My new crimper's jaw gave out on a Friday attic run

I was finishing a drop in a hot Phoenix attic when the crimper I bought just two weeks ago, a Klein VDV226, just wouldn't close fully on the connector. I had to hand-twist the last one and climb down, which felt pretty unprofessional. What's your go-to backup plan when a tool fails mid-job?

3 comments

3 Comments

markhall1mo agoTop Commenter

Honestly, that's just a normal Friday in this line of work. Tools break all the time and a hand-twist gets the call done. Tbh, calling it unprofessional is making a bigger deal out of it than it needs to be.

hugo_bennett1mo ago

My old boss used to say if you don't have a backup plan for your main tool, you're just hoping. I keep a cheap hand crimper in the bottom of my bag for exactly this.

hayden7091mo ago

Absolutely. I had my good crimper fail halfway through a big job once. That backup hand tool in my bag saved me a two hour round trip to the shop. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done right then. I learned that day that being ready for the main tool to break is just part of the job. Now I always have that backup.