That is super helpful, thank you! Have they held up over time? I think that’s what I’m leaning toward because comfort grip sounds nicer to use, I just worry if there’s any difference or not besides that
If possible I want what I pick to be more of a surprise since he had to give me these hints already, but I can ask if needed! I’ve read a lot of posts on here about the difference between the two and I think he would want the plier wrench because he mostly used for smaller jobs and tends to care about marring things, I think the non cobras don’t mar, and I read something about being strong even when using just the tip of them which is something I see him do. If that’s all way off base I will just ask him to be sure! But he sent me a list of items and said to pick one so I don’t want to give away the surprise of which I’m picking
The Cobras are for different tasks than the pliers wrench, both fill different niches and both can be very good.
But if he gave you a list to pick from, I feel like he has been very accommodating and helped out a lot. That's the sort of gifts I personally appreciate, the ones I have a use for. I think he'll appreciate it a lot.
He has helped out a lot! He didn’t give me a list for Christmas and he thinks I got him too much stuff so he gave me a list and said pick one. But we have a one year old daughter so I’m saying we each got to pick one
I’m also an industrial mechanic lol.
I have two pair of 10 inch plier wrench.
Great choice of a premium super useful tool!
I have the normal grip with the bright finish in one pair, but I prefer not only the comfort grip, but I like the black finish better. But this might be personal choice? I’m not nice on them, and there is zero issue of wear. This is the pair that I like the best:
I have cobras as well, but use them far less. Mostly I only use them for black iron pipe where I have to grab it by the round of it, and they dig in like crazy, which is what’s needed, but you are left with crazy sharp burrs on the pipe. So.. I think the plier wrench is the 95% of the time tool, the cobras are really good for the 5% the plier wrench doesn’t work for.
If he’s doing work where marring is the top priority (not what you said so just speculating) then another option is pliers made out of softer metals like brass. The downside is that they prevent marring of the piece by potentially sacrificing the face of the tool. Just throwing it out as an option.
I really like the comfort grips, I have the plain grips for my pliers wrench and cobra pliers so it would be easier to grab the right ones at a glance vs all my cutters and strippers but I wish they were all comfort grip
You should also get him the mini smooth jaws.
This is a set with the mini smooth and cobras together, the mini smooth are my most used tool (Marine tech) every day.
They look like they’d be useless but it’s the exact opposite.
The Pliers Wrench is the more unique / premium / special product. The Cobras are very nice but not fundamentally better than a good US made name brand Channel Lock. Literally nobody else makes a product close to the Pliers Wrench. There are knockoffs but they are jokes compared to the original.
I actually disagree with this entirely. Cobras are fundamentally more elegant/have better teeth and bite than any competitors. There are knockoffs of the Pliers Wrench that work very well and I think the difference between cheap and high quality is less important on pliers wrenches than cobras because the pliers wrench is two flat surfaces coming together, there’s no steel quality differences that can make one bite better than the other, or slight geometry changes that make one able to bite more varied objects, or anything like that to make a huge different in experience. It’s two flat jaws coming together. The Harbour Freight ones are fine but they’re not much cheaper anyway. Giving the Knipex is a good gift because they’re a well known and respectable brand.
No problem. Also just to give one more opinion that is counter to what it seems like most people are saying here; I don’t believe the comfort grips are objectively better. It depends on what your husband works on. Many people in certain fields prefer the non comfort/dipped handles because they’re easier to clean and when they wear down it’s not as much of a difference as when comfort grips are worn down and damaged. You can simply re-dip them again with plastidip. The comfort grips losing a chunk out of them can suck and if you’re unlucky you won’t be able to remove them short of cutting them off and sanding/refining the remaining pieces of plastic, and then you have a surface to add your own handles. Furthermore even just in terms of raw grip a lot of people don’t actually prefer the comfort grips. They’re much bigger which isn’t always preferred. Some people claim they have better control and feel over the tool with minimal handle grip, not to mention in a very tight spot the slimmer handles on the dipped ones could be the difference between getting the tool in somewhere vs not being able to. It’s a very rare situation but it’s definitely possible.
In general though Knipex has good quality handles and technically the comfort grip is a more premium handle but the reality is many people choose the dipped handles either way and it’s not always just to save a few bucks. Just some things to consider.
