2021 test13 productsHand Tools
Which Slip Joint Pliers Brand Wins?
We compared 13 slip joint pliers options head to head. Tsunoda came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Winner
Tsunoda
Price shown in test: $12 (this brand's own price is given as $12 at introduction, though the closing verdict refers to it as "for fourteen dollars", matching the price of several other mid-pack brands rather than its own stated $12; kept both, flagged as a possible narration slip)
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Runner-up
Crescent
Price shown in test: $14
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Specs | Weight | Small Bolt Grip Test | Screw Grip Test | Six Penny Nail Cut Test | Large Bolt Grip Test | Wear Resistance Assessment | Sixteen Penny Nail Cut Test | Final Damage Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Tsunoda$12 (this brand's own price is given as $12 at introduction, though the closing verdict refers to it as "for fourteen dollars", matching the price of several other mid-pack brands rather than its own stated $12; kept both, flagged as a possible narration slip) | Japan Industrial Standard certified, chrome plated surface, maximum jaw opening 1 in, made in Japan (transcript spells this brand "sonota"/"sonoda"/"snow to"/"cenote" throughout; resolved to Tsunoda per the description's product list) | 269 g | 97 in lbs, first place overall (recap: "the sonota pliers came in on top at 97 inch pounds") | 14 in lbs, tied for third place with the Kobalt, well behind the Vampliers (23) and Crescent (15) | 44 lbs, first place overall | 219 in lbs, first place overall | held up the best of all brands at that point with very little wear; the closing subjective summary separately names the Stanley Proto, Wilde Tool, and Vampliers as the best for wear resistance but adds that the Tsunoda "performed just about as well" | 219 lbs, fifth place (behind Tekton 168, Martin 178, Crescent 203, Kobalt 206) | named among the best-condition brands in the closing subjective damage assessment, alongside Urrea, Tekton, Martin, and Stanley Proto |
| 2Crescent$14 | chrome plated finish claimed to resist rust/corrosion, curved jaw with gripping teeth, deeper wire cutter for better holding power, heat treated forged alloy steel, non-slip grip, made in China | 246 g | 93 in lbs, second place behind the Tsunoda | 15 in lbs, second place behind the Vampliers | 47 lbs, tied for second place with the Irwin and Wilde Tool, behind the Tsunoda | 196 in lbs, second place behind the Tsunoda, and held up nearly as well for wear | not tested | 203 lbs, third place behind Tekton and Martin, though the cutters experienced more damage than some other brands | not tested |
| 3Harden$5 | 8 in length, claw with teeth described as not easy to slide, comfortable ergonomic dipped handle, drop forged carbon steel, made in China | 242 g | 72 in lbs | 13 in lbs | 52 lbs | 134 in lbs; teeth described as more pointed than the Olympia Tools, which the narrator says explains the higher score | teeth experienced quite a bit of wear from the impact-wrench exposure | 228 lbs, survived the cut but with quite a bit of damage to the pliers | not tested |
| 4Olympia Tools$6 | hardened and tempered drop forged alloy steel construction, polished finish, double injected cushion handle grips, made in China | 275 g | 55 in lbs, the weakest result in this test | 10 in lbs | was not able to cut through the nail at all; the cutters left a gap that prevented a complete cut | 113 in lbs, did not perform as well as the Harden; the narrator attributes this to less pointed teeth than the Harden | no separate wear commentary beyond the grip-strength comparison to the Harden | not mentioned in this section of the transcript; a likely skip given it already failed the smaller six-penny nail cut test, though no explicit reason is stated | not tested |
| 5Irwin Vice Grip$9 | constructed from durable nickel chromium steel, right-angle teeth for grip in all directions, machined jaws, induction-hardened cutting edge claimed to stay sharper longer, made in China | 323 g, by far the heaviest of the initial group of brands | 75 in lbs, tied for fifth place with the Kobalt | 12 in lbs | 47 lbs, tied for second place with the Crescent and Wilde Tool, behind the Tsunoda | 158 in lbs, tied with the Wilde Tool; teeth held up about the same as the Olympia Tools | not tested | 232 lbs, cutters held up quite a bit better than the Harden's | not tested |
| 6Kobalt$10 | drop forged chrome nickel steel, one-piece rivet design claimed to eliminate re-tightening, over-molded comfort grip, made in China | 292 g | 75 in lbs, tied for fifth place with the Irwin | 14 in lbs, tied for third place with the Tsunoda, moved into the lead briefly at that point in the sequence | 55 lbs | 135 in lbs, briefly second place behind the Irwin at that point; damage similar to the Irwin | not tested | 206 lbs, fourth place, though the cutters experienced more damage than the Irwin's | not tested |
| 7Channellock$11 | US forged steel, serrated jaw and pipe grip, permalock fastener, high carbon forged steel, 100% made in USA | 220 g, the lightest of the initial group of brands at that point in the video | 86 in lbs, fourth place | 8 in lbs, the weakest result of this test despite doing well in the bolt-grip test | 56 lbs | 180 in lbs, third place; very pointed teeth, held up slightly better than the Irwin and Kobalt | not tested | 226 lbs, briefly second place behind the Kobalt at that point; cutters held up really well | not tested |
