Are the pliers on Victorinox SAK's really functional as pliers?

S

stjohn24382

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Sep 7, 2009
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I am going over the Victorinox SAK models with the the intention of buying a couple with a lot more tools than the models I have now. I really like what I have read about the
Swiss Champ and others in that range. Just wonder about the pliers that are on many of these models. Do they really work? Anybody have any experience with using the pliers?
 
stjohn24382 said:
I am going over the Victorinox SAK models with the the intention of buying a couple with a lot more tools than the models I have now. I really like what I have read about the
Swiss Champ and others in that range. Just wonder about the pliers that are on many of these models. Do they really work? Anybody have any experience with using the pliers?
Click to expand...

They work better than I had thought they would. I used to think of them as honking big tweezers, but once, when I needed pliers to frame some pictures on the exhibition site and had no other tools with me but my Swisschamp, they did the job just fine, as did the SAK screwdrivers. Lucky for me, my picture hanging wire just fit the wirecutter notch. They don't grip quite as strong as the same class Leatherman, let alone larger multitools, but will handle a range of small chores, even some medium ones. Sometimes they are even superior if you have to grab something in a restricted space. That said, I much prefer larger pliers and carry full size Leatherman tools these days. Small is convenient, but when you need it, there is no substitute for mass.
 
They won't work on 'real' nuts and bolts, like you'd encounter doing auto mechanic work.
They do work OK for small hobby nuts and bolts, kids' toys, or quick fixes around the office, like tightening a loose mounting screw on a computer motherboard, or bending a piece of wire for whatever.
 
Bob W said:
They won't work on 'real' nuts and bolts, like you'd encounter doing auto mechanic work.
They do work OK for small hobby nuts and bolts, kids' toys, or quick fixes around the office, like tightening a loose mounting screw on a computer motherboard, or bending a piece of wire for whatever.
Click to expand...

Pliers of any kind aren't the right tool for nuts and bolts, anyway. I've used them in "emergency" situations, or when I was too lazy to do the right thing and thought I could get away with it, but whenever that happens my inner mechanic gives me no peace. However, I don't think a SAK is really the "right" tool for anything, just the one you have with you when an anything pops up.
 
They work incredibly well. Compared to Leatherman pliers, they are better quality with a more precise tip, finer teeth, and better designed jaws. On top of that, they have a small wire cutter (not sure if intentionally designed) at the base of the jaws that I have used to cut thin sheet metal and rings.

Here is what I am talking about:
f03enyA.jpg



And here they are compared to the Leatherman pliers:
pJYZM.jpg
 
znapschatz said:
Small is convenient, but when you need it, there is no substitute for mass.
Click to expand...

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

This is why I keep a small but real tool kit in my truck, family car, and even glove box of the Vespa. Just no substitute for real tools.

Carl.
 
Great thread, guys, if you are a Swiss Army Knife nerd like me. My favorite in the pliers genre is the 4 layer Deluxe Tinker. Its the same size as my beloved Explorer Plus, but it trades in the inline phillips and magnifier (both awesome tools) for the pliers.
 
I also carry a Deluxe Tinker as my EDC. However, I like the design and function of the Wenger pliers better. They are adjustable
and open wider. Only possible drawback is the spring is not replacable; however, never had one break either.

Rich
 
I was filling up my car one morning at the local Sam's, and as I was doing so, a lady on the other side of the pump had inserted her card the wrong way in the reader and gotten it stuck. She tried to pull it out with no success, so she called over the attendant, whose luck wasn't any better. Then I remembered I had my Super Tinker in the console tray, so I got it out, got a good grip on the card with the pliers, and worked it back out. Another multitool probably would've done just as good a job as the ST, but that's what I had on me and it made this lady's day a little better.

Sometimes the pliers just make it easier to do something that would have been much harder without them.
 
nothing like the right size tool for the job.
no leverage for the really tough ones.
and so, works out only should the tool fits the job.
but i suppose it's meant more for electrical work rather than mechanical.
 
znapschatz said:
They work better than I had thought they would. I used to think of them as honking big tweezers, but once, when I needed pliers to frame some pictures on the exhibition site and had no other tools with me but my Swisschamp, they did the job just fine, as did the SAK screwdrivers. Lucky for me, my picture hanging wire just fit the wirecutter notch. They don't grip quite as strong as the same class Leatherman, let alone larger multitools, but will handle a range of small chores, even some medium ones. Sometimes they are even superior if you have to grab something in a restricted space. That said, I much prefer larger pliers and carry full size Leatherman tools these days. Small is convenient, but when you need it, there is no substitute for mass.
Click to expand...

Let’s leave religion out of this. :p

The Swiss Champ is a great pocket toolkit. I keep one in my glove compartment. The last time I used it was at a party blessed with wine, but no corkscrew.

The tools I keep in my trunk were no help for that.

The pliers are nice enough for small work. Don’t expect to tie rebar with them.
 
The pliers on my SAK Skipper are really large and strong, and I've used them for multiple jobs. What a knife that is; check it out! It's also one of the only ones with both a corkscrew and a full Phillips head.
 
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The one pliers to rule them all BWAAHAHAHA

IMG_0813.jpg


My grandfather passed this knife on to me. I use this a lot but I don't know if it is made anymore. The pliers on this one work REALLY good :) This was a knife made by Wenger, called the "Swissgrip". It has been a great tool.
 
Yes, the pliers on Wenger are better than the Vics IMHO. Stronger and adjustable.

Rich
 
Magnaminous_G said:
They work incredibly well. Compared to Leatherman pliers, they are better quality with a more precise tip, finer teeth, and better designed jaws. On top of that, they have a small wire cutter (not sure if intentionally designed) at the base of the jaws that I have used to cut thin sheet metal and rings.

Here is what I am talking about:
f03enyA.jpg
Click to expand...

Useable and intentional: unknown to SAKwiki (a rare lacuna) Victorinox's web catalog lists wire cutting as a function. Pliers were introduced in 1985, the wire cutter was added in 1987, and a crimper was added in 1996. The bump below the pivot joint is the crimper.

Wenger's pliers were slip jointed with a hard wire cutter, a regular wire cutter and a crimper. That sounds useful but I've never examined or tried to use them.

show_image.php
 
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I once used my first Swisschamp (first "birthday" gift my wife ever bought me after we started dating but was later almost destroyed in a car fire of a Crown Vic) to tighten the battery terminal cables on a car that would not crank, but it was WORK. As stated, they are not SERIOUS pliers for anything bigger than small nuts.
 
jackknife said:
:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

This is why I keep a small but real tool kit in my truck, family car, and even glove box of the Vespa. Just no substitute for real tools.

Carl.
Click to expand...

Real tools are definitely better, unless you just need to do a simple tasks and reaching to your belt and pulling out a SAK would be the quickest & easiest way to do the job.
The pliers on my Victorinox SwissTool X are really good, but the pliers on my Cybertool would be usable for many tasks - maybe not the perfect tool for every task but definitely able to handle all sorts of small jobs.
 
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