Today I am reviewing the Nepros Mirror 5GQ Combination Wrench series NMS2 (eBay US, eBay AU, Amazon). They’re Japanese-made by the premium arm of KTC, and this particliar line is considered their standard length.
The entire Nepros standard-length metric combination wrench lineup at the time of writing covered 5.5mm, 6 to 24mm inclusive, 27mm, 30mm and 32mm. They do also do a short combination wrench range in the NMS2S (trailing S for short) but there are many fewer wrenches, covering 8/10/12/13/14/17mm only.
The long combination wrench range is much closer in spread to the standard, covering 8/10/12/13/14/16/17/19/21/22/24/27mm.
If you’re not buying the wrenches as part of a set, they arrive in a hard plastic container like so:
The particular wrench I am using as a photo subject today is the 10mm standard combination wrench, part number NMS2-10:
The back:
The wrenches are very, very nicely chromed:
Probably some of the tools that are closest to a work of art that I have held. The ends are 12-point and have rounded corners so that the wrench doesn’t push on the corners of the fastener:
In the hand they’re quite comfortable to use – a little shorter than the Kincrome standard length that I’m used to but there’s not a lot in it.
The ring end is set at a 15° angle:
The open end on this 10mm wrench is 4.5mm thick:
I have few of these wrenches to test currently but what I have on-hand so far feels good in the hand and has a high quality coating – the very pretty chrome stands up quite well to being accidentally dropped on rough concrete/into engine bays/the usual stuff wrenches get subjected to in the hands of clumsy operators. The tolerances on either end are right up there with the closest I have found on an open ended/12 pt wrench.
They’re not the cheapest combination wrenches around – even when bought as a set (8/10/12/13/14/17) you’re looking at $136USD (eBay AU), but when comparing to other premium brands it’s not bad value – as an approximate example the Snap-On OEXM707B set has one more wrench and a slightly different size setup but retails for twice the price (eBay AU).
If you’re looking for a nice range of Japanese-made combination wrenches that work hard and look good the Nepros range is well worth a look. Check out the prices on eBay US, eBay AU, Amazon.