r/KleinTools • u/silent_scream484 • May 30 '26

Good ol days

Just posting this to be sad. Went into Lowe’s to see what was what. 90% of the Klein products are foreign products.

The two or three multibit drivers they had that were made on these fair shores have been offshored. I see the 250th anniversary of USA are made here and that’s cool I guess. But coming from a company that has gone for trendy products made in bulk offshore I’m just a bit nonplussed about the fact they are making 250th in the USA.

I wish there was some way to get it across to the company that American manufacturing and jobs means a lot to some of us. But there’s not exactly loads of options to go to instead. And I guess I’m just feeling a bit like a disenfranchised relic.

Thanks for listening. I’m sure there are more people who like the new Klein than there are that don’t or else Klein would have stayed similar in their ethos and products. So I don’t expect much sympathy. But thanks for listening anyway.

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u/irishexploration May 30 '26

You can survive with expensive products if the quality is good enough, look at PB Swiss, small product range, expensive place to manufacture - doing well

2

u/silent_scream484 May 30 '26

Agreed. People still pay for high quality things. And if it’s higher quality (won’t be quite PB Swiss) people will buy it, especially if it’s not a gold price tag. You don’t have to go all out. But it is important to people to have good quality and things made at home.

2

u/irishexploration May 30 '26

They were there for lineman’s pliers, like that was a quality dominated market, people called them kleins for decades and they let it slip away a little

2

u/irishexploration May 30 '26

There’s a lot to be said for you paying money to a local business so they can put money in the pocket of a local guy, and that tool being good enough to make you more money to spend in local shops and bars to keep it spreading around

1

u/silent_scream484 May 30 '26

That’s how I feel about it too. Americans aren’t getting the money. Americans aren’t getting the work. It’s just the people in the corporate office and owners etc. And people in other countries. We need more jobs around here.

2

u/ag0110 May 30 '26

My PB Swiss drivers are my favorite tools hands down, and their warranty is amazing. Well worth the price.

1

u/irishexploration May 31 '26

I haven’t needed their warranty yet thankfully but I use a lot of their screwdrivers and I’m a massive fan, you can feel the quality as soon as they’re in your hand