How much is a good set of pliers worth to you? From what I’ve seen, most fishermen don’t spend much on this extremely important piece of fishing equipment. I’m guilty of it too. I’ve probably had over a dozen pairs of pliers over the paast five years. Most of them were inexpensive, and as a result didn’t hold up will to heavy use with braid and wire, and those that did were no match for saltwater. Now, there are several companies out there that make great quality pliers, but these super lightweight carbon fiber pliers by Composite Reel Company may have just raised the bar.
A new lightweight, corrosion free, 7 1/2″, proprietary carbon fiber composite pliers, weighing 4¼ ounces is now available for anglers. The pliers are manufactured with 300 series stainless steel tips, bushing, spring, screws and grommets. The self adjusting cutter, located on the “fish” logo side of the pliers, and anvil are made of Tungsten Carbide. This provides clean cutting of various size braids, in addition to other materials. The easily replaceable cutter and anvil are secured with stainless steel screws and include crimping teeth and a groove for sleeves. The tip of the pliers easily grab lightweight braid and monofilament line. Included with the pliers are a lanyard and sheath. Optional heavy duty sheath available. Pliers & lanyard also sold separately.
These beautiful pliers aren’t cheap though, be prepared to shell out $130 USD – but if I add up all the money I’ve wasted on cheap pliers, I would have been far better off with a set of these.
Many cheap pliers look great. They are usually bright silver in color. If you look closely at the cheap pliers underneath the shiny coating the metal is rough. There are no smooth surfaces anywhere on the pliers. A quality pliers usually has machined surfaces on at least two sides. While some quality pliers are plated (usually a bright silver color) many of them are not. Some of the best pliers are not plated at all. Here are some points which can help you tell apart great ones :
1. The teeth on the jaws are sharp.2. The hinge joint is close tolerance.3. On a quality pliers the handles have a knurled grip or a cushion grip.