The new Knipex TwinGrip slip-joint pliers are not your ordinary slip-joint pliers.
To start off, the Knipex TwinGrip pliers feature a 5-position design that allows adjustability with the push of a button. That’s right, unlike regular slip-joint pliers, the TwinGrip will never inadvertently self-adjust itself to the wrong setting.
The TwinGrip can be used on materials 5/32″ to 7/8″, and with the new jaw design, the pliers can securely grip both round and flat materials.
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Now, let’s talk about those jaws!
The first thing you’ll notice is the round cut-out in the front of the TwinGrip’s jaws.
This enables the pliers to securely grasp and turn things like stripped-out screws and bolts.
But, that’s not all. Looking at the side profile, the pliers have a non-symmetrical jaw design that creates a 3-point gripping geometry when gripping flat materials.
It looks like this “three-point system” creates much greater surface contact when gripping flat materials, compared to traditional slip-joint and even universal-style pliers.
The pliers will be available with Knipex’s multigrip handles – model 82-02-200.
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They will also be available with Knipex’s non-slip plastic dipped-style handle grips – model 82-01-200.
Both versions have an 8″ length (according to the model number), and they weigh 9.4 ounces.
Price: $40.15 (dipped handles), $45.42 (multigrip)
Buy Now: MultiGrip via KC Tool
Buy Now: Dipped via KC Tool
Shipping is free on $75+ orders.
At the time of this posting, KC Tool estimates that the pliers will start shipping in July 2021.
Thank you to everyone who wrote in about this!
Discussion
Wow, I never would have thought we’d see such big changes in a slip-joint pliers design.
It looks like Knipex based the TwinGrip’s mechanism around their Cobra adjustable pliers design (Amazon | KC Tool).
The 5 different adjustment positions seems convenient, with the added benefit of being an active lock that should prevent unintentional and unwanted changes, which many slip-joint pliers are prone to do (in my experience at least).
Knipex describes their front jaw gripping area as unique, but that isn’t exactly true. Unique to slip-joint pliers? Maybe. Unique overall? No.
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Some of Engineer and Vampliers’ pliers have a similar front gripping area for more easily grasping stripped-out fasteners.
Still, it’s good to see Knipex implement such a useful feature to their TwinGrip pliers.
The jaw shape also looks very convenient, almost like an advanced v-groove pliers.
The jaw profile almost resembles that of the Cobra series pliers, such as the Knipex XS Cobra pliers shown here, but with more teeth and grip zones.
My own interest notwithstanding, judging by how many people excitedly wrote in about these pliers, the TwinGrip just might be Knipex’s next iconic tool, following in their Pliers Wrench and Cobra footsteps.
Buy Now: MultiGrip via KC Tool
Buy Now: Dipped via KC Tool
Joe H
This is not good for my pliers addiction.
Harry
Yeah, no. The twin grip jaw profile as pointed out by someone on Garage Journal, looks more like a Piranha. In fact Knipex should call the twin grip pliers Piranhas. I mean they already have cobras and alligators.
The baby cobras with their thin jaws don’t have anything in common with the twin grip aside from the Knipex brand.
Which reminds me, have you seen the new Knipex baby pliers wrench?
Stuart
Baby Pliers Wrench?!!!
Harry
Knipex is coming out with a pair of their pliers wrench pliers that are the same size as the baby cobras pictured above. No rubber grips, all metal handles, silver in color. I’ll try to find the picture.
Jared
That’s awesome! Unexpected too.
I have the 125’s and the Cobra XS. They’re both very useful tools despite their diminutive size.
Louie Orama
What size are the baby pliers wrench, sir? I googled exactly that and all I could find are the 5”, which I’ve had for years.
fred
I think the 5 inch (125mm) plier-wrench (86 03 125) hit the US market in 2014.
The micro (100mm = 3.9 inch) Cobra pliers (87 00 100) are a bit newer – I think that I first saw them last year.
Curtis
4″ just like the Cobra XS.
Rich
Here is the 100 mm pliers wrench – will be a perfect companion for the baby cobra!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQMgN5uD6LO/
Jared
Nice find Rich!
Norm Huizenga
Obviously not this mock up (video by Knipex)
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=676368959525086
Ex_dtw2003
They look like a loon’s head in my humble opinion.
And awkward. The jaws a so far forward of the handles. Lots of leverage though I guess.
Rob
I’m a big fan of the Snap-On slipjoints. That said, I use equal parts Snap-On and Knipex for pliers (probably own way more Knipex). I’ll give them a try. I don’t see these as American slip joint combination pliers but more like straight head cobras.
MM
I agree with you on the Snap-On slipjoints. Theirs are the only slip-joint pliers I’ve ever used which I thought were worth buying. I also like one of their pistol-grip pliers which, while it doesn’t have a moveable joint, does have a fairly similar jaw design to this one with the longitudinal groove. I have a lot of Snap-On tools in my box but those two are the only pliers.
