I’m compiling a Christmas wish list. Looking at all the hex key sets on Amazon how do I know which are good and which are shite?
recommend me a professional set which will last a lifetime, preferably in a case or holder type affair.
Thanks

Bondhaus

wera hex plus

wiha

Facom

Beta

Bahco

Teng

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wera-05073593001-Hex-Plus-Mulicolour-Ball-end/dp/B009ODV0OE/ref=zg_bs_1939051031_3

?

yeah thats them

Good success with them so far.

only annoying thing is the 3 and 4 are both similar colours.

Actual hex part is good as is the ball end , not rounded off anything yet .

I have this one, it’s been very good.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/proxxon-8-piece-l-handle-metric-hex-key-set-953160

Wera ones are what I use at work, nice and distinctive no one can thief them.
Sleeves can come loose but a bit of tape around the shaft sorts that

I have a wera set. Great for most things but…. the milled ends are’nt very deep so you can’t use them for any recessed hex heads.
You don’t get many of these on bikes but it’s a pain when you do. I’m looking at you spyre pad adjustment screw.

My Bondhus set is the same condition as when I bought they – super tough and the same price.. I think colour coding looks good though

bondhaus are my favorite . they just last.

*looking back fondly to when park were just rebranded bondhaus and good quality rather than the gash you get now painted blue*

Different colours for different sizes is a stroke of genius.

*Pops off to look for Humbrol enamels*

Had these same Facoms since around 1990 ish when I was a mechanic. Still great.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/AB5ArA]

I’ve got the Facom ones and highly recommend them.

PB Swiss

FTW

Another one for Bondhaus. Only cost £8 or £9 last year, yet should last a lifetime.

I’ve a Bondhaus Gorilla set (the bright/silver ones).

Must of had them 10 years now and they’re still like new, well apart from the 3mm that I snapped the ball end off by using a tube on the short part of it. They’re used every day in a workshop environment.

Any good make.. I went with the coloured wera ones

If I had money to burn…

+1 for Wera. A bit more costly than some but this makes them a good present!

Bondhaus.

I still have some from when I was an apprentice. Used daily and with vim and vigor. Some are nearly 30 years old.

I’ve a set of 20 year old facom Allen keys, the 2.5mm is a bit tired but that’s because it was used very regularly to unscrew badly threaded bolts at work.

We have a couple of Wera sets in our mechanical workshop at work. Both the 5mm keys have sheared in the same place.

I splashed out on some allen keys a few years ago. Whilst the tools themselves are great, the holder (like many of the above) is a bit annoying.

If you have to remove a larger tool to get at a smaller one it just gets annoying… and there should be no getting annoyed with good tools. Sure you could forgo the holder and put them somewhere else, but then you soon find yourself wondering where you put one. Also not good.

When you’re at that critical moment working on something and you’ve got your hands full and you suddenly realise you need another smaller allen key. If you can’t easily get hold of it then your posh tools are at risk of being useless.

A lot of waffling and no real input other than make sure the holder of your good allen keys is also good.

Wilko’s. Looks just like the red ones above. Probably not as good, but never let me down, no rust, good size range, ball heads, £12.

Budget but decent quality are the halfords professional range

Bondus , cheap and the best imo
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/331754881200?_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIC.MBE&ao=1&asc=20150313114020&meid=41467595bece49bd9b6f1136a209afd2&pid=100338&rk=1&rkt=29&sd=401198153131&_trksid=p2141725.c100338.m3726&_mwBanner=1

Less than £12.00

Once you’ve used the Wera you’ll not want to go back to a normal allen key. The shaping of the hex ends really works to prevent rounding & get more leverage. IMHO the best of those here.

Get a set of these – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008RXS5K4
They’re far more useful than the usual L shaped ones.

40 QUID !!!

Well, he did specify Amazon! I got em from Ebay for £17.99 🙂

do they come with an allen key to adjust them, or do you have to buy another set 🙂

Why oh why does nobody make a good set of T handled keys that are colour coded…

Worst ones I’ve ever tried blue point t handle and small snap on hex socket mounted ones , the BP ones did not last long and the small snap on 1/4 drive socket ones also wore far to soon.

Bigger snap on hex socket ones seem fine just not the less than 5 mm ones

I’ve just bought this set on Amazon, first use tonight seemed ok.
Just wish the previous owner of my bike had used a decent set and not rounded off the calliper bolts
amazon link

When I was working in a machine shop, everyone used Bondhus.

Another vote for the wera multicoloured set, fantastic. I love them so much the matching torx wera set is on my Christmas list! (If people even stick to the helpful list!)

Facom are the best I have had. There is a Bahco set on Amazon for about £12 that is very good too, I have two of those sets!
I have tried Wera and Bondhus, but the tools I have had from them have not been as good as I expected.

I’ve got a set of T handle Allen and Torx keys from Wiha. Take up a bit of room in the shed compared with a little set but a joy to use on the bike for all but the fiddly small bits.

http://cpc.farnell.com/wiha/26248/torx-set-t-handle-6pc/dp/TL11155

http://cpc.farnell.com/wiha/26247/hex-set-t-handle-6pc/dp/TL11154

I’ve got a Bahco set which is good enough. However they’ve been banished to the car since I bought the coloured Wera ones. I’ve also got a perfectly good torx set but as I’ve just discovered you can get coloured Wera ones of those….