If you’ve ever tried to twist or bend a piece of metal with your fingers, chances are you were only mildly successful at doing so. A good pair of pliers comes in handy for tasks like this.
Pliers come in various sizes, and in this article, we’re going to help you find the best adjustable pliers on the market. It can become frustrating trying to figure out which pliers are best for you, but we’ve narrowed down your options to five practical candidates.
All of the pliers in this article are adjustable, meaning their jaws can adjust to various widths depending on the piece you’re working with. They all have coated, non-slip handles to provide comfort as well as prevent injury.
These pliers are all distinguished by their strong gripping powers and ease of use. Their variable lengths and jaw sizes help you accomplish a variety of gripping, twisting, and bending tasks.
Here are five options for the best adjustable pliers you can find on the market today.
Top Picks For Best Adjustable Pliers
Channellock’s 440 12" Straight Jaw Tongue & Groove Plier
BEST ADJUSTABLE PLIERS
Channellock’s 440 12" Straight Jaw Tongue & Groove Plier
Price range: $15 - $20
*at the time of publishing
ABOUT THIS PRODUCT
These pliers are all about providing strength and durability. The jaw has grooves that were created by heat lasers that provide a strong grip and improved endurance. These grooves make sure that the pliers won’t slip from the piece you’re working with.
As the brand name suggests, these pliers come with channel locks, meaning they have a design that locks each jaw setting in place creating a safe and reliable jaw width that won’t change as you use the tool. You will find this design in practically all adjustable pliers.
These pliers can get the job done correctly. They can grip and loosen nuts easily and make a good substitute when you don’t have the right size wrench availab
WHAT WE LIKED
- Well made
- Powerful non-slip gripping
- Small enough for tiny bolts, big enough for kitchen jars
- Long handle
WHAT WE DON'T LIKE
- Channels can be difficult to lock into place
- Handle attracts dirt easily
- Material corrosion possible after heavy use
Knipex’s 10-inch Cobra Plier
BEST ADJUSTABLE PLIERS
Knipex’s 10-inch Cobra Plier
Price range: $30 - $35
*at the time of publishing
ABOUT THIS PRODUCT
Gripping teeth decrease the potential for slipping as well as the amount of strength required to squeeze your working piece securely. This model provides 30 percent more gripping capacity than previous models. It also features a pinch guard, which ensures you don’t pinch your fingers while you’re working.
With over 25 adjustment positions, these pliers can accommodate several different kinds of workpieces, from water pipes to locknuts. The jaw design can grip objects of varying shapes including round, square, hex, or flat.
Longevity is ensured through chrome vanadium electric steel, which is a high-alloy oil-tempered steel. The special production required to make pliers out of this material is what sets Knipex tools apart from the competition.
WHAT WE LIKED
- Adjustment button
- Pinch guard
- Good grip
- No slipping once they are locked
WHAT WE DON'T LIKE
- No color-coding system among Knipex tools
- May wear significantly after heavy use
Irwin Tools’ 8-inch Slip Joint Plier
BEST ADJUSTABLE PLIERS
Irwin Tools’ 8-inch Slip Joint Plier
Price range: $10 - $15
*at the time of publishing
ABOUT THIS PRODUCT
The jaw of Irwin Tools’ 8-inch Slip Joint Plier has teeth that give it extra gripping strength. The handle, unlike most, goes beyond simple plastic coating. It features a non-slip ProTouch grip, which means it provides maximum comfort and control. The handle design also ensures less hand fatigue.
All Irwin Tools pliers meet or exceed the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) requirements, which means that pliers are designed and manufactured with the utmost attention to detail. Having these standards in place makes these pliers trustworthy and reliable.
WHAT WE LIKED
- Made from quality steel
- Comfortable, soft handle
- No hand or finger pinching
WHAT WE DON'T LIKE
- Rivet may become loose, causing the two halves of the pliers to wobble
- Non-slim design
- One side of the jaw is slightly longer than the other side
Tekton’s 16-inch Groove Point Plier
BEST ADJUSTABLE PLIERS
Tekton’s 16-inch Groove Point Plier
Price range: $22 - $28
*at the time of publishing
ABOUT THIS PRODUCT
Because of the long and coated handle of Tekton’s 16-inch Groove Point Plier, the stress on your hand when using these pliers is greatly minimized. The force from your hand is distributed evenly throughout the tool, relieving the amount of force needed to use the tool properly.