Anyway, these look awesome and I will certainly be ordering a pair as soon as they become available.
fred
These are on my radar screen to recommend to my ex compatriots – once they become available for more than pre-order. Gas Burner pliers – the UTICA pre WWII pair that I have – were sort of the predecessor for the Vamplier/Engineer design
https://www.ebay.com/itm/174800744780?hash=item28b2efb14c:g:75EAAOSwgexgxOZT
Cementex (perhaps other too) still make this style
https://www.testequipmentdepot.com/cementex/hand-and-power-tools/pliers/round-nose-gas-pliers/cushion-grip-round-nose-gas-plier-p10gpc.htm
Hans
Utica’s gas burner pliers were first offered 1910 in sizes 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 inches.
DHCrocks
Engineer makes a slip joint plier so this is not the first. I have them, they are only 2 positions and not 5 but it does exist.
Andy
So what you’re telling me is now I need to find $30 more stuff to get my free shipping. This is killing me.
Stuart
NWS. Felo. Wera…
Don’t look!! If you’re anything like me, an attempt to save a few dollars with free shipping turns into a $200 order.
I recently wanted to order one or two things from Harry Epstein Co, and ended up with a 50 pound box.
Brad
Ugggg. Don’t mention HJEC (Harry J Epstein Co) I’m about 25 minutes from the store. I try to not go inside to save my marriage.
Toolman Tim
Who needs a wife when you can get more pliers or more tools.. Right
Will
Same here. It’s my favorite store in all of KC!
fred
KC Tool has been doing a 20% off deal – but you need to wait on Black Friday/Cyber Monday to see if they do it again for this year.
They are not always the cheapest on the European brands that they carry but they are good folks to deal with. Tiger Supplies seems to do better on Halder hammers and Amazon sometimes has some special promotions that are hard to beat. But thank to ToolGuyd – I learned about them years ago – liked how they performed – and switched away form Chads Toolbox – another source for many European brands
Blocky
Kinda wish the composite grips were like those on the newer 250mm cobras – without the knuckle bump.
I also wish this jaw profile were available in the 5, 6, or 7” cobras. I use those for yanking out brads and picture hooks regularly and the head angle works like ergo pliers.
Koko The Talking Ape
I’m not so sure. It seems like the front gripping area on these TwinGrips (and the Vampliers) would be hard to use to withdraw a screw. It would be hard to keep squeezing the grips while spinning them around. At most you could get a quarter turn, then you’d have to release the screw and reposition the pliers. Instead you could grip the screw from the side (maybe with a pair of Cobras) and swing them like the hands of a clock. You’d also get a quarter turn at a time, but with much more torque, and repositioning might be faster. But I suppose these TwinGrips would work better in tight spots.
And the jaws seem unnecessarily fussy. Why is there a gap between the two front teeth and the rest of the jaws? And I don’t see how that three-point gripping geometry makes for a better hold. And the jaws don’t quite make a parallelogram as the Cobras do. That shape makes sense for grabbing nuts, because you can hold onto at least two flats in the nut. The TwinGrips have a weird little curve in the upper jaw, which I don’t see the point for.
And actually, I don’t really see the need for improved slip-joint pliers. The improvement is the Cobras and the Pliers-Wrench. Why bother with these?
Still, the proof’s in the using. If people try them and like them, then that beats any argument I can make.
fred
In both our GC/Remodeling and Plumbing businesses – when we heard of a new tool that seemed to promise enhanced productivity, better quality or improved safety we would often buy a few samples to try them out. If they trial seemed promising from the feedback we got – then we’d decide when and how to phase them in. Like with most everything – if we asked 40 employees what they thought we’d get at least 41 opinions – so we never tried to force fit a new tool. But in the plumbing business – when we tried out the Knipex plier wrenches (about 20 years ago) the word quickly spread and soon we had some in every truck.
MM
Maybe it’s just me but I don’t really see these performing the same role as “slip joint pliers”. For me, when I think of Slip-joints, I’m picturing either a really cheap tool which tries to do as much as possible on a shoestring budget, or a relatively compact pair of pliers which can hold fairly large objects, especially round or hex objects like plumbing or conduit fittings, in tight places where other tools like water pump pliers, a pipe wrench, etc, won’t fit.
These are too expensive and specialized to be a good “one pliers to rule them all” sort of tool. And their combination of being rather long but only having a 7/8″ max capacity makes them poor for the latter application.
What I see them as is a set of pliers optimized for “end access” rather than “side access”. The handles are quite long and the head and hinge assembly is slender. That’s good for reaching into tight spots. Likewise the longitudinal groove in the jaws is great for grasping things head-on rather than from the side. Of course if you have a stuck screw or something like that and you can get it from the side like you asked then why not do so? But often times there is no side access available. I can see these being amazingly useful for auto work–not only are there lots of things that need to be grabbed head-on, but the small notches in the jaws would make them fantastic for spring hose clamps too, and the long slender shape makes it easy to reach in tight places. Time will tell but right now I can forsee myself liking these so much I may end up with a 2nd pair, just like the 10″ pliers wrench and 12″ cobras.
Blocky
My first thought was 200mm is a little long for slipjoints, but then realized the weakest part of classic slipjoints is not enough leverage to exert sufficient holding pressure. I have high confidence in the teeth of this jaw design, since I own several pairs of cobras and also the fijuya screw extractor pliers.
