#a96 – Craftsman adjustable pliers

I love the Sears Crafstman tool guarantee. It’s simple: break it and they’ll replace it.For the rest of your life. Period.

I bought these adjustable pliers a good 25-some years ago, sildenafil when I was spending hours at a time lying on my back under a filthy Volvo. Cursing. A lot …

These pliers outlasted that cursed piece-of-shit vehicle, as they did the Celica and the Saab and countless misbegotten bike repairs, because they’re the real thing: An unstoppable, unkillable, invaluable hand tool.

You can open them up to more than 6 inches, close them down to a pincer-grip for the tiniest of things, hammer in and yank out nails, and generally wrench balky metal into compliance.

The fine coating of rust is a badge of pride. They’re good for changing oil, cranking recalcitrant nuts and general all-round wrenching – versatile, tough, beautiful and endlessly interested in the world all around.

Of course, stripping fasteners is part of the job – grab too hard and the tool’s hardened-steel teeth chew up bolts, screws, anything you use the tool for – sometimes to the point of rendering the fastener useless and requiring plan B – a hacksaw.

If you think like adjustable pliers, every problem looks like a nut.