That is not only a GREAT tool but the BEST (parallel) pliers!
I've had a Knipex long handled wire cutter (piano draht) for decades.

One of my favourite tools has been a 10mm wrench that has been used on everything from 1970's VW Beetles to espresso machines.

Now I have to go find your pliers on Amazon!

these, simply to see what I'm doing

Hah, the 10mm wrench is the thing that keeps the world from falling apart. The internet is full with 10mm Memes.


My Machines have all kinds of metric nuts, but none of them are 10mm. And some of them have weird pipe fitting dimensions, so my favourite tool is this one:



One side is for metric, the other is imperial. Sixty percent of the time, it helps all the time.

I also love that Knipex plier, the ones with the flat head which acts like a wrench.

Another undervalued but likely most used tool in my box is this PB Swiss bitholder. Yes, I agree with your first opinion, I usually prefer to have dedicated tools for dedicated tasks as well, but this is a really high quality tool and the easy magnetic switching of (also high quality) bits makes for a very allround tool. The plastic cap is sturdy and holds your 10 most used bits. I also have a sleeve with longer bits for harder to reach places.


(PB Swiss PB 6510 R-30)

I'm a home enthousiast. When something breaks in or around the house, my heart makes a minor jump of joy and I run to my toolbox to fix it. The first things I grab (instead of dragging the 20kg+ toolbox) are the Knipex and this PB Swiss ratchet, which usually fixes 80-90% of the tasks. For that remaining 10-20% I have hundreds (or thousands ) worth of other equipment that's infrequently but just as satisfying to use.

The only tool I have that is strictly for use on my BDB is a 10" long cross tip screw driver for removing the steam boiler. I prefer JIS over Phillips.

In the middle of some repairs right now so I took a walk over to the bench and organized the tools that I feel are indispensable:



Knipex pliers wrench of course - I've only got the 7" and they're great for fixing things around the house, plumbing, bicycles, etc. Wouldn't mind a 5" and 10" though. I'm gonna have to get some of those soft jaws that Craig posted.

Assembly pliers, can't remember the brand maybe Tekton. Good stout (& hardened!) jaws to really grab onto parts, great for pulling stubborn electrical connectors without mangling them.

Ratcheting bit-holder, Wera makes a great one. And to the right is a little ratchet I picked up at McMaster that takes 1/4"" bits, in tight spaces it's the only thing that works. I have a set of L-shaped hex keys but I rarely use them unless I need to get down a narrow hole where the bit-holder won't fit.

Pick made of a broken hacksaw blade. For pryin and pokin (and stabbin snitches).

At the top, the small parts bin is great to keep track of all the bits. If it gets to a point where I might lose track I'll add little scraps of paper with notes on what screws go where. And it stays shut when I'm not adding parts so I can't knock the whole thing over.

A decent pair of calipers to size fittings, o-rings, valve seals, etc. These are overkill but my only other pair with metric are throwaway plastic ones that I use for greasy bike bits.

Not pictured, good electrical tools for cutting, stripping, and crimping. I struggled for far too long with poor versions of those tools when the good ones are a delight to use.

I've got several 20" X 50" buildings filled with hand tools & equipment so it's hard to pick a favorite. One of the indispensable tools is the Victor oxy/acetylene welding set I bought 45 years ago. Since I recently used it for a tricky brazing job rejoining 2 copper pipes to a stainless base on my Speedster I guess it qualifies for this thread.

Must be some TINY space in that case...

This one it fix everything