The round head stigma

[hickory n Steel]

I often hear many people say they don't like round head ratchets, usually younger guys my age up to guys in their 30's.
It seems to me that if you were born say after 1970 you very likely grew up around Craftsman tear drops or some form of round head, if they weren't S-K or Wright they were probably put off by the bottom of the barrel round head imports that have flooded the market for the longest time now.

I know as a kid what I knew as a ratchet were these very ratchets from various cheap sets my dad had, and kind of got a bad taste for round heads.
It seemed like the good ratchets were all pear heads or teardrops, and for the most part that's true in inexpensive import ratchets.
Most cheap ratchets these days are a lot better than the cheap ratchets I grew up around, and they're mostly pear heads.
Your bottom of the barrel $5 3/8 ratchet set still comes with the cheapest of the cheap round head  that might as well have a plastic mechanism.


With the new double position S-K mechanism I hear nothing but good things about it seems the selector and slightly thicker head are probably the only things left that may be a detractor.
So why do people still hate round heads ?
I've gotten past the stigma a bit and have found I like a good round head in 1/4, and find a thumb wheel 1/4 round head quite handy.

I still need to try myself an S-K, I'm not sure if a Wright is a must try though.
Should I try a Wright too ?

[DeadNutz]

I don't know of any stigma against round head ratchets. I've got quite a few that I use and they work quite well. As far as the import ones I have those also and they work just fine.

[hickory n Steel]

I don't know of any stigma against round head ratchets. I've got quite a few that I use and they work quite well. As far as the import ones I have those also and they work just fine.

Maybe Stigma was the wrong choice of words
I just often hear people say they don't like round head ratchets, and I assumed they might be just associating the design with those common crappy plastic selector ratchets included in the cheapest sets you can buy.
Any of them I've experienced would reverse themselves, slip, and skip, and they weren't heavily used.
Cheap tools are a lot better than they used to be I guess.

Of course I also hear people call them outdated, but I suppose that new S-K mechanism changes that

[slip knot]

the round heads are hard to use as a hammer. 

[bonneyman]

I think it all depends on what style you "cut your teeth on".
When I was a boy, my dad used S-K. So, that's what I was used to using on my bicycle, projects, etc. When I got out on my own and started working mechanics, naturally I gravitated toward S-K, because that was what I was used to. About two years later I was walking through the tool section of a big box store, and found an individual Thorsen roundhead sitting on the shelf. I asked the clerk, he didn't know where it went, so told me, "How about a $1?" I figured I needed a spare, so I took it. Those two ratchets were the only ones I had until I started collecting tools around 1999. (I still have both, by the way).
Since then I've had more ratchets cross my workbench than I can remember. In over 20 years not one have made me think about getting rid of the first two. The fact that they're roundheads never entered my mind until I started joining forums and reading about the roundhead vs. other debates.

[goodfellow]

Most of us were introduced to round head ratchets through SK, Wright, Sears (Sears' Best) or Wards. There were many others, such as Bonney, Duro/Indestro, Williams, etc., but for the average guy back in the day, it was Sears, Wards, JC Penney, or the local auto parts or hardware store. In my case the local mom 'n pop auto parts store sold SK as their premium line, while the hardware store sold Wright tools as their house brand.

[hofferwood]

Round heads------I hate 'em----------

[goodfellow]

Very impressive Chuck -- a great collection 

[hofferwood]

Thanks Ray.

I got the monkey off my back though, broke my addiction,-------I haven't bought one for about two years now----

[hickory n Steel]

Nice assortments of round heads there.

I'm still undecided and need to try a standard 3/8 round head, but I think I'd like the right one just fine.

[Rickster]

Craftsman RHFT was my first ratchet.   From there it was onto an SK Roto-head.  Today my go-to ratchet is a Snap-on Roto-Head with a black hard handle... also a round head!

[bonneyman]

Round heads------I hate 'em----------

Geez, I'd hate to see something you like! 

[hickory n Steel]

I gotta tell ya, if someone hates Roundheads just hand 'em this and they'll at least start to warm up to round heads.

[TexasT]

I'm a round head user. Don't get me wrong, love my snappy pearheads but the thumb wheel on the craftsman(not sure of coo, maybe Taiwan) and a husky 3/8" drive(USA) I picked up. The husky has the release where you push on the selector to release the socket. And the thumbwheel is real nice for those times when needed.

[hickory n Steel]

I'm a round head user. Don't get me wrong, love my snappy pearheads but the thumb wheel on the craftsman(not sure of coo, maybe Taiwan) and a husky 3/8" drive(USA) I picked up. The husky has the release where you push on the selector to release the socket. And the thumbwheel is real nice for those times when needed.

I am most used to a lever selector, but I certainly don't mind the selector of a Roundhead.

And of course you won't get a pearhead with a thumb wheel as far as I know.
There may be a teardrop out there with one, but that's generally one way the round head wins.