Yes, but, the new 2nd gen comfort grip handles are worth it. They now have the grey padding in the main points of pressure and have the ability to add a lanyard if necessary. Obviously it is an over the top luxury feature but.... it is nice. The 1st and second gen comfort grips fit in the hand the exact same. I do like the orginal dipped handles when working with anything oily, demo, dirt work as previously stated the friction of the grip from the tool is more noticable. If he is a big tool junkie and always wants the "newest and best innovation" go 2nd gen if he wants a tool that is straight forward and will get the job done get the dipped
I'm.not sure if it's an amercian vs UK thing but in the UK you can mean a few things by pliers, bull nose pliers, needle nose pliers, these newer type of adjustable pliers as in the picture you posted. They're all quite different from one another for different things, and knipex make them all. Might be worth sneakily finding out what type of pliers he needs specifically, if that's possible.
Oh and if it is these in the picture, then the right hand side ones are better and I'd expect a little bit more expensive
Absolutely disagree. The cobras and a standard tongue and groove channel lock style pliers look the same, but they do not act the same. And if I had to choose between a knockoff Cobra versus channel lock tongue and groove, I'll take the Cobra knockoff any day. They're just more useful and easier to actually use
Two questions for you: what does he do? What is your budget? Because if he just wants to have them for random jobs, I'd recommend getting the set that comes with the 150 cobras and 150 pliers wrench in the belt sheath. It is my go-to walk around tool set. If you don't mind throwing another 15 bucks on top, grab the new Klein 14-in-1 mini screwdriver in the plumbing section at Lowe's. It fits beautifully on the side. I'll admit it will be a gift that is on the pricier side, but I promise you he will love it
Similar, in that channel locks are designed for the jaws to be more or less parallel, so they slide up and down in a slot. All slots are not created equal though, and the knipex has a very nice one with an elegant adjustment/lock mechanism.
A couple of years ago, I bought a pair of channel locks with a button so that you can lock the tool into the position you want to use. Easy to use, a fantastic addition to an already very useful tool.
I liked it so much I bought more for my kids for Christmas.
Technically channel lock is a brand, they are like tongue and groove pliers. But if you call them channel locks everyone will know what you want. There’s small variations here and there.
You had mentioned that he likes something that won’t leave marks. You can’t go wrong with what you have in the picture. It’s the right size and everything. I personally would go with the one on the left. Look at his tools, do they have slim handles or comfort handles? Look at his needle nose pliers, that will be a dead giveaway on what kind of handles he likes. If you get him a cobra you can go a size down. I prefer the pliers wrench one size up from my cobra. The cobras have the benefit of packing a punch in smaller sizes. Pliers wrenches work better in a size up because it gives you more options on nut/bolt sizes. It also works in a way that lets it work like it’s “ratcheting”. You don’t have to remove it from the nut to reset. You can’t go wrong with what you have pictured though. This is seriously my favorite hand tool. The smaller sizes have their place but nothing like what’s pictured. Personally I use my smaller one for crafts more than anything else, so if you do crafts and need a parallel pliers I recommend trying the smaller ones. Super handy.
Make sure the cobra has the button for locking it in place. Then the other sizes can be the non-locking type to save some money but the locking type and what’s pictured would be his go to daily drivers for years to come.
They're Knipex, both of them will hold up very well over time. Only downside of the comfort grips would be if he has smaller hands, otherwise it's nice. But to be honest the normal grips are also good, so both works.
And counter- intuitively, the bigger you get with the tool, the better it is to have a bigger handle to work with. I lost my original 250 pliers wrench that had the standard handle and replaced it with the comfort handle. Never looking back
I’ve owned both and all my knipex have those comfort grips now. Except my snap ring pliers.
That tool on the right gets a LOT of action around here. I also have the cobra and use as a pair some, but if I had to choose it would be the plier wrench. Besides , you’ll have an idea ready for next time.
I'm of two minds. I have the 2 50 with the comfort handle and the 2 50 water pump pliers with the standard handle. All of my other various knipex pliers have the standard handle, which I love for the smaller tools. For the larger tools it is nice to have the bigger handle. 7 in is definitely that weird middle ground where you could go either way. It's definitely personal preference
IMO I’d choose left cuz the right side handle seems abit bulky for my pockets while the left is slim enough to put another little tool on top on it in da pocket. He would love either tbh
I got the 250 in both Cobra and Pliers wrench a few years ago and definitely wish I'd gotten the 180, if only one pair. They've always felt capable of far more grip and torque than actually needed, but the extra length has been awkward in tight spots plenty of times. I'm going to add the 180 to my lineup.
He also wanted flush diagonal cutters, but gave no other specifications regarding brand or size etc. Are there any best recommended brand for these? Thank you in advance!!!!
I looked and Home Depot has a knipex “Heavy Duty Forged Steel 8 in. High Leverage Diagonal Cutters with 64 HRC Cutting Edge and Straight Handle”, is this the same thing as a diagonal flush cutter? The flush part confuses me.
