Vice Grips... again!

[Last_Indian]

Best pictures I could find of the three in modern finish. Rivet types the same on these.

Picture angles a little different on each, but they do look very similar.

 

[mrspeed]

Regards the finish, I wouldn't take that into account as they will finish to suit the manufacturer/reseller. SNAP ON have a grey enamel for example and Grip Ons are now black and orange... Beta shiny silver from i've seen. Rivets have been either round heads (older style) or the newer concave ones I mentioned before. Not sure when this cosmetic change was made though

Not saying that Facom 513's are Grip Ons, just saying they look like them so I made that assumption.

Get those pics over so we can see the difference your taking about.

I'm aware of the different finishes, but I have many that are relabeled and I've only ever seen different colored epoxy finished, or just the bare chrome with no epoxy. The bare finishes I've seen are always smooth. I've never seen a rough chrome finish on any.

I'll get those pictures as soon as I can!

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[mrspeed]

Here are some pictures. No country stamp, but nice and tight. Seriously, only about 1 mm of lateral play when open.

View media item 93436
View media item 93437
View media item 93438

This is what my single pair of Facom locking pliers looks like. The rough chrome finish feels uncomfortable and cheap to me, and unlike any of my Grip On pliers, rebranded or otherwise.

Best pictures I could find of the three in modern finish. Rivet types the same on these.

Picture angles a little different on each, but they do look very similar.

This picture of the Facom locking pliers actually does look like Grip On to me, but it's different than the other picture.

Here is what my Grip On drawer looks like. I took a few out to compare to the Facom locking pliers I have, which are similar to the ones pictured in the other post. You can see in the second picture here a sampling of Grip On including rebrands from SAM, Elora, Piher, Stubai, Proto, Heyco, and Bahco. I also have a mix of different epoxy finish colors and finishes without the epoxy coating.

One main difference between the Facom and every other plier is the rivets. It may be true that Grip On had older designs that used the rounded rivet heads, but I don't have any. Even the flat rivets holding the top jaw in place are different though. On the Facoms, they stick out from the handle body in both sides whereas every single Grip On I have had flush rivets there.

The way the top handle is shaped where it's rounded over and pressed together is also slightly different that the Grip Ons. Also the Grip Ons mostly have spot welds at the tip, whereas the Facoms have a more even but smaller bead. I do have a couple Grip Ons with a bead too though.

The other difference I now notice is that every single Grip On I have has a black oxide adjustment screw, no matter what the finish or rebrand. The Facoms have a plain steel screw.

Keep in mind, I'm not disparaging the Facom pliers. The ones I have feel solid and don't have much looseness to them at all. My biggest issue with them is that the rough chrome finish just feels cheap and uncomfortable to hold. It's like holding fine grit sandpaper.







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[usdemt]

I know a lot of people love the grip on but I absolutely hate my Snap On branded ones. The teeth just dont grab anything. They went from my box to my truck kit and now the garbage. Just worthless to grab anything besides large bolts or pipe. Looking forward to Malco releasing there version that are being made in the original Peterson vice grip plant. I have had ok luck with the Milwaukee version and even the Irwin Chinese are still way better then Grip On in my opinion.

 

[tanukiboy]

I also have a mix of different epoxy finish colors and finishes without the epoxy coating.

I'd be interested to hear your feelings on the orange epoxy finish of the Grip On version. How does it hold up? Does it stain or discolor when exposed to chemicals? Is it slippery in the hand? Is it less cold to the touch than bare metal? I really like the "hi viz" aspect of the orange finish, but would worry about damaging it. The ones in your pictures all seem to be holding up really well, though. Thanks in advance!

PS. Personally, I'm kind of a fan of rough chrome finish on tools, and also prefer satin finish chrome to mirror finish chrome. It just feels grippier and more secure in the hand to me. (Of course, that might be because I'm a home handyman and often don't wear work gloves when using my tools.)

