Despite how popular wire stripping “electricians pliers” appear to be when searching online, I’ve never seen anyone use them here. The blades on the MVA200 will handle a wider range of cable sizes and types, while wire strippers appear to be limited to whatever size holes are on the blade. They’ll cut, strip, twist, crimp and you’ll even seen them used as hammers or spanners in a pinch.
In the US - these sorts of pliers are sometimes called “lineman’s” or “side cutting electrician” pliers.
Many electricians don’t use strippers - have a “feel” for stripping insulation using the cutter blades - without nicking the solid conductor. Doing this with stranded conductors might be a bit more challenging. Also European pliers with stripping notches to fit DIN wire gauges - will not work perfectly with AWG wiring.
Stuart had just posted this about a newish pair from Klein that add some additional functions.
If you like smaller pliers then this Bahco might be worth a look:
Not that I know of. The majority of the options are not shear cut. KC Tool carries German made Fit pliers. They’re ok, but I wasn’t that impressed. I haven’t seen those mva-200 before. I wonder if I’ll be able to find them in the USA
Thank you for the suggestions, Fred. Those Kliens do look alright, I’ll keep an eye out for reviews. The NWS pliers are great too and I actually have a pair Stripping insulation by ‘feel’ is how I’d expect an experienced electrician to work so it seems odd that tool companies would include them on electrical pliers. They’re more of a novice feature, don’t you think?
Lukas, I have definitely seen the MVA200s on a US site. Having trouble finding it again but I remember it being marketed as “The Aussie/Ozzie”…
“Shear” cutters (would be called bypass cutters if the tool were a garden shears) do seem to be less common for “lineman style” pliers. The style is more common for cable cutters - lots of brands/choices:
I’m a union electrician in San Francisco. Almost everyone I know uses dedicated wire strippers. Not sure if it’s a regional thing, a generational thing or classification thing.
Stripping insulation by ‘feel’ is how I’d expect an experienced electrician to work so it seems odd that tool companies would include them on electrical pliers. They’re more of a novice feature, don’t you think?