Harbor Freight Tools Review…

So everyone’s been telling me about this place down in Braintree that sells tools at really low prices so I decided to take a ride and check the place out. The very first thing I noticed when I walked into HFT was the overwhelming smell of leaching PVC that whacks you in the face as walk through the door. What is leaching PVC? Do you know that smell you get when you put a new shower curtain in your bathroom? Or sometimes its a new car smell…that really strong plastic odor. Well this smell is actually REALLY bad for you. PVC actually leaches off Phthalates after its produced….I’m not Joe Greenpeace but I know if PVC is manufactured using cheaper methods it can be bad for you…which leads me to my next point. 98% of what Harbor Freight carries is cheap Chinese products. Do you think any PVC made in China is done so with health in mind?

Out of the entire store I was able to find 3 products made in the USA. A helicopter toy, Dap Adhesive and some plastic drop cloths.

Everything else is made in China but “conveniently” labeled with very American sounding brand names like Chicago Electric, Pittsburgh Tools and US General.

In short HFT employs 8000 across the country but if they decided to manufacture a portion of their products here that number could probably jump to 20,000. I know they are trying to compete but they could expand their fanbase by actually making their tools in Pittsburgh or Chicago. It’s a decent store in a pinch but if I’m going to spend a few hundred dollars I would rather help an American worker feed his family. Everyone knows the quality of our products are better anyway….thats why Buick is the #1 brand of cars in China. HFT gets a sideways thumb….they need to make more of an effort to support their fellow Americans. Maybe they shouldn’t worry so much about stuffing extra cash into their already fat pockets….

Oh yeah…your Bunker Hill safe made in Chew Fat China…..there’s just something unsettling about it. Maybe I’m too old school….

This type of sh*t means absolutely nothing ….. the bottom line is what counts.