Which Pliers Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 14 pliers options head to head. Knipex came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Knipex
Price shown in test: $43, the most expensive tested
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Gedore
Price shown in test: $33
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Doyle
Price shown in test: $20 (sold at Harbor Freight)
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The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“the Knipex brand is by far the best”
Best in 1 of 7 measurements, including Impact Wrench Damage Score.
Best in 2 of 7 measurements, including Hard Steel 34 In Bolt Test and Impact Wrench Damage Score.
Best in 1 of 7 measurements, including Impact Wrench Damage Score.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Made In
- 1Knipex
Germany
- 2Gedore
Austria
- 3Doyle
Taiwan
- 4Irwin
China
- 5Stanley FatMax
China
- 6Hautmec
China
- 7S&R
Germany
- 8GearWrench
Taiwan
- 9Klein Tools
Germany
- 10LAOA
Taiwan
- 11Fujiya
Japan
- 12Channellock
USA, the only US-made brand in the lineup
- 13Stanley bi-material groove joint (standard)
China
- 14Husky
China (sold at Home Depot)
Weight
- 1Knipex373 g
- 2Gedore331 g
- 3Doyle352 g
- 4Irwin413 g
- 5Stanley FatMax342 g
the lightest of the brands tested up to that point in the video
- 6Hautmec361 g
- 7S&R364 g
- 8GearWrench341 g
- 9Klein Tools332 g
- 10LAOA307 g
the lightest of all brands tested
- 11Fujiya317 g
very light
- 12Channellock391 g
- 13Stanley bi-material groove joint (standard)413 g
- 14Husky422 g
Mild Steel Bolt Grip Test
- 1Knipex573 in-lbs3rd
- 2Gedore644 in-lbs2nd
- 3Doyle559 in-lbs4th
- 4Irwin867 in-lbs1st
the BEST (first place) result on this test, described as very impressive
- 5Stanley FatMax390 in-lbs
the best result among brands tested up to that point in the video
- 6Hautmec365 in-lbs
performed nearly as well as the Stanley FatMax
- 7S&R415 in-lbs
described as better than average
- 8GearWrench356 in-lbs
about average
- 9Klein Tools314 in-lbs
- 10LAOA347 in-lbs
described as unable to keep up with some of the less expensive brands
- 11Fujiya184 in-lbs
struggled, similar to the Channellock
- 12Channellock190 in-lbs
one of the worst results, couldn't get a good grip
- 13Stanley bi-material groove joint (standard)279 in-lbs
the Husky held the lead over this brand at this point in the video
- 14Husky326 in-lbs
High Carbon Steel Socket Extension Test
- 1Knipex257 in-lbs2nd
by far the best result, more than doubling the second place finisher (Stanley FatMax at 99 in-lbs); teeth still looked as good as new afterward
- 2Gedore46 in-lbs
(tied with LAOA); teeth held up well, described as looking nearly as good as new
- 3Doyle68 in-lbs2nd
second place; teeth held up very well, nearly as good as new
- 4Irwin49 in-lbs
performed better than three of the four previously tested brands at that point, though the teeth experienced quite a bit of wear
- 5Stanley FatMax99 in-lbs2nd
second place overall (behind only the Knipex), described as by far the best result up to that point; held up well with only minor tooth wear
- 6Hautmec40 in-lbs
second position at that point in the sequence, with more tooth wear than the Stanley FatMax
- 7S&R39 in-lbs
about average, with more wear than the Doyle
- 8GearWrench36 in-lbs
really struggled to gain traction; teeth experienced quite a bit of dulling
- 9Klein Tools42 in-lbs
slightly better than average
- 10LAOA46 in-lbs
(tied with Gedore), but the socket extension dulled the LAOA's teeth noticeably more than average
- 11Fujiya39 in-lbs
about average, but with noticeably more visible wear than the Doyle
- 12Channellock39 in-lbs
performed nearly as well as the Irwin, though teeth were noticeably less sharp afterward
- 13Stanley bi-material groove joint (standard)32 in-lbs
struggled, with even more wear than the Husky
- 14Husky32 in-lbs
struggled, teeth described as too soft to gain a good grip
Hard Steel 34 In Bolt Test
- 1Knipex1,118 in-lbs2nd
close behind the Gedore's 1,208
- 2Gedore1,208 in-lbs1st
the BEST (first place) result of all brands tested
- 3Doyle1,074 in-lbs
described as doing great for a very affordable brand