 

[Tonyuk]

Milwaukee make the best locking pliers i've used.

 

[Last_Indian]

This is what my single pair of Facom locking pliers looks like. The rough chrome finish feels uncomfortable and cheap to me, and unlike any of my Grip On pliers, rebranded or otherwise.



This picture of the Facom locking pliers actually does look like Grip On to me, but it's different than the other picture.

Here is what my Grip On drawer looks like. I took a few out to compare to the Facom locking pliers I have, which are similar to the ones pictured in the other post. You can see in the second picture here a sampling of Grip On including rebrands from SAM, Elora, Piher, Stubai, Proto, Heyco, and Bahco. I also have a mix of different epoxy finish colors and finishes without the epoxy coating.

One main difference between the Facom and every other plier is the rivets. It may be true that Grip On had older designs that used the rounded rivet heads, but I don't have any. Even the flat rivets holding the top jaw in place are different though. On the Facoms, they stick out from the handle body in both sides whereas every single Grip On I have had flush rivets there.

The way the top handle is shaped where it's rounded over and pressed together is also slightly different that the Grip Ons. Also the Grip Ons mostly have spot welds at the tip, whereas the Facoms have a more even but smaller bead. I do have a couple Grip Ons with a bead too though.

The other difference I now notice is that every single Grip On I have has a black oxide adjustment screw, no matter what the finish or rebrand. The Facoms have a plain steel screw.

Keep in mind, I'm not disparaging the Facom pliers. The ones I have feel solid and don't have much looseness to them at all. My biggest issue with them is that the rough chrome finish just feels cheap and uncomfortable to hold. It's like holding fine grit sandpaper.







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Thats certainly a fair size collection you have there...

From a personal point of view the Facom 513's where a possible option after my disappointment with the 500's I ordered. There's enough uncertainty regards where and who the 513' are made by that I probably wouldn't buy now. Certainly not without seeing them in the flesh.

One of the ops in this post thinks they are from China (Ultimate Garage has a spreed sheet with COO), so the evidence is suggesting that's probably correct.

Aside from who makes what and what colour etc, have you felt any difference in build quality between the SNAP ON or other that are Grip On made?

 

[Last_Indian]

Yeah they are made in France according to online catalogues and ultimategarage. And not strange considering Proto and Facom are under one roof.

I did question why the Made in France stamping wasn’t on the Proto versions when I first got them but got over that once I felt the locking pliers in hand and how beastly they are haha.

You can see just the middle hinge jaw is Facom branded the others are Proto relabels.



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Out of all those jaw designs, which would you say is the best all round set?

 

[mrspeed]

I'd be interested to hear your feelings on the orange epoxy finish of the Grip On version. How does it hold up? Does it stain or discolor when exposed to chemicals? Is it slippery in the hand? Is it less cold to the touch than bare metal? I really like the "hi viz" aspect of the orange finish, but would worry about damaging it. The ones in your pictures all seem to be holding up really well, though. Thanks in advance!

PS. Personally, I'm kind of a fan of rough chrome finish on tools, and also prefer satin finish chrome to mirror finish chrome. It just feels grippier and more secure in the hand to me. (Of course, that might be because I'm a home handyman and often don't wear work gloves when using my tools.)

I have a lot of locking pliers, which means I don't use any one pair that often. Also, most of my Grip Ons are fairly new to me from within the past couple years. So, I'm not sure I can give much info on how they hold up.

The bare chrome finish is a little slippery, but the epoxy finish doesn't feel slippery to me at all. I didn't like the orange/black color scheme at first, which is one of the reasons I started with the black/red Proto versions. After having them for a little while though and becoming more familiar with the brand of Grip On, I actually prefer the orange/black colors of them now, and I like the style of the Grip On printed on the handles, as it reminds me of a race car livery. The hi-viz aspect doesn't hurt.

