Toolfreaks Anonymous

[lizzie]

Thanks Dan!

[bantam5s]

This is pretty much the entirety of my " air-gunsmithing " kit.

NICE set, David!

Thanks.
I was actually looking to buy a tool roll from HJE, but they didn't have pictures for some reason.
Then I remembered I had the wrench roll from my USGI surplus Proamerica combo wrench set that was just collecting dust on a shelf.
Dusted it off and it seems to be about a perfect fit for these particular tools.

[bantam5s]

Tell me about it...

Before I got my first pcp a couple weeks ago I was still building up a toolset for myself. Well the tool subreddit is dangerous for Tool junkies. TONS of names and specific products that are required to be “cool” with those folks lol.

Anyways I’ve acquired tons of Wera screw drivers and a ratchet, knipex cobra pliers and their amazing pliers wrench, some of Tekton‘s usa made tools and a bunch of their overseas made tools which are still very well regarded. But the Wera and Knipex specifically are worthy of being shown off lol. The Tekton stuff is just great quality affordable tools with a warranty that makes craftsman’s look weak.

FYI their American made pliers are rebranded WILDE.
The prices are pretty much the same so it really doesn't matter which name is on them.

Good to know, haven’t grabbed any of their pliers yet. Sort of high on Knipex pliers still I think lol. Also Tekton is based in Grand Rapids Michigan and I’m Michigan born and raised so I like supporting a local company.

Where do you find Knipex brand? I am not familiar with that one.

Online. They are a German manufacturer who makes arguably the best pliers on the market. Though they aren’t really any more expensive than Channel Lock. Their most popular plier is the basic cobra water pump pliers (aka channel locks/groove joint pliers/water pump pliers) they are self adjusting! But they also sell the Alligator pliers iirc which are just regular manually adjusted “channel locks”.

Most everything they offer comes in choices of either black or stainless steel and then you choose regular thin pvc covered grips or their “comfort grip” which are a bit bulkier but supposedly more comfortable. I still only have the regular pvc grips on my 2 pairs, but I do have the cobras in black and the pliers wrench (check that out!) in stainless. I’ll try out the comfort grip on the next set I order.

From all the prices I have seen Knipex is noticeably more expensive than Channellock.
Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but they do certainly cost more from everything I see.

[Sfttailrdr46]

I have a pair of Knipex electricans /linemans plyers from 1991 when I first got into HVAC/R service still work like new just a little scuffed up from kicking around in tool bags for 30 years.

[Firewalker]

Knipex makes the best dykes in the world, one would be a "foo" to use anything else! 

[Back_Roads]

 I will have to locate my Snap-Off brand channel lock plyers, that the Snap-On guy was giving away for Christmas in the 70's 

[bantam5s]

Knipex makes the best dykes in the world, one would be a "foo" to use anything else! 

Testing shows that there are tradeoffs.

I recently watched a test and the current Channellock 337 with it's more efficient pivot position took much less force to cut than the same sized pair of Knipex dykes.

When it came time to torture test on a drill bit however the pivot on the 337 which happens to be smaller did break while the Knipex pivot didn't.
Wear under proper non abusive use was about the same.



If you weigh the pros and cons the Channellock is more efficient and cost much less, the Knipex took more abuse, but both hold up about the same otherwise


Personally I won't be giving up my Channellock dykes, but I have been eyeing the little 8" bolt cutters from Knipex.

[Thebloodyhound90]

Tell me about it...

Before I got my first pcp a couple weeks ago I was still building up a toolset for myself. Well the tool subreddit is dangerous for Tool junkies. TONS of names and specific products that are required to be “cool” with those folks lol.

Anyways I’ve acquired tons of Wera screw drivers and a ratchet, knipex cobra pliers and their amazing pliers wrench, some of Tekton‘s usa made tools and a bunch of their overseas made tools which are still very well regarded. But the Wera and Knipex specifically are worthy of being shown off lol. The Tekton stuff is just great quality affordable tools with a warranty that makes craftsman’s look weak.

FYI their American made pliers are rebranded WILDE.
The prices are pretty much the same so it really doesn't matter which name is on them.

