Rant: cheap drill bits vs the expensive set, I keep flip-flopping

I blew $40 on a budget 20-piece set last fall for a deck rebuild in Austin, and they actually outlasted my $120 name brand set on pressure treated lumber... but then the cheap ones snapped on a single 3/8" hole in steel. Is it just luck of the batch, or has anyone else seen budget bits genuinely hold up long term?

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xena_jackson7d ago

41 bucks at Home Depot for a Milwaukee set last year and they've chewed through everything from fence posts to a rotted-out trailer frame. The $120 DeWalt set sits in my garage collecting dust except for when I need a clean hole in stainless. But you're right about the steel, that's where cheap bits just evaporate, I had a Bosch bit literally turn into a twist drill sculpture on a 1/4" plate. So honestly, I think it's less about price and more about matching the bit to the job, and people who act like one set is the holy grail are just stuck on brand loyalty. My deck rebuild in Round Rock used the cheapies and they're still fine, but I'd never trust them on anything harder than aluminum.