly excludes from the overall ranking ("I decided not to include the bit in the screwdriver destruction test and ranking since this really isn't a style of tool that's designed for rugged use"). Only the top 4 finishers (PB Swiss 3.3, LTT 3.8, Megapro 5.3, Williams 5.5) are given an explicit overall average ranking number; the remaining 10 brands are listed in this file in their fixed transcript testing order (Black and Decker, SATA, Lenox, Husky, Klein Tools, Milwaukee, Irwin, GearWrench, Wera, Snap-on), not a stated final rank, with each brand's own per-test placements preserved in its results/notes. Meta chapters are a mix of per-test-category chapters (Arc Swing, Tool Weight, Tool Efficiency, Shaft Rotation, Failure Load) and per-brand intro chapters for only some early brands (Black and Decker, Lenox, Klein Tools, GearWrench, LTT), so chapterMap is false. The video's biggest brand resolution issue is SATA: captions render it as "Sata" once, then "Asada" for the rest of the video; resolved as SATA per the description's Products Tested list and the fixed 14-brand testing order, and documented in the SATA and Irwin entries.