- 4Irwin334 in-lbs
struggled to maintain hold on the harder steel despite winning the mild steel test
- 5Stanley FatMax323 in-lbs
a lot better than the standard Stanley model but not top tier
- 6Hautmec592 in-lbs
performed well
- 7S&R269 in-lbs
struggled to maintain a grip
- 8GearWrench283 in-lbs
slightly better than the S&R
- 9Klein Tools219 in-lbs
struggled to lock onto the bolt
- 10LAOA267 in-lbs
quite a bit of tooth damage
- 11Fujiya106 in-lbs
struggled badly, carrying over tooth damage from the prior test
- 12Channellock344 in-lbs
slightly better than the Irwin
- 13Stanley bi-material groove joint (standard)137 in-lbs
the worst result on this test, described as unable to get a good grip
- 14Husky630 in-lbs
a surprisingly strong start, holding an early lead in this specific test before pricier brands surpassed it
Impact Wrench Damage Score
- 1Knipex0.5
(scale of 0 to 5, lower is better), the best score of all brands tested
- 2Gedore1.5
one of the best scores
- 3Doyle1
tied for one of the best scores; described as bringing the bolt to a complete stop after about a second
- 4Irwin
struggled to hold back the bolt from spinning freely; teeth experienced a little less wear than the Hautmec
- 5Stanley FatMax
did quite a bit better than the standard Stanley at holding back the bolt, but the teeth experienced quite a bit of damage
- 6Hautmec
performed about the same as the Stanley FatMax at holding back the bolt, but with quite a bit of tooth damage
- 7S&R
did a fairly good job holding back the impact wrench at first before the bolt began to gain speed; moderate tooth damage
- 8GearWrench
began to perform better after the first couple of seconds as the teeth sank into the bolt; damage about the same as the S&R
- 9Klein Tools1
tied for one of the best scores; wasn't able to gain a good grip on the bolt but held up well with only minor damage
- 10LAOA
not able to do much to hold back the impact wrench; bolt caused quite a bit of damage to the teeth
- 11Fujiya
bolt spun freely (impact wrench was too much for it), though teeth only experienced moderate damage
- 12Channellock1
tied for one of the best scores; grip was weak (couldn't slow the impact wrench much) but the teeth themselves held up very well
- 13Stanley bi-material groove joint (standard)
bolt spun nearly freely in the jaws; teeth experienced quite a bit of damage compared to the Husky
- 14Husky
did a great job slowing the rotation of the bolt for the price, with only a moderate amount of tooth damage
Jaw Width
- 1Knipex0.31 in
- 2Gedore0.28 in
tied for narrowest
- 3Doyle0.31 in
- 4Irwinnearly0.5 in
the widest of the lineup (about 20% wider than the other brands)
- 5Stanley FatMaxclose to0.31 in
- 6Hautmec0.29 in
- 7S&R0.28 in
tied for narrowest
- 8GearWrench0.31 in
- 9Klein Tools0.28 in
tied for narrowest
- 11Fujiya0.37 in
- 12Channellock0.39 in
- 13Stanley bi-material groove joint (standard)
stated in the transcript as 0.41 mm, which is inconsistent with every other brand's measurement being in inches (roughly 0.28 to 0.5 in range); kept verbatim as a likely unit/caption error, not corrected
- 14Husky0.39 in
- 10LAOAnot tested
Adjustable Positions
- 1Knipex27
- 2Gedore15
- 3Doyle21
- 5Stanley FatMax17
- 6Hautmec15
- 7S&R16
- 8GearWrench27
- 9Klein Tools10
- 10LAOA20
- 11Fujiya7
- 12Channellock7
- 13Stanley bi-material groove joint (standard)7
handle positions
- 4Irwinnot tested
- 14Huskynot tested
All measurements (1 more)+
Claims
- 10LAOA
SAE 1060 steel body, high frequency quenching, hardness up to HRC 58
- 1Knipexnot tested
- 2Gedorenot tested
- 3Doylenot tested
- 4Irwinnot tested
- 5Stanley FatMaxnot tested
- 6Hautmecnot tested
- 7S&Rnot tested
- 8GearWrenchnot tested
- 9Klein Toolsnot tested
- 11Fujiyanot tested
- 12Channellocknot tested
- 13Stanley bi-material groove joint (standard)not tested
- 14Huskynot tested
How it was tested
- grip strength on threaded mild steel bolt
- grip strength on high carbon steel (single-use socket extensions)
- grip strength on a smooth 3/4 inch hardened steel bolt
- tooth damage from an impact wrench forcing a held bolt to spin for 5 seconds
“the Knipex brand is by far the best”
