MultiTools with wire stripper heads

[gerleatherberman]

Growing curiosity with multitools that have wire strippers built into the pliers head/cutter head. 












What are some of your favorites?

[ReamerPunch]

I like the Klein plier-head, especially in the Core body Sam did. That is a tool that needs to be made.
And that Paladin pliers are also great.

What's up with the King Innovation MT? Can't it close any further?

[nate j]

The only one I have is the ES4.  Great little tool, though I would like to see the scissors (which are only so-so anyway) go in favor of another driver or two.

[gerleatherberman]

I like the Klein plier-head, especially in the Core body Sam did. That is a tool that needs to be made.
And that Paladin pliers are also great.

What's up with the King Innovation MT? Can't it close any further?

Sam's Kore is awesome!
I'd like to see the Klein head on some more tools at some point. The fit & finish of the Klein is really impressive, but the low tool count and just the blade locking is a let down in the highly competitive MT market.

The Paladin head seems to have the most overall functionality of the lot. But, I do like  dedicated stripper heads better for certain jobs. It is so hard to choose.

That is as far as that King Abomination....I mean Innovation will close
The stripping function of the head is outstanding though. It easily beats the Bear 155EL and ES4 in that regard. I won't say the L-Tool is a bad MT, because they seemed to have really tried to make something that is useful, but it is massive/poorly finished/poorly designed(won't close fully...lol) and a blatant rip-off of a LM. It does do everything it is advertised to do, so it is a neutral right now. Will give it a try this week to see if it can handle real-world use.

[gerleatherberman]

The only one I have is the ES4.  Great little tool, though I would like to see the scissors (which are only so-so anyway) go in favor of another driver or two.

That is a good point. The scissors aren't really good enough to get people to pull the Vic Classics off of their keychains. A little driver and chisel might be the best route. Perhaps even a package opener(like the Wingman/Sidekick/Rev?

[nate j]

That is a good point. The scissors aren't really good enough to get people to pull the Vic Classics off of their keychains. A little driver and chisel might be the best route. Perhaps even a package opener(like the Wingman/Sidekick/Rev?

Some good options there.  The small flat driver that came on the now retired Squirt P4 and E4 was pretty useful (I never had an E4, but had a P4), but that screwdriver and the awl (not too useful anyway) were the tools removed to make way for the scissors on the PS4 and ES4 iterations.  Another option might be "full-length" instead of "half-length" drivers, to better handle recessed screws.

[ezdog]

I work with wire for a living and this is one of those slippery slopes for me about MT in general.

There is no way that I will ever use one of these MT with the stripper built-in unless it is the only thing at my reach at the time.

The wire stripping they can provide is just not accurate enough for me to be confident about and I can carry an actual Stripper anywhere I go if I need to.

In my experience most strippers require you to develop a "Feel" for how they work correctly and the feel needs to be repeatable in order for me to strip and not do damage to the wire.
I am a Low Voltage Guy and any time you nick or gouge or stretch the conductors there is a really increased risk of that ending up being a trouble connection down the road and this is just not a chance I want or need to take if I am billing someone for stripping the wire,and I am!

I have learned this the hard way and I have also tried pretty much every type and brand of stripper that I come across and there is just no room in my world for anything that is not the best for the job.
Same with Diagonal Cutters and Coax tools and Telcom tools and on and on and on.

Now I do watch Electricians all day long using a utility knife or Linemans pliers or Dikes to strip power cables and these are a lot more forgiving of the strippers than LV wires are but still I have seen so many snapped and torn connections for power circuits that were the result of sloppy stripping that I use real strippers on everything I strip if I possibly can.
I also see other LV guys doing this and try to explain to them why I roll the way I do but usually they are not at all interested and seem to think that it is all just about speed and not quality or they just do not comprehend a difference somehow?

So I guess like anything else it is all in your point of view in the end.
I would just rather be safe than sorry if I can.

[Sam Lim]

I work with wire for a living and this is one of those slippery slopes for me about MT in general.

There is no way that I will ever use one of these MT with the stripper built-in unless it is the only thing at my reach at the time.

The wire stripping they can provide is just not accurate enough for me to be confident about and I can carry an actual Stripper anywhere I go if I need to.

In my experience most strippers require you to develop a "Feel" for how they work correctly and the feel needs to be repeatable in order for me to strip and not do damage to the wire.
I am a Low Voltage Guy and any time you nick or gouge or stretch the conductors there is a really increased risk of that ending up being a trouble connection down the road and this is just not a chance I want or need to take if I am billing someone for stripping the wire,and I am!

I have learned this the hard way and I have also tried pretty much every type and brand of stripper that I come across and there is just no room in my world for anything that is not the best for the job.
Same with Diagonal Cutters and Coax tools and Telcom tools and on and on and on.

Now I do watch Electricians all day long using a utility knife or Linemans pliers or Dikes to strip power cables and these are a lot more forgiving of the strippers than LV wires are but still I have seen so many snapped and torn connections for power circuits that were the result of sloppy stripping that I use real strippers on everything I strip if I possibly can.
I also see other LV guys doing this and try to explain to them why I roll the way I do but usually they are not at all interested and seem to think that it is all just about speed and not quality or they just do not comprehend a difference somehow?

So I guess like anything else it is all in your point of view in the end.
I would just rather be safe than sorry if I can.

Couldn't agree more. I too do wires. Though mostly with smaller guage. Sometime stripping up to a few hundreds a day for connections. Using a tool like such is just madness. When I know I am going to do wiring work even for a show while, I still bring a automatic stripper along. But that doesn't stop me from carrying my Kore on my work belt everyday. Having something is better than nothing. Proven many many time. It's a tool for a niche market. To me it's more like a backup for adhoc work. Though I see myself reaching for it almost every day.