I also really like matte chrome finishes on tools as well. There is something about the Facom pliers that just make it like holding sandpaper. All other tools I have with matte chrome finish don't feel like that. Here is a picture of some other tools with a matte chrome finish to help illustrate the difference, including a pair of Knipex branded Bollman-Selzer welding grip pliers. The finish of the Facoms is probably closest to the Heyco wrench at the top, but even those don't feel nearly as rough as the Facom finish.

Thats certainly a fair size collection you have there...

From a personal point of view the Facom 513's where a possible option after my disappointment with the 500's I ordered. There's enough uncertainty regards where and who the 513' are made by that I probably wouldn't buy now. Certainly not without seeing them in the flesh.

One of the ops in this post thinks they are from China (Ultimate Garage has a spreed sheet with COO), so the evidence is suggesting that's probably correct.

Aside from who makes what and what colour etc, have you felt any difference in build quality between the SNAP ON or other that are Grip On made?

Of all the rebrands I have, I don't actually have any branded as Snap On. Most of them I got because they were on sale or cheaper even than the Grip On branded versions. The Snap On ones, on the other hand, are usually more expensive than their Grip On counterparts, so I've never gotten any.

But no, all the differently branded ones are basically identical in build quality, not counting minor variations between individual pliers regardless of what brand is on them. There was one time I can think of where I actually had to return a set of Grip On pliers due to how bad they were from a quality standpoint, and it was actually a Grip On branded pair. I took a picture of it before I returned it.



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[rsanter]

I have tons of the older vise grips
Some are in great shape and others are rather beat up.
Only real problem I have had with them is that some of the springs have broken in them.
I called the company and they said mail them in and they will replace with new. I said I liked my old ones and can they just send me a few springs. Well they did, at no charge

 

[jimmyin3D]

Out of all those jaw designs, which would you say is the best all round set?

Probably the swivel jaw version. They’re all very nice though, the jaws open to such a large opening. I’ve used the large jaw one on an oil filter that was tightened too hard a couple days ago.

 

[tanukiboy]

I have a lot of locking pliers, which means I don't use any one pair that often. Also, most of my Grip Ons are fairly new to me from within the past couple years. So, I'm not sure I can give much info on how they hold up.

The bare chrome finish is a little slippery, but the epoxy finish doesn't feel slippery to me at all. I didn't like the orange/black color scheme at first, which is one of the reasons I started with the black/red Proto versions. After having them for a little while though and becoming more familiar with the brand of Grip On, I actually prefer the orange/black colors of them now, and I like the style of the Grip On printed on the handles, as it reminds me of a race car livery. The hi-viz aspect doesn't hurt.

I also really like matte chrome finishes on tools as well. There is something about the Facom pliers that just make it like holding sandpaper. All other tools I have with matte chrome finish don't feel like that. Here is a picture of some other tools with a matte chrome finish to help illustrate the difference, including a pair of Knipex branded Bollman-Selzer welding grip pliers. The finish of the Facoms is probably closest to the Heyco wrench at the top, but even those don't feel nearly as rough as the Facom finish.

Thanks for the detailed response, mrspeed. The reason I was curious is that there is a nice set of 5 Grip On locking pliers in a roll-up storage bag available from Amazon Japan (I live in Japan) for less than $90 or so. It seems like a really good deal -- that's less than the cost of 1 pair of Facom locking pliers here! Based on your comments, I think I may pull the trigger. Thanks again!

 

[L.Cheapo]

I've really been enjoying my Gedore locking pliers. I'm sure OP can find these in the UK

Those look suspiciously like the Knipex locking pliers I have. Like everything Knipex I own, I think they're "meh". Not bad by any means, but not great either. It's like they're 90% there. The movement on mine (4 pair of them) is stiff, but the jaws somehow manage to have an awful lot of side to side play. That must have taken some clever engineering to pull off!

 

[JBH]

Those look suspiciously like the Knipex locking pliers I have.

