As per the images in this GarageJournal thread, Craftsman’s red-handled mechanics pry bars are no longer made in the USA, they’re made in Taiwan.
It seems that the 25″ pry bars are now made overseas, and presumably the other sizes as well, but there’s a chance that 3-piece sets of the USA-made pry bars might still be in stock. The reason I mention this is because Craftsman’s 3-piece 12″, 17″, 25″ set was always a great buy when it went on sale for 50%-off at $20, and there might still be USA-made sets available in stores.
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The USA-made version of these pry bars are manufactured by Wilde. If you don’t want to wait for the next 50%-off sale in hopes that Sears’ warehouses or your local Sears store still have USA-made sets or loose sizes in stock, Harry Epstein Co. offers most sizes at reasonably good prices. From HE, you’re guaranteed USA-made pry bars
Wilde Pry Bar Listings (via Harry Epstein)
Jay Lopez
Hi Stuey,
Do you know when Sears started shipping these instead of the USA made ones. I just placed an order on the last 50% off pricing and am not sure if what I will receive would still be the USA made ones.
Thanks
Jay
Stuart
I’m sorry, but I don’t know the answer to that. If you remember, I’d be interested in hearing about whether you get a USA-made or Taiwan-made set. If you don’t receive USA-made, you can try to swap it for a USA-made set in store. Sears’ stores usually have older stock than warehouses.
Taiwan-made pry bars probably perform comparably to the USA-made ones, but I know I would be disappointed if I bought the set and didn’t receive USA-made ones as expected.
Mati
Yet another item no longer made in America under the Craftsman brand. Absolutely saddening, as all Wilde products are built a life time and then some, but most importantly are 100% American made, by Americans for American as well.
Jcc
Does anyone know whether the Craftsman Professional version of the prybars are made by Wilde? I’d be looking to pick up a set of these before they go overseas.
Allen
Why not buy Wilde directly ? Do they have the same warranty ?
Stuart
Wilde tools are “unconditionally guaranteed” against defects in materials or workmanship.
A lot of people take advantage of Craftsman’s satisfaction guarantee and have them replace worn or abused tools for free.
My guess is that more people don’t buy from Wilde directly because they’re less familiar with the name. Craftsman is a household name that everyone knows, but not many people have heard of Wilde or most of Craftsman’s other manufacturing partners.
Since Craftsman has discontinued their professional line of tools and is outsourcing many of their remaining USA-made tools, their warranty/guarantee is a lot less important to me than early on when I first started buying the tools.
If it’s a choice between a Craftsman-branded hand tool and the identical tool under the manufacturer’s brand, I go for whichever is cheapest.
Stuart
I always thought that Craftsman’s Professional pry bars were made by Mayhew.
fred
Sometimes the clue is the UPC – if it starts with 045246 – then its is Mayhew
Jcc
I swung by my local Sears tonight on the way home from work. They had plenty of both types still available, all Made in USA. Does anyone know whether the Craftsman Pro ones are worth the extra money over the basic model? Mayhew vs. Wilde?
Mati
In my opinion, Craftsman Professional products can go both ways with quality over the basic model, but this all depends on what you’ll use this product for though. If this is a product you’ll use quite frequently and are willing to pay slightly more for quality that may be there, it’s worth it.
However, hands down I would ALWAYS choose Wilde over Mayhew. At least with the products both produce. All Wilde products are 100% American made and I have yet to experience any issues with any of the tools I’ve bought from them.
With Mayhew, whilst most of their products are American made, not all though.
Mnoswad1: With all due respect, electronics come and go as well constantly change on a frequent basis. One day items such as ipads, iphones and yes even solar panels and LED’s will be considered obsolete items.
Yet pry bars have existed since 1400 and are still useful even today. I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but I am very proud of my American made pry bars.
Stuart
The handles are rounder instead of square and have metal striked caps. Personally I don’t think they’re worth the extra money.
If it was just $40 vs. $50, it might be worth it stepping up to the Pro bars. But the pricing is really $20 vs. $50, as the 3pc regular set goes on sale frequently for 50% off. The Wilde bars can be purchased separately from Harry Epstein Co. for about that price as well.
mnoswad1
I get the sentiment, but I dont care much about a pry bar being made in America, i’d rather see ipads and iphones, cars and solar panels and LED lights and all the other stuff we were promised to be making in the future. Let the third world make a forged steel bar, big deal I say. We shouldn’t aspire to or be proud of making a pry bar.
