Stock Your Toolbox: Vice-Grip Pliers

by Randy Murray on August 22, 2013

I am not a lawyer, but I’m pretty sure that you can’t legally call something a “toolbox” unless it contains at least one set of Vice-Grip pliers.

Vice-Grip is a brand name for a type of pliers that has adjustable locking jaws. You can find similar tools from other manufacturers, but the original is worth paying a bit extra for. They’re the beautiful cross-breeding of pliers and clamps. They were one of the most used tools when I grew up on the farm and they remain one of the most reached for tools in my house. When you need to get a tight, solid grip on a nut there’s nothing like a pair of vice-grips. I’ve used them for bending, clamping, unscrewing, and pretty much every other task (including hammering on things in frustration).

You can get these locking pliers in many different forms. I recommend that you have at least one pair of the basic, curved jaw version. Keep one pair in your toolbox, another in your car’s glove compartment or a drawer in your kitchen or laundry. These things are indispensable when you need to “get a grip” on something.

Vice-Grip Curved Jaw Locking Pliers (Amazon Link).

 

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The Stock Your Toolbox: Vice-Grip Pliers by Randy Murray, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

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