What is your closest contender so far?
Hard to say. I have scads of ratchets, from the 30s to now. I like some parts of many ratchets, but as of yet nothing stands heads and shoulders above the pack.
Smoothness - nothing is smoother than the Kobalt gearless, the Allen gearless or the MAC sourced Radian gearless ratchets. But they by nature have a large head, the direction selection on the Kobalt is cumbersome, and the Allen and the Radian, require the socket to be removed and the drive plug to be repositioned, then the socket replaced to change drive direction. Some of the Williams and Protos are very smooth, but the Williams is a two hand directional change and the Proto head is huge. Then the Harbor Freight composite ratchets are very smooth, but I question the tiny teeth on the ratcheting mechanism.
Tooth count - I have them from 20-24 teeth to over 120 teeth. Some of the older Billings, Armstrong, and a few others are brutal, very low tooth count, but a solid as The Rock of Gibraltar . The newer Husky offerings of 100 tooth count, or the 120 tooth count Titans, make you wonder, can you have too many teeth.
Handles - round ones, square ones, odd shaped ones, metal ones, plastic ones, rubber ones. Long handles, short handles, extendable ones, flex ones.
Length - I have a 1/4” drive ratchet that’s about 18” long, a 1/2” ratchet that’s about 5” long, a 3/4” drive that’s 4 foot long and a one off (shop made) 3/8” drive ratchet that has a 3/8” drive square welded on its 18” long handle, allowing it to be driven by another ratchet.
Heads - pear shape ones, round ones, roto-heads
COO - I have ratchets from the USA, Canada, Mexico, France, Sweden, Spain, Germany, England, India, Japan, Australia, Russia, Poland, Taiwan, China and South Africa.
I’m beginning to believe there may not be one perfect ratchet, maybe THQFTPR, is like the quest for the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant, the Unicorn, an honest politician or the Yeti, unattainable.
Because of my job, industrial boiler service tech, traveling from job to job, my tool choices are drastically different from a mechanic in a dealership or an industrial plant maintenance tech, a homeowner or shade tree mechanic. I carry tools that are as cheap as possible, but still function as they are intended. Moving from jobsite to jobsite exposes you to dragging your tools out of the service vehicle, then have to repack at the job or days end. Work on construction site are brutal, about 85-90% of the workers are honest hard working people, trying to make a living and their family, the rest are absolute scum, stealing everything that is not nailed down, from the job, fellow workers, other contractors or the company they work for. With theft, carelessness and absent minded minions, I loose about $100 to $150 worth of tools per month, an unfortunate part of the cost of doing business.
If I worked in one place constantly, my choice of work tools wold be drastically different, I use Icon wrenches and sockets, the 3/8” drive Craftsman RP flex-head an Harbor Freight composite ratchets, Craftsman pliers, Witte electrical screwdrivers, an Advanced Auto sourced ratchet crimpers, a couple of Craftsman nut drivers and a cheap Ideal electric wire stripper. The most expensive item I carry into the jobsite is the leather Ideal electric tool bag, the tools are in.
Will I give up THQFTPR?? Probably not, when one is given a Holy Quest, one is obligated to continue, until either the Quest is done or until your ability to continue is gone.
