12↑ BEST PLIERS
Lenox LXHT90540 $40
The problem with most pliers used in pipe work is that you need two
hands to adjust them, and that can be tough to do when you’re f lat on
your back under a sink. These solve that, cooperating with one hand to
grip fittings and pipe from about ¼ inch to three inches. Just press the
button with your thumb and allow the lower jaw to slide open. And 7⁄16
inch of free movement at any stop increases your speed of adjustment.- BEST SPECIALIZED RATCHET
Klein 65200 $15
This tiny ratchet wrench-screw-
driver accepts only ¼-inch
hex bits. But its beauty lies in
its length; from the tip of the
bit to the back of the head, it’s
about 11⁄8 inches, allowing you
to get into unimaginably small
spaces. Turn the fastener with
the thumbwheel behind the
head or, if space permits, use the
31⁄2-inch-long handle. - BEST SHEARS
Wiss CW10TM $15
The strength of the CW10TM
lies in tearing apart mod-
ern packaging. We know that
because we used it to open nearly
everything that the tools here
came in. We like its large han-
dles and the fine serrations on
the lower jaw that grip slippery
materials. The titanium coating
should help its blades stay sharp
through many snips.
THE BEST $5
TOOL EVER MADESTANLEY 99
UTILITY KNIFE
Introduced in the 1960s, Stanley’s 99
utility knife is the virtual definition of
simplicity. Not counting its blade, it
consists of four parts: two halves of
the zinc die-cast body, one screw, and
the thumb latch. It’s as straightforward
and brilliant a piece of industrial design
as has ever been conceived.
A more in-depth examination finds
that each of its halves fits together
with tangs and are held by the afore-
mentioned machine screw with a
Phillips-head recess. The knife takes
one trapezoid-shaped blade in the
nose and as many as 10 in the mag-
azine, which is no more than a space
located between the ribs cast inside
the halves of the body. Push the thumb
latch forward to expose the blade, then
pull the latch back to retract.
And the thumb latch alone is a thing
of beauty, consisting of itself plus
the spring steel carrier to which it’s
attached, and that’s it. It’s the knife’s
only moving part, aside from the blade,
and I don’t know how many latch-
unlatch cycles it will endure before
it breaks. It’s probably somewhere in
the thousands or possibly tens of thou-
sands. Take as evidence that I had one
99 that lasted for more than a decade
before the deployment mechanism
gave out on me.
If all this still isn’t quite enough
to convince you of this utility knife’s,
well, utility, consider that the 99 is
still constructed here in America and
costs about $5. Though one thing
has changed since it debuted in the
’60s: It has now earned the qualifier
“Classic” 99.—R.B.
HAND TOOLS
70 March/April 2021
LAKOTAGAMBILL(RATCHET;^ SCISSOR- SH
EAR);COURTESYLENOX^ (PLIERS)