That… they ain’t no Xcelite or Wiha but for 16 cents each they are pretty darn good. I haven’t stripped, twisted, bent, folded, or mutilated one yet.
So we’re talking Dollar Tree now huh?
This thread was about Harbor Freight, but what I really think it is about is how it is possible to get really useful stuff for very little money sometimes. My favorite Dollar Tree item is this Scientific Calculator. I have seen many $1 calculators and although they all are “spot on” in their calculations, they usually fall short on usability. Keys that stick, or a poor readout etc. This one at Dollar Tree is excellent in all respects, an amazing value at $1, actually worth $10
Some of the stores still have a few and they used to be on their website. I just checked and they are no longer available for order. The only handheld I have that beats it is this.
Recently I was searching the internet for Harbor Freight coupons and I find these coupon sites that give coupons or coupon codes. I wonder if they work? If they do then whenever you want free screwdrivers, flashlight, magnetic tray, tape measure, or whatever else HF gives for free, then you can just search on the internet and find the coupon you want.
Here’s one coupon:
There are also other sites, like this one. This site has a list of coupon codes including many user submitted ones. I wonder if they would actually work
Your outlet looks so frightened. Here is a danish power outlet to cheer it up :-)
Actually the outlet in the picture in my post is upside-down*.
*Not really, it does not matter, but in some ways the ground-up orientation is the proper orientation; likewise, in some other ways, the ground down is the proper orientation. Most manufacturers (including Hubbell and Cooper) manufacture and display their receptacles with the ground up. Cooper receptacles have the information on the yoke orientated with the receptacle ground up. Many/most Hubbell receptacles have their logo stamped in their receptacles in relation to having the ground up, so if you mount the ground down, their logo is up-side down. Also some refrigerators (at least our Maytag) has the angled plug designed for a ground-up outlet. But on the flip side, many consumer things like chargers and power taps and night lights are designed with the receptacle having the ground down. For example, all the cheap incandescent night lights that use a screw-in bulb have a polarized plug and it is polarized for a ground-down receptacle, so if you plug it into a ground-up receptacle, the night light is upside-down!
There are a few items that I frequently buy. It’s either because I can’t find them elsewhere or what HF has is either very good or good enough and cheaper than elsewhere.
Before I list them I must explain how things work there. There are coupons that can be found about anywhere, newspaper, magazines, mailings etc. Coupons for 20% off the first item purchased and a free item with purchase can be used once each day. Because only the first item is 20% off, it pays to plan ahead and not buy more than 1 item each visit. If I could use 2 of something, for example the 10 pack of sponge sanding blocks at $5.99, I will buy only 1 to get the 20% off that 1 and pick up a free gift. Next time I am in the area I will get the second one, once again at 20% off and pick up a second gift. 2 trips mean I pay 4.50 + 4.50 for the 2 packs of sanding blocks and get 2 free gifts. Do it in 1 trip and I pay 4.50 + 5.99 and get only 1 free gift. Doing it this way means you have to plan ahead and happen to be passing by the store. The 20% off coupon can even be applied to sale items, but not items that require a separate coupon.
Items that I buy frequently to qualify for a free gift.
The free gift that I usually get are one of these items
Keep spare batteries as those eat them.
A mitutoyo it is not….
Batteries? I thought those little round metal things were LCD flashers… J)
Harbor freight was the only place locally I could find small enough tools to work on a smartphone a year and a half ago (Droid Razr.)
I think it was the tiny torx bits, smaller than 5. I got a set, which is good because it didn’t seem like there was any way to tell the size beforehand. Some stuff seemed to list different sizes, and the kit I got, supposedly for droid, at another store, had the wrong stuff.
I had a lot of trouble finding people to work on a droid, it was ridiculous since i wound up working on it myself. I found a video on YouTube and maybe could have even changed the screen myself. The battery was no biggie.
I had paid a lot of money to get the screen fixed a couple months earlier. Got in there and it looked like they had jammed a square bit on some of the screws! Maybe they didn’t have the right bit either?
Also my red DMM matched the other one, and was different less than 0.01V compared to a completely different cheap Radio Shack. So I think it should be ok. Plus the Harbor freight measures amps, I put 12 ga multistrand, as recommended on BLF, instead of leads. DON’T test A on 18650 this way, that meter doesn’t work anymore 
Only left it on a second or less
The Drill & Driver kit now has a coupon that lowers it to $20.
Also the oscillating multitool now has a coupon lowering it to $15.
When I bought mine the price was $10. Here I posted my mod of the flashlight attachment with an XML and a PT4415E based step-down driver… well worth the effort.
The drill is crap… bits wobble like a wiggly-worm on crack.
Hmm the reviews say the drill is pretty good, just the battery and charger sucks, but if you rebuild the battery and make a better charger, you got a nice cheap drill. Maybe yours was defective.
Alas, I bought two of them… You can futz with the chuck and it works better, but it takes a couple of minutes to get the bit to seat properly.
