it is very fine piece of junk. If you decided to buy this then you must be waiting for Tow truck becuase this kit only good for your kid who need this to fix his leggo blocks

10 gauge wire is tiny for the amperage needed to turn a starter. I imagine the wire would get very hot quickly. If the insulation melts where the cable is laying across your fender, it will probably arc and damage your vehicle. 6 gauge wire is a lot bigger and is about the smallest wire I would try to use. If I had a large or high compression engine, I would stick with nothing smaller than 2 gauge.

$14.99 for a pair single use, disposable emergency kit. Its like first aid for your car. All you need is a donor car.

Garbage, cables do not work, not even on a lawn tractor and are wayyyy to short even if they did, the rest could be had at the dollar store

I'm sure alot of these work just fine, but I bought one a couple years back from Woot and the cables never worked right. Just something to be aware of. Nice to have the other stuff though.

And I could use this right now...Thank you WOOT!!!

Where's the twofer banner?

jumper cables wont start my 6cyl mustang or mom's 5.x liter suburban. the entire kit is as cheap as imaginable. that's not to say i havent gotten some use out of it, but i wouldnt rely on one of these as your EMERGENCY kit. it will only let down when you really need it. i soent $13 on one a few years ago on woot and even this deal isnt worth it.

I have this kit, it is junk. all of the tools are made with weak metal, and the jumper cables are about 6 feet too short to be used safely. the gloves aren't totally useless though

AaronTuttle69 wrote:might be interesting to have, but dont need one, winters nearly over!

And if you drive a car that was made after 1986, you still dont need one. it comes with SAE wrenches and sockets. 100% useless in a car as all cars including Ford and GM are METRIC nuts and bolts.

This kit, you need to toss all the wrenches as they are useless on a modern car.

Do yourselves a favor. If you feel the need to own a set of jumper cables, get some 4 gauge cables that are at least 12' long. You can likely get these at the average auto parts store for around 30 bucks.

You can't trust 10 gauge cables to start a car, especially if it's cold outside, etc.

You need at least 12'. Often, you can't get the cars nose to nose, and the other guy's car has the battery on the opposite side of the engine bay than yours. 16' is even better, and what I would recommend ideally.

If you own a good set of cables for 10 or 15 years, spread that extra few bucks you spend for a decent set over that time period. Well worth a buck or two a year to do it the right way. That one time you really need them, and your cheap cables are too short or weak to start the car, you'll be kicking yourself that you were such a cheapskate. There are plenty of things you can skimp on, no problem. Jumper cables are probably not one of them.

My crappy work car, a 2000 Saturn S series that is US made of course, uses almost exclusively metric fasteners. So does our foreign-made late model Mazda. If you have a 1959 Ford tractor, SAE tools might be useful to you. Other posters have already pointed this out.

All vehicles require metric sockets. Why are these standard?

czetie wrote:Go to your car right now. Open the hood. Take a look. Be honest: do you see *anything* under there that you would know how to fix if it broke? Even assuming by some miracle that you have the replacement part?

Unless you belong to the generation that could rig an emergency fan belt from a pair of stockings, the only "road side emergency kit" will ever use contains a thermal blanket, some water and energy bars while you wait for the tow truck.

With all due respect, I totally disagree. I have basic hand tools, the internet (youtube very helpful), and all the auto parts stores around here will read trouble codes on your car free of charge. Other than alignments which need special equipment, I do virtually all my own work, and I save a ton of money. Anyone with half a brain and a couple wrenches can replace an alternator, all your belts and hoses, ignition coils, all kinds of stuff. I can't imagine being so clueless that I'd look under my hood and have no idea what anything did. 4 brain cells plus internet access and you can do 75% of all your own auto work.

Now, I'll gladly have AAA tow me home, because I'm probably not going to change a water pump along the road, although I once did in a parking space when I was stranded in another town. Once I get home, though, I'll tackle it myself unless it involves pulling the transmission (time constraints).

These tools are pure junk.

The screw drivers just round out screw heads.

Sockets crack and round off nuts and bolts.

This might be good for a little kid to play mechanic with.

There is a lot of gripipng about the quality of the kit. I got three last time they were up and gave one to each of my (20-something) kids. They have each used the kit in situations that could have been a lot worse. I like that peace of mind.
1) No - the tools are not a replacement for the box of Craftsman wrenches in your garage, but they will help in a pinch. These are emergency tools. You aren't going to carry all your good tools everywhere you go and you really don't care if this box gets ripped off.
2) Yes - the cables could be thicker and I have run into situations where they just didn't carry enough juice. On the other hand, they have been successfully used (many times) for the "oops, I left the dome light on again" moments.
3) I STRONGLY recommend adding a flashlight (with batteries stored separately - not in the flashlight so that if the switch gets bumped in the trunk, you don't accidentally drain the batteries).
If you don't have something similar in your car, get one or build your own. If you have a new driver in your household, get one for him or her as a nice surprise.

