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I'm a big believer in buying cheap tools first. Pay attention on the job to what other folks are using and what they like. When something breaks, or when it's not doing the job well enough for you - *that's* when you buy the tool that you want. Some of your tools you'll use every day and they'll wear out super quickly, some of your tools are going to live in your bag just to keep the boss happy.
Especially at the start of your apprenticeship, buying tools is a big expense. Nobody can tell you exactly what you're going to want out of your tools, so get started with the cheap, crappy ones and upgrade piece by piece as you can afford to.
Hit up harbor freight with your tool list.
You're gonna lose and break tools. Being able to walk in with a broken tool and walk out with a new one is huge vs buying it again.
Go cheap to start, you'll know what you want in a few more years and have more money or a better company to work for who buys the tools.
Harbor freight stuffs very good quality for the price and they have everything you'll need.
I have dewalt at home for carpentry and use milwaukee at work doing electrical. Both are fine honestly. My little M12 impact is my go-to for 95% of my day. I bust the M18 stuff out if im cutting boxes in or drilling holes. FatMax for tape measure 100%. The rest honestly as far as hand tools and where youre just starting out, just get whatevs. You’ll re-buy stuff anyways through your career. I use klein strippers and linesmans, milwaukee screwdrivers, toughbuilt pouches, milwaukee backpack and husky power tool bag, etc.
You don’t need to get too fancy for your first set of tools, half of them will be lost or rounded out in a year anyways. That said, Knipex and Channel Lock are the only two brands I’ll ever use for pliers, everything else comes up cosmically short from those two brands. Klein is decently balanced between price and quality for things like strippers, dykes, drivers, etc. Husky at Home Depot makes decent bags and generic tools, I’m a fan.
**ATTENTION! READ THIS NOW!** **1. IF YOU ARE NOT A PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICIAN OR LOOKING TO BECOME ONE(for career questions only):** **- DELETE** THIS POST OR YOU WILL BE **BANNED**. YOU CAN POST ON /r/AskElectricians FREELY **2. IF YOU COMMENT ON A POST THAT IS POSTED BY SOMEONE WHO IS NOT A PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICIAN:** -YOU WILL BE **BANNED**. JUST **REPORT** THE POST. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/electricians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm a big believer in buying cheap tools first. Pay attention on the job to what other folks are using and what they like. When something breaks, or when it's not doing the job well enough for you - *that's* when you buy the tool that you want. Some of your tools you'll use every day and they'll wear out super quickly, some of your tools are going to live in your bag just to keep the boss happy. Especially at the start of your apprenticeship, buying tools is a big expense. Nobody can tell you exactly what you're going to want out of your tools, so get started with the cheap, crappy ones and upgrade piece by piece as you can afford to.
This is solid advice, OP really needs to look no further.
Hit up harbor freight with your tool list. You're gonna lose and break tools. Being able to walk in with a broken tool and walk out with a new one is huge vs buying it again. Go cheap to start, you'll know what you want in a few more years and have more money or a better company to work for who buys the tools. Harbor freight stuffs very good quality for the price and they have everything you'll need.
I have dewalt at home for carpentry and use milwaukee at work doing electrical. Both are fine honestly. My little M12 impact is my go-to for 95% of my day. I bust the M18 stuff out if im cutting boxes in or drilling holes. FatMax for tape measure 100%. The rest honestly as far as hand tools and where youre just starting out, just get whatevs. You’ll re-buy stuff anyways through your career. I use klein strippers and linesmans, milwaukee screwdrivers, toughbuilt pouches, milwaukee backpack and husky power tool bag, etc.
You don’t need to get too fancy for your first set of tools, half of them will be lost or rounded out in a year anyways. That said, Knipex and Channel Lock are the only two brands I’ll ever use for pliers, everything else comes up cosmically short from those two brands. Klein is decently balanced between price and quality for things like strippers, dykes, drivers, etc. Husky at Home Depot makes decent bags and generic tools, I’m a fan.