I’ve just tried the 20% off coupon and Free screwdriver set coupon I mentioned in post #42, and they worked! Used 20% off for a hammer and Free screwdriver set coupon to get item #62570 for free.
So I can guarantee that those coupons at Valpak actually work!
https://www.valpak.com/c/coupon-codes/harbor-freight-coupons
20% off:
Free 6 pc screwdriver set:
Here are screenshots of the above two as a backup incase they disappear.
http://s4.postimg.org/5itkosvcd/Screen_Shot_2015_11_27_at_11_23_17_PM.png
http://s4.postimg.org/slk3nywtp/Screen_Shot_2015_11_27_at_11_23_02_PM.png
I actually went to Harbor Freight on Black Friday.
Really what I did was go to Staples which happened to be next door. When I finished at Staples I walked next door and went into HF noticing items with “3 days only” pricing. I asked if there was a separate flyer for those items but there wasn’t. One of those “3 days only” items was the “HF” meter. I put HF in parenthesis for a reason I will explain a little later.
I had a coupon with me that promised a FREE meter with any purchase. I didn’t need another meter, I already have way more than I would ever need. But this being Black Friday and in keeping with the spirit, I thought I would experiment and see if I could make this deal fly.
This coupon is good for 1 free meter with any purchase. What if that purchase was a meter. The coupon says $9.99 value but they regularly sell for $5.99. For 3 days only they are only $3. The other half of that coupon is good for 20% off the first item, so long as it is not reduced through a separate coupon. The 3 day, $3.00 price is not a coupon price so I should be able to buy the first meter for 20% off $3 and get a second one free. And that is what I did.
That was my Harbor Freight Black Friday deal. 2 meters for $2.40 + tax
I happen to know that this “HF” meter is everywhere, not just at Harbor Freight. I did a Google search for “DMM 830” and got these images. Most of these meters look just like the HF meter, because they are just like the HF meter. Perhaps only the color of the plastic case is different. The ones that look a little different are similar because they probably also use the 830B COB on their circuit boards. All of these meters a cheaply made and are sold for all kinds of prices, some significantly more that\n the HF meter
https://www.google.com/search?q=dmm+830&newwindow=1&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi_8qOHjLfJAhXCHB4KHcXIB9QQ_AUICigE&biw=1129&bih=918
Of course they’re the same; most, if not all, of the products you get at Harbor Freight are just branded items from China. Many other retailers brand products exactly like the ones Harbor Freight sells, only difference is they have different colors and different logo. For example, Walmart has their brand “Hyper Power” (IIRC) and they are just like Harbor Freight tools.
We went to Harbor Freight today and I wanted to get more free screwdrivers but they didn’t have anymore. 
So I got a free flashlight instead.
I used a coupon from givingassistant.com and it worked! I got a free flashlight!! :bigsmile:
So those coupon codes ALSO work as well!!!
Also I’ve used the screwdrivers I got free free two days ago. They are pretty good, and for free, they are really good! They are lightweight and they actually work, unlike the rubber dollar tree screwdrivers that are like jelly! (which I think have been discontinued).
Pics
Here’s the coupons I used to get these, if you want to use them.
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Here’s something a little surprising. I found out that Harbor Freight is not the cheapest! 
Today I was in Wlalamart looking at the tools. I found out that many of the tools are cheaper than Harbor Freight!! Most noticeable, we got a hammer from Harbor Freight for $4, originally $5 without 20% off. Walamart sells hammers for $2.88!!! This is under their house brand “Hyper Power” (IIRC). They also have some other tools that I think are cheaper than HF, and/or are equal to HF. They sell individual pliers for 68¢, and individual screwdrivers for 68¢ as well I think. HD sells individual screwdrivers for 87¢ and Lowe’s sells individual screwdrivers for 96¢.
Also they sell the same Black&Decker drill as we have. We got it from Home Depot for about $60 or $70, but at Wawmart it was $40!
I don’t remember we ever bought a tool from Warmart’s tool aisle! I never considered getting tools there and I never really checked their prices. :~
So, you see, Harbor Freight is not always the cheapest place to get things! Don’t forget to check Waimart.
Edit: It’s “Hyper Tough”, not “Hyper Power”.
Yeah, another thing is extension cords. I needed a couple of cheap 16 gauge cords, HF had them for $10 each. I found the same cord (different brand) at Lowe’s for the same price. Finally found the best deal was actually Wal Mart. Had a longer cord for the same $10 IIRC.
Huh really?
We have always bought extension cords from Warpmart. I’ve heard that Harbor Freight has good prices of extension cords, but I couldn’t compare it to Walwort because their website sucks and their catalog doesn’t accurately show what items they have in store. Most items are from other sellers for purchase online.
I always use the websites of retailers to find what they sell in store, so that I can find which has the cheapest of what I’m looking for. Home Depot’s site is very good and it accurately shows what they have in store. Harbor Freight is very good also because almost all of the items on the website is the same as the items in the stores, except for large items that they can’t fit in the stores. Most retailers websites have items for sale online only, but Harbor Freight has the same catalog in stores as online.