SAK pliers: where do you use it for?

[Teofilo]

I'm more of a plier based person. I love all the implements in a SAK. I know that the SAKpliers are for very light use only, like bending paper clips, holding needles and tightening nuts and bolts on RC cars, etc... I'm very interested in buying the WorkChamp, and wondering why they attached a small plier. For what use really?

[bren10man]

Workchamp is too bulky for me.  I saw one a few months ago and passed on it for a OHT I ordered from the States.  I saw a Hercules earlier tonight.  Too bulky.

The SAK pliers, both brands, are not very useful for the needs I have in the military, all potentially heavy duty tasks.

In Iraq, I carried a SOG Power Plier (blackened) with the blasting cap crimper.  Very sturdy and useful.

I have a 2nd model Gerber Multiplier with bits and bit adapter I bought in 1993.  It pinches unlike the newer ones....I keep it in my gunsmithing box (mothballed back in the USA with all my firearms and ammo).

I bought a few weeks ago a SwissTool...very nice.  Especially the price: $29.95 at the PX or BX here in Korea.

The big lock blade SAK's with pliers are just too bulky for me. 

[Mr. Whippy]

I'm a pliers based tool guy too, mostly.  What do you think of the Swiss Grip style tools?  Personally, they don't feel "intuitive" like a Pliers based multitool such as SwissTool, Gerber or Leatherman.

[I'm Still Bison]

I'm a pliers based tool guy too, mostly.  What do you think of the Swiss Grip style tools?  Personally, they don't feel "intuitive" like a Pliers based multitool such as SwissTool, Gerber or Leatherman.

           Not having an intuitive feel might actually be a good thing.I think you'd have to stop for a few seconds and think through your moves,especially on small,fine detail jobs.

[bren10man]

I'm a pliers based tool guy too, mostly.  What do you think of the Swiss Grip style tools?  Personally, they don't feel "intuitive" like a Pliers based multitool such as SwissTool, Gerber or Leatherman.

Never tried them.

[Mr. Whippy]

I'm a pliers based tool guy too, mostly.  What do you think of the Swiss Grip style tools?  Personally, they don't feel "intuitive" like a Pliers based multitool such as SwissTool, Gerber or Leatherman.

           Not having an intuitive feel might actually be a good thing.I think you'd have to stop for a few seconds and think through your moves,especially on small,fine detail jobs.

Working on Tractors, Fencing or other farm equipment, I need pliers to be just a pair of pliers (a lot of no-look-gotta grab the spring clamp or cotter pin stuff). Not much fine detail work on a Ford tractor 

[donvito]

I have a Wenger Mini Grip and keeping it as a shelf queen due to the limited movement of pliers making them not generating enough grip force. My Swiss Tool is the first MT I reach for when needed. The Vic Mechanic is a nice minimalist sak, those little pliers are useful for small tasks.

[Neil]

As a very rough rule, I avoid carrying a SAK with pliers, they are too small.  That said, they're excellent in the guts of a computer for pulling stubborn molex plugs or swapping jumpers.

Neil

[NutSAK]

As a very rough rule, I avoid carrying a SAK with pliers, they are too small.  That said, they're excellent in the guts of a computer for pulling stubborn molex plugs or swapping jumpers.

Neil

That's what I use them for the majority of the time, and they are the perfect tool for it, IMO.

[duckman1975]

I am a knife guy I use the knife on my multitool more often but I prefer my multis with plier.
where do i use it just like I said " when in doubt pinch it with a multitool plier."

[Teofilo]

I am a knife guy I use the knife on my multitool more often but I prefer my multis with plier.
where do i use it just like I said " when in doubt pinch it with a multitool plier."

 

[J-sews]

SAK pliers are just too small for me.   Most of the things I work on require bigger pliers.

[Gareth]

Most of the time I use mine to fix my three year old girls glasses after she has bent them again. 

[Nutznboltz]

I find these small pliers on the vic's and wenger's perfect for undoing knots ( string , laces etc. ) and very small fasteners, but not much more.   Due to their limited uses I don't carry my sak's as much prefering to go with larger plier based multi's like the juice.

[Singh]

the pliers on a sak are pretty much useless and not worth the space for me.

for pliers, I'll use a multi-tool

[Dtrain]

I think tht the pliers are a viable tool. I do not use them that often when carrying my SwissChamp, but......Supisingly they have come in handy. I have used them to fix up some of my wife's jewelry, fix a toy or two for the lads, and pull some slivers. I am sure I could live without them, but when carrying the larger layers, what's one more layer to gain an option or two. Sometimes I think that if I could get a leathermaker to make a sheath like one I had made in the service that carried a lineman's plier and my Champion SAK I would be set. If I could get a set up like that now, say with a meduim pair of ViseGrips and my SwissChamp I would have all the pliers options covered.


