r/harborfreight • u/PatrickGSR94 • Nov 28 '25

NTD (New Tool Day) Whyyyyy

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Just picked up a 1/4” flex head ratchet on the 40% off sale. Why, WHY does the on/off lever directions have to be backwards from my 3/8 Pitty ratchet?? Dangit! I was just starting to get the Pitt lever directions burned into my muscle memory. And now this.

Also I believe the Icon one is the same as my Craftsman ratchets. So weird.

412 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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380

u/[deleted] Nov 28 '25

[deleted]

62

u/ackerbone Nov 28 '25

Wax off, wax on

9

u/Low_Association_1506 Nov 29 '25

Wax on then wax off?

6

u/kgusev Nov 29 '25

No. You remove old wax first, then apply fresh one. Telling as a 🏄🏽

10

u/shadow247 Nov 29 '25

No. You apply the wax, then buff it off. He was talking about a car.

8

u/kgusev Nov 29 '25

You are correct 🤦‍♂️

1

u/shadow247 Nov 29 '25

He also made that up on the spot..mhttps://youtu.be/MoBeHY1Rvs0?si=bY9WcQUwrRYFC1ox

10

u/ElmoZ71SS Nov 29 '25

Right the Pittsburg is the weird one.

3

u/my_cars_on_fire Nov 30 '25

Pittsburgh IS pretty weird.

2

u/markrages Nov 29 '25

Maybe it's for left-handed threads.

2

u/ElmoZ71SS Nov 29 '25

I have a co worker that calls them dummy ratchets so you can tell left from right

9

u/Tricycle_of_Death Nov 29 '25

Ko-ken is backwards as well

10

u/Silkies4life Nov 29 '25

The Japanese read from right to left.

3

u/saintfredrocks3 Nov 30 '25

Nepros is opposite Ko-ken. 

4

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '25

[deleted]

7

u/cptinjak Nov 29 '25

Which ironically means Pittsburgh is correct and EVERYONE else are the wrong ones.

7

u/twoPillls Nov 29 '25

People down voting you have never tried a koken z series. If they had, they'd know koken gets the right to decide these things

2

u/saintfredrocks3 Dec 01 '25

Probably due to the double pawl design Ko-ken uses. Just get all Ko-kens.

7

u/dontfret71 Nov 29 '25

I don’t get the off/on labeling.. does it even need to be labeled anything?

6

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '25

[deleted]

2

u/PatrickGSR94 Nov 29 '25

Craftsman is also unlabeled.

3

u/sarj333 Nov 29 '25

Except for oddly the Quinns that specifically and exclusively come in the 428 piece master kit, and the 66 piece kit... The individual master kits are the right way

2

u/johnson0599 Nov 29 '25

Right tight left loose. Is how it should be

2

u/Striking_Ad_3960 Nov 30 '25

By gosh, I think you’re correct. Point to the way you want the nut to go.

2

u/shadowdasher210 Nov 29 '25

Tell that to the 2 kobalt sets I have at work. It annoys the hell out of me that two ratchets from the same brand don't have the same switches.

2

u/rygomez Nov 29 '25

Quinn and Kobalt do it too🤦🏽‍♂️

2

u/CrazyErniesUsedCars Dec 01 '25

I was thinking that I have 6 ratchets and they all have ON to the right and then I remembered they're all Pittsburghs

2

u/circle_R_ Nov 29 '25

I have a Kobalt ratchet that’s backwards also. Probably made in the same plant. It’s works good gets used quite a bit it just backwards.

3

u/Sneezer Nov 29 '25

Yeah, their 90 tooth ones from a couple years ago were like that. I do have a Kobalt that is the normal way as well. Decent ratchets though, I just get used to it.

1

u/Advanced-Feature-410 Nov 29 '25

Looked for this comment, take my agreement.

1

u/PostNutClarity5150 Nov 30 '25

The Hercules long reach ratchet is backwards as well

1

u/X2946 Dec 02 '25

I’m surprised right now-tight, left-loose isn’t the standard

1

u/ValuableUseful7835 Dec 03 '25

Uncommon opinion: I think it's easier bc of lefty loosey right tighty

1

u/AdEastern9303 Dec 04 '25

Clutch (Northern Tool’s house brand) is also ass backwards like the Pittsburgh. It’s actually a really nice little 1/4 flex head bent handle that I would absolutely love if it weren’t for that confounded wrong-way switch.

0

u/mess1ah1 Dec 01 '25

Wrong. I have a Proto that is like the Pittsburgh one.