Spanner Sets and Wrenches UK: Combination, Ratchet and Adjustable

A matched spanner set is the most useful single tool purchase after a screwdriver kit. Klevaro stocks a working selection of Rolson spanner sets and adjustable wrenches for UK homes, hobby mechanics and trade users, including combination sets, ratchet spanners, stubby spanners and adjustable wrenches in both metric and AF sizes. Browse the broader hand tools collection or see the complete Rolson tools range. If you would rather buy spanners as part of a matched kit with sockets and drivers, see our tool kits page.

Combination Spanner Sets for Daily Use

Combination spanners give you a ring head at one end and an open jaw at the other, in the same size. A standard 8-piece metric set running from 8mm to 19mm covers about 90 percent of UK home and car jobs: nuts on garden machinery, brake-caliper bolts, kitchen-cupboard fixings, radiator valves and bicycle pedals. Look for chrome-vanadium steel and a slim profile (the difference between fitting into a tight engine bay and not). For older British vehicles and US-imported machinery, an AF set in the same size range is worth adding alongside the metric set. Larger 12 to 22mm sizes are worth adding once if you do car suspension or motorbike work; up to 32mm if your jobs include trailer tow bars, oil filter housings or larger plumbing fittings.

Ratchet Spanners and Stubby Sets

Once you have the basics, ratchet spanners are the most popular next purchase. A ratchet mechanism built into the ring end lets you turn the nut while keeping the spanner in place: you save the time of lifting the spanner off and resetting it every quarter-turn. For tight spaces (behind appliances, inside wheel arches, on radiator valves) stubby spanners are short, flat versions of combination spanners that fit where full-length tools will not. Both styles work alongside a standard set rather than replacing it. Reversible ratchet spanners (a small lever flips the ratchet direction) are worth the small extra cost: they save the time of flipping the spanner over to loosen instead of tighten.

Adjustable Wrenches and Specialist Tools

An adjustable wrench (or crescent wrench) sits in every household tool kit for a reason: it handles the one-off, awkward-size nuts that a fixed spanner cannot. Plumbing fittings, garden taps, gas-bottle regulators and older machinery are all candidates. Choose an adjustable with a wide jaw range, a smooth-running thumbwheel, and a long enough handle for the size of nuts you expect. Treat it as a backup rather than a daily driver: adjustables grip on two faces and round corners faster than a proper ring spanner. For repeated use on the same size, switch to a fixed combination spanner.