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Knipex calls these the Pliers Wrench. I call them parallel jaw pliers, and they’re the reason I’ve picked up a crescent wrench maybe twice in the last two years. Most pros already know an adjustable wrench is half useless. It rounds fasteners, it slips, and you fight it the whole time. This is the replacement.
The jaws stay parallel and smooth, and the geometry grabs the flats of a hex head instead of the corners. I have yet to round off a nut or a bolt with them. You can put far more force on a fastener than a crescent wrench allows, with zero damage. They’re faster, too: the jaws open just enough to reposition for the next turn, so you work through a fastener instead of pulling the tool off and re-seating it every time.
The 7-1/4 inch and 10 inch pair covers most of what I run into, and the set comes in a keeper pouch. They aren’t cheap, but they’re forged in Germany by a company that has made nothing but pliers since 1882, and they’re built to outlast you. Buy once, cry once.
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