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Lloyd - I think I have the same Ryobi set. You're right, its not total crap. Its servicable. I use a Makita drill most of the time, but the Ryobi is great for not having to switch between 2 bit sizes. The circular saw is quite workable, though the battery only lasts a minute or two.
Your larger point is a good one. We don't even have options any more. Sure there are some fine handsaws available if you hunt hard enough, but who among us can really shell out a couple hundred bucks for each of a handful of types of saw? Elite hobbyists (and perhaps genuine craftspeople, although I suspect they are fewer in number) sustain the boutique tool market, not daily tradespeople. We can't all just fire up the forge and fashion a chisel to our liking. I constantly harp on this same issue. Living on a small homestead, I need all kinds of tools as essentially a matter of survival. When I need an axe for hand-splitting kindling, do I pay $250 for a Gransfors, or $25 for a Chinese or Mexican tool at the local hardware store? I'd rather pay $65 or whatever for a decent-enough American one, but they rarely exist as options.
I'm running into the same problem with pumps, solar panels, solar water heaters, and nearly every other aspect of attempting to live more responsibly. It seems its too late to revive American manufacturing, so what can be done?
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I was in Harbor Freight a couple of weeks ago, it is amazingly the Whole Earth Store we all wished for... courtesy of the hard working Chinese! Good value and good quality, as a craftsman I have only been pleased. It might not serve the needs of the parasites or government bean counters but to people who want to get some work done it offers an opportunity. How cheap it is shows how uncompetitive we have become, get busy!
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