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5-Star Clamps, 0-Star Packaging

What can be said about these clamps? They’re Bessey Tradesman clamps - some of the best and most respected clamps in the trade. Extremely strong, well designed, easily adjustable. Buying all thirty clamps separately would cost you about $350, so this is quite a deal for clamps of this caliber, especially for start-up hobbyists. It’s also a deal for seasoned cabinet shops - as you know, you can never have too many clamps! However, my beef is with the packaging. I’ve seen this same package offered by other sites, so I’m going to have to ding Bessey a star on this one: the packaging was HORRIFYING. Completely unacceptable. All 30 clamps (over 70 pounds worth) were tossed haphazardly in a long, flimsy cardboard box. The clamps themselves were not individually wrapped in anything, nor was the whole set wrapped in anything. They were just thrown in a box that was held together by cheap packing tape. As such, the red paint on the wooden handles got torn apart by the rest of the metal in the box. The box itself was in shambles since the cardboard was so thin and the packing tape so cheap. HOWEVER, it’s a testament to the longevity and durability of these clamps that they survived this shipping torture with nothing more than scratched paint. They are SOLID clamps that are definitely worth the buy, so long as you’re willing to risk the gentle hands of “brown”.
Word of advice: Considering the packaging, make sure you count the clamps when you get them! 30 - not 29, nor 28…30! I didn’t have a problem, but when I looked at the box again I considered myself lucky.

Update (5/19/2012): This item is currently on sale here for the lowest price I’ve seen.

The featured review for this product, Bessey BTB30 Tradesman 30-Piece Bar Clamp Assortment Tools & Hardware, was written by DK.

The average rating for this item is 4.3 out of 5 stars, according to 3 reviews.