Which Ratcheting Stubby Screwdrivers Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 13 ratcheting stubby screwdrivers 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: $80
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Snap-On
Price shown in test: $82
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The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“by the numbers the PB Swiss had the best average finish of 2.8”
Best in 3 of 9 measurements, including Working Arc Swing, Magnet Lift and Bit Failure Load.
Placed top three in 3 of 9 measurements.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Weight
- 1PB Swiss149.12 g
- 2Snap-On170.31 g
- 3LTT122.09 g
- 4Stahlwille139.34 g
- 5Matco Tools188.71 g
heaviest of all screwdrivers tested
- 6MichaelProjust over105 g
- 7Milwaukee152.42 g
- 8Wera138.44 g
- 9SATA103.11 g
- 10GearWrench170.15 g
- 11Klein Tools143.13 g
- 12Nocry119.56 g
- 13Stanley127.03 g
Working Arc Swing
- 1PB Swiss8.6 passes
to complete a full rotation within a 50 degree space, best result of all screwdrivers tested
- 2Snap-On8.7 passes2nd
second best result, almost matching PB Swiss
- 3LTT9.6 passes3rd
third best result
- 4Stahlwille11.3 passes
a 48 tooth ratcheting mechanism with no onboard bit storage and no included bits
- 5Matco Tools9.8 passes2nd
tied for second place with Milwaukee, a 40 tooth ratcheting mechanism
- 6MichaelPro9.9 passes
described as very good for a budget tool
- 7Milwaukee9.8 passes2nd
tied for second place with Matco Tools
- 8Wera11.5 passes
performed close to the same as Stahlwille
- 9SATA10.5 passes
ahead of Nocry at the time it was tested
- 10GearWrench10.9 passes
a little less efficient than the top five brands at the time
- 11Klein Tools11.6 passes
described as not as efficient as some other brands despite a very short ratchet
- 12Nocry10.8 passes2nd
second place at the time it was tested
- 13Stanley11.5 passes
described as having quite a bit of slop in the gear set
Back Drag
- 1PB Swiss47.88 g
struggled in this test despite its excellent arc swing result
- 2Snap-On9.98 g2nd
second best result, almost identical to LTT
- 3LTT9.89 g
best result of all screwdrivers tested
- 4Stahlwille29.38 g2nd
second best result at the time behind Nocry
- 5Matco Tools14.41 g2nd
second best result at the time
- 6MichaelPro48.68 g
slightly better than Stanley
- 7Milwaukee89.98 g
worse than Klein Tools
- 8Wera34.89 g
about the same as Stahlwille
- 9SATA39.08 g2nd
second place at the time behind Nocry
- 10GearWrench18.1 g
a light touch to advance
- 11Klein Tools69.35 g
worst result at the time it was tested
- 12Nocry18.28 g
a strong result despite struggling on the arc swing test
- 13Stanley52.88 g
quite a bit of resistance
Magnet Lift
- 1PB Swissalmost200 g
best result of all screwdrivers tested
- 2Snap-On38.49 g4th
fourth best result behind Stahlwille
- 3LTTjust over90 g2nd
second best result; a separate stronger magnet tested for the LTT reached just over 620 g, about 1.4 lb, of lift
- 4Stahlwille68 g
made easy work of lifting the embedded screw
- 5Matco Tools
bit tip not magnetized, unable to be tested
- 6MichaelPro
unable to lift the embedded screw
- 7Milwaukee
unable to lift the embedded screw
- 8Wera
would not lift the embedded screw, offered only about 1.59 g of pull
- 9SATA
unable to lift the embedded screw
- 10GearWrench
bit tip not magnetized, unable to be tested
- 11Klein Tools
unable to lift the embedded screw
- 12Nocry
unable to lift the embedded screw
- 13Stanley
unable to lift the embedded screw
Shaft Wobble Build Quality
- 1PB Swiss0.023 in
of side to side movement
- 2Snap-On0.0185 in2nd
second best result, better than PB Swiss
- 3LTT0.0085 in
best result of all screwdrivers tested, described as straight as an arrow
- 4Stahlwille0.021 in
best result at the time it was tested
- 5Matco Tools0.049 in
- 6MichaelPro0.0585 in
slightly better than Stanley
- 7Milwaukee0.053 in
- 8Wera0.0595 in
quite a bit more movement than Stahlwille
- 9SATA0.067 in
worst result at the time it was tested
- 10GearWrench0.046 in
slightly better than Matco Tools
- 11Klein Tools0.0465 in
better than average
- 12Nocry0.025 in
by far the best result at the time it was tested
- 13Stanley0.064 in
quite a bit of side to side slop
Bit Retention Strength
- 1PB Swiss2,310 g
by far the strongest bit retention of all screwdrivers tested
- 2Snap-On1,272 g
almost identical to LTT
- 3LTT1,254 g2nd
second best result behind SATA
- 4Stahlwille853 g