Good to know, haven’t grabbed any of their pliers yet. Sort of high on Knipex pliers still I think lol. Also Tekton is based in Grand Rapids Michigan and I’m Michigan born and raised so I like supporting a local company.

Where do you find Knipex brand? I am not familiar with that one.

Online. They are a German manufacturer who makes arguably the best pliers on the market. Though they aren’t really any more expensive than Channel Lock. Their most popular plier is the basic cobra water pump pliers (aka channel locks/groove joint pliers/water pump pliers) they are self adjusting! But they also sell the Alligator pliers iirc which are just regular manually adjusted “channel locks”.

Most everything they offer comes in choices of either black or stainless steel and then you choose regular thin pvc covered grips or their “comfort grip” which are a bit bulkier but supposedly more comfortable. I still only have the regular pvc grips on my 2 pairs, but I do have the cobras in black and the pliers wrench (check that out!) in stainless. I’ll try out the comfort grip on the next set I order.

From all the prices I have seen Knipex is noticeably more expensive than Channellock.
Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but they do certainly cost more from everything I see.

Unless they’ve gone up in the last month or 2, both companies sold 10” water pump pliers for about $30. But they channel locks are made in China now too...

Edit: Ok upon further examination it appears that channel locks are cheaper online. At Home Depot, they’re the same price as Knipex online. That’s what I was basing my comparison off of. But still, forget Chinese tools, give me Taiwanese any day if not American or German etc.

[bantam5s]

Tell me about it...

Before I got my first pcp a couple weeks ago I was still building up a toolset for myself. Well the tool subreddit is dangerous for Tool junkies. TONS of names and specific products that are required to be “cool” with those folks lol.

Anyways I’ve acquired tons of Wera screw drivers and a ratchet, knipex cobra pliers and their amazing pliers wrench, some of Tekton‘s usa made tools and a bunch of their overseas made tools which are still very well regarded. But the Wera and Knipex specifically are worthy of being shown off lol. The Tekton stuff is just great quality affordable tools with a warranty that makes craftsman’s look weak.

FYI their American made pliers are rebranded WILDE.
The prices are pretty much the same so it really doesn't matter which name is on them.

Good to know, haven’t grabbed any of their pliers yet. Sort of high on Knipex pliers still I think lol. Also Tekton is based in Grand Rapids Michigan and I’m Michigan born and raised so I like supporting a local company.

Where do you find Knipex brand? I am not familiar with that one.

Online. They are a German manufacturer who makes arguably the best pliers on the market. Though they aren’t really any more expensive than Channel Lock. Their most popular plier is the basic cobra water pump pliers (aka channel locks/groove joint pliers/water pump pliers) they are self adjusting! But they also sell the Alligator pliers iirc which are just regular manually adjusted “channel locks”.

Most everything they offer comes in choices of either black or stainless steel and then you choose regular thin pvc covered grips or their “comfort grip” which are a bit bulkier but supposedly more comfortable. I still only have the regular pvc grips on my 2 pairs, but I do have the cobras in black and the pliers wrench (check that out!) in stainless. I’ll try out the comfort grip on the next set I order.

From all the prices I have seen Knipex is noticeably more expensive than Channellock.
Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but they do certainly cost more from everything I see.

Unless they’ve gone up in the last month or 2, both companies sold 10” water pump pliers for about $30. But they channel locks are made in China now too...

Edit: Ok upon further examination it appears that channel locks are cheaper online. At Home Depot, they’re the same price as Knipex online. That’s what I was basing my comparison off of. But still, forget Chinese tools, give me Taiwanese any day if not American or German etc.

All Channellock pliers are 100% made in Meadville Pennsylvania, and the 10" #420 ( actually 9.5 ) is actually about $16 most places as is the V jaw #422.

Now the 16" #460 is about $30 most places , while the 16" knipex cobra cost as much as $75 depending where you get it.


I have no clue where you're getting your information from, but it is incorrect.

[bantam5s]

Here ya go ( yes I keep the packaging for reference,  I'm a toolfreak ), notice the flag and  made in USA on every one of these Channellock packages.

