Favorite combination wrenches?

You didn't say where you are but here in Canada I would choose, Mastercraft Pro Series (Canadian Tire brand), Gray and Husky.

I must admit that I have never used the Husky wrenches but they look good and feel good in the store and I have heard that they are made by Gray.

Now those are the cheap consumer tools if you want to spend more $ I would go Snap-on, Williams and Proto.

High-quality obscure brand?

Three US, one Canadian, and one Mexican brands come immediately to mind: Armstrong, Gray (Canadian), Urrea (Mexican), Williams, and Wright.

Followed by some European brands: Belzer, Facom, Hazet, Stahlwilli, and USAG.

The North American brands are available through Industrial Distributors, companies that specialize in supplying manufacturing plants and machine shops.

In the US the European brands are a bit harder to find, and are often marketed more on snob appeal (ie: "the official tools of the Klunkenbanger racing team" and $$$$ prices) than on inherent value. Most of these brands are sold primarily through mail-order suppliers in the US, but SK -- which is owned by Facom -- makes Facom tools available to all SK dealers.

John

Just my 2 cents

The other mechanic in my shop has a heckuva pile of tools, everything from cheapo K Mart stuff to top of the line Snap On. There's a third person in the shop who pretends to be a mechanic when he's not doing something else, like his actual job. I call him Driver Boy.

Squeak reached into his toolbox the other day and pulled out a nice Snap On polished double box end and went to use it. All of a sudden, I heard him cussing (which he rarely does) and I looked over and saw him staring at his wrench. Somebody (we're guessing Driver Boy)had ground about half the thickness of one box end off.

I can see needing the extra clearance, but there were probably half a dozen 1/2 x 9/16ths double boxends in that toolbox, why grab the Snap On?

Squeak leaves his box open. I lock mine. I'da been looking for a place ta stick that wrench if it'da been mine...

My dad really liked my Kobalt set so I was going to buy him one for his birthday. Before I could, they switched makers to danaher. James