Middle aged in the Midwest

[Thumbcocker]

Big event of the week. Road trip to Harborfreight for a sale.

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[Finster101]

Whew, you had me worried. Sounded like a dating site handle.

[Froogal]

And beyond middle-aged, a trip to Harbor Freight simply takes too long. A trip to the grocery store is the high point of the week.

[dverna]

It now costs less to shop at HF than the grocery store.

[elmacgyver0]

It now costs less to shop at HF than the grocery store.

Got a point!

[Murphy]

It's amazing how the simple things in life can mean so much to many of us. My little town just had a Harbor Freight open late last month. You could barely get in the door the first week it was open. I gave it a few weeks before going to see what all was there I didn't know I needed, until I saw it.


Murphy

[crappie-hunter]

Royal King just opened about 20 miles from me, holy cow what a store, glad it’s 20 miles instead of 2 miles, I’d be bankrupt in a week.

[gwpercle]

Whew, you had me worried. Sounded like a dating site handle.

How would you know

[gwpercle]

And beyond middle-aged, a trip to Harbor Freight simply takes too long. A trip to the grocery store is the high point of the week.

That's my high point . I get to talk to someone ... not just the cat .
Gary

[samari46]

Got a Harbor Freight here in town. Have to stay out as was costing me money. Food and gas has priority. Frank

[Mal Paso]

After driving 2 hours to buy a Harbor Freight gun safe it was explained to me that the stores are independent from the web site which has No Idea how many Items are In Stock. And they could not sell me the floor model as that would violate their franchise. I sent an email, got a weak response and turned them off, no more emails or ads. I found a USA made one on the bay for a couple bucks more, the fit and finish was better than HF, well worth the money. I'm kinda over HF.

[MrWolf]

After driving 2 hours to buy a Harbor Freight gun safe it was explained to me that the stores are independent from the web site which has No Idea how many Items are In Stock. And they could not sell me the floor model as that would violate their franchise. I sent an email, got a weak response and turned them off, no more emails or ads. I found a USA made one on the bay for a couple bucks more, the fit and finish was better than HF, well worth the money. I'm kinda over HF.

I was an insider member for a bit. Their power tools are what you pay for. Weekend project, not bad. Need them to work and I wouldn't count on them. They dropped a lot of their coupons and when they did offer the 20-25% they had to many exclusions. I need a compound sliding miter for a project vs my standard miter. HF's Admiral brand is $30 less than HD's Ryobi and the HF does not even come with a blade. Tried looking for USA made ones, none really within range for my needs.

[curdog]

Big event for me this weekend (other than i got a ruger flattop 44 special) is schnucks had chicken leg thigh quarters on sale fo 59 cents a pound, I bought 4 bags be 40 lbs and the all american pressure canner will be used this week.........................Curdog

[bedbugbilly]

I'm past middle age . . . . . so just sayin' . . . .

Having been to HF a number of times . . . . you know you're going to want to "look at everything " . . . kind of lie the wife when she goes shopping . . . so don't forget to pack your lunch . . . maybe HF would even allow you to "tailgate party" out in their parking lot? :-)

[remy3424]

I avoid most electric tools at HF, along with adjustable wrenchs and pliers. Sockets seem to be decent, I only pruchase their impact design ones. Lots of decent stuff and a bunch of junk I wouldn't take if it was free. Everything is priced well it seems, sales prices are a good time to fill-in your shop tools if you are getting started or need a one-time speciality tool. I was in a "you-pull-it" salvage yard last week-end getting some seat belt assemblies (my new pup seem to love to chew them it he deems you have been away too long), one of the Ford assemblies I was needed has a bolt that passed through the floor to the underside...had no penetrating oil. The head on those are a T-50 torx, I put a ton of pressure on the 3/8" socket and it didn't break...until my buddy put a cheater bar on the rachet handle...it was HF and I was impressed the force it could take.

[country gent]

I shop Harbor Freight some, I do enjoy going in and looking at things, same as T&S, and other tool shops. My rule of thumb is if its a tool for a seldom done job or low use then harbor Freight but if its a high use have to depend on then its a better quality. But if you have been watching Harbor Freights tools have been getting better over the last few years. Another I like and do businesses with is Grizzly, they have some very nice tools and deals. I would love to go thru grizzlies showroom.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

No HF near where I live. Try to make the trip to town just once a month, but it usually ends up being twice. Big sign over the inside of the door where I shop says, "For awhile you're young, and then you have a favorite grocery store."

DG

[MaryB]

HF is for that oddball specialty tool you will use once and put in the toolbox... friend swore by their cutoff wheels, I tried a 5 pack, gave him the 4 I never used. It wore way faster then blew up when I started the grinder, and it wasn't touching anything! Shrapnel up my arm, hit the wall scraping off paint(I have white steel liner panels in the shop, makes for a really bright work space)... things are junk!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Today's helpful hint:
When thinking about buying items priced over $20 from HF, go to their website and look at the independent customer reviews. They are HONEST reviews. I can't count the number of times I read a large number of bad reviews and decided to shop elsewhere for a certain thing that I was considering buying from HF.
BUT occasionally HF has some good merchandise. About a year ago, I decided I wanted to buy a wood Lathe. Most of the reviews of the small HF lathe were good, one reviewer even gave a "what to look for" when you open the box, most importantly alignment and how to check it. If the unit had good alignment out of the box, you were golden, if it had poor alignment, just return it for exchange before you invest any time setting it up. I am very happy with the $200 HF wood lathe.
That's my 2¢

[xs11jack]

gwpercle some times the cat is a better conversationalist than some people. I know, I have a yellow tiger that comes up with some good ideas.
Ole Jack

[GhostHawk]

Big excitement for us this week was a 250$ trip to Walmart.

Felt good to get out of the house.