- 5Matco Tools1,176 g
- 6MichaelProalmost1,200 g
about 2.6 lb, very good for a budget tool
- 7Milwaukee1,239 g
- 8Wera886 g
very close to Stahlwille
- 9SATA1,321 g
best result at the time it was tested
- 10GearWrench186 g
worst result of all screwdrivers tested
- 11Klein Tools769 g
a little below average
- 12Nocry922 g2nd
second place at the time it was tested
- 13Stanley438 g
just under 1 lb
Shaft Rotation Locked Position
- 1PB Swiss0.34 in
tied for the least rotation with Milwaukee
- 2Snap-On0.606 in
about the same as Klein Tools
- 3LTT0.862 in
more rotation than Stahlwille or Wera
- 4Stahlwille0.641 in
- 5Matco Tools
more than 1 in, exceeded the measurement range of the dial indicator
- 6MichaelPro0.357 in
a lot better than Stanley
- 7Milwaukee0.341 in
best result at the time it was tested
- 8Wera0.655 in
close to Stahlwille
- 9SATA0.401 in
about the same as MichaelPro
- 10GearWrench
more than 1 in, exceeded the measurement range of the dial indicator
- 11Klein Tools0.621 in
- 12Nocry0.701 in
about the same as Stanley
- 13Stanley0.775 in
quite a bit of rotation
Bit Failure Load
- 1PB Swiss145 in-lb
best result of all screwdrivers tested
- 2Snap-On50 in-lb
a very disappointing result the presenter suspected may have been a bad individual bit
- 3LTT140 in-lb2nd
second best result behind PB Swiss
- 4Stahlwille
not mentioned by name in the transcript's bit failure test section, no data available
- 5Matco Tools138 in-lb3rd
third best result
- 6MichaelPro131 in-lb
better than Stanley
- 7Milwaukee124 in-lb
clean break without twisting the flutes
- 8Wera
not mentioned by name in the transcript's bit failure test section, no data available
- 9SATA116 in-lb
described as brittle, snapped without twisting
- 10GearWrench128 in-lb
described as extremely brittle, broke into several pieces
- 11Klein Tools127 in-lb
almost as good as MichaelPro
- 12Nocry45 in-lb
worst result of all screwdrivers tested; does not include Phillips number two bits, only Posi Drive bits, which are softer and twisted before breaking
- 13Stanley92 in-lb
bit sheared without twisting
All measurements (2 more)+
Screwdriver Destruction Test
- 1PB Swiss
handle tore away from the ratcheting mechanism at 152 in-lb, weakest result of all screwdrivers in this destructive test, excluded from the overall ranking
- 2Snap-On
shaft finally broke at 507 in-lb, ratcheting mechanism still worked fine afterward, excluded from the overall ranking
- 3LTT
knurled shaft broke at 193 in-lb, excluded from the overall ranking
- 4Stahlwille582 in-lb
the most torque any screwdriver survived in this destructive test, excluded from the overall ranking
- 5Matco Tools566 in-lb
almost as much as Stahlwille, excluded from the overall ranking
- 6MichaelPro371 in-lb
handle broke loose from the ratcheting mechanism, excluded from the overall ranking
- 7Milwaukee313 in-lb
the ratcheting mechanism survived but the handle did not, excluded from the overall ranking
- 8Wera543 in-lb
described as built to handle serious torque, excluded from the overall ranking
- 9SATA360 in-lb
handle broke loose from the ratcheting mechanism, excluded from the overall ranking
- 10GearWrench475 in-lb
excluded from the overall ranking
- 11Klein Tools
grip destroyed, but the screwdriver was still working fine after the test, excluded from the overall ranking
- 12Nocry243 in-lb
the main gear experienced quite a bit of damage, excluded from the overall ranking
- 13Stanley342 in-lb
handle broke loose from the ratcheting mechanism, excluded from the overall ranking
Overall Average Finish
- 1PB Swiss
best average finish of 2.8, declared the overall winner
- 2Snap-On
second best average finish overall
- 3LTT
average finish of 3.7
- 4Stahlwillenot tested
- 5Matco Toolsnot tested
- 6MichaelPronot tested
- 7Milwaukeenot tested
- 8Weranot tested
- 9SATAnot tested
- 10GearWrenchnot tested
- 11Klein Toolsnot tested
- 12Nocrynot tested
- 13Stanleynot tested
How it was tested
- working arc swing efficiency within a 50 degree space
- ratchet back drag resistance
- magnet strength lifting an embedded screw
- build quality measured as side to side shaft wobble
- bit retention strength
- shaft rotation in the locked position
- bit failure load under increasing torque
- screwdriver destruction test until total failure, explicitly excluded from the overall ranking since the presenter judged it not representative of intended use
“by the numbers the PB Swiss had the best average finish of 2.8”
