Pro tip: Don't buy the cheap coax strippers from the big box store

I was in a pinch last month and grabbed a pair of those $12 coax strippers from the orange store for a quick job. Figured it was just a simple tool, how bad could it be? Well, the blade was dull right out of the package and the adjustment was totally loose. It kept nicking the center conductor, which I didn't even notice until I was doing my sweep test and getting terrible return loss. I had to go back and re-terminate six drops in a Phoenix apartment complex, which burned about two hours of my afternoon. That's easily $150 in lost time, not to mention the wasted connectors. I should have just waited and ordered my usual Klein ones online. What's your go-to stripper that actually holds up?

3 comments

3 Comments

sage2862mo ago

I had that exact same pair from the orange store. The little plastic depth stop on mine snapped off after maybe three uses, so it was basically just a dull blade in a handle. I keep a Paladin PTSS-1 in my bag now, and it's been solid for years.

park.adam2mo ago

Honestly the real problem is that orange store stuff is designed to fail. They make more money when you have to come back and buy another one. My Paladin has outlasted three of those cheap ones already.

betty_reed616d ago

It's like they've figured out exactly how long things have to last before people get annoyed enough to switch brands, isn't it? Everything from toasters to tape measures seems to have that built in failure point now. You buy something expecting it to be a tool for life, and it turns into a disposable item instead. The whole system depends on us just accepting that things break and buying another one without thinking twice. Then when you actually find something built to last, it feels like a conspiracy to keep it quiet. Funny how that works out for the companies, but not for us.