I saw these the other day, Im sure they dont clamp as hard as regular vice grips correct?
I saw nothing to support this assumption. The clamping pressure can be adjusted so high that I am unable to close the pliers.
The intermediate (let's call it medium) clamping pressure setting provides about the same pressure as my Vise Grips do when I adjust them just-right. It's difficult to do a direct comparison.
I'm not sure if this is the same brand, but a tool rep brought a version of these in one day. I think they work great for lighter use. There's certainly a "wow" factor in seeing them for the first time, but I don't think they hold up as well, given that they have a lot more parts than a vise-grip. Just more stuff to break. We thought about carrying them for awhile, but it just never worked out.
Jori
It may be?
It's tough to say whether they'd hold up the same as Vise Grips. For me there was no "wow" factor, I actually thought the tool was a gimmick until I tried them out. Like an "as seen on TV" type of gimmicky no-need tool. But they have been quite useful.
They don't have many more parts, but they are slightly more complexly built compared to conventional pliers.
I haven't used them enough to form a very strongly opinion, but I do like the pliers for random general purpose usage. But as you said, I don't quite trust them as much as I do conventional styles, at least not yet.
I have the Grip-On version of these. They work well but don't provide that 'super holding' power that we expect from our old school Vise Grips.
Grip-on makes an auto-adjusting plier? Or are you referring to Grip-on locking pliers in general? I like my Grip-ons, mostly because I pinch myself far less than with Vise Grips, and the "Omnium" style is convenient.