We could get into the nationalism / Amazon / corporate-America / buy-local debate on like 90% of the threads on this forum. That doesn't mean that we should do that. In fact, please don't! And, I am not saying I'm a saint in this regard either, but let's all try to move in that direction.
I came in here to get advice on which ring connector to use for my Overkill BMS, so you can imagine my dismay to see that the thread had degraded into a shouting match about buying American and how non-American crap sucks. You all make some valid points that I can agree with, but if we really want to advocate for good manufacturing jobs, we shouldn't be arguing over 10 cent connectors that probably won't add much to our economy anyway. We should be debating why we don't have local manufacturing of the higher value items that all of us on this forum are buying, such as BMS electronics and LFP batteries. Also, grid scale energy storage is going to grow exponentially in the next decade and the US should be trying to locally capture as much value as possible from that supply chain.
Now to bring the thread back on topic, what's the conclusion for the connectors? I believe Overkill BMS uses 24 gauge balance wires and my batteries have M8 studs. I'm leaning toward getting red 18-22 gauge heat shrink terminals. I don't need more than one for each of the 8 balance leads + a few spares, so not a big variety pack. Do you have a preferred source for the connectors? This is my first pack and I don't have any gear at all, so do you also have recommendations for a heat shrink connector crimper and a heat gun?