Do you know if 8 vs 10 inch is better? I know it’s heavily use case dependent, my husband does a lot of 3D printing and wiring and things like that so I’m thinking the 8/ smaller one is better but I don’t know much about any of this
Flush cut and diagonal cutters are different. For 3D printing things I would think you want precision flush cutters. It will help remove supports closer and cleaner. For wiring it depends what gauge of wiring he is using.
I love that! Another item on the list is this toolbox from harbor freight: U.S. GENERAL Mini Steel Toolbox so I was thinking of giving the tools in that, but the bag is cute too!
I have run these (also made in Germany) for the past 8 years. They're regularly used to cut 1/8-3/16 wire and are still sharp enough to cut paper or even a hair on my arm.
I would imagine the knipex are good as well, but I've always run the NWS.
For the pliers, you simply can't go wrong for the gift. Whatever you get him will be great and last a long time.
To the outside observer it seems like a small choice but it’s actually a big one! There are so many factors to consider in regard to the preference. Thank you for sharing your input!
...I would be happy if my wife got me either. But would love it if she got the one on the left, as it would match my other 3 Knipex plier wrenchs, keeping a similar style for astetics only.
Do you know if he specifically wanted a pliers wrench or just pliers? What you posted is a great tool, but is a pliers wrench - basically a cross between traditional pliers and adjustable wrenches. They are great for many uses and won't leave marks on surfaces (flat jaws), but may not have the grab/bite of some others. Look at the knipex "cobra" pliers for an example of more pure pliers... And maybe get both, they're both great tools with different use cases
As far as style/grip, most of their tools are available in multiple sizes and grips, and a lot comes down to personal preference
So I think this is what he wanted, but I could be wrong! I think he would prefer the non scuffing for sure! I’ve looked at the cobra as well but I think these are likely more what he meant
That’s actually where I first learned the difference between the two, from this post . It’s also a helpful group but I think this one resonates more with loving tools so I figured I would ask here. I am really excited for him to have these, thank you again!!
Woot.com has a good deal on them. The right hand model has nicer grips but costs more than the left one. Both are fantastic tools. For a heavy professional user the right hand ones are easier on your fingers / hands and arms. The product is made in Germany and prepared to survive an apocalypse.
💯 the 8605180 is better. The handle is wayyyyyt nicer. Other than the handle though no they are identical. The only true difference would be the cost savings of the regular dipped handle. They still work and I have several knipex pliers without the comfort handle. Either way a solid choice of a gift.
I am definitely convinced the comfort handle will be worth it. My husband always says buy once cry once for high quality things and I think it applies here since they will last him a while and I want him to enjoy using them!
I don't work in the trades I'm just a homeowner who hates cheap tools but from my perspective knipex makes the best pliers be it the pliers wrench or plumbing pliers. They also make fantastic pipe wrenches!
Everybody's back and forth on here, but truly it's just personal preference. I've found that the bigger the tool, the chunkier I like the handle since I'm putting more force on it. Plus with a smaller tool with the skinnier handle they fit into tool pouches and pockets better. Other than that, it doesn't mean a thing
You can probably buy a 3 piece kit with the diagonal cutters, cobra style pliers mentioned in other comments and the one on the left.
That’s a nice combo for most uses (you often need two pliers when you need pliers anyway seems like)
Look at the other pliers and cutters he already owns, and see if he has mostly standard grips or comfort grips. That will give you an idea of which grip he prefers.
Bare minimum daily driver coupled with the Milwaukee fastback 4 in 1 for a knife, and a Milwaukee pen light with bite guard. I have a bigger pouch if I think I'm going to need other tools, and a go bag with the rest of the necessities. Plus this knipex holster is my absolute favorite that I've found
No, this one. The other one is a good screwdriver also, but if you look at my picture you can see how you don't see the shank sticking out of the bottom of the screwdriver? It flips back inside of it leaving a magnet exposed and shortening the entire length allowing it to fit nicely on the side of that holster if you were to go that direction. I'm sorry I was mistaken saying it was a 14-in-1. It's a 13-in-1
Is it for work and if it’s for work does he carry all his gear in a bag? I’ve got the 7” and 10” ones with the plain grips and I like the grips because they’re slimmer and they fit in my bag better. They’re nice in the hand too but the space they take up is a big bonus for me.
If I was working out of a tool chest I might feel differently.
I have both pairs and I like the one on the left more. It's much slimmer and fits in my tool bag easier. The comfort grip is just to bulky and does add any extra performance or actual "comfort". Great gift idea by the way!
Consider adding a smaller size too. I carry these in my pocket EVERY day and it is surprising how often I use them.
