Used to think safety wire pliers were a gimmick, now I won't touch a prop without them

I fought using those fancy safety wire pliers for like 5 years. Thought they were overpriced and you could do everything by hand. Then last month I was doing a C-130 prop governor change at McChord and my fingers were shredded after the third double-twist. A flight engineer buddy handed me his pair and just said "try it." Man, I got that job done in under 10 minutes with perfect twists. No more blood blisters on my index finger. The way they keep tension consistent and snap the pigtail flush is a game changer. I ordered my own set off Amazon that night. Anyone else stubbornly resisted a tool for years only to finally give in?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jamie24d ago

Oh man, I was the exact same way. Held out for years thinking they were just another gadget for people with more money than sense. Then I borrowed a pair from a guy on an old King Air job and felt like an idiot for waiting so long. The consistent tension alone is worth it, you don't have to fight the wire to keep it from bunching up. And the way it snips the pigtail off clean is just a bonus I never knew I needed. Now I've got a pair in my main tool bag and a backup set in the truck just in case. Total convert here, your mileage may vary but I doubt it.

julia_carter7024d ago

Backup set in the truck just in case" - man that got me lol. I remember buying my first pair and thinking "this better be worth the hype" and now I'm honestly embarrassed how much I talk about them on jobs. But the way you said you felt like an idiot for waiting? Yeah that hit home hard. I actually couldn't believe how much cleaner my bundles looked after I switched. The pigtail thing you mentioned too, I thought I was just bad at stripping wires all these years but nope, it was the tool all along. Now I'm that guy on the hangar floor trying to get everyone else to try mine.