Can we talk about spending $80 on a Klein coax stripper that barely lasted a year?

I bought one of those fancy Klein coax cable strippers about 14 months ago, the ratcheting kind with the replaceable blades. Cost me $80 at the supply house. First 6 months it was great, but then the blade carrier got sloppy and started nicking the center conductor on RG6. Just last Tuesday I had to re-terminate 4 ends on a job in Hammond because of it. Anyone else had theirs go bad that fast? Thinking about just going back to the cheapo $15 model.

2 comments

2 Comments

robinc661mo ago

I had the exact same model for about three years before it finally gave out on me. The trick I found was blowing out the blade carrier with canned air every few weeks and keeping the pivot screw snugged up with a small Torx bit. I think a lot of times people don't realize those little adjustments make all the difference in how long the tool lasts. The cheap $15 ones can be fine for light work, but they don't have the same consistency on a full day of cable prep. Maybe yours just got a bad batch of blades from the factory.

ninasanchez1mo ago

Totally had a buddy who swore by that same trick with canned air @robinc66. He ran a cable crew for a few years and his tool lasted double what mine did lol. Dude was obsessed with keeping the blade carrier clean, even used a tiny brush on it sometimes. It's wild how something so small can save you from tossing a perfectly good stripper just because you didn't blow out the dust.