5 Harbor Freight Icon Tools Under $50 Users Say Are Worth Buying

Harbor Freight tools have become one of the primary points of purchase for DIYers looking to tackle various jobs on the home front without spending too much money on the tools required to accomplish each task. Over the years, the family-owned hardware chain has continued to build out its lineup of offerings, and these days even offers a full range of trailers, heavy garage gear, and even tow packages fit for off-road adventures.

You may not realize it, but Harbor Freight has also secured ownership rights over many of the most notable tool brands you'll find available through its brick-and-mortar stores and its online retail outlet. One of the more respected names you'll find among Harbor Freight's in-house offerings is that of Icon Tools, which makes a full line of non-powered hand tools for virtually any job you can imagine.

While the budget-friendly pricing make Icon Tools ideal for the non-professional workers of the world, the brand's offerings are, by and large, considered professional grade in quality. That fact alone should make them hard to resist for any DIYer in need. It's worth noting, however, that some of those pro-graded Icon tools are a little more budget-friendly than others. Some can currently even be purchased for less than $50 through Harbor Freight Tools outlets. Here's a look at 5 tools in that category that users have deemed to be well worth buying.

Whether you're putting together your first mechanic's tool set, or just adding on to the kit you've already assembled, any home tinkerer would be wise to keep an eye out for a good socket or two. That is particularly true of 10 mm sockets, which some Harbor Freight Tools shoppers insist you just cannot have enough of in your tool kit. If you find yourself searching for 10 mm sockets from Harbor Freight, Icon's 4-Piece Socket Set is as highly-rated an offering as you'll find, and the set will cost you just $9.99.

As for what you get in that small socket set, it includes one shallow and one deep 10 mm socket in both 1/4-inch and 3/8-inch size. Those sockets are made from hardened chrome-moly steel to provide extra strength and torque, and given a high-polish finish to reduce the risk of corrosion. Their thin-walled design and chamfered openings are designed to provide easy fastening and a firmer hold during use. They're also backed by Icon's lifetime manufacturer's warranty.

If all that wasn't enticing enough, this 10 mm socket set currently holds a 5-star rating from Harbor Freight customers, which is itself based on 264 reviews of 4-stars or higher. Only 8 of those are 4-star, by the way, and even those admit the set is extremely well-made, with one even comparing them favorably to Snap-on sockets. The 5-star reviews are, obviously, equally glowing, with many praising Icon for not only having the foresight to offer a standalone 10 mm socket set, but making it in such high quality.

Speaking of essential items for any homeowner's tool kit, a good set of screwdrivers is high on the list. Not all screwdrivers are the same, of course, with some slotted (AKA flat head) and Phillips head models proving too large for use in tight spaces. Thus, it can be smart to have a set of smaller screwdrivers around for those occasion when space is at a premium. In such a case, Icon's 4-Piece Mini Screwdriver Set may be an ideal choice at a cost of just $14.99.

This set is designed for use in small spaces, with Icon capping their length at just 6-inches. Each of those drivers is made from special alloys to increase durability, and fit with an ergonomic handle for comfort during use. They're also chrome plated for corrosion resistance and fit with precision-machined magnetic tips to hold screws tight while driving. There are also drivers in wider and slimmer sizes, the latter of which are small enough for use with JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) gear.

This set is well-liked by many home tinkerers like YouTuber MECHAWORKS, with several 5-star user reviews from Harbor Freighters specifically noting they bought this set to use with Japanese made engines or electronics. Others claim the drivers are unexpectedly high quality for the price, with one admitting that fact led them to consider buying a full Icon tool set. There were, however, a pair of 1-star reviews bringing the overall rating to 4.8-stars, with one claiming their driver broke during usage, and the other questioning the claims of a magnetic tip.   

While it can be used to perform the functions of a traditional hammer, a dead blow hammer is a strike device designed for different areas of usage. More specifically, it is a mallet-styled tool designed to reduce the level of bounce-back from each strike via a shot-filled head and a rubberized coating. The increased control makes it an ideal option for use in automotive endeavors like chassis work and suspension jobs, as well as woodworking projects and certain machining gigs. While Harbor Freight carries dead blow hammers from other brands, few are quite as well rated by customers than the 24-inch model made by Icon.

