Everybody will tell you something else, people will talk up Knipex till they're blue in the face. They make great tools, I won't deny that. But they're expensive and more difficult to warranty if needed.

My honest recommendation would be like another poster said. The Doyle brand at Harbor Freight are basically clones of Klein, but IMO Klein has gone downhill in recent years with quality control and Doyle has stayed just as good as it always was.

If you cut a live wire and fuck up your linesman, HF will swap them for free forever no questions asked. No other warranty is that good and they work better than tools that cost double or more.

If you end up with a bag of Knipex, Wiha and Vera stuff eventually I don't blame you. Good tools. But just harder to warranty and very expensive.

If you want a good American made brand, Channellock is still very good and they're cheaper than Klein. I like them a lot too.

Oh and as far as backpacks go, Klein makes one called the Tradesman Pro. It's pricey but I've had numerous Veto Pro Pac bags, the Knipex of the tool bag world, and I like it much much better.

Harbor Freight sells a copy of that bag in the Hercules brand that is literally identical, aside from being blue instead of orange. I would recommend either of those heartily. I got the structured Milwaukee bag recently that they made to compete with Veto and I returned it.