# Irwin (NWS) Pliers



## don_resqcapt19 (Jul 18, 2010)

I stopped even looking at their tools after they moved their production to China.


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## Bootss (Dec 30, 2011)

I bought a pair of Milwaukee lineman pliers seemed OK. They're made in China. They have a threaded screw cutter on the heavy duty lineman


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## thoenew (Jan 17, 2012)

I have a pair of the ***** with the power groove. They are decent. I wouldn't say they are much better than the Knipex ones they replaced.


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## Wpgshocker (Jan 25, 2013)

I bought the diagonals, the finish was uneven and looked poorly dipped. The biggest complaint I had was that they don't open very wide. 14/2 BX barely fits, 12/3 forget it. 


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## David C (May 19, 2015)

I was looking at the new Irwin Vise-Grip NWS pliers lineup and they seemed decent, but when compared to their Knipex counterpart, they look weird, especially the linesman. I do like the built-in lanyard hook tho, but honestly that's the only thing they have over the Knipex.

The hex bolt jaws are kind of a nuisance, because they drastically reduce the gripping surface of the jaws when doing large pigtails and they also take some of the cutting area, not to mention its easier to damage and round off the flats and cutting edges of the plier by playing around trying to get a decent grip on a bolt. That's why I prefer the Knipex Cobra pliers for that purpose, they will grip so strong on pretty much anything. I have my set of 4 pliers, all Knipex, and I love them all, especially the high quality feel of the linesman one.

And as mentioned, the finishing quality and dipping doesn't seem very detailed even on the stock pictures of Irwin. One thing I could recommend from Irwin are their new adjustable wrench with the ProTouch grip, very nice grip, solid and comfortable, and the wrench themselves are decent, a bit wider opening than usual, and I just got the set of 4 for $50 CAD on Amazon. Keep the 6" one in your pouch and you can tackle anything up to 1".


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## Palm (Jun 27, 2016)

There appears to be three quality tiers in Irwin products at the moment, each recognizable by country of origin. The re-branded NWS tools from Germany being the high end in quality and price, with the lowest from China.

What's new are the impressive mid-level offerings from Taiwan, e.g. these long nose pliers and diagonal cutters, which I feel offer the best balance of economy and quality.


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## Majewski (Jan 8, 2016)

My sh has their products but I haven't bought them. Some of the special or weird needle nose look interesting but the basic ones, I'd stick with my Kleins or Knipex or Ideal...


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## Palm (Jun 27, 2016)

Slip the Klein Journeyman grips on those two I linked and you'll be hard pressed to tell the difference, except for the price. They could be more re-branding by Klein, as the previous version of the Swanson Savage torpedo level was.


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## KelvinKlein (Jul 10, 2016)

Definitely not rebranded Knipex, the Irwins are made in Taiwan.

You can buy original NWS for less than the rebranded Irwins. Not a good deal IMO.


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## TGGT (Oct 28, 2012)

I gave the ***** away, they weren't handy enough to keep around. My father in law loves them because they're easy on his hands thanks to the compound joint. They just don't open very wide.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

They look pretty decent but they'd have to go a long way to replace my Kleins.


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## Palm (Jun 27, 2016)




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## KennyW (Aug 31, 2013)

The nws 200mm "normal" ***** are really good. The compound pivot cutters are really a specialty tool and not a replacement for the standard cutters. The standard cutters have tons of cutting power anyways. Really recommend them. I also have the 240mm size but they are too big and awkward to use. The 2o0mm is really the "goldilocks" size. Not too big and not too small. Love them. 137-49-VDE-200


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