Six screwdrivers beat the 47-piece kit every time

Quick answer: Buy a Phillips #1, #2 and #3, a slotted 1/4 inch and 3/16 inch, and one Torx T25, all as proper full-size screwdrivers. Skip the 47-piece kit unless you need it for a specific one-time job. When the kit is the right call, it's very specific, and we'll get to it.

What's in the box and what you'll touch

Open a 47-piece kit and count what you'd actually use. Two Phillips bits. A slotted bit or two. Maybe a Torx. The other forty-odd pieces are sizes of hex, triangle, tri-wing and star that you'll need roughly once, on a toy, a gas grill or a cheap lamp, and then never again.

Meanwhile, the thing you'll hold every time is a stubby handle with a ratchet or bit holder that wobbles. A screwdriver is a tool you lean your weight into. A short, thin handle and a loose bit chuck are exactly wrong for that job.

The bits are the other problem. In the cheap kits they're soft, or oddly ground, or both. The first stubborn screw rounds the tip, the tip rounds the screw head, and now you've got a ten-minute job that needs a drill, a rubber band and some bad language you'll leave unsaid.

That's the real cost of the cheap kit. Not the twenty or thirty bucks. It's the stripped screw in the middle of a door hinge on a Saturday.

The six

Start with the Phillips #2. It's the most used screwdriver in most houses. Outlet covers, hinges, cabinet pulls, drawer slides, a lot of older deck and drywall screws. If you only buy one good one, buy this.

Then fill in around it:

• Phillips #1. Smaller screws: electrical device covers, small hardware, glasses cases, kids' stuff.
• Phillips #3. Bigger screws. You'll reach for it less, and you'll be glad it's there when you do.
• Slotted 1/4 inch. The workhorse flat blade.
• Slotted 3/16 inch. For the smaller slots the 1/4 inch won't fit.
• Torx T25. A lot of modern deck, construction and cabinet screws are Torx, and T25 is a common size. If you've been using a Phillips on a screw that looks like a six-pointed star, stop. It's a bad fit and it's going to strip.

If you live in Canada, or buy hardware that crosses the border, add a square-drive #2, the Robertson. Canadians know it already. Everyone else is about to meet it.

You can buy these singly, or as a six-piece set sold as exactly this list. A set is fine as long as you check the sizes against the list above. Don't pay for a set that includes sizes you'll never use just because the case looks nice.

How to judge a screwdriver in the aisle

You don't need a lab. You need thirty seconds in the store.

Look at the tip. A Phillips tip should come to a clean, crisp point with sharp edges. A slotted tip should be flat-sided and square across the end, like a small chisel. If it's tapered into a wedge, it'll try to climb out of the slot as you turn. That's called cam-out, and it's how screw heads get chewed up.

Check the fit. If the store lets you, put the tip in a screw head of the right size. It should sit snug with almost no wobble. If you can rock it, it'll strip.

Hold the handle. You should be able to grip it with your whole hand and put your palm on the back of it. Thin, slick, plastic-hard handles are for people who don't turn many screws.

Check the shaft. It should be straight, with no visible play where it goes into the handle. Roll it on the counter. A bent shaft rolls with a wobble.

Plenty of makers do this right. Wiha, Wera, Klein Tools and Felo are names worth looking at. A good plain screwdriver from a hardware store's better line will also do the job. Pay for the tip and the handle, not for the packaging.

The screws that aren't Phillips

Here's the one that surprises people. A Phillips screwdriver is not a Japanese-standard screwdriver, and the difference matters. Many small electronics, motorcycles and compact engines use JIS screws, which look like Phillips but have a slightly different tip. A Phillips driver in a JIS head will fit, but loosely, and it'll round out. If you work on a Honda lawn mower or an old Yamaha, a proper JIS driver such as the ones Vessel makes saves screws. Nobody needs one until they need one badly.

When the cheap one is right

The big bit kit has a place. Three of them, actually.

One job, one time. You've got a toy, a piece of exercise equipment or a piece of furniture with a hex or security screw you'll never see again. Buy the cheap kit. Use it. Toss it in the garage.

The glovebox, the boat, the camper. A cheap kit that lives in the truck is a tool that's always there. It's not going to be your best driver. It's going to be the one you have when you need one. The roadside list in the truck kit that handles almost every roadside problem covers what else goes in that box.

The precision set. The tiny drivers for eyeglasses, watches and small electronics are one place where the budget set is fine. The screws are small, the torque is low and a cheap set does the job. Replace it when the tips go soft.

None of those jobs is a Saturday hinge swap. For that job, the six above earn their spot.

Two things that kill a screwdriver

Don't pry with it. A screwdriver isn't a chisel, a scraper or a paint-can opener. The tip chips, the shaft bends and the next screw you drive pays for it. That's what a pry bar is for, and a cheap one is a fine buy. Buy the cheap pry bar. Never buy the cheap ladder. explains why.

Don't use the wrong size. A #1 in a #2 screw feels like it'll do, right up until it doesn't. Match the tip to the screw, push down hard while you turn, and go slow on the first quarter turn. Most stripped screws were stripped in the first second.

Look after the six

A good screwdriver should outlast you. That's what buy-it-for-life should mean: a tool you can keep working, not one you pay a lot for. Wipe the tip when you're done. Don't leave them in a damp truck bed. If a tip chips, it's cheap to replace the driver. If it's bent, replace it.

And if you lend one out, expect it back. If it's your neighbor's, bring it back cleaner than it left, and with the tip still square.

Six drivers fit in a drawer. They'll still be there in twenty years. The 47-piece kit will be in the garage under a box of Christmas lights, and you'll go buy another Phillips #2.