If you buy something through our links, ToolGuyd might earn an affiliate commission.
Every now and then, I search Amazon using minimal keywords, to see which brands or styles of certain tools might be trending. This time, I searched for “knife,” and the top result, taking the top half of the page was a “Buy it again” message with Amazon encouraging me to order another pair of Channellock pliers.
Well, that’s strange – somehow my search triggered an Amazon order history recommendation. Ah, I see what happened – these pliers have “knife and anvil” style side cutters.
I purchased this particular model two years ago, 8-inch pliers with model number 317.
Maybe Amazon’s algorithm thinks this is a consumable and that I should be replacing my order from two years ago?
I have been a fan of Channellock for a long time, and I own a couple of pairs of their pliers, including these long-nose pliers.
Channellock is usually an easy recommendation. Are these the best pliers though? No. Truth be told, I don’t have a single pair of Channellock pliers in my office tool box, where my pliers drawer is filled with Knipex, NWS, Xuron, and Engineer Inc pliers. However, I have Channellock pliers in my main box as well as project-specific kits.
Sometimes the pivots could be smoother out of the box, and other times the handles are distinctly plain and basic. Still, Channellock’s pliers quality is consistent and long-lasting.
This particular style of pliers has well-formed jaws, uniform and durable crosshatched grooves, and convenient wire cutting blades. I don’t usually like wire cutters on long nose pliers, but Channellock is one of few exceptions due to their better quality.
Channellock uses a “knife and anvil” cutter design, which tends to provide better performance than double-knife cutter blades. Have you ever used wire cutters or scissors that twist what you’re trying to cut before actually cutting them? These won’t do that.
Channellock advertises these pliers as being forged from US steel and being 100% made in the USA.
So no, these aren’t the best pliers, but I’d buy them again in a heartbeat. Amazon had the right idea in spotlighting these to me, but for the wrong reasons.
The brand has different styles of long-nose pliers, but the 8-inch with wire cutting blades is probably going to be the best general purpose choice for most users.
Buy Now via Amazon
Other Styles via Amazon
Raise your hand if you’ve got Channellock long nose pliers in your kit.
