Squirt pliers: what are they good for?

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znapschatz

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Jan 24, 2005
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Leatherman must think they have a potential market for yet another keychain sized multi-tool with pliers, but I'd like to know of what use these bitty pliers actually are. It seems to me that the scissors based tools, like the Micra, make sense for a good range of small jobs, small pliers not as many.

Here's the thing: I have been a huge fan of the Micra since it came out (1997 ?) Built around really useful small scissors and a few tools that could take on serious (light) work, it was a great complement to my primary knives and multi-tools, and still in the rotation. It is not without faults, though, among them sharp edges. (For that reason, my wife dislikes the Micra's handling to such an extent that she refuses to touch mine, even if she needs one and there are no other scissors around.)

When Leatherman intro'ed the Squirt line as an upgrade, I gave an S4 some pocket time, but while more refined with hand and pocket-friendly contours and outside opening implements, the screwdrivers were not as precise or useable as those on the Micra, and the bottle opener, just passable on the Micra, are awfully frustrating on the Squirt. I'm not saying the Squirt was no good, but overall, I preferred the "industrial" qualities of the Micra and passed the S4 on to my wife (she likes it, uses it all the time. :) )

Then I got interested in the P4. If the pliers proved effective, at least on some things, it seemed a good candidate to supplement a SAK. A few weeks of experience, however, proved disappointing. The pliers were seldom large enough to tackle the chores that came my way. Later, when the PS4 came out, I decided to give little pliers another try, thinking possibly the combo of pliers and scissors in the same keychain sized package could have possibilities. Jury is still out on that one, but so far I'm getting the impression that both pliers and scissors on this model are sub-par.

There are folks who have a different take on this. One guy I know, an outdoor photographer who has for the last 18 years been roaming the Southwest for desert views, takes only two knives on his solo back country trips; a CRKT 3 inch blade folder (don't know the model, it has stainless steel scales) and a P4. I guess the Squirt can be useful for something or he wouldn't bother with it.

So my question to those of you who actually use these little pliers is:
what are they good for?
 
As far as I can tell, they're mainly good for tying knots and picking up objects you don't want to/can't. Unfortunately -- although this could just be the examples that I've seen -- the pliers don't really align well enough to act as large tweezers like SAK pliers. As a result, I'm giving serious though to getting a SAK Mechanic.

On the flipside, though, the fact that SAK pliers are on a slipjoint mechanism means that care must be taken when rotating them (like when tightening a knot around something).
 
They're useful for light duty, no more, but I keep a small pair on my keychain for pinching things that are either too small or too sharp to grab with fingers. I don't do anything industrial, but I run into a use for them every few days or so.
 
To me the Squirt series is in a better-than-nothing category. I bought a P4 because it fits nicely in the watch pocket of my Jeans and Khakis.
 
I consider the Juice pliers questionable , and the Squirt pliers useless - I prefer the pliers found on SAK's , they aren't cast .

Chris
 
Ive used mine to tighten a bolt in a pinch, to hold a nut while using a screwdriver, just basic simple things, I don't really find myself using the pliers so often so I now went back to the old SAK, I like the Rambler, much better bottle opener, and a real Phillips screwdriver.
 
znapschatz said:
I'd like to know of what use these bitty pliers actually are ... what are they good for?
Click to expand...

I have a P4 that doesn't get a ton of pocket time, but I do carry it quite a bit on bike rides and it always comes with me to band gigs. I've used them to pull a heavy-duty thorn out of a bike tire. I've used them to bend heavy wire. I've used them to pull the little nails out of a Marine Band harmonica. I've used them to pick up hot stuff. I've used them to tighten a nut. I've used the wire cutters to, well, cut wire. They're light duty pliers (obviously), but I've found them quite useful.

Slider817 said:
I like the Rambler, much better bottle opener, and a real Phillips screwdriver.
Click to expand...

Same here. As I wrote above, my P4 comes out from time to time, but my Rambler is a true EDC, riding on my keychain.
 
I have used mine hold another side of a bolt while I used the surge as a power tightener. BTW the crunch had a hose pinched off so we could drive back to camp.
 
Slider817 said:
I like the Rambler, much better bottle opener, and a real Phillips screwdriver.
Click to expand...

Actually, me too. No matter what else goes into my pockets on a given day, even keychain category Leathermen, a Rambler permanently resides in my jeans watch pocket, removed only when the pants are washed. Over decades, other knives and multi-tools have come and gone, but this one has remained part of my core EDC. However, I continue to search for a small form, lightweight supplement for what the Rambler lacks. That's the niche filled by the Micra and maybe one of pliers based Squirts, if I can figure them out.
 
I edc a squirt ps4 every day and although I do sometimes feel that I don't need it, its cumbersome on my minimalist keychain edc, I have never left without it because it is very handy when the need arises. I have used it for light duty work in particular gripping and manipulating small objects with sharp edges that would otherwise cause discomfort. The scissors haven't seen much use, and he bottle opener isn't very effective, but these small pliers are comfortable to hold and use in comparison to my old Gerber clutch which had sharp corners. Overall I like the Ps4 for its compact size as I don't really have a need to carry a full size multitool at the moment. Works for me, my 2 cents.

Tex
 
I have the E4 and the plier nose is narrower, not quite needle nose. It includes wire strippers which I have used. For small electronic repair or anything you might use a small needle nose for it's handy. The E4 has a small (#1) Phillips driver included also.
 
I bought a Squirt, but because I EDC a pliers based multi-tool and a SAK (Cybertool 34) that has pliers, I really couldn't see the point in a tiny pliers based tool. So I got the Squirt S4 and I think it is pretty good as a pair of tactical folding scissors - much better scissors than what I have on my SAKs or LM Wave or Vic SwissTool. The other tools aren't much - pretty good nail file but the rest don't match what I have on my other EDC tools.

The Squirt P4 or PS4? No thanks, I'm not really interested in either of those.
 
I like my P4 and PS4. Yes the pliers are light duty but still work well enough IMO. I've cut and stripped cable, clipped cable ties, pulled connectors, grabbed loose wires, twisted and bent metal rods, the list goes on. They're also great for tightening up the knurled fasteners as used by LM. :)
 
I play a lot of golf and walk most of the time, I have used my Squirt to make emergency adjustments on my push cart to the brakes, cables, etc. Gets the job done and weight is a factor.
 
I always have one loose in my pocket.
I like it becouse it is small enough to not notice.
It isn't a complete heavy duty tool box but it does offer handy options for small tasks.
I broke the pliers of my first one.
I would like an upgrade one sice larger, but that will be caried in a belt pouch
 
Hengelo_77 said:
I always have one loose in my pocket.
I like it becouse it is small enough to not notice.
It isn't a complete heavy duty tool box but it does offer handy options for small tasks.
I broke the pliers of my first one.
I would like an upgrade one sice larger, but that will be caried in a belt pouch
Click to expand...

One step up from the Squirt is the Juice line. Look it up.
 
I have used my Squirt pliers to open and close outside faucets that have the handle removed. They aren't the most robust pliers but are handy, especially when paired with my SAK Explorer.

Chad
 
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