Best Socket Organizer For Tool Chest, Tool Bag & Service Truck (2021 Reviews)
Sockets are well known to roll around, fall off the bench, and in general get lost. To solve this problem you can use a socket organizer to keep your sockets within reach in a tidy and organized manner. The best socket organizer should be very simple to use, and allow you to find the right sized socket quickly. Since sockets are a staple in any tool box, owning a good socket organizer is essential to storing things effectively. You might keep a lot of tools in your tool belt, however it’s still necessary to have a separate organizer for your sockets. Here in this article we will take a quick look at some of the best socket organizers available. We will go over the strong points and weak points of each brand, so you can know for sure which one is right for you.
Hansen Global 92000 Mechanic Socket Organizer Tray Set
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This six piece socket tray set is made from high quality and durable materials. The plastic that this is constructed with is special ABS plastic made to resist oil and grease. The sizes are marked on each post for fast locating of the correct socket size. The thick post bases keep the sockets securely seated in place. This set comes with 6 different trays, so you have all bases well covered.
The trays include 1/4 inch Metric and Fractional, 3/8 inch Metric and Fractional, as well as 1/2 inch Metric and Fractional. This makes the Hansen Global 92000 the perfect socket organizer for any mechanic or handyman who just wants an easy and efficient way to organize their sockets. While many consumers agree this is hands down the best socket organizer on the market, there are still a few minor gripes about it. One issue that some people complain about is that the plastic although high quality, could be brittle. Also those with large collections may need a slightly larger organizer than this, so before you buy consider how big your collection of sockets is.
Olsa Tools 3-Piece Aluminum Socket Organizer
This socket organizer set comes with 1/2 inch, 1/4 inch and 3/8 inch drive socket rails. The material used to make these rails is high quality. They’re made from anodized aluminum with steel ball bearings and ABS clips (the clips are impact resistant). It is safe to say that these rails are durable and tough just as they were intended to be. Spring loaded ball bearings are used to ensure that sockets stay securely in place.
One thing people who used this product mentioned is that they really liked the ability to slide the clips on and off the rail so that they can mix and match their sockets in whichever order they prefer. You can also use this ability to remove rail clips to keep the sockets separated so that they’re more easily available to grab and to prevent over crowding. Because of the length of each rail you may not be able to fit these inside of your tool box, so if you need to keep your sockets inside your tool box you’re probably better of getting the Hansen tray set.
Ernst Manufacturing Socket Boss 3 Rail Multi-Drive Socket Organizer
This socket set organizer tray is well suited for either on the work bench, or to place inside of your tool chest. It has 3 socket rails, which hold up to 40 sockets 1/2 inch, 1/4 inch and 3/8 inch in size. And you don’t need to worry about losing any sockets, or having them fall out. This socket organizer prevents that by using twist lock clips to keep the sockets secured. Most would agree that this socket organizer is built well and should endure any abuse you put it through. One downside that some have noted is that larger sockets sometimes block out the size labels making it difficult to read them.
TEKTON 1885 3-Piece Drive Socket Holder Set
The 1885 3 piece drive socket holder set is a well priced high quality option from TEKTON. The socket holder is made out of nickel plated steel, so it’s quality is assured. It is capable of holding 16 sockets per rail, so it can hold more than enough sockets for most use cases.
The clips are spring loaded to make sure that you don’t lose any sockets while you’re lugging it around, the sockets should remain tightly in place – however some consumers have noted that the grip is not particularly strong resulting in the occasional socket managing to get loose. The sleek design of the 1885 socket organizer allows for easy storage inside of your tool box/ tool chest. Or you could have it on your bench, or even wall mounted.
Grip 6 pc Socket Organizer Tray Set
This 6 piece socket organizer is a basic but functional option for those on a budget. The trays are made from heavy duty molded plastic that is nice and rigid. There are stubs for both deeper and shallow type sockets. The overall build quality of this socket organizer set is actually pretty good for the money. Some people complain that the sockets do not fit snug enough, which can result in them falling off the tray, so keep this in mind.
Best Socket Organizer – Buyer’s Guide
The socket organizer may seem like a very simple storage device, however, there is a lot of different things that you should look into before you shell out your cash for one of these. Socket organizers, as the name implies are made for sockets. This means that getting the wrong type can result in you owning something that both isn’t useful, and you don’t need. That being said, you don’t need to think about every last tiny detail before you buy, so the crucial thing is to know which things actually matter. That way you can spend your time comparing only the important features that will matter to you.
Capacity – The most crucial feature of really any socket organizer is how many sockets it can hold. In reality you won’t always need the largest available capacity because it just depends on how many sockets you need to store in your socket organizer. As an example, if you’re only a hobbyist not an engineer or mechanic you won’t need every socket size there is, so there’s no point in wasting money on the extra sockets or a large organizer that won’t ever get filled. Conversely, if you are in fact a mechanic or some other sort of professional that needs all the bells and whistles then the reverse can be true. You might want as much space as possible to fit all different sizes of sockets that you might end up purchasing down the line.
Construction Material – As with all tools the materials that it’s made out of is important. Socket organizers generally don’t have to put up with a lot of wear and tear, however it is always a good idea to get one made from good materials so it doesn’t wear out more quickly. The materials used in the construction becomes even more important when you consider those that are spring loaded to hold sockets in place, if they lose their spring, the sockets will fall out. A socket organizer breaking while being used can result in damaged or broken sockets, so it’s worth chipping in a little extra money to get a good socket organizer from the start. The more sockets that are being stored, the heavier duty material you will need.
Sizes – As you well know sockets come in a multitude of different sizes, so obviously not all socket organizers will be able to accommodate them. One common issue is that a lot of the cheaper models tend to only cover the small sizes and leave the bigger sizes out. This probably won’t bother your average handyman, but for professionals who need top of the line gear this is important.
Conclusion
Having the best socket organizer is absolutely crucial to keeping your sockets organized in their proper place. This lessens the probability that they will get lost or misplaced somewhere. With the simply vast number of options on the market, finding the best socket organizer can seem like a pretty tricky task. But with that said, in this article we have narrowed the choices down to 5 great options. If you pick one of those 5 options you can’t go wrong, and your sockets will be much more organized.
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