Little SAK's and old school tech.

Added: You said "wrench". I have been talking about a pair of pliers. A picture of the 4.5" Crescent pliers is below so we are clear as to what I'm talking about

Knipex also makes a pliers-wrench that has parallel jaws that can be used in place of an adjustable wrench. I had a hard time choosing between the cobras and a pair of those.

I personally haven't ever "stood" on a pair of pliers, but I've hade need to really lean into them... and been rewarded with a busted Leatherman for my trouble. Especially in the prying end of things.
 
The point of mentioning standing on them was referred to upthread. And that point was they lock tightly. The drawback to these little Cobras is there's little leverage regardless of how securely they can lock. Someone said they didn't trust that lock design over a lever design.
 

You won't often find pliers like these little #424's advertised as ignition pliers anymore because that work is less common these days, but luckily many companies still make them.
Channellock and Wilde still make 'em in the US, but the WILDE's which are also available rebrabded by Tekton are a 3 position slipjoint design vs the superior tongue & groove design.

I'm sure the little Knipex pliers punch way above their weight, but I have a fondness for Channellock and for this little Mac 4" I've carried every day for about 10 years at this point so I have yet to pick a pair up.
 
Those little cobra's are awesome. Ive had mine for about a year, and they see more use than any other tool i carry at work(maintenance). I also keep a couple of 3" pieces of pipe in my back pocket at the warehouse for those times when the handles arent quite long enough. The wrench pliers also punch above their weight class.
 



I've got a white example I've carried for a long time that I got at the local farm show as a kid, but it's seen better days at this point and needed to be retired so I found this red TEXACO example on Ebay.
These little 24" Keychain tapes are the smallest I've seen, the only others I know of that even come close to being this small are the tire style like I used to have with the Goodyear logo on it. Those are cool but not quite as small.
I have no clue who made these but they did a good job, the return is excellent and they never seem to get sluggish
 
Last edited:
Knipex also makes a pliers-wrench that has parallel jaws that can be used in place of an adjustable wrench. I had a hard time choosing between the cobras and a pair of those.

I personally haven't ever "stood" on a pair of pliers, but I've hade need to really lean into them... and been rewarded with a busted Leatherman for my trouble. Especially in the prying end of things.
Yep! You've got to know the limitations of your tools.
Back when I was a soldier, you would get in big trouble if the motor sergeant caught you using a "cheater bar" on your wrench.
I can still recall his voice booming across the motor pool...
"You're gonna break the tool dumba$$!!! Get a bigger wrench!"
 

You won't often find pliers like these little #424's advertised as ignition pliers anymore because that work is less common these days, but luckily many companies still make them.
Channellock and Wilde still make 'em in the US, but the WILDE's which are also available rebrabded by Tekton are a 3 position slipjoint design vs the superior tongue & groove design.

I'm sure the little Knipex pliers punch way above their weight, but I have a fondness for Channellock and for this little Mac 4" I've carried every day for about 10 years at this point so I have yet to pick a pair up.

I agree.
This little guy is my favorite channel-lock pliers...

PcPxubD.jpg

With my OH Trekker for scale.
 
I have the little Knipex locking pliers/wrench in my cart on the Big A site. Pondering the 7.5" size.... I have a $10 discount coming for buying kitchen stuff. Probably will buy it when I build up enough $ for free shipping. If I buy these it will be purely because of the discussions here as I really don't need them. Going to have to consider whether I want to spend the money (just because) when I don't need them. I have the small 4.5" Crescent pliers too.

The term ignition pliers isn't used much any more but my PROTO230 pliers was labeled as such in the 70's when I bought it. My boss at the time suggested I keep one around and handy. I suspect these days it would be a pliers-based multi-tool.

Those little tape measures (usually 6 feet in length) are very useful. I have the Stanley Fatmax. I frankly have lots of measuring tapes lying around. But the Fatmax is on my desk and as as result gets used more for little things. The one in my truck was a freebie and it has a level on it which is also useful.
 
Those little tape measures (usually 6 feet in length) are very useful.

The little "keychain size "are most often 3 feet from what I've seen, but the slightly larger 'pocket sized "ones do seem to start at 6 feet.
I have a vintage 8 foot Stanley I got at a yard sale last year for 10c that I quite like.
 
Last edited:
I had an appointment today in a town with the orange paint big box lumber/hardware store. Before going I went to the stores website to find their aisle and location number for the Knipex Cobra pliers. I have been debating the 5" or 6" models and wanted to handle them both before deciding which to go with. But, like the blue paint big box store, their website indicates not available on-line or in stores! This change on their website has been in the last few days. So, I may have to guess and hope I order the right one for my somewhat big hands. It appears they are closing them out, so some local stores may have some in inventory for a few days.
 
Apparently Knipex just came out with a new even smaller 4" pair that stil have the same jaw capacity.
I looked into them and they're about $40 but they don't even lock.
That sounds strange for them to cost this much and not even have the feature that the cobras are known for, if they did lock I would really be tempted to try them out.
 
Last edited:
View attachment 1402589 View attachment 1402590 The 125mm Cobra has a locking pivot. The 100mm Cobra does not. Neither has locking jaws like a Vise Grip. The Yamaguchi 2 meter tape is the best mini tape that I have run into.

Having used the mini Channel locks and small regular pliers for a few decades now, I don't really need a locking feature. But since I have had such great luck with Channel locks, what justifies the higher price of the Knipex?
 
Easy question. The 100mm Knipex Cobra can do Champagne corks.

Serious question: Can it replace the corkscrew? Wouldn't you need a corkscrew to get the cork far enough out to be able to grip it? This is a real question because, if the pliers could do the job of a corkscrew, that's one less item that needs to carried.

EDIT-JUST read more carefully and saw "champagne". Oh,well...
 
Yeah, the Champagne corks have a large portion outside the bottle. You first twist the cork to loosen it, then you rock it out holding the bottle at a 45* angle pointing away. Best done outside or over the sink.
 
Back
Top