They're not. Gedore makes their own locking pliers in Austria.

I've never tried Gedore's locking pliers, so no comment how they compare. Generally, their Austrian pliers are as good as, or better than, anyone else's pliers.

 

[neophyte]

Yes...I know this old chestnut

Having recently purchased some Facom 501 pliers, I can’t begin to tell you how disappointed I was with the quality of this product. Tried 2 sets then gave up as both had issues. Really (and I mean really) bad casting on the jaws with slop and bad jaw alignment.

I think this may be a generic factory punting out for whoever wants to put their name on it. Proto, Expert and Stanley (no surprises there) among others I’ve seen. Some say their made by Facom directly but I’m not so sure. Even if they are made in France! Some on here will probably know better on that.

So back to the question in hand. Grip On (as rebadged Facom 513, Snap On, beta and others). Thought this would be the way to go. In fact some of the rebranded ones now seem cheaper than Grip On’s.

Problem is I have seen some complaints in reviews about the teeth deforming quite easily? That may have been batch related (not sure what production year though). Some rate them more highly then their own mothers, while some say over rated...

So... those who have them let me know your thoughts. I’m thinking the Facom 513 route as it’s cheaper than SNAP ON and Beta and I’m not a fan of the current orange and black of the Grips Ons.

Yea... those look lovely and better than the ones I got! Maybe its a bad batch, but supplier does not seem to agree with me, so I will have to purchase Facom elsewhere from now on.

In my view he should bring the issue up with Facom directly and see what they have to say about it. Only takes one idiot in QC to ruin a companies reputation after all.

How much play do they have, as the jaws had quite a lot of lateral play on the ones I received.

I have some similar ones, only Facom branded and stamped "MADE IN FRANCE". They're great! They have some play in them, but I think that's unavoidable given the multistep hinge design.

View media item 93431
I notice that the Proto versions don't seem to have a stamp on them. Any idea of the COO? I wonder if that might have something to do with the variations in quality that some folks have reported here.

I also have a Facom 513, but it doesn't have any country stamp on it. But no matter where it may be made, I think it feels really solid. Very little play and precisely aligned jaws. Here's a picture snagged from the Web:

View media item 93432

I believe they're all coming out of France, but not sure if that is a Facom plant or just a generic operation rebadging as required. It would explain the quality variations if it was.

Any chance of a pic of your 513's?

Yeah they are made in France according to online catalogues and ultimategarage. And not strange considering Proto and Facom are under one roof.

I did question why the Made in France stamping wasn’t on the Proto versions when I first got them but got over that once I felt the locking pliers in hand and how beastly they are haha.

You can see just the middle hinge jaw is Facom branded the others are Proto relabels.



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As far as I’m aware, all the Facom Locking pliers with the wide opening jaws are made in France, or at least they used to be. It’s possible Stanley Black $ Decker made changes, but they would have had to set up a new production line.
Other companies have sold similar Locking pliers, but the only companies I know of that have manufactured the style are the French ones, and the Japanese brand Supertool, which manufactured a smaller number of varieties.
I presume the French pliers are manufactured by Dolex, even the ones made under the Facom brand, since a number of Facom tools were manufactured for Facom by other French manufacturers. This would include Facom, Bost, USAG, Proto, and Stanley versions, as well as the versions Dolex sells under their own brand. I can’t be certain of this.
The Supertool version is usually only sold under the Supertool name, but I think the Spanish Palmera brand sold a rebranded version at one point. I’m not sure if anybody else rebranded it as well.
From what Zi’ve seen on my older Facom version of the pliers, the upper jaw appears to be cast, and the lower opening jaw is forged, and the width of both jaws tended not to be exactly the same, with the upper jaws slightly wider.
The newer version of the pliers with the lower release trigger button are a newer design, and the release trigger was taken from a separate now discontinued line of locking pliers, that had cast aluminum or plastic bodies.
The pair of those pliers I have actually has jaws that are a bit skewed, so maybe if this is OPs problem, it is something endemic to the design or manufacture.

