I've disliked nearly every cleaning kit I've had, and as I added to my arsenal I accumulated kits (messy and a pain in the butt, none seemed to include all the parts and pieces I needed, oil and solvent leaked, and they were a pain to store). So I went looking for a universal kit and found one that had a complete set of quality jags, brushes, mops, those slotted thingies, and lots of extra stuff in a compact kit... it's called "Big Shot" in what looks like a huge shotgun shell. A great thing about it is that each piece has a place so they don't get mixed up, and it takes up a tiny bit of space on my bench (four inches or so).
It's great except for one thing... three piece cleaning rods. They are brass, much better than aluminum but still a pain... bending, coming loose, constantly screwing them together and taking them apart... I've grown to hate them.
Once when cleaning a Marlin 39, I neglected to lock down the ejector. It scraped off a load of aluminum shavings all over the tiny recesses inside of the receiver :banghead: ... yes, I'm a dummy, but I hate metal cleaning rods.
So I bought some Tipton carbon fiber one piece cleaning rods (all four in large and small pistol and rifle).
They are great! Very stiff but yet they will bend and spring back, no scraping of metal on metal, no screwing together, no coming apart, and they look really cool. They're expensive, but with all the guns I have I'm constantly cleaning and they're worth every penny. Never tried a snake. They may be great in the field, but I really rather have rods and associated tools.
So if you have a lot of guns to clean, get Tipton rods, a separate set of jags, etc. And buy your choice of cleaning and lube materials, patches, cleaning brushes, cloths and stuff instead of making due with the stuff that comes in cleaning kits (you'll find no CLP in any of them). You spend big bucks on those guns, safes, reloading stuff, tools, etc, why scrimp on cleaning supplies? You'll thank me