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Frequently Asked Questions
What should I look at first when comparing assortment kits?
The number of distinct sizes, not the number of pieces.
A kit's whole purpose is covering the size you did not plan for. Two kits with the same piece count can differ by a factor of five in how many separate sizes they hold, and the one with more sizes is almost always the more useful, even though it looks smaller per compartment.
Check the spread as well as the count. A kit that runs from very small to very large covers more situations than one clustered around the middle, and the extremes are usually what a general stock is missing.
Then check the increments. Sizes that step evenly are more useful than a list with gaps, because a gap is exactly where a job stops.
Piece count matters only for the sizes you use constantly, and those are better bought in bulk packs anyway.
Published contents lists vary in honesty. Where a supplier states quantities per size rather than a single headline figure, that is the more informative listing.
Should I buy metric or imperial kits?
Whichever system the equipment you maintain was built in - and if that is both, buy them separately rather than mixed.
Metric and imperial threads are not interchangeable. Several pairs are close enough to engage for a turn or two before binding, which strips one or both parts and leaves a fastener that cannot be removed cleanly.
Machinery, vehicles and structures made in different regions carry different systems, and older equipment frequently carries a system its own country no longer uses.
A single mixed kit sounds efficient and works badly in practice, because the two systems look alike in a compartment box and the mistake is made under time pressure.
Where both are needed, colour-coded or physically separate cases prevent the error far more reliably than labels alone.
Thread gauges are inexpensive and settle the question in seconds on an unknown fastener, which is worth keeping alongside the kits.
Are assortment kits suitable for outdoor or wet conditions?
Only if the kit states a corrosion-resistant material or finish. Most general kits do not.
The default finish on a low-cost assortment is a thin electroplated zinc, which is intended for dry indoor use. Outdoors it will show red rust within months, and in coastal or industrial air, faster.
For exposure, the options are austenitic stainless, hot-dip galvanised, or a proprietary multi-layer coating - each with a different cost and a different temperature and chemical range.
Stainless is not one material. The common general grade resists rain and washdown well; the molybdenum-bearing grade is the one specified where salt is present.
Mixing matters as much as choosing. A plated steel screw in a stainless assembly, or either in contact with aluminium, sets up galvanic corrosion that attacks the less noble metal at the joint.
Where a kit will be used both indoors and out, keeping a separate stainless kit is more reliable than trying to remember which compartment holds which finish.
How do I stop a kit turning into a box of loose parts?
Fixed compartments, honest labelling, and a refill habit - in that order.
Cases with moulded, non-adjustable dividers keep their layout when dropped. Adjustable dividers are more flexible on day one and migrate afterwards, mixing adjacent sizes.
A label that states the actual size, not a compartment number, means anyone can return a part correctly. Kits that label only the lid diagram lose their organisation as soon as the diagram is out of sight.
Latches and hinges are the usual mechanical failure. A case that pops open in transit undoes months of discipline in one journey.
Refill from bulk packs of individual sizes rather than by buying a whole new kit. Replacing the kit means paying again for the sizes that never move.
Keeping the kit in one place, rather than letting it travel loose in a vehicle, does more for its condition than any feature of the case.
Which compartments empty first, and what does that tell me?
Usually two or three sizes out of twenty - and that is the most useful data the kit produces.
The sizes that empty are the sizes the work genuinely consumes. Once they are known, those move to bulk stock and the kit returns to being an emergency range rather than a working supply.
A kit that empties evenly across every compartment is unusual and generally means it is being used as general stock, which is expensive per piece.
A kit where nothing moves except one compartment is a signal that the range is wrong for the work, not that the kit is bad.
Recording the refills for a few months, even informally, converts a guess about stock levels into a decision.
This is also how to choose the next kit. The sizes never touched in two years do not need to be in it.
Do assortment kits include the tools needed to fit their contents?
Some do, and it is worth checking, because several fastener types are useless without a specific tool.
Rivet kits are the clearest case. Blind rivets need a setting tool sized to the mandrel, and kits are commonly sold with one; kits sold without assume you already have it.
Anchor kits sometimes include a matched drill bit, which removes the most common installation error - a hole of the wrong diameter.
Threaded insert assortments usually require an installation tool that is sold separately and costs more than the fasteners.
Screw and nut kits rarely include tools, on the reasonable assumption that drivers and spanners are already present.
Where a tool is included, check whether it covers the whole size range in the kit or only part of it - a setting tool supplied with one nosepiece will not serve every rivet in the box.
Is a large single kit better than several small ones?
Several smaller kits organised by job type usually work better, because they travel.
A large master case is efficient to store and awkward to carry, so in practice it stays in the workshop and the fastener needed is on a roof three floors up.
Splitting by job - one for electrical fixings, one for general repair, one for anchors - matches the way work is actually dispatched.
The duplication this creates is small. The overlapping sizes are the cheap common ones, and paying twice for them costs less than one wasted trip.
Systems with removable trays give both: a master case that stays put and a tray that goes to the job.
The exception is a fixed workshop with no mobile work, where one large well-labelled cabinet beats several boxes.
Can I rely on the piece counts printed on the box?
Treat them as an indication and check the contents list instead.
Headline piece counts are often calculated generously, and a large number frequently reflects a lot of very small fasteners rather than a broad range.
A per-size contents list is the useful document. It shows both the range and how deep each size goes, and it is what makes two kits genuinely comparable.
Minor shortfalls against the stated count are common and rarely matter for an assortment. A missing whole size does matter, and is worth checking on arrival.
Where a supplier publishes no per-size breakdown, the piece count alone is not enough to judge the kit.
For repeat purchasing, keeping one opened kit as the reference for what the range should contain makes checking subsequent deliveries quick.
How should assortment kits be stored?
Dry, closed, and not in a vehicle that goes through daily temperature swings if it can be avoided.
Plated fasteners corrode in storage as readily as in service. A case left open in a damp store will show rust across a whole tray, and rust in a compartment box spreads to the parts touching it.
Condensation is the specific problem in vehicles and unheated stores: warm damp air cools overnight and deposits water inside a closed case.
Silica gel packs in the case are a cheap and effective answer where the environment cannot be controlled.
Cases stored flat keep their organisation; stored on edge, small parts migrate between compartments even with good dividers.
Rubber-sealed cases exist for exactly this and are worth the difference where kits live outdoors or on site.
What does an assortment kit not replace?
Bulk stock of the sizes used daily, and any fastener with a structural or certified duty.
Kits are a range, not a supply. Using one as the working stock for a repetitive job empties it quickly and costs several times the bulk price per piece.
Structural fixings are the important exclusion. Where a connection is designed - a bolted structural joint, an anchor carrying a calculated load, a certified safety-critical fastener - the part must be specified, traceable and to a stated grade, and a general assortment is none of those things.
Grade markings are frequently absent or unrecorded in assortment kits, which makes them unsuitable wherever the grade must be demonstrated.
The same applies to any application with a documented material requirement, such as food-contact or hygienic equipment.
Kits are for repair, prototyping, snagging and the unexpected - which is most of the work, but not the part that gets signed off.