To koko’s point, I have tried using cobras to extract a screw in that side rotation manner, and it’s surprisingly not as effective as vampliers- it requires wider access and usually relies on a lot of gripping force with no finger clearance against a work surface that I’m also trying not to mar. Best tool for this function for me is still thin-jawed vise grips, but these knipex might best that method. 61 hrc is going to give good bite.
Koko The Talking Ape
I have no doubt that the jaws will work. But I think much simpler jaws would also work, especially if they’re HRC 61, as you say.
Good points about side access. Now that I think I about it, the tool I would reach for to extract a screw is a drill/driver, first with regular bits, then extractor bits. I wouldn’t use a hand tool at all. But it doesn’t come up for me much, so I guess that’s why my side access idea wasn’t so practical.
MM
I agree with you completely about the teeth. In fact that’s why I happen to like the Snap-On slip joint that I mentioned elsewhere in this discussion [#137ACF 8″ Talon-Grip Combination Slip Joint Pliers]: it has extremely sharp teeth that really bite into whatever you’re grabbing which helps to make up for the lack of leverage. They’re also a nice hefty size without being obnoxious. I’m sure we’ll see the same from these pliers too. I have many Knipex pliers and one of the things I’ve always liked about them is the very sharp, hard, teeth that not only give you a great grip but also stay sharp for years of use.
I also agree 100% about the vise-grips being great for removing screws like this when other methods fail.
Koko The Talking Ape
You’re right, and I guess I misspoke. They are a whole new creature, not just an improved slip-joint. And sure, they would be good for spring hose clamps and reaching into tight spots, though there are specialized pliers for both those roles too.
But I personally don’t feel a need for either regular slip-joints or these new pliers, whatever you call them. YMMV
John
Yeah I agree with your analysis. I think they fit the roles where you might might use needlenose pliers, except these allow you to apply much more force.
Blocky
Oh btw, up thread there was skepticism of the 3-pt geometry. Knipex already has this in some of their combi-pliers— a little assymetry at the back of the jaw allows for a much better hold with flat stock. A 2-pt bite with many traditional pliers will let the clamped object spin or rotate out. (Ever had to drill a small bracket free-hand?) It’s a subtle feature, and I’m always glad when it comes into play.
Jared
Well, I guess I need to eat my words. These look like useful slip joint pliers.
Despite a healthy plier collection, I never bothered to upgrade my slipjoints to a pro brand. I have a few pairs, but I treat them as disposable because my other plier styles always do the job better. They were relegated to tasks like holding things to grind or heat with torch – stuff where I wouldn’t want to risk damaging good pliers.
Slip joints with the Vampliers/Engineer head would be really nice for gripping larger and thicker things than fit easily in the fixed joint style. Offset V-groove is nice too!
Tangentially, I own a very good pair of Westard pliers that look just like the Vampliers. One more source to check out if you want that style.
Yadda
Joseph Eifel of Plierench fame had a similar design for his last invention the Omni Pivoting Plierench. The jaws didn’t have the off set, but they did have weird angles. It was a collassal failure compared to his regular plierench. Like others this isn’t a good sign for my wallet and plier addiction.
mattd
I have been meaning to get a set of engineer/vampliers for a while, but these look like they will fit the bill better, and are not that much more expensive. I have always just used the good ole crescent cee tee pliers for my slipjoints, but these look like a really nice upgrade.
Philip Proctor
Needs a wire cutter.
Jared
Hey! Valid point. I didn’t even notice that.
On the cobra XS there are tiny teeth all the way back – but not on these slip joints. Just looks smooth as you get close to the pivot. In that context, why not? Would only work in 1 of 5 slip joint positions, but it would be an extra function.
Blocky
These pliers are the through-arm handle style, not the offset style. It makes them more durable, especially when twisting, but in the case of cobras (and probably these) there is more lateral jaw movement – so cutters would not align well. As you mentioned, a cutter probably wouldn’t work in all 5 positions, but I’m not seeing where it would go that wouldn’t also compromise strength of the head or limit possible holding positions in the widest settings.
Most of my pliers that would conceivably be useful for wire manipulation do have cutters, but these seem a little heavier-purposed and the tooth pattern would potentially puncture insulating sleeves.
Michael Veach
Looks like they have one uped vampliers
Chris P
For removing stripped/rusted fasteners what I really want is something like 6 inch locking pliers, without an offset and this jaw design. Would be way better than having to maintain pressure on the handles while rotating the fastener.
jason
Lobster makes a pair of slip joints similar jaw profile. TG200NA.
Flotsam
Those look terrific, the only thing i don’t care for is the $40 price tag. I too have a pliers addiction.
Kamran Kureshi
Over imaginative German gimmickry.. They made the tool pricey with the 5 jaw opening positions capability. Otherwise, a 40$ price tag was not justified for this ugh!piranah.
Kamran Kureshi
Probably had the Stanley three position press button slip joint pliers and the Japanese screw extraction pliers in mind. No objection there except the high price tag and the asymmetric jaw which just doesn’t seem suitable for a straight slip joint piers unless you call it the Piranha
pliers…