GearWrench Unleashes Pitbull Pliers on the Trades
Auto mechanics and tradesmen prize the best pliers that can grip, turn, and cut well. However, it isn’t often that we get all three at once. The Gearwrench PitBull Pliers look like a pretty compelling option. Not only do they seem to grip, turn, and cut well, but they also have great ergonomic features to make them comfortable to use. Many, if not all, of these new tools can be found with either dipped or dual-material handles.
Gearwrench on their New Tools
Professional technicians we talked to said that the most important things they looked for in their pliers are grip and cutting ability. We know they’re cutting day in and day out and we know that grip is critical to getting the job done. Those two goals are at the core of everything we put into our PitBull Pliers.
Jarrett Wolf, product manager for Gearwrench
A Set of Gearwrench PitBull Pliers for Every Occasion
The Gearwrench PitBull Pliers include 38 individual products and six different sets. The range of tools covers just about any application the job calls for. Some of the models clearly traverse into other trades beyond automotive applications. Gearwrench seems to be casting a wide net with these new hand tools.
Gearwrench Pitbill Tongue and Groove Pliers
Auto-Bite with Automatic-Adjusting Jaws
The Gearwrench PitBull Auto-Bite Tongue and Groove Pliers come with comfortable dual-material handles that have been designed specifically for one-handed use. Squeezing the handle automatically adjusts the jaws for a precise fit. It features a thumb-operated Auto-Bite lever that has a slim profile for better access in tighter spots.
These pliers also feature aggressive angled teeth for better grip on hex nuts and bolts. The jaws allow for multiple positions that offer more flexibility and capacity. The overmolded grips provide comfort but without going too far and blowing out the diameters of the handles.
The coating on the handles won’t accidentally mark up workpieces, either. The pinch stop design also keeps you from pinching your hands if they snap closed suddenly. The ergonomic dual-material handles include end-mounted tether points as well as identification markers. This lets you pick them out of a tool bag quickly and easily.
They come in 6″, 8″, 10″, and 12″ sizes, as well as a 4-piece set that includes all of them.
K9 Jaws Got Bite
The Gearwrench PitBull K9 Tongue and Groove Pliers feature the K9 jaw system. This jaw design provides a secure bite, even when on a 35º offset angle. The aggressive, angled teeth give you a solid, easily-held grip along the workpiece. Meanwhile, Geawrench claims the narrow profile of the pliers provides 40% better access than the competition.
The K9 tongue and groove pliers feature 10 jaw positions for an optimized handle span and improved gripping. The Pinch-Stop design keeps you from painful pinching on your hands.
These pliers come with either dual material or dipped handles.
Gearwrench PitBull Solid-Joint Pliers
The Gearwrench PitBull Solid-Joint Pliers include linesman, long-nose, universal, and diagonal pliers. They let you cut with 35% less force thanks to their pivot-forward design and laser-hardened cutting edges. They also feature designs that extend the cutting life of the pliers by 50%. All four styles are available in either dual-material handles or dipped handles.
Gearwrench Linesman Pliers
The Solid-Joint Gearwrench Linesman Pliers feature a cross-hatched jaw for a better grip, a fish tape channel for flat steel fish tapes, and a reaming head for deburring pipes. We’ll need to get these in our hands to see how well they open and close, but the build quality looks solid. Gearwrench has these in 8″ and 9.5″ sizes and you can find them dipped or in the dual-material handles.
PitBull Long Nose Pliers
The Long Nose Solid-Joint Pliers also feature Gearwrench’s cross-hatch design, but they also come with a fastener grip area to turn nuts and fasteners. They also feature a nail/wire holder on the jaws themselves.
We like the narrow nose design. It lets us get into tighter areas than we could otherwise. But the unique fastener grip area is also really helpful in a pinch.
Gearwrench PitBull Universal Pliers
The Universal pliers have the cross-hatched jaw design, as well as a crimping joint for non-insulated connectors, and a fastener grip area to turn fasteners. This might be the most basic tool you can find in the line-up, but Gearwrench nailed the design.
PitBull Diagonal Pliers
Gearwrench designed the PitBull Diagonal Pliers with a 20º angle for flush cutting and a reaming head for deburring pipes. A clever pinch-stop design prevents you from giving yourself blood blisters from pinching yourself in the handles.
What We Think
At first glance, and after reading the details on these new pliers, Gearwrench did a great job on many fronts. You not only get well-built tools with a variety of features we love, but you also get choices. We know tons of Pros who prefer simple dipped handles—check. Others, like myself, prefer a bit more cushion on the handles and can afford that in our toolbag loadout. Double-check.
The brand clearly wants to provide great tools at affordable prices. Compared to many automative manufacturers, Gearwrench keeps wiping the floor with the competition on pricing. We hope that trend continues. In either case, we look forward to getting at least some of these in for review shortly.
