In a feature from PBM’ s November edition, Knipex Marketing Manager David Barnes takes a look at the company’s “high-quality hand tools that are making waves with merchant customers”.
Hand tools are a crucial part of any installer’s toolkit and there is a large choice available to the trade. However not all hand tools are created equal. Specialist pliers’ manufacturers, such as Knipex, have a long history of producing the very best products and provide innovative, extremely effective and comfortable tools which save time and money out on site.
Carl Gustav Putsch founded Knipex back in 1882 and it is still a family-owned enterprise to this day. Based in Wuppertal Cronenberg in Germany, the factory grew from just one building into the impressive complex it is today, exporting its tools to more than 100 countries across the world. With over 1,000 different pliers across its product ranges, the company manufactures many variations which cater for many different applications a professional tradesperson will encounter.
The high quality and reputation of these tools means builders’ merchants can easily communicate the benefits of the brand at the trade counter and there are some key ranges which are currently popular with merchant customers.
Gripping
With 25 jaw locking positions, the ever-popular Cobra Water Pump Pliers can be set to the desired size by the push of a button. Fine size adjustment ensures optimum handle position and box-joint construction prevents the pliers pulling to one side when in use. A user-friendly guard prevents fingers being pinched.
The Cobra XS (100mm) was launched in 2020 and it has already proved a success with builders and plumbers — and with a gripping capacity of 24mm, this ‘everyday carry’ tool really does fit into the palm of the hand, making it well-suited to quick jobs like radiators, taps or just those quick tightening-up tasks.
Whilst also offering 125mm, 150mm and 180mm sizes to offer solutions for jobs in awkward spaces and positions, the 250mm pliers are unsurprisingly our most popular size with all tradespeople for general maintenance and domestic jobs. Finally, larger pliers at 300mm (60mm capacity) and 400mm (95mm capacity) are used in more industrial settings.
Keep it compact
Kick started by the Cobra XS, the trend for compact hand tools has been embraced in the Pliers Wrench range too, which is now available as an XS version with a length of just 100 millimetres. With a width across flats of up to 21 millimetres, the small all-rounder has a continuous gripping capacity for all common widths, both metric and imperial, whilst its smooth jaws ensure gentle use on delicate surface finishes.
Sometimes on site, brute force is needed and the CoBolt Compact Bolt Cutter is a pocket-sized muscle tool. With its practical size of 200mm and low weight of less than 400g, these tools can easily be kept on hand for demanding jobs. For bigger cutting jobs, for instance for thicker wires and cables, Bolt Cutters are available in a range of lengths, from 460mm up to 910mm.
Merchant support
Our team is available to help merchants with product information and details on how to source the marketing materials and new products. Knipex provides eye-catching point of sale and marketing materials with solutions designed to help boost sales with glass display cases, illuminated boxes and accessories such as shelf stoppers, perforated panel hooks, secondary stands and displays.
