Veteran Tool Spotlight: Slip Joint Pliers (Hogs)

I'm trying to spotlight the tools that all line mechanics should carry. These spotlights are from my observation of what the senior guys carried when I first got here. If I didn't have one of these when I started to work line maintenance then I made sure I picked one up as soon as I could. This time we will be talking about "Hogs". I'm not sure why the older, senior guys call slip-joint pliers "hogs" but thats what they call them.



Once again the slip joint plier is not the coolest looking tool around. It's funny how the tools that are not the sexiest, first thought of tools are often the most useful.



Hogs are available in several different sizes. Some guys carry a small 6" size along with their leatherman to every gate call. Hogs allow you to do several jobs with one tool. They are really handy for getting cannon plugs off and on in hard to reach places. They can hold lines, "adjust" sheet metal, act as jack handles, hold nuts and bolts, even crimp wires. I'm starting to sound like a butcher but hogs are often used as hammers as well. Most hogs have jaws that open nice and wide for any of a number of applications. I carry two with me, a six inch and a ten inch. These are new to me and I'm still getting used to them. My old pair of hogs was a very old Craftsman pair that I had for a long time. The jaws opened to about 4" wide and they were nice old steel, nothing fancy. I was working on an APU one rainy night and they got lost. I did not remember to look for them until two days later and by then they were gone. I took this particular tool loss very hard as they were one of my favorite tools. Since that catastrophe I purchased a new pair. I decided that I would get the newer type of slip joint pliers, these have a button that locks the plier into whatever size you want it in. Knipex was the first one who made this type I believe. I bought a set of Vise-Grip pliers from Sears a that came with both the six inch and ten inch pliers.

The new type of hogs are pretty good but it took a while for me to get used to them. Being used to my old pliers made the new type difficult to use. Over the last few months I have gotten used to them and like them a lot. They are not as good as my old ones at bashing things but thats why I have my Ford wrench and my MagLite.