1 You guys down in the city only have one thing that makes me jelous.......but it's a doozie.A Harbor Freight store.I gotta get down there sometime.

2 I try not to go near that place, the draw is irresistable!

3 What's a drop light?

4 It's a light bulb in a protective cage with a long extension cord. They have a hook on them so you can hang them wherever you need temporary light. Very useful when working on cars.

Newer ones are florescent.

5 There's a Harbor Freight near me, but I only go there for comsumables--gloves, cheap screwdrivers, that kind of stuff. Looking at the equipment there and the apparent quality left something to be desired, to me. In fact, my welding instructor referred to it as the "cheap-made-in-China-crap" store.

6 Oh, that's exactly what it is, a lot of their stuff is absolute crap. But when I need a field multimeter for my rocketry, I can get one from there for a few bucks rather than risk the nice one I keep in my workshop.

7 I wouldn't buy precision measuring tools or anything like that from them.Sockets,wrenches,engine stands.......yeah.
You could go to the other end of "quality" and just demand everything come from Snap-On or Mac but you gotta ask;Do I really need a 20 dollar socket to turn that nut with?Will it last longer than a "lesser" brand?Probably not.Also,warranty can be a consideration.I don't know about Harbor Freight but Craftsman is by far the best.Way back in the mid 80's I had a tool set which came from Sears.One day that tool set came off the back of our line painting truck after someone else swore to me that they had just tied it down.This was up on the Beltway right past Andrews AFB.Long story short it took forever to round up the mangled pieces.What I did get back I took to Landmark Sears that night and did a straight up trade.No questions asked.
Now when it come to Snap On and Mac I have to say that I am not one bit impressed.First;I have seen shit break from them on numerous occasions just as easily as other brands.Secondly;I have not noticed that their quality is anywhere near on par with their prices which are just outrageous.You might get close to twice as nice but at five times the cost.Third;Their warranties are a joke.Fill out this in triplicate telling a novel sized story of the breakage.Then send the part back to the factory where a breakage commity will examine the tool to see wether you deserve your money back.Gee....seems like you'd get more after spending that much cash.
Then you have to consider overall price vs. what or how much you get.Take a look at the prize packs from both Monster House and Monster Garage.Monster House's is valued at something like 3 grand and you get a whole trunk full of stuff easy.On Monster garage you get this piddly little tool set valued at 4 grand.Sorry Jesse but that not 4 thou in my book.I can buy a whole lotta shit from HF for that kinda jack.....and it's not all Chinese either.
Being able to go to HF and examine stuff for myself would be a big help in weeding out the good from the bad.Having been an assembly tech for Lowes,Home Depot and others for almost three years throwing together all sorts of cheap grills and lawn furniture believe me when I say that I have seen more chinese crap than a shit scooper at the Bejing zoo.

8 Ohhhh, so that's what those lights are called. I used to call them the temporary lights with the hook. sigh! see, sometimes I can be such a girl!

9 Well, I took a chance on a cheap socket set a few years ago. About half of it became useless one day when I tried to turn a rather tight nut and broke the adapter. I don't think those cheap sets are made of steel. Shiny lead, maybe?