Knipex vs HF

I know the recommended cutters are the Knipex 71 01 200, but I can get cutters at Harbor Freight for a fraction of the price.

Does anyone have experience with cutters from HF? I am sure you get what you pay for with the Knipex but with everything else I need to get I would like to save a few dollars here on something that won’t get used much.

I went the cheap route for awhile and now have Knipex cutters.

The true value of the Knipex would be in buy them once. The $7 HF may deform after cutting a few #7 hooks. I still have my old cheap mini bolt cutters but the true ease that the Knipex cuts hoods is nice in an emergency. I have seen 2 guy’s hooked by fish and the knipex cut the hooks instantly.
I think some models are around $37 but check the Muskie Hunter merchandise for the price.

Good luck

Be Safe

Rick Beatty wrote:

I would like to save a few dollars here on something that won’t get used much.

Buy once cry once. For something which you may need in an emergency I’d go with Knipex. Who knows what could go wrong if needing to rely on Harbor Freight. I do have a handful of items from HF but they are all things that I don’t have to rely on and pretty much know their limitations.

If you do go with the HF cutters figure out their limitations when you get it home. Cut some of typical things you may need to cut and see if you can deal with their performance.

Also lubricate all the joints.

If you don’t use them much,the HF ones are fine.But don’t expect much out of them,they will disappoint.I have the HF ones,and the Knipex one will run circles on the HF one.And the Knipex pair I have(1000v)show no signs of deforming or rusting.Got it years ago at a rummage sale cheap.

Thanks for the advice. I can remember getting some cheap cutters MANY years ago and they deformed the first time I used them. I haven’t held the HF cutters yet so I don’t know how robust they are.

I am only going to target Muskie a few times a year so it could take me years to get up to 1,000 casts. That was my reference to not using them much.

I actually was thinking of them to cut hooks from the fish, not from my flesh. That puts this in a whole different perspective.

I’m sure when someone has a hook in their hand while still attached to a flopping fish – Those few extra $ spend will seem real worth it. I’ve had to use the Knipex several times when things have gone wrong while landing Larger Pike – 36″ +. In both cases both the fish and the hooked person survived – Not sure the same would have happened with a cheap hook cutters. at least Twice the hooked party went out and bought a Knipex as soon as they were home from the trip. I’d say spend the money, Sooner or later you or a buddy will be happy you did !!!

My uncle showed me a video he shot where a buddy of his caught a decent pike, it was sitting on deck and the dog got curious. The fish flopped and pinned the dogs face. The buddy reached in and also got pinned. You can only imagine the chaos that ensued. I know they were wishing they had any type of cutters during that.

Buy the knipex and be done. Think of it this way what yous saved will get you one less shiny musky bait. How will you feel about not having that one bait in a bloody painful emergency when knipex definitely works?

Had the same question when getting musky equipment a couple years ago. My rationale that it’s not as sexy as baits, saving a few bucks is irrelevant if ever needed.

Rick Beatty wrote:

Thanks for the advice. I can remember getting some cheap cutters MANY years ago and they deformed the first time I used them. I haven’t held the HF cutters yet so I don’t know how robust they are.

I am only going to target Muskie a few times a year so it could take me years to get up to 1,000 casts. That was my reference to not using them much.

I actually was thinking of them to cut hooks from the fish, not from my flesh. That puts this in a whole different perspective.

The HF cutters work fine when new but don’t last. I got the HF cutters when I started fishing muskies and had them a couple years. They worked well for about a dozen cuts on big hooks and by that time I was fishing muskies a lot more, catching more fish, and cutting more hooks. Then I knew it was time to upgrade to Knipex and have made 100s of cuts on the same pair since then.

I don’t regret getting the HF cutters because I didn’t know how much I’d fish muskies at that time and they were a cheap but usable option for my trial period.

The flip side is even if you buy Knipex and decide muskies aren’t for you… I’m sure you could sell them for a very minimal loss.

Ok, you have convinced me. Compared to my Van Staal pliers the Knipex are cheap.

I do have a couple of questions. Do most of you use the mini-bolt cutter style or the diagonal cutters?

Also how often do these go overboard? They make them with a tether attachment point. Is that something worth getting?

You want the compact bolt cutters.

These are the standard ones:
https://www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1216&L=1&page=art_detail&isMobile=&parentID=1367&groupID=1473&artID=2380

These are the spring loaded ones:
https://www.knipex.com/index.php?id=1216&L=1&page=art_detail&isMobile=&parentID=1367&groupID=1473&artID=20517

Spring loaded is nice as long as you take care of them and don’t let the mechanism rust and get sticky.

tswoboda wrote:

Spring loaded is nice as long as you take care of them and don’t let the mechanism rust and get sticky.

I wouldn’t have a problem with rust, but I wonder about the ability to get them open in a hurry when there is an emergency. How easy is that and with the spring holding them open is it easy to get your hand on both handles?

Rick Beatty wrote:

I wouldn’t have a problem with rust, but I wonder about the ability to get them open in a hurry when there is an emergency. How easy is that and with the spring holding them open is it easy to get your hand on both handles?

The spring loaded are easier to make cuts with one handed, they would be better in an emergency.

i have 2 pair of Knipex and 1 pair of Capri. the Capri are identical and work every bit as well as the Knipex at roughly half the price.

fishthumper wrote:

I’m sure when someone has a hook in their hand while still attached to a flopping fish

Yep, this exact thing happened to me and I did not have a cutter at all. Not fun. Ended up having my buddy use a filet knife to slice my finger to get hook out and then went and got a tetanus shot and 6 stitches.

Just get a piece of Paracord and some electrical tape and make a tether.

From experience, being tethered to a small Pike is not fun. Cutting the hook will be your number one goal.