Screwdriver 2021 Test: Which Brand Wins?

installed and removed all 50 screws; performance was simply amazing, flutes held proper shape during the entire test, so very little downward force was needed; wear rating of one (tied best with Wiha)

performed by far the best up to that point in testing, requiring a lot less downward force throughout and showing less wear than the Craftsman; wear rating of two

installed and removed all 50 screws, taking a lot less downward force than most other brands; one screw was accidentally driven into a knot in the board but the screwdriver still got the job done; ended the test pretty much used up, in about the same condition as the Craftsman

described as extremely heavy duty, performing extremely well and requiring very little downward pressure like the PB Swiss; held up exceptionally well with about the same wear as PB Swiss; wear rating of one (tied best with PB Swiss)

performed very well installing and removing the screws, but required quite a bit more downward pressure than the Wera; experienced less wear than the Wera; wear rating not stated as a specific number for this brand

made very easy work of installing and removing all 50 screws without much downward force; flutes were very thin and nearly used up but did not twist or bend even after around 16,500 impacts from the drill

off to a great start installing 50 screws, but required quite a bit of downward pressure on the last 10; almost survived the full test but gave up after removing 38 screws; flutes were nearly worn through but not twisted or bent

installed and removed all 50 screws but required more downward force than some other brands; experienced more wear than the Wera

performed a lot better than Tekton, but after 35 screws required a lot of downward pressure to keep from slipping; used up after 48 screws; flutes did not bend or twist but experienced quite a bit of material loss

provided a good initial fit, but required increasing downward force to keep from slipping and it took a lot of pressure to install the 20th screw; held up a lot better than the Pittsburgh but experienced a lot more wear than the Craftsman; the video states seven of 11 brands fully survived the durability test, and since only Pittsburgh, Channellock, and Felo have an explicit failure/giveout point stated, Tekton is very likely the fourth brand that did not fully survive, though no explicit screw count or failure statement is given for it in the transcript

ran out of steam on the 11th screw at around 600 impacts from the hammer drill; flutes described as way too soft and thin to last

refused to break and finally cammed out at 136 in pounds, first place

moved into the lead at 131 in pounds before finally snapping

came out on top at that point in testing with 127 in pounds; later tied with Wiha for third place at 127 in pounds once the remaining brands were tested

the transcript names this result only as a second Wera mention (finishing in a two way tie for third place with Milwaukee at 127 in pounds, said to have shown very little wear in the first test); resolved to Wiha rather than Wera because Wiha, not Wera, had the best wear rating (one) in the durability test, matching the phrase very little wear in the first test

performed nearly as well as Wera at 123 in pounds, moving into third position behind Milwaukee

after installing and removing 100 screws, put up 50 percent more torque than the Pittsburgh, finally snapping at 118 in pounds

performed nearly as well as Craftsman, coming up 1 in pound short at 117 in pounds before finally breaking

did a terrific job holding on but finally cammed out at 114 in pounds

performed slightly better than Tekton in the first test and outperformed it again here, camming out at 95 in pounds

cammed out at 90 in pounds after 20 screws, 28 in pounds less than the Craftsman

cammed out at only 79 in pounds after driving just 12 screws

one of the thinnest blades in the lineup at 1 mm; considering the thickness, did fairly well but finally broke at 89 in pounds

blade thickness 1.22 mm; broke the bolt at 120 in pounds on the first attempt; retested with a fresh bolt and let go at 117 in pounds the second time, with a small bend

blade thickness 1.05 mm; did the best yet at that point, finally letting go at 106 in pounds and taking the lead from Felo, though it experienced a pretty bad bend

the transcript names this result only as a Wera brand that claims to be extra heavy duty, performing very well at 115 in pounds and moving into second place behind the (real) Wera brand's 120 in pounds; resolved to Wiha because extremely heavy duty chrome vanadium tool steel is Wiha's own stated product description, and the closing recap states three out of the top four blade results are German brands (Wera, Felo, and this one, alongside the American Milwaukee), which only holds if this second entry is the German Wiha rather than a repeat of Wera

relatively thin blade at 1.05 mm; lost grip at 82 in pounds with a pretty bad bend

thinnest blade of the video at 1 mm; very brittle, broke at only 59 in pounds

thickest blade in the video at 1.22 mm; did by far the best yet at that point in testing at 103 in pounds with no visible damage

one of the thinnest blades in the lineup at 1 mm; gave up at 85 in pounds, a decent result considering the thin blade, with quite a bit of bending

thinnest blade in the video at 0.95 mm; gave up at 50 in pounds with a pretty bad bend

blade thickness 1.04 mm; barely edged out the Craftsman at 61 in pounds, with a bend not as bad as the Pittsburgh's

blade thickness 1.15 mm, quite a bit thicker than many other brands; performed fairly well at 96 in pounds but the blade ended up pretty badly bent

began to bend at 650 pounds; shaft was not driven up into the handle

shaft began moving into the handle at 700 pounds but did not begin bending until around 1,500 pounds, at which point the shaft punctured the end of the handle

shaft stayed in the proper position for the entire test; the handle began bending at nearly 1,000 pounds; called out in the closing recap as one of three American brands finishing on top of this test

the transcript names this result only as a Wera brand with a metal striking cap designed to handle a blow, with the shaft staying in the proper position and the handle beginning to bend at 750 pounds; resolved to Wiha because a metal striking cap is Wiha's own stated product feature from its introduction, not a feature Wera is described as having

shaft began traveling through the handle at 200 pounds and the weight topped out at 1,200 pounds as the screwdriver became very short; the closing recap gives a different figure, that the Japanese made Vessel performed very well at 900 pounds; both figures (1,200 and 900) are recorded since they conflict and neither can be confirmed as the true value

shaft began moving into the handle at 170 pounds but stopped after about half an inch; the handle and shaft began to bend at 700 pounds

shaft began moving into the handle at 300 pounds; the shaft began to bend at 600 pounds

made it to 1,100 pounds before the handle began to bend; the shaft was not driven up into the handle; called out in the closing recap as one of three American brands finishing on top of this test

not stated in the transcript; the narration moves directly from the Tekton result to the Felo result in this test with no individual Channellock mention, so this field is left blank rather than guessed

three different figures appear for this brand and are recorded verbatim rather than reconciled: the shaft is said to begin moving into the handle at around 200 pounds and to begin bending at 1,000 pounds; a separate line states the test reached 1,300 pounds before it ended; the closing recap instead states the American brands Tekton, Klein, and Milwaukee came in on top at 1,100, 1,100, and 1,000 pounds respectively

handle began bending at 650 pounds, described as not too bad for a budget tool; the shaft never began moving up into the handle