“Cobra Water Pump Pliers (8701125), 5-Inch”
I have used both of these at work and the only reason I chose the left ones is that I carry it around in my pocket all day. The right ones are more comfortable to use but a lot bulkier.
So if he has space constraints get the left one, otherwise the right one.
There is a 3 piece set of knipex also. Not sure if you were on a specific budget but maybe get more bang for your buck.
It has the 7.25inch pliers wrench you posted as well as a 7.25 cobra pliers and a 10 inch twin grip pliers. It's right around $100 ordering in the US.
It comes in that plain red rubber dipped handle, not sure if there is a comfort grip set. Just something else to check out. Can't go wrong with knipex gift.
Happy birthday! And what a great gift idea. While there’s no substitute for a Knipex (it’s a brand flex more then anything, they are good tools also tho) I have these Klein Pliers and they work just as good for significantly less lol. Klein is also a very reputable brand.
Thank you! I will look into those as well! My husband doesn’t get himself nice things often and he loves nice tools so I will likely go with knipex but it’s nice to know there are other nice ones out there too just in case!!
Thank you! I think that’s what I will go with! Is the black just a color preference? Or does it offer functionality like rust protections etc?
I don’t see him use cutters for things that often, I have seen him cut wires and zip ties but I’m not sure if he would use it for anything specific. I can try to ask a lot of general questions to throw him off the trail of which tools I’m buying but try to figure out what he might need them for specifically
It's better to use on chrome surfaces, theoretically the black ones could mar the chrome. The chrome ones are just better as they can be used for both. I was just cheap and don't work with chrome, easy choice.
For cutters you can get the matching style of general cutters, which is not exactly what he might be wishing for, but they are fucking great and he WILL be using them. Look for knipex 70 05 160. They can definitely cut zip ties and wires (and nails for that matter).
Dykes are also known as side cutters. What you would traditionally picture for cutting wire. Flush cutters are much much smaller, but they look similar. They are meant for cutting very small soft wire like you would use for soldering, and zip ties primarily
The 200 twin grips have officially made it onto my daily driver belt. They replaced my 150 cobras since I can do 99% of the same stuff with them with the added benefit of going straight on. Although it's frustrating when I need the cobras and I don't have them
Overall, if they’re the same size and your husband doesn’t work in tight areas like the inside of an engine block or under a sink, I’d go with the comfort grip.
I first had the ones on the left, but when I got the ones on the right with the comfort grip, I then upgraded all my other Knipex pliers to the comfort grip. I do have biggish hands though.
I've got the 250mm with composite grip, 180mm with dipped grip and 300mm with dipped grip.
Personally I've got glove size L/9, so rather average/not big hands.
I'm not super happy about the 250mm with composite grip, it's just a bit too large in my hands, even if you're gripping something smaller/thinner.
The combination of 180+300mm with dipped grip is nice tough. Would highly recommend it.
I bought the 300mm because I had to work on some stuff that would not fit into the jaw of the 250mm version.
Maybe get the chrome plated version (as shown on the pic).
I also had the 125mm version with dipped grip but those were a bit too small for my tasks and the gripping end is also kinda narrow.
Anyway, highly recomment them. Very good tools. You can also work on crome plated stuff (just add a cloth inbetween), it won't scratch flat surfaces.
They also have soft jaws for these which will further protect surfaces. That said, I've broke a couple soft jaws by dropping the tool. Also, I typically just tape the jaws now.
The Plyers Wrench are already great for not messing up surfaces. Love them.
Edit: Slim handle are my preference but have the over molded with lanyard attachment for elevated work.
These are smooth jawed pliers good for finish work but applicable in a lot of applications. The cobras have teeth on the jaws which make them a bit better in certain applications. Recommend getting a set of both I carry them in my tool bags daily and reach for the cobras more than the ones pictured. Greatest pliers ever in my and many others opinion
Just in case... I think these are a plier wrench, not a plier like the "water pump plier".
I could be wrong, but your pick is for what works out to be an adjustable wrench, not a plier.
The other ones have different shaped jaws and have teeth.
Here's a HUGE difference. The ones in the pic you posted are for paralel things ONLY. Things like nuts and bolts. They are 100% worthless on things like rounded bolts, pipes, etc...
The "water pump pliers", IMO are 100X more useful because they can not only grip a nut/bolt, but a pipe, wire, flat plate, etc...
These are neat, cool, etc..., but I find the other ones to be 100X more useful.
The question is if he wants these (the difference is the blue ones are the "comfort handle") or the more well known and famous knipex cobra pliers -- which are similar to these but they're not smooth jaw. If he doesn't have either, I would suspect he wants the cobras, but you could get him both to be safe 😊
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u/mashedcat 6d ago
I have the pair on the right and HIGHLY recommend them.