| 8Urrea$14 | independent thermal treatment claimed to reinforce the tip area, made in Mexico (transcript spells this brand "urea"/"yuri"/"erie" throughout; resolved to Urrea per the description's product list) | 216 g, the lightest of the group at that point in the video | 62 in lbs, just ahead of the Olympia Tools | 10 in lbs, tied with the Olympia Tools | 57 lbs, the worst among brands that successfully cut through, 13 lbs more force needed than the leader | 99 in lbs, last place; teeth not as pointed as other brands, though they held up fairly well despite the low score | not tested | was not able to cut through the 16-penny nail, only bent it; handle developed quite a bit of wobble after the attempt, though the cutters remained in good shape | not tested |
| 9Tekton$14 | made in USA (transcript spells this brand "tecton"/"tekken"/"technique" throughout; resolved to Tekton per the description's product list) | 284 g | 64 in lbs, slightly better than the Urrea | 9 in lbs | 48 lbs | 143 in lbs; teeth described as offering less bite than some other brands but holding up fairly well | not tested | 168 lbs, first place overall, moving into the lead over the Crescent | not tested |
| 10Stanley Proto$19 | made in USA | 282 g | 69 in lbs, better than the Tekton, but not enough to challenge the Tsunoda's lead | 13 in lbs | 108 lbs, by far the worst of all brands that successfully cut through the nail, described as really struggling | no explicit numeric figure for this brand appears in the large-bolt-grip section of the transcript, unlike every other brand; a genuine gap rather than a stated skip | named in the closing subjective summary as one of the best brands for wear resistance, alongside the Wilde Tool and Vampliers | 225 lbs, not enough to take the lead; cutters remained in great shape | not tested |
| 11Wilde Tool$20 | flush fastener, drop forged and heat treated for strength and durability, claimed to last a lifetime, made in USA | 274 g | 88 in lbs, third place | 10 in lbs | 47 lbs, tied for second place with the Irwin and Crescent, behind the Tsunoda | 158 in lbs, tied with the Irwin; teeth held up really well | named in the closing subjective summary as one of the best brands for wear resistance, alongside the Stanley Proto and Vampliers | the rivets stretched during the attempted cut and the pliers were not able to cut through the 16-penny nail; a small amount of damage to the cutters | not tested |
| 12Martin$34 | plastic grip designed for cutting wire flush, rivet design allows close access to work surfaces and tight areas, made in USA | 300 g | 66 in lbs | 12 in lbs | 53 lbs | 175 in lbs, better than average; teeth held up really well | not tested | 178 lbs, second place behind the Tekton; cutters remained in great shape | not tested |
| 13Vampliers$35 | 7 in length, unlike every other brand tested at 8 in; designed for stripped/damaged screw heads, rusted/frozen screws, and tamper-proof slotted screw heads; does not include a wire cutter; made in Japan (transcript spells this brand "van pliers"/"vamp pliers"/"vampire's"/"vampires" throughout; resolved to Vampliers per the description's product list) | 189 g, by far the lightest of all 13 brands | 62 in lbs, hurt by its shorter handles compared to the other 8 in pliers | 23 in lbs, first place by a wide margin, attributed to its unique jaw design | not applicable, this brand has no wire cutter and was not tested on either nail-cutting test | 177 in lbs, fourth place | teeth held up the best of all brands at that point, with very little wear; named in the closing subjective summary alongside the Stanley Proto and Wilde Tool as among the best for wear resistance | not tested | not tested |
How it was tested
- grip strength on a small bolt clamped in a fixed handle-spacing jig applying about 100 lbs of squeezing force, measured with an electronic torque adapter, in in lbs
- grip strength on a metal roofing screw gripped from the front of the pliers, in in lbs
- force required to cut through a 6-penny nail using a hydraulic press applied to the pliers' handles, in lbs
- grip strength on a larger, harder bolt using the same jig methodology, in in lbs
- wear resistance of the teeth after 5 seconds of impact-wrench exposure, assessed subjectively
- force required to cut through a 16-penny nail, in lbs
- overall subjective damage assessment of each brand's condition after all tests
“for fourteen dollars i really like the snow to brand”
Data notes and caveats
13 brands tested (Vampliers, Kobalt, Irwin, Stanley Proto, Channellock, Tekton, Martin, Wilde Tool, Urrea, Crescent, Harden, Olympia Tools, Tsunoda per the description). Several brands are consistently phonetically mangled throughout this transcript (Tsunoda as sonota/sonoda/snow to/cenote, Urrea as urea/yuri/erie, Tekton as tecton/tekken/technique, Vampliers as van pliers/vamp pliers/vampire's/vampires, Wilde Tool as wild tool/wild two); all resolved against the description's product list with no ambiguity since each phonetic variant is used consistently for one brand throughout. The video's closing verdict is a casual list of personal favorites (Tsunoda, Channellock, Crescent, and a caveated Vampliers) rather than a scored average-finish ranking like some other videos in this channel; Tsunoda is treated as the winner since it is named first, most enthusiastically, and won or tied for first in three of the five graded tests. Stanley Proto is missing a numeric large-bolt-grip figure despite being tested in every other category, a genuine transcript gap. The verdict quote's stated price ("fourteen dollars") does not match Tsunoda's own introduction price of $12 earlier in the transcript, though it does match the price given for Crescent, Urrea, and Tekton; kept both prices, flagged as an unresolved discrepancy rather than corrected.