I purchased one of these in a previous Woot. The rest of the kit is OK, but the cables were unable to jumpstart my car. I went and bought a set of 4-gauges and they work fine. I keep the rest of the kit in my trunk but tossed out the cables.

lipophilia wrote:There is a lot of gripipng about the quality of the kit. I got three last time they were up and gave one to each of my (20-something) kids. They have each used the kit in situations that could have been a lot worse. I like that peace of mind.
1) No - the tools are not a replacement for the box of Craftsman wrenches in your garage, but they will help in a pinch. These are emergency tools. You aren't going to carry all your good tools everywhere you go and you really don't care if this box gets ripped off.
2) Yes - the cables could be thicker and I have run into situations where they just didn't carry enough juice. On the other hand, they have been successfully used (many times) for the "oops, I left the dome light on again" moments.
3) I STRONGLY recommend adding a flashlight (with batteries stored separately - not in the flashlight so that if the switch gets bumped in the trunk, you don't accidentally drain the batteries).
If you don't have something similar in your car, get one or build your own. If you have a new driver in your household, get one for him or her as a nice surprise.

No offense, but the issue with the tools isn't so much quality as the fact that the vast majority of vehicles on the road use metric fasteners. A cheap metric wrench is great in a pinch...a cheap SAE wrench does you no good if your vehicle, like most, has metric fasteners.

In ideal conditions, or if you want to trust your ability to start your car to a flip of the coin, 10 gauge cables are OK. Personally, and ESPECIALLY if I'm buying cables for a kid's car, I'm springing the extra 15 bucks and getting them a set of 4 gauge 12 plus foot cables so that they can actually depend on being able to jump start the car. I might skimp on myself but I'll buy the kids a decent set of cables and a few cheap Harbor Freight metric tools. Just sayin. It's amazing how when you're in a bind, and need to start your car NOW, that extra ten or fifteen bucks you spent to do it right seems like the best money you ever spent. I don't know too many people that get stranded, have a cheap tool or set of cables fail to do the job, and say, well, at least I saved ten bucks two years ago.

I've seen it where someone tried to jump a car, and due to junk cables, the second car still just went click click click when the ignition was turned. Not a good feeling. Then again, if you live somewhere where the temp never drops below 75 degrees, and you drive a Geo Metro with a tiny engine, hey, this may be a good buy for you.

Good tip on the light and storing batteries separately.

In for one. My son has a clunker and this paired with a roll of duct tape should keep him going. For me it looks like it will tuck nicely in the rear compartment of my Xb.

Actually - for this price, get two for each car and put the cables in parallel. That would be like a 7-gauge cable.
(check the Wiki table here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge)

lipophilia wrote:Actually - for this price, get two for each car and put the cables in parallel. That would be like a 7-gauge cable.
(check the Wiki table here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge)

Well, you're on to something here, but you'd need 4 sets, enough to make the cables long enough to actually reach from the other guy's car to yours. Real world, you usually can't get the cars optimally aligned, and you end up needing a lot longer cable than you think. With 4 of these, you could make two cables long enough and with enough effective wire gauge to reliably work. Of course, you'd also need to buy a whole bunch of electrical tape to insulate where you patched the sets together to make them longer. lol

I find that I don't need any emergency tools to open the hood and put on a thoughtful frown. And it has the same impact on the cars ability to move as these tools would in my hands.

Picked up two sets (total of four kits) last time around. One of the tire gauges disintegrated the first time I used it. The rest of the tools are pretty cheesy, but might help in an emergency. However,since I'm now "prepared" I haven't had a bit of car trouble in any of four vehicles.

mdnorman wrote:I would acknowledge that everything made in China is NOT cheap junk

You're absolutely right. Some of it is expensive junk.

It's not that bad. It's an emergency kit....and that's exactly what it's good for. The jumpers work fine, and I've used the tools on my bike.

I'm a bit of an auto enthusiast myself and while this kit might seem like a good idea I would stay away from it. The included jumper cables (likely one of the most used pieces of the set) are both too small and too short.

You want a good heavy set of jumper cables that can handle a high current load, I would look for 6ga or lower (lower gauge means a bigger cable). Another thing to keep in mind is that you always end up needing longer cables than you think. Depending on the situation you may need a jump and the closest the jumping car can get is behind your car in a parking lot. 8 foot would leave you out of luck. You may pay a little more but realistically you are going to buy these once and keep them with your vehicle for years, you won't need them often but when you do you need them to work, it's worth the extra.

Now, on to the tools. The glaring lack of metric sockets is the largest issue. Even if you have an American car the newer ones use a mix of metric and imperial fasteners. This is an incomplete kit. I could be wrong about the quality but most of the time these kits also come with very cheap tools which don't fit well (stripping screws and rounding off nuts makes things a lot harder) and break easily. Again the thought of "Well, I'll hardly ever use this except for a rare emergency" makes it tempting to grab this at a low price. But in an emergency you most definitely want things to work, you don't have to spend a lot more to piece together a quality kit that won't fail you.

