hand tools that stand up to daily use?

Please reply to this topic of hand tools you have used that stand up to daily use without falling apart.

Im looking for wire crimpers, strippers, DMMs, handheld scopes, and other tools you have personally used and would recommend. Im tired of stripping wires only 3 times before the handle falls off... or probing wires with DMM leads and the lead collapsing into the plastic.

Brand names and model #s would be helpful.

Thanks!

I am using a 12 year old craftsman dmm with snap on leads, 12 year old Klein crimps and strips, and the head on my ball peen hammer belonged to my great grandfather when he was a kid. no brand on that one...

+1 on the fluke comment though.

I like craftsman tools in general... Klein makes excellent crimpers and stripers.. I like snap-on sockets because the walls are thinner, but that only helps in tight places (airplane mechanics love them!).... Thats my 2cents worth...

for crimpers my weapon of choice is thomas and betts wt 112m. i like these over the klein crimpers because the head is thicker on them where it actually crimps meaning more of the connector is crimped with the wire. the klein ones are very narrow and can break the wire because it is much easier to apply more force since you are crimping less. these will crimp insulated/non insulated connectors. expect to pay $40-$50 depending on who your tool guy is.

for wire strippers i use the pyt 4 automatic wire strippers. these are adjustable for tension and have a wire cutter built in and they come with an extra set of "teeth". these will normally run you around $10 bucks. both of these tools get abused in my shop by all my installers and have lasted being dropped from boats semi's, being run over, etc. etc. etc. and these strippers dont have the cheap plastic handles that tend to break on the knock off versions.

can't beat craftsman or fluke multimeters. a good reliable multimeter from craftsman will run you about $40 bucks. its small, has a diode check and continuity beep and has standard bannana plugs for the test leads. this meter with fluke interchangeable test leads are a good reliable combo that will allow you to change tips to suit your needs.

for a handheld scope the options arent as great since these things typically go upwards of a thousand bucks,  you can find some cheaper ones but the quality is not the same, mainly the resolution on the screen. the one i use at work is a velleman hps10. the screen and refresh rate is the only things i dont like about this one but other than that it works perfect for adjusting gains and watching cool wavy lines on a screen! and for $170 i can't complain. the hps1 20 is a little bit more (can't remember how much) but it allows connection with pc or laptop for data logging and visual  on  a much larger screen.

Fluke meters are nice, but I wouldn't recomend them for car audio, they just cost too much.

When I was installing I used a 'cheap' Craftsman meter daily, and kept my Fluke 189 tucked away in my box where it wouldn't get lost or damaged.  I only pulled it out when I needed a meter that could read fast pulses (<0.3s).  I found that the Fluke would read short pulses fairly accurately while my Craftsman meter would just flash and never display a voltage. 

You can even get cheap Craftsman meters with built in frequency meters, great for finding tach wires (and much more accurate then using  a meter set to AC).

Other then that, I used mostly Craftsman tools because of their price and convenience (I hated waiting for the Snap on guy to come whenever I needed something).  Craftsman are not the best tools, but they are more then good enough to get the job done.