Take classic slip joint pliers and improve them, and you have the Knipex TwinGrips. The jaws open to six different positions, using a mechanism like their Cobra pliers. There is also an opening in the end of the jaws for grabbing the head of damaged screws and turning them by hand. Constructed with a box joint for stability.
 

 

 

 

This message has been edited. Last edited by: henryaz,

Damn, Knipex makes some REALLY Nice pliers! I think I might need to add another to my collection...

Thanks, another tool I'll have to buy. They make awesome stuff.

I just found the Knipex mini pliers set of 5 inch and 7 inch tools on Amazon for 80 bucks. Seemed like a killer deal. I jumped.

Knipex: great tools, and tremendous customer service!

About 30+ years ago there was a guy hawking them at the L.A. County fair. I stood there and watched his demo, him standing on a pair of slip joint pliers while it was clamping a galvanized pipe. I bought large and medium pliers and they are still, my "go to" pliers.

I recently just bought a mini pair off the Matco tool truck. They are about the size of a pack of cigarettes.

Oh those look NIIICE

The first knipex pliers I got were off a Mac truck. Mac labeled, too. The driver showed me an adjustable, smooth jawed plier that didn't mar or damage the material, even soft aluminum hydraulic fittings, and he demonstrated the tool by clamping it onto his work bench and hoisting himself up by putting his weight on the handle. The more weight, the tighter they gripped, and still no damage to the underlying surface. I was sold.

I still have them, decades later, as well as a full set of the knipex plier wrenches, and a host of other knipex tools. Outstanding tools that last a long time. There are several sizes of the twin grip pliers.

The jaws, incidentally, have been available from snap-on with angled toothed edges to allow gripping from several directions; they've been out for years. I have some of those, too, and they work well. The knipex have the advantage of their multi position system, which makes them far more adjustable to the work.

I have a few different Knipex pliers. All top quality and design. My favorites of many in my possession. They're the bomb.

Ha ha, mine showed up in the mail today.

Ordered 1 after reading about it last month here:

https://toolguyd.com/knipex-twingrip-pliers/

None of the Knipex pliers I own outperforms the Robogrips I have. I never reach for the Knipex now if the Robogrips are around.

^^^ you can't be serious!

Welcome to the Harbor Freight quality vs Knipex.

Yup. If you are being serious then you need to get out more. If you were trolling us for a laugh, then good one. Lol

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jimb888:
None of the Knipex pliers I own outperforms the Robogrips I have. I never reach for the Knipex now if the Robogrips are around. /QUOTE]

I have no Knipex tools so no comparisons but my Robogrip is maybe three decades old and a great, very useful tool, I truly use it regularly. Laminated steel construction and with soft jaw add ons, extremely versatile and strong. They came from a time when Craftsmen tools had a valued reputation.

I was five or six when the robo grip came out, and I clearly remember the tv commercials. I convinced my mom to get the set, large and small with the vinyl covers for my dad for Christmas, Father’s Day, something. I also clearly remember that he never cared a bit for the things.

As a teenager, I bought him a pair of 10” and 12” knipex cobras for Christmas, after he had said how much he liked them after eyeing them a few times at our local hardware store. At the time I couldn’t get over spending close to a hundred dollars on two pair of pliers

He still has both pair of cobra pliers, although the button covering the adjuster on the 10” pair has been gone for years. The robogrips are in the bottom of a drawer in his “emergency tool stash” and have not seen the light of day in yeArs.

As a mechanic, I own at least a dozen pair of knipex pliers of some sort or another, and I can say that even their hog ring pliers are a step above the rest.

I see a pair or two of these in my future.

My grandma bought me a nice Craftsman set when I was 9 or 10. It included one pair of Roboslips.

I was not impressed then and certainly not after getting my hands on some Knipex Cobras. I still need one of their "pliers wrench" pliers.

Robogrip> Bare Hands> Channelocks> Cobras

I have a few sets of robogrips and copies, floating around. They do okay for household stuff; I wouldn't use them professionally. They're self-adjusting, which is their gimmick, but it also makes them weaker, and they're not very precise tools. They'll get around a nut, but that's about it. There are a lot better tools. That said, I still have them...they just don't see much use.

quote:

The robogrips are in the bottom of a drawer in his “emergency tool stash” and have not seen the light of day in years.

Mine didn't even deserve emergency duty. I threw them out because they were junk.

quote:

Originally posted by Suppressed:

quote:

The robogrips are in the bottom of a drawer in his “emergency tool stash” and have not seen the light of day in years.

Mine didn't even deserve emergency duty. I threw them out because they were junk.

Similar results here, mine sat untouched for years before I decided they were wasting space in my toolbox. Couldn't bring myself to throw them away (they were a gift from my parents) so now the sit in they bottom of my scrap metal/junk tool bucket.

These have been out of stock everywhere, but I got an alert they were back in stock at Amazon. Well, maybe, but with a third-party seller who is selling at twice the retail price. No thanks.

However they do now have an option to order even though out of stock for delivery in a few weeks at $31.50.

Thanks SigForum. I should put a sticker on my tool chest.