Angled teeth on the jaw make for a secure grip, while the interlocking tongue and grooves are secure and won’t slip or change while you’re using the tool.
You can adjust the operating tension of these pliers if you need to, which unlike permanent rivets lets you re-calibrate the tool throughout its lifetime according to your specific needs. These pliers are made from strong 4150 alloy steel and are naturally resistant to corrosion.
WHAT WE LIKED
- Lifetime warranty
- Good quality steel
- Don’t change adjustments under high pressure
WHAT WE DON'T LIKE
- Slightly heavier than expected
- Bulky profile
- Don’t fit in your pocket very easily
How to Choose and Use Pliers
Since you’ve decided on buying some adjustable pliers and not locking or nonadjustable pliers, let’s go through a short checklist that you should reference when buying your next adjustable pliers.
- Decide whether or not it’s important to you where your pliers were manufactured.
- Think about what kind of project(s) you’re going to need your pliers for.
- Go to a store that sells tools and get a feel for different lengths and choose the best length for you.
Adjustable pliers, although super useful, have their drawbacks. You should never substitute adjustable pliers when a wrench would be a better tool. Wrenches are sometimes a safer bet in order to minimize scratching and stripping.
When using your adjustable pliers to work with polished fixtures, minimize the potential for damage by placing a rag in between the pliers and the fixture. Never twist or turn your pliers sideways, as this can cause the joint to loosen or break due to the high amount of stress.Things that Differentiate Pliers
Chances are you have a pretty good idea of what decent adjustable pliers feel like. You’ve probably been using some for years, either professionally or at home. It’s good to know, however, a few things that differentiate all the adjustable pliers out there so you know about all the kinds available to you.
Adjustable pliers come in four basic kinds: wrench-plier, pipe-gripping, tongue-and-groove, and self-adjusting.
- Wrench-plier: Features smooth jaws and is less likely to strip bolts while turning them.
- Pipe-gripping: Jaws are more curved than other adjustable pliers, minimizing the potential for scratching pipes.
- Tongue-and-groove: Jaws are large with teeth, and handles are long for added leverage.
- Self-adjusting: Good for common repairs, including plumbing repairs.
Adjustable pliers come in all sorts of different lengths that are designed to fit your hand securely. The best way to use adjustable pliers is by first making sure you have one that is the right size for the task.
If you’re working in a narrow workspace with hardly any room for movement, it’s best to look for pliers that have a longer handle that will let you get to hard-to-reach places.
If you have a small stick of metal that you want to bend and twist in order to create a keychain, for example, you can bet on small 7-inch slip joint pliers to get the job done. A 7-inch plier is small enough to fit comfortably in your hand, and it also allows you to apply maximum force due to the short handle.
I recently used 7-inch slip joint pliers to fix the keyring on my dog’s collar. His ID tag kept falling off the keyring, so I used pliers to tighten it and close the gap where the tag was slipping through. The shorter handle of 7-inch pliers was the best option for this task since the keyring was small yet made out of super sturdy metal. I needed small pliers with a short handle in order to use all my strength to close the keyring gap all the way.
The Best Overall Adjustable Plier
From our list of best adjustable pliers, the winner is Channellock’s 440 12" Straight Jaw Tongue & Groove Plier. When it comes to the best overall value among our top five adjustable pliers, this is the clear winner based on our level of satisfaction with the product and its ease of use.
When it comes to the color of the handle, this plier definitely stands out. The bright blue is hard to miss in your tool bag.
The pliers’ length and simplistic design are also big contributing factors to our satisfaction with the product. The tool measures a whopping 12 inches long with a jaw capacity of 2.25 inches, making it able to work in hard-to-reach places and with different size pieces.
There are no finicky push buttons to deal with on these pliers like on a couple of our other top picks. The ease of use can make it one of your go-to tools for a variety of tasks.
The grooves on the jaw of these pliers give it maximum gripping power and stability. If reliable, non-slip gripping is what you’re looking for, these pliers could be the ones for you.
When it came time to decide which length was the best, we chose these 12-inch pliers over the others because they provide balanced gripping strength without being as bulky as our 16-inch pliers or as small as our 7-inch pliers. Some hands are just too big to comfortably use 7-inch pliers. These 12-inch pliers provide plenty of room on the handle to let big hands use all of their strength easily.
While all of these pliers were reviewed individually, pliers often come in packs with varying sizes. This is convenient if you prefer a specific brand and wish to have multiple lengths at your disposal.