[Tater]

As an electrician I used mostly Klein tools and Channel Lock but that was back when they were made in the U.S.

[bantam5s]

As an electrician I used mostly Klein tools and Channel Lock but that was back when they were made in the U.S.

Channellock is still made in the USA with probably 90% of their tools, as are many of Kleins mainstay tools.
Their standard screwdrivers , their pliers, and their wire strippers are still made here.
It's most of their 6-1...ect drivers that are Taiwanese these days.

[Tater]

As an electrician I used mostly Klein tools and Channel Lock but that was back when they were made in the U.S.

Channellock is still made in the USA with probably 90% of their tools, as are many of Kleins mainstay tools.
Their standard screwdrivers , their pliers, and their wire strippers are still made here.
It's most of their 6-1...ect drivers that are Taiwanese these days.

Thanks David. I haven't bought any of them in a long time, still have the old stuff.

[lizzie]

As an electrician I used mostly Klein tools and Channel Lock but that was back when they were made in the U.S.

I LOVE my Kleins!

[Thebloodyhound90]

Here ya go ( yes I keep the packaging for reference,  I'm a toolfreak ), notice the flag and  made in USA on every one of these Channellock packages.

Ok I was mixed up a little there. They do have a lot of Taiwanese tools but the pliers are all US made. However, the grips on some of the pliers were made in China until a few years ago when they were supposedly bringing that part of the manufacturing back to the US. Idk if they did in the end though.

[bantam5s]

Here ya go ( yes I keep the packaging for reference,  I'm a toolfreak ), notice the flag and  made in USA on every one of these Channellock packages.

Ok I was mixed up a little there. They do have a lot of Taiwanese tools but the pliers are all US made. However, the grips on some of the pliers were made in China until a few years ago when they were supposedly bringing that part of the manufacturing back to the US. Idk if they did in the end though.

Yes their code blue pliers handles are currently made in the USA.

The percentage of imported Channellock tools is actually relatively low, they're probably in the top 10 for percentages of domestic tools from American manufacturers.

Theres 10 Taiwanese socket sets, 3 Taiwanese wrench sets, some Chinese code blue screwdrivers, the Spanish adjustable wrenches ( same OEM as snapon) and their ratcheting bit driver is a rebranded megapro which is made in Canada.

Every other hand tool from Channellock is American made, from the pliers  snips and dykes , to their ratcheting box wrenches ( probably by Lang ) , and all their acetate handled screwdrivers and nut drivers are 100% American made.

Even their 61A 6-1 screwdriver is 100% American made, most companies import the bits but Channellock doesn't.
Now I don't know if they actually manufacturer the screwdrivers in house , or if they are sourced from Pratt-Read,  but I love both companies and have been pretty happy with the couple Channellock drivers I have.

[bantam5s]

I have been quite happy with my Pratt-Read essentials series screwdrivers that are in the st-350, but no stubby drivers are available in this series so I'm thinking i will switch to Channellock drivers for this set.
I can get every size my P-R set includes, plus the stubbies this series lacks ( I already have the stubby #2 ) plus the 6-1 I've already got if theres room.
I might not bother with the precisions though,  because I've got 'em in the st-350 box now and rarely need them.
I think it would be cool to have that much of the Blue in my house / go box.

[Firewalker]

Excuse me as I go buy a pair of Irwin wire cutters....

[bantam5s]

Excuse me as I go buy a pair of Irwin wire cutters....

If it was the stuff that was made for them by NWS In Germany maybe, but the Chinese Irwin's no way.
They may have done well in this test but I would not trust them to last over time.
In my experience Chinese irwin branded tools are just terrible.
Their hateful Vise grip abominations are terrible.

That's just me though,  nobody can tell you how to spend your money.

[Thebloodyhound90]

Excuse me as I go buy a pair of Irwin wire cutters....

If it was the stuff that was made for them by NWS In Germany maybe, but the Chinese Irwin's no way.
They may have done well in this test but I would not trust them to last over time.
In my experience Chinese irwin branded tools are just terrible.
Their hateful Vise grip abominations are terrible.

That's just me though,  nobody can tell you how to spend your money.

I agree here.