Dtrain

[Landrew]

Looks like this thread hasn't seen the light of day since before the economic crash, but I wanted to weigh in on the SAK Pliers.  I originally thought they would be useful and worth having, but after several years carrying them, I never found a use for them.  It's a multitool plier or nothing for me since then.

[Northern Geek]

I actually really like the SAK pliers.. but then I mostly use them as oversized tweezers or hemostats, just to hold something small and fiddly.

Perfect for working on computers, attaching jumpers, cables and so on. I've used them more than I have the pliers on my swisstool to be honest.

I don't curerntly EDC a model with pliers (I ususally carry the Compact) but I have them laying around at home.

[PTRSAK]

I've found them pretty useful working on R/C Helicopters too.

[Northern Geek]

I can totally see that. They're really handy for delicate work.

[AimlessWanderer]

I like the pliers on the Rangergrip 90, but not a huge fan of the 85/91mm ones. Not that there's anything wrong with them really, but I'd rather have my Gerber Dime or even Mini Bear Jaws / Mini Bucktool. I like pliers I can hold properly and it's the ergos of the smaller SAK pliers I don't like rather than their size/capability.

[nuphoria]

I use the 91mm pliers a fair bit for small things like holding split rings open, or tinkering with little bits and bobs.

[Singh]

I amend my statement from almost four years ago: Iagree with what others have said in that  think SAK pliers are ideally suited as Turbo Tweezers, or mini forceps. Thought of in that way, they can very useful.

[kmanct3]

I wrap a small rubber band around any SAK with pliers as i can make a makeshift vise grip as needed for soldering or anything that would require extra hands.

[Landrew]

I wrap a small rubber band around any SAK with pliers as i can make a makeshift vise grip as needed for soldering or anything that would require extra hands.

Maybe a cool SAK mod would be two pliers on ball joints like the first Spyderco product.

[kkokkolis]

I rarely use full sized pliers and I don't own a good multitool yet (just 3 Chinese I rarely use for our bicycles). I'm not a handyman you see.
On the contrary I used the SAK's pliers a lot for altering the shape of wire and paper clips, fixing eyeglasses, keyrings and jewelry (my wife and daughter posses the art of it), fixing stubborn thumbscrews and small nuts (telescopes are full of these) pulling nails etc. I see it as a powered pair of fingers, thump and index.
I was thrilled when Victorinox added pliers to the Champion in order to produce the Swisschamp. Who prefers a Champion over a Swisschamp?

[kmanct3]

I wrap a small rubber band around any SAK with pliers as i can make a makeshift vise grip as needed for soldering or anything that would require extra hands.

Maybe a cool SAK mod would be two pliers on ball joints like the first Spyderco product.
(Image removed from quote.)

Hey, I have one of those !

[Monrogue]

I rarely use full sized pliers and I don't own a good multitool yet (just 3 Chinese I rarely use for our bicycles). I'm not a handyman you see.
On the contrary I used the SAK's pliers a lot for altering the shape of wire and paper clips, fixing eyeglasses, keyrings and jewelry (my wife and daughter posses the art of it), fixing stubborn thumbscrews and small nuts (telescopes are full of these) pulling nails etc. I see it as a powered pair of fingers, thump and index.
I was thrilled when Victorinox added pliers to the Champion in order to produce the Swisschamp. Who prefers a Champion over a Swisschamp?

I'm no handyman myself either, and don't use the pliers on my full size multitools for much of anything other than finer work.  This makes me wonder if SAK pliers would be more ideal for my use.  I've never handled any to know what they're like though (I had considered getting a Deluxe Tinker at one point, but got the Explorer instead).  I carry a full size multitool along with a SAK or two anyway, so pliers are covered, and I like having the full size ones handy just in case.  I could see SAK pliers being handy for the majority of my uses though, performing like you said, as finger and thumb.   

[Lynn LeFey]

I'm with the small plier (hemostat?) crowd. I have downsized and downsized my pliers, until I get by with the pliers on a keychain size tool. I just never need full size pliers, but DO sometimes need superhuman grip strength on small items, or getting into tight places where my hand won't go... which is where these tiny pliers really excel.

I'll give a strong second for using these with knots.

I probably WOULD be happy with a SAK with pliers. Then I could retire my Sheffield 12010.

In truth, I think the SAK pliers, and plier based keychain offerings from Leatherman (for example) are really a different beast than something like the pliers on a 4" Leatherman.

It really comes down to what you do on a daily basis, as to whether they are useful.

[thenorm]

I find pliers useful.  If I am working on a project where I will need pliers I carry regular pliers.  I some times find myself up on a ladder working on something that I did not think I would need a pair of pliers.  Rather that climb down and go and find the pliers I need, I will pull out my SAK troubleshooter and often can get make them work.

None of the tools on my SAKs are as good as a single use tool, but they are often good enough when I am away from my workshop or home.