At present, a total of 274 users have chimed in on their Icon Dead Blow Hammer, bestowing upon the hammer an overall rating of 4.9-stars. As for that lone 3-star rating, the user questioned the materials used in its making to the point that they claimed it isn't a dead blow hammer in the truest sense. Few of the other reviewers agreed, with most hailing it as a first-rate dead blow option that is ideal for automotive work and easy to manage in hand. One even hailed the hammer as, "the best product Icon sells."

Apart from the shot-filled head and rubberized face, they also boast a steel shank and are covered in Polyurethane materials that make them resistant to many chemicals common to garages and workshops. The hammer is also backed by Icon's lifetime warranty, and can be purchased for just $24.99. As YouTuber Last Best Tool points out, that considerably less than a similar Snap-On hammer for about the same quality.

We already covered a well-rated socket set from Icon, so it seems fitting that we also cover a ratchet and bit set. This 35-Piece Ratchet and Bit Set features far more pieces than the other, of course. To that end, it understandably costs more, with Harbor Freight pricing it at $34.99. For the record, the kit is also not quite as highly rated as the socket set, though its 4.9-star rating is, arguably, more impressive as it is based on a whopping 2,387 user reviews.

Not all of those reviews are positive, with complaints ranging from soft bits and rusting to faulty parts and design and excessive back-drag from the ratchet head. Some of the positive reviews also note similar issues, by the way, even as the bulk of users and YouTube reviewers praise the kit for being durable and effective. Many Harbor Freight shoppers claim the inclusion of so many bits makes the kit incredibly versatile too. Several also claim its size makes it not only ideal for engine work, but easy to stow away in your car or even a motorcycle.

If you're breaking down the cost, the $34.99 basically prices each piece of the kit at $1. So, if you're curious as to what is included, the 1/4-inch chrome-vanadium steel Flex Head Ratchet is the biggest piece, though the kit also includes a 4-inch extender. As for the S2 steel bits, there are 11 TORX bits, 2 slotted bits, 3 Phillips bit sizes, 13 hex bits, and 3 Pozidrive bits, all of which fit inside a handy carrying case.

As previously noted, screwdrivers are a legitimately essential part of any tool kit, but not every fastener is fit with either a slotted or Phillips head. And yes, if you find yourself staring at a head with a hexagonal opening, neither type of driver will do you much good. In fact, only a hex key will suffice in that scenario, and even then, only the exact right size of hex key can move that fastener.  It stands to reason, then, that if you often deal with hexagonal fasteners, it might be wise to have several sizes of hex tipped drivers on hand when you need to tighten or loosen them.

Enter Icon's 11-Piece T-Handle Hex Key Set, which is currently selling for $44.99 through Harbor Freight Tools. The keys in that set are designed for fasteners in SAE measurements, and range in size from 5/64-inch, 3/32-inch, 7/64-inch, 1/8-inch, 9/64-inch, 5/32-inch, 3/16-inch, 7/32-inch, 1/4-inch, 5/16-inch, and 3/8-inch. Each of those hex keys is made from black oxide coated steel for durability, and the T-Handle design allows for a short hex tip on the end of the ergonomic handle, as well as a longer shafted tip for heavier torquing jobs.

Users are overwhelmingly impressed with the set as well, rating it at 4.8-stars through Harbor Freight. Of the happy users, many praise the set for its variety as much as they do for the overall quality and design of the tools, noting that the T-handles are not only comfortable to use, but allow for extra torque. They also love the lifetime warranty that comes with them.

In assembling this list, we scoured the Harbor Freight Tools website to examine every tool bearing the Icon branding that is currently listed with a sticker price under the $50 marker. We also limited our selections to Icon tools that have earned a user rating of at least 4.8-stars and currently show reviews from at least 50 Harbor Freight customers. Whenever appropriate, some reviews may have been cited directly to ensure accuracy. If possible, additional reviews were also consulted to prop up the consumer point of view.