Kobalt pliers are nothing special, but they get the job done. Right now at Lowes this 5-piece pliers set in on sale for $15.
For $3 apiece you get 6-inch long-nose pliers, 6-inch diagonal cutters, 6-inch slip joint pliers, 7-inch linesman pliers, and 8-inch tongue-and-groove pliers.
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These pliers wouldn’t be our first choice for heavy-duty tasks, but that’s mostly because of their smallish sizes.
Buy Now(via Lowes)
You could do a lot better with any number of brands, such as Channellock, Knipex, and NWS, but not for $15.
Mitch (route246)
You are right about nothing special but they are competent and get the job done for handyman applications. Stanley has a similar type of assortment for a similar price (slightly higher) at Costco now. I’m tempted to buy a few sets like these and just throw them in the spare tire compartment, just in case they are needed someday.
Stuart
I only recently gave away 2 out of the 3 Stanley pliers I purchased nearly a decade ago. At the time the set cost me $10 or $15, something like that, and I remember worrying about whether they were good enough for my needs. Fact is I sometimes still reach for them, at least the one I didn’t give away yet, despite having better pliers at my disposal.
There’s nothing wrong with basic pliers for basic needs, and the economy is even appealing for users who have an abundance of pliers.
Patrick Lucado
The handles are the downfall of these. They are so big and clumsy. I have the regular pliers. The grips make them tough to get into tight spots, plus they are so large you almost can’t manipulate them with one hand. They would be much better tools if they had smaller or even no rubber/plastic grip at all. Obviously, they wouldn’t be as pretty though.
Fred
I have two sets of these, I think both were included or ‘also on sale’ with other things I was buying anyway. They’re good enough for me that I haven’t decided to buy any other pliers sets since owning them. They aren’t perfect, but for the occasional times I need them they’ve been fine.
Kurt
As far as ‘cheap’ Asian pliers go… the Kobalt line is among the best. The price is pretty much unbeatable. They’re good for those times you need a cheap set you don’t care about too much. Besides, with the lifetime warranty it should be easy to replace them if/when they break.