 

[mrspeed]

Those look suspiciously like the Knipex locking pliers I have. Like everything Knipex I own, I think they're "meh". Not bad by any means, but not great either. It's like they're 90% there. The movement on mine (4 pair of them) is stiff, but the jaws somehow manage to have an awful lot of side to side play. That must have taken some clever engineering to pull off! [emoji38]_hitti

They're not. Gedore makes their own locking pliers in Austria.

I've never tried Gedore's locking pliers, so no comment how they compare. Generally, their Austrian pliers are as good as, or better than, anyone else's pliers.

The Gedore are some of my favorites. I really like the matte chrome finish, and the fit is great as well. Here are a pair of the made in Austria Gedores next to some made in Germany Knipex. Knipex doesn't make their own though, they are rebranded from Bollman-Selzer. I have many Bollman pliers as well, rebranded as Knipex, Elora, Padre, and NWS. They are great, and it depends on the day whether I like the Bollmans or the Grip Ons better.

As far as I’m aware, all the Facom Locking pliers with the wide opening jaws are made in France, or at least they used to be. It’s possible Stanley Black $ Decker made changes, but they would have had to set up a new production line.
Other companies have sold similar Locking pliers, but the only companies I know of that have manufactured the style are the French ones, and the Japanese brand Supertool, which manufactured a smaller number of varieties.
I presume the French pliers are manufactured by Dolex, even the ones made under the Facom brand, since a number of Facom tools were manufactured for Facom by other French manufacturers. This would include Facom, Bost, USAG, Proto, and Stanley versions, as well as the versions Dolex sells under their own brand. I can’t be certain of this.
The Supertool version is usually only sold under the Supertool name, but I think the Spanish Palmera brand sold a rebranded version at one point. I’m not sure if anybody else rebranded it as well.
From what Zi’ve seen on my older Facom version of the pliers, the upper jaw appears to be cast, and the lower opening jaw is forged, and the width of both jaws tended not to be exactly the same, with the upper jaws slightly wider.
The newer version of the pliers with the lower release trigger button are a newer design, and the release trigger was taken from a separate now discontinued line of locking pliers, that had cast aluminum or plastic bodies.
The pair of those pliers I have actually has jaws that are a bit skewed, so maybe if this is OPs problem, it is something endemic to the design or manufacture.

Other companies I can think of that make this style of locking pliers include Mob, now Mob-Peddinghaus, and DentFix with the AnchorBite pliers previously made by the Anchor Tool company.

The Anchor Bite pliers used to be made in the US from what I can tell from some old websites, but since the Anchor Tool company shut down and DentFix seems to have taken them over, I think they may be made in China. I have a set, and there was no COO anywhere on the pliers or the packaging when I bought them. I also have a pair rebranded from SAM Outillage, but the SAM pair seem slightly better quality than the DentFix versions. I'm wondering if the SAM pair are actually the old Made in USA pair, but they also have no COO, which could still make sense if the French SAM didn't want to advertise that they were relabeling a US tool.

Other than where they were made, the Anchor Bite pliers and MOB pliers all seem to be a spitting image of the Dolex design, aside from some very minor differences in the shapes of the upper and lower handles.

I also have a similar pair of Betas, which I have no idea who makes them. It could be Dolex, but they also have no COO. I seem to remember reading Beta stopped putting COO on everything because they wanted their name to stand for itself, and even my other Italian made Beta pliers don't say Italy anywhere on them. So, they could still be made in France.

I don't believe the Facoms are made by Dolex though. All the regular style locking pliers from Facom I think they've outsourced to China, and all the wide-jaw locking pliers that are still made in France have a trigger-style unlocking mechanism that's very different than anything Dolex makes, and unique to the Facom 500A series.