Personally for most people I would get a small toolkit at Sears. Craftsman is a good balance between quality and price, they won't fail you in a time of need and if they do break for any reason you can take them back and get a new one. They have some small kits which have screwdrivers and imperial/metric sockets which would be perfect for an emergency kit. Add in a solid set of jumper cables and a good flashlight (very important, can't work on anything if you can't see) along with a blanket and a first aid kit if you don't already have those in your car. Don't forget to check the flashlight batteries once in a while and keeping some clif bars and bottled water in the car wouldn't be a bad idea either.

dswing wrote:All vehicles require metric sockets. Why are these standard?

Beg to differ. Two of my four require SAE sockets.

Pro - It's a nice compact little kit, and it's always a good idea to have some light tools, gloves, etc on hand for car or other issues that come up.

Con - I echo the comments on the cables. I killed the battery in my truck last weekend, and couldn't get enough of a charge using these cables, and I let it charge for 30 minutes or so. I switched to heavier duty ones I had in the garage and those worked within a few minutes.

I bought several of these 3 years ago except they were only $7.99 then. Have already used some of the fuses when I was in a bind and my wife had to use the jumper cables for her own vehicle once.

I paid far too much for this exact kit, spending all 4,000 of my about-to-expire VISA Extras points.

The jumper cables are too short to accommodate two cars parked side-by-side, if their batteries are (for example) both on the driver's side. Though I've had a few opportunities to use them, I've never successfully jumped a car with these cables.

The sockets are useful though, if you don't already have a wide array of sockets.

Can I get this by tonight? I get it woot you like making fun of us.

If you could somehow get rid of this blizzard in Chicago we would love long time.

Tools broke easily, jumper cables don't instant jump (useless). Waste of money.

This is not a emergency kit. The only thing that would help in a emergency is the jumper cable. No one is going to be fixing anything with the tools even if they had the spare parts.

It should have had a blanket, flares, and food. Normal people cant fix their cars under normal conditions let alone a emergency on the highway.

I got this deal the last time it was on woot and it's helped to a certain point. Having the screwdriver and associated bits has been helpful, but the jumper cables aren't the best. They're a very small gauge, so they will jump a larger car's battery if you leave the cables connected for a longer period of time.

Unfortunately, i've had little luck being able to connect these cables to someone else's battery and jump a car immediately. Our ford escape had to get jumped by my WRX last year as the other cars we tried didn't have enough cranking power in their batteries to turn over the escape's engine. Our forester wouldn't turn over using these cables last week when we attached these cables to a few different cars (caddy, little ford focus, etc.)

In summary, will these cables jump a car? yes, but you might need to leave them connected for a while to trickle charge certain batteries. Unfortunately, wasting time annoys me, so I just went out and bought a set of 4-gauge jumper cables.

elbob1023 wrote:While this may look like a rather cheap kit, I can attest that having this sort of stuff handy is better than not having anything at all. It's also a great (albeit boring) gift idea if you have a new driver in your family, like my 16 year old niece.

If you are going to give this to her, please show her the right way to jump a car. Doing it wrong can boil the acid in the batteries and cause them to explode. Actual FD experience has shown me the end result and it ain't pretty.

I purchased these from Woot a couple of years ago..... THEY DON'T WORK!!!!!

The cables are absolutely worthless, I had to borrow another set. This was my only bad experience on this site, fortunately.

for $7 each, you can't beat getting 10 guage jumper cables. and that they store in a flat box is even better. easy to hide under the seat. I don't expect the other tools to be worth anything, but convenience is key here.

jn082105 wrote:Anyone know if the tools are stainless steel?

They aren't. We bought a set to leave in the truck and I can attest to the fact that these tools are really poorly made, worse than Harbor Freight. The tape is useless, the cables and weak but work. Truth is, you are better off buying tools and jumper cables from Sears, putting them in any container, stuff them in the trunk and be done with it. What are you really going to fix if you get stuck with this set? Your radio?

Buy:
Jumper cables or protable battery starter
3/4" drive socket wrench
8, 10, 11, 12, 14 mm sockets
5/8, 3/8, 1/2 inch sockets
Multi head screwdriver
WD-40
Electrical tape
A can of fix a flat

If you can't fix it with that, you should call a tow truck.

dthacker9 wrote:In for one. My son has a clunker and this paired with a roll of duct tape should keep him going. For me it looks like it will tuck nicely in the rear compartment of my Xb.

To be fair, that's only because duct tape is so handy. This kit is not worth much.

Agreeing with the general consensus. I also have this kit and while it is not heavy duty and won't last forever, it is small, lightweight, fits easily in the small recesses in sports cars, and sure is handy to have around when something goes wrong! Have had mine for about 3 years and it has rescued me twice - well worth the price!

Previous Woot from 2+ years ago.

Was billed as a 31-piece set instead of 29 (and price was for 1 set, not 2) but if it's not the same set, it's nearly identical. Who would want to be "First Sucker" for a box of junk like this? Me, of course... dohh!

Agree with the comments that the jumper cables are about worthless. The other stuff is.... better than nothing.