Fell for a $150 "pro grade" wire stripper that couldn't even handle 12 gauge

Bought one of those fancy auto-adjusting wire strippers from an ad online, took it home to strip some 12/2 Romex, and it just chewed up the insulation instead of cutting clean. Anyone else get burned by a tool that looked way better in the video than it worked in real life?

2 comments

2 Comments

wells.christopher1h ago

Ha, I used to think those expensive Japanese-made pliers were overkill but now I get it. Saw the light after this same kind of frustration.

jenny_lee53m ago

I read somewhere that those auto-adjusting strippers use a spring mechanism that just CAN'T handle the thicker jacket on 12 gauge Romex. Some guy on a tool forum tested like 6 different brands and said the only one that even came close was the Klein version, and even that mangled the insulation on the second pull. I learned the hard way too with a $90 pair of "ratcheting" cutters that left copper shavings everywhere. That's why I still keep my old manual strippers in the drawer.