But still, i’d rather have the made in USA version if I can find it.
Stuart
In the grand scheme of things, a Taiwan-made pry bar is probably just as good as a USA-made one. These are not precision tools, and as long as the steel is strong, it’s hard to make a bad one.
The point of this post was more to warn anyone who was planning to buy these pry bars soon but not yet. It’s to avoid surprises.
A minor part of this post is to make it clear to Craftsman and Sears reps that people do notice when they change suppliers. Users notice when the raised panel wrenches are outsourced and built with thicker, bulkier open ends. They notice when tape measures and Professional tools disappear from all Sears stores and online catalogs. And they notice when tools previously made in the USA change to be made overseas with no difference in price.
If I’m going to buy pry bars made overseas, then there’s much less reason to go with Craftsman over other brands.
Jerrick
“If I’m going to buy pry bars made overseas, then there’s much less reason to go with Craftsman over other brands.”
That’s the key statement. I used to buy Craftsman tools for two reasons: (i) affordable, made in America tools, and (ii) lifetime warranty. Take one out of the equation, and the appeal decreases significantly.
It’s good to know that Wilde still manufacturers them in the USA.
Jcc
By the way, while I was at Sears tonight, I saw a new display for those DeWalt mechanics’ tools that Stuart reviewed about a month ago. They are all made in Taiwan. So, it’s not USA, but at least it’s not China.
AndrewC
Agree with Stuart – the change to a non-USA product does not really reduce the quality of the product, since pry bars are not precision instruments. In fact, I almost exclusively have non-USA pry bars and breaker bars because the shear amount of metal needed for these simple tools can make them expensive for their purpose. The bigger concern is the continued replacement of USA made tools with products of a questionable origin and quality. Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, all of them are doing this. Fortunately we have the internet when we need to find a well built tool.
Jordan
I have a couple of the older US made ones and they’ve been treating me well.
I remember the first time my Dad took me to Sears and we picked out some tools together. I’ve grown up with Craftsman tools in the garage and I’m very familiar with the reputation Craftsman has built up over the years. Unfortunately, Craftsman quality has been slipping a bit recently. For me, moving the production overseas is just the icing on the cake.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind a good foreign tool. What I do mind is moving production, not improving quality, keeping the prices the same and keeping the country of origin on the down low.
I’ve lost all incentive to buy Craftsman. I can buy overseas tools cheaper and these alternatives are usually at least well manufactured as the current Craftsman run.
mike
Love my mayhews and would never use another brand ever again,they are just that good. gave away my usa made craftsman set ages ago to get my mayhews. in my opinion the handles of the craftsman ones are just not strong enough when there is a decent amount of weight you need to push around. Everytime I used the craftsman ones I was afraid they were gonna break,you could just feel the flex in the handle that felt like it would break.
John M
I have a set of the professional bars, I like the grips better than the square ones that the red craftsman pry bars come with. I haven’t really needed the striking caps much so that may not really matter. They do come on sale on Craftsman club occasionally so its not really necessarily a huge price difference between the two, though its rare to see both on sale at the same time.
Tim T
FYI: I just bought the 3 piece set at Sears for $19.99 (07/06/2013). It didn’t indicate it was on sale, and it says Made in USA on it still. I thought it was kinda odd the the 3 piece “professional” set next to it was Made in USA as well and priced at $49.99. No doubt probably a better/stronger set, but I didn’t need the added strength or cost.
Stuart
That’s good to hear, but it could be “new old stock,” meaning that new sets haven’t yet replaced ones on shelves or in certain warehouses.
If the individual pry bars are no longer USA-made, it’s only a matter of time before the 3pc sets catch up.
I too debated whether to spring for the 3-piece Craftsman professional set. The Pro set has different handles and metal strike caps, but I’m not sure there will be a difference in strength or performance. I can’t say I have ever heard complaints about either set.
Mike L
I’ve found tools made in Taiwan to be very good quality compared to Chinese made.
ray smith
I like the stuffs to be made in China/Taiwan, such as IPhone, TVs, etc. That means high quality and reasonable price. “Made in U.S.A” usually over priced and bad quality. I’d like to see more Craftsman to be made in out of U.S.A
Ken
I just bought a hyper tough prybar 25″ from Wal-Mart for $9.84 it’s made in usa and by Wilde tool brand which make craftsman prybars as well looks exactly the same as the cheaper craftsman prybars but a couple dollars cheaper I got it for a beat around prybar because all my other prybars are snap ons and they were much too expensive to beat around.