I received quite a few requests to review Husky’s new 6-in-1 multi-functional electrical pliers, and so I picked up a pair earlier in the month when prepping for our Husky Tool Gift Guide.
We currently have a paid partnership with Husky and Home Depot, where they supply a sampling of tools for review consideration several times over the course of the year.
I bought this one at Home Depot for $13 for expediency, but it’s included in our Husky-Home Depot partnership coverage.
Described as multi-functional pliers, this Husky tool is designed to handle common electrical and wiring tasks.
Here are its features:
- Wire cutting blades
- Long nose gripping jaws
- Wire stripping holes
- 8-18 AWG solid
- 10-20 AWG stranded
- Conduit deburring grooves
- Machine screw cutter
- Crimping jaws
Additionally, the pliers have comfort-grip handles and a loop for use with a lanyard or tethering accessories.
For the price, I am really liking these new Husky pliers.
So far, I’ve used the wire stripping holes, wire cutter blades, and the pliers jaws. I rarely trim machine screws, and the crimper anvils look well-shaped.
Should You Buy These Pliers?
The Husky electrical pliers feel well-made, and comfortable to use as well.
Are these the best-performing wire cutters and strippers I have ever used or keep in my tool box? Of course not. But, each of my dedicated go-to tools costs more than this single tool.
You don’t buy x-in-1 multi-functional pliers for top performance, you buy them for good performance, maximum versatility, and the convenience of only having to carry a single tool.
These Husky pliers check off all those boxes – they’re versatile, they’re convenient, and they work quite well especially for the price.
I like this Husky pliers so much better than my older Stanley multi-purpose electrical tools. Not only is it a little easier to use, I’ve been using its pliers jaws outside of electrical and wiring tasks. The Husky handle grips are also comfortable and give the tool a more premium feel.
What’s the Compromise?
The wire cutting jaws aren’t as sharp as another multi-functional pliers I’ve been using, or on my favorite dedicated wire strippers that have curved cutting blades.
But to put things into context, my wire strippers don’t have the pliers jaws that make these Husky pliers more broadly useful, and the other multi-functional pliers retail for $35 to $38.
As a result, the Husky wire cutting blades tend to crush and deform wires before cutting them. Most wire cutters will do this to an extent, and you have to pay a lot to find ones that don’t, but the Husky does this to a greater extend on thinner wires.
It’s by no means a deal-breaker, in my opinion, especially if you’re working with larger wires.
I should also point out that I compared the cutting performance against that of my favorite wire strippers. The wire cutting performance is on-par with that of my favorite full-sized diagonal cutters, and probably on-par with that of side-cutters.
I don’t think it’s a big deal, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it.
Overall
These Husky pliers offer a very good user experience, and I think they’re a very good value.
The pliers lack more premium features, such as spring-action handles, but that’s something I’ve not found myself missing.
Chances are I won’t use these for my electronics projects, but they might go into my household electrical work bag. Wiring projects that involve lamp cord or speaker wire, for instance, aren’t as easily affected by cut performance in the same way as signal wires.
Husky’s 6-in-1 pliers offer most of the features and performance of most premium models, but at a fraction of the cost.
Price: $13-15
