Sunday, September 21, 2008

Harbor Freight, How Do I Love Thee?

Let me count the ways:
1) If I can imagine it, it’s on one of your shelves.
2) You provide the “basics” at reasonable prices.
3) No one has ever asked me “What are you looking for?” in the same tone that a mother would ask her 3-year-old if they have to go potty.
4) No one has posed that question and then contorted their face into a confused look and responded to my answer with, “Huh?”
5) You’re willing to acknowledge that maybe I do have half a brain. When I have asked for a specific item, no one has ever questioned my judgment with “What are you using that for?”
6) You’ve got a location not that far away from This D*mn House.
7) You’re open seven days a week. And with hours that allow me to actually make it there.
8) Everything I’ve ever purchased at your store has performed at above or expectation.
9) I’ve never had to return a purchase.
10) The only odd looks I’ve ever gotten as an “unattended” woman within your doors have come from other patrons, not your staff.

Clearly, I had another successful venture to Harbor Freight on Saturday. My primary goal was to get a squeegee to use for the driveway (if it will ever stop raining so I can seal the driveway). Lowe’s and Home Depot had a standard 24-inch for about $20, some kind of supposed higher-quality one for $25.

Sears Hardware cost: $24.99. For a squeegee. I’m not looking to bronze this thing and hang it on the wall. When I’m done with it, it’s getting tossed. (Driveway seal is pretty unforgiving and whatever I’d use to clean it off with would probably kill any surface that happens to be left after raking the poor thing across thousands of inches of driveway.)

Squeegee almost identical to the other stores’ offerings: $12.99 at Harbor Freight.

Not everyone shares my enthusiasm for Harbor Freight. Earlier this summer, Toolcrib.com posted some good info with a series of links highlighting HF purchases. I agree with many of his assessments. I don’t think I’d want to trust all of their power tools, but some of the standards I’ve held and run inside the store seem OK.

Other things I’ve purchased from Harbor Freight include:
• Foldable, adjustable workbench, just big enough to hold my compound mitre saw.
• 8x8 iron tamper
• 14-pound sledgehammer
• Respirator masks
• Nitrile gloves
• Trowel
• Nylon rope
• Gardening handtool set
• Bungee cords

4 comments:

Jennifer said...

There's not one near me, but it seems like a good option for many things!

SmilingJudy said...

My dad loooooves HF. He's like addicted. I now always include an HF gift certificate with his xmas gift.

Garrett French said...

Hi Nicole,

I'm the writer for ToolCrib. Thanks for the shout out! I'm cautiously enthusiastic about HF ;) I keep hearing from professionals who swear by the electric tools there so long as you put a decent blade on them...

Still... buyer beware :)

Great blog - keep up the great work.

Garrett French
Editor
http://www.ToolCrib.com/blog

NV said...

Jennifer -- DEFINITELY! I love this place for basic stuff. Why pay more for the SAME THING? (One of my many pet peeves.)

Judy -- Aww, that's sweet. Your dad sounds like a smart guy.

Garrett -- You're welcome and thanks for stopping by! As you said, buyer beware -- on some things anyway. Your entry had some really great info.