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[neophyte]

The Gedore are some of my favorites. I really like the matte chrome finish, and the fit is great as well. Here are a pair of the made in Austria Gedores next to some made in Germany Knipex. Knipex doesn't make their own though, they are rebranded from Bollman-Selzer. I have many Bollman pliers as well, rebranded as Knipex, Elora, Padre, and NWS. They are great, and it depends on the day whether I like the Bollmans or the Grip Ons better.Other companies I can think of that make this style of locking pliers include Mob, now Mob-Peddinghaus, and DentFix with the AnchorBite pliers previously made by the Anchor Tool company.

The Anchor Bite pliers used to be made in the US from what I can tell from some old websites, but since the Anchor Tool company shut down and DentFix seems to have taken them over, I think they may be made in China. I have a set, and there was no COO anywhere on the pliers or the packaging when I bought them. I also have a pair rebranded from SAM Outillage, but the SAM pair seem slightly better quality than the DentFix versions. I'm wondering if the SAM pair are actually the old Made in USA pair, but they also have no COO, which could still make sense if the French SAM didn't want to advertise that they were relabeling a US tool.

Other than where they were made, the Anchor Bite pliers and MOB pliers all seem to be a spitting image of the Dolex design, aside from some very minor differences in the shapes of the upper and lower handles.

I also have a similar pair of Betas, which I have no idea who makes them. It could be Dolex, but they also have no COO. I seem to remember reading Beta stopped putting COO on everything because they wanted their name to stand for itself, and even my other Italian made Beta pliers don't say Italy anywhere on them. So, they could still be made in France.

I don't believe the Facoms are made by Dolex though. All the regular style locking pliers from Facom I think they've outsourced to China, and all the wide-jaw locking pliers that are still made in France have a trigger-style unlocking mechanism that's very different than anything Dolex makes, and unique to the Facom 500A series.

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Here’s a video from VP Industries, which I believe owns Dolex at this point.
Starting at 3:30 the rest of the video shows the construction and assembly of the wide jaw locking pliers, and in one part you can see “Dolex Made in France” printed on the pliers, ghe cideo is interspersed with animations of various plier models.

SAM and MOB Outillage wide jaw locking pliers are likely made by Dolex, since this is the main thing Dolex manufactures other than vises.
VP Industries is also involved in the manufacture of hardware, which would also involve stamping and forming sheet metal.
Dolex also offers some basic Locking Grip pliers, but I’m not sure whether they manufacture them themselves.
VP Industries also seems to be the French distributor for Bessey and their clamps, pliers, and Snips.

Even back when Facom was at it’s peak, a number of items were subcontracted out to other manufacturers.
The files were likely made and rebranded for Facom by MOB Talabot.
Arno manufactures some items for Facom as can be seen on Arno’s website if you’re familiar with some of the Facom specialty products.
Edma and another French manufacturer likely manufacture the heavier forged metal snips sold under the Facom brand.
Anyway, the Facom wide jaw locking pliers, at least the old ones, had jaws that were identicle to the Dolex jaws.
Facom up until recently had a distinctive bent metal frame that was different from the Dolex/SAM/MOB wide jaw pliers, but Facom routinely focused on aesthetics in regards to their tool design, and Facom was large enough that they could have Dolex manufacture specialty frames for them.

 

[mrspeed]

Here’s a video from VP Industries, which I believe owns Dolex at this point.
Starting at 3:30 the rest of the video shows the construction and assembly of the wide jaw locking pliers, and in one part you can see “Dolex Made in France” printed on the pliers, ghe cideo is interspersed with animations of various plier models.

SAM and MOB Outillage wide jaw locking pliers are likely made by Dolex, since this is the main thing Dolex manufactures other than vises.
VP Industries is also involved in the manufacture of hardware, which would also involve stamping and forming sheet metal.
Dolex also offers some basic Locking Grip pliers, but I’m not sure whether they manufacture them themselves.
VP Industries also seems to be the French distributor for Bessey and their clamps, pliers, and Snips.

Even back when Facom was at it’s peak, a number of items were subcontracted out to other manufacturers.
The files were likely made and rebranded for Facom by MOB Talabot.
Arno manufactures some items for Facom as can be seen on Arno’s website if you’re familiar with some of the Facom specialty products.
Edma and another French manufacturer likely manufacture the heavier forged metal snips sold under the Facom brand.
Anyway, the Facom wide jaw locking pliers, at least the old ones, had jaws that were identicle to the Dolex jaws.
Facom up until recently had a distinctive bent metal frame that was different from the Dolex/SAM/MOB wide jaw pliers, but Facom routinely focused on aesthetics in regards to their tool design, and Facom was large enough that they could have Dolex manufacture specialty frames for them.

This is really great information about Dolex and VP Industries. Thanks for that.

Facom's pliers don't look like the ones in the Dolex video though, other than the jaws. My Anchor Bite pliers also have identical looking jaws, but I'm fairly sure are made in China or Taiwan, so I think a lot of companies have just copied the jaw design.

According to Facom's YouTube channel, they make these locking pliers themselves in their Arbois, France plant.

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[3jakes]

I know not everyone has the time to frequent yard sales, but here is a 5 dollar purchase from my driving around Saturday morning...

 

[09Q]

I was wondering the same thing. Seems like a long time since the announcement was made. Spring of 19 was the goal...it’s June.

Called Malco myself about this and was told the Eagle Grip's were quote on quote "not to the Malco quality standards."

What does that mean? Your guess is as good as mine. My guess and merely that is either it's challenging to source domestic parts, machining or perhaps something else.

Then again, maybe the individual I spoke to was telling me anything to get me off the phone.

 

[L.Cheapo]

Called Malco myself about this and was told the Eagle Grip's were quote on quote "not to the Malco quality standards."

What does that mean? Your guess is as good as mine. My guess and merely that is either it's challenging to source domestic parts, machining or perhaps something else.

Then again, maybe the individual I spoke to was telling me anything to get me off the phone.

While thats not good news, I'd rather they delay the release than botch it up with sub-par tools. I'm willing to wait for high-quality USA made locking pliers.

 

[mrspeed]

I finally got a pair of USAG/Facom locking pliers that are the same model as a pair of Elora rebranded Grip On pliers that I already had, so I can now compare them side-by-side. It's really interesting exactly how similar they are, as it seems like the design is a direct copy. But there are enough dimensional differences that seem to verify they're not from the same production line.

Other than the differences in the metal and finish, the shape of the locking lever is a little different. You can also see in one picture that the length of the top handle isn't the same either. The weight difference is only about 20 grams, but the Grip Ons feel more solid in hand because it seems like most of the weight is in the handle with lightweight aluminum Jaws, whereas the USAG pliers have more lightweight handles but the jaws feel heavier.

I still don't doubt that the USAG pliers are made in China, as other members here have posted the supplier sheets that list the COO as China. And they definitely don't seem like they're made by Grip On, but I'm surprised how similar they are. I'm wondering if it's a knock-off design, or if Grip On licensed out their design.



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[eyeball]

Are the Milwaukee locking pliers available in the UK? I've found those to be the best available for the price quality ratio. And as easy availability.

Milwaukee are my current favorite as well.

I have 20+ of the smaller locking c-clamp type that I use for welding projects. They hold very strong and I like the ability to easily give then another twist while they are in place.

However, I have become frustrated with at least one set of them in that the spring is continuity popping off it’s peg and that allows the locking bar to come out of it groove.

To be honest, I don’t know if it is only one of the 20 pairs that this is happening to and I am just “lucky” enough to grab it out of the bin each time or if it is common to all 20 sets.

Either way, they are still the best I have found at a reasonable price. Along those lines, I have found Zoro to be a good source in the US.


- Please buy American made products when you can so I don’t have to learn Chinese -