There Is No One 'Best Tool': A Practical Guide for Electrical, Cutting, and Plumbing Work

Let me give you the short version first: there is no one 'best tool.' If someone tells you there is, they're probably selling something. As a quality manager for a commercial electrical contractor, I review every tool that reaches our crews—roughly 200 unique items a year. In 2025, I rejected about 9% of first deliveries because the specs didn't match what we approved. When I implemented our tool verification protocol in 2022, field failures dropped by roughly 30%. Over 4 years of reviewing specs, I've learned to stop looking for the perfect tool and start thinking about which tool fits the actual job in front of you.

So instead of a single recommendation, here's a decision tree. You're likely in one of three situations. The first is electrical work. The second is cutting holes in material. The third is plumbing or drainage. The advice for each is different, and the rules for choosing tools are different too.

Scenario A: You're Making Electrical Connections All Day

If you're terminating wires in panels, outlets, or control cabinets, your bag needs two things: a reliable set of pliers and a crimping tool that makes consistent terminals. This is where Klein Tools gets a lot of attention, and for good reason—the consistency is real.

For daily panel work, I like the Klein Tools AEPJS3 all-purpose electrician's pliers set. It's compact, the grips fit well, and it covers the basics without turning your tool bag into a suitcase. If you're putting together your first professional kit, this is the set I'd start with. Everything I'd read about tool kits said to buy the biggest set you can afford. In practice, the apprentices on our crew used the smaller AEPJS3 set first. The big set stayed in the truck because it was too heavy to carry to every ladder.

For terminations, the Klein Tools crimping cutting tool 1005 is the one I look for in every crew bag. It handles 10-22 AWG terminals, the wire range we use most on commercial jobs, and the dies are shaped to match terminal barrels. That matters more than people think. When I compared the 1005 against a cheaper no-name tool side by side—same terminals, same wire—I finally understood why the die shape matters. The cheap tool left a crimp that looked fine from the outside but pulled apart under tension. The 1005 left a consistent indent every time.

To be fair, a $15 crimping tool can make a connection. On a one-off weekend project, that might be enough. But when you're responsible for a 2,000-terminal panel, consistency is what keeps callbacks low. The bottom line: if you make electrical connections for a living, the AEPJS3 and the Klein Tools crimping cutting tool 1005 are a no-brainer. And if you're working near energized parts, NFPA 70E says to use insulated tools. Verify the current edition and follow your company's electrical safety program.

Scenario B: You're Cutting Clean Holes for Cable, Pipe, or Conduit

Hole saws are a different story. The good news is you don't need twenty of them. The bad news is most contractors buy twenty anyway because the kits are priced like a deal.

The counterintuitive part: don't buy a giant hole saw kit unless you know you'll use all the sizes. My experience with 200+ tool budgets says that a big kit usually means two or three good sizes and fifteen extras that wobble, rust, or take up half a box. If you ask me, build around the sizes you actually install. For cable and conduit, that usually means 1-1/8-inch, 1-3/8-inch, and maybe 2-1/2-inch. For pipe, add a carbide-tipped hole saw for tile and a bi-metal one for steel studs. That covers most rough-in work without turning every job into a treasure hunt.

Another thing I check before we approve a hole saw: the arbor. A lot of project delays start with a hole saw that won't stay centered. When I compared a good arbor against a cheap one side by side, I finally understood why the pilot bit matters. The cheap arbor wobbled even before the teeth touched the material. The good one started slow and held its line. That's not a luxury—it's a time-saving choice.

Scenario C: You're Dealing with Water, Drainage, or a Stuck Fitting

If you're adding a washing machine or a sink in a lower level, the Grundfos Sololift2 D-2 grey water pump is one of the most reliable solutions I've installed. But before you order it, you have to deal with the old piping. And if you skip that step, you're going to learn the hard way how to loosen a pipe fitting.

How to loosen a pipe fitting is one of those questions with no universal answer. It depends on whether the pipe is copper, PVC, galvanized, or PEX. For a metal fitting, use two wrenches: one on the fitting, one on the pipe behind it. Then try to tighten the fitting just a fraction before loosening it—that breaks the corrosion seal. Tap the wrench handle gently. If it still won't move, apply heat to the outer fitting, not the pipe thread, and keep the heat source away from anything flammable.

I had a job in 2024 where I knew I should have loosened the old fitting before ordering the replacement pump. But I thought, 'what are the odds the union is seized?' They were high. The fitting cracked, the old pipe twisted, and what should have been a two-hour swap took a day. Looking back, I would have soaked every joint in penetrating oil the night before. At the time, it didn't seem worth the trip. It was.

Once the old line is out, install the Sololift2 D-2 grey water pump according to the manufacturer's inlet and outlet specifications. Don't guess on the venting or the discharge line. And if you're wiring the pump's receptacle, check local code. According to the 2023 NEC, a 125-volt, 15- or 20-amp receptacle in a basement or crawl space must be GFCI-protected (Section 210.8). Verify current codes with your local inspector—code changes happen.

How to Know Which Scenario You're In

If you're on the fence, ask four questions:

1. Are you making electrical connections? Go with Scenario A.
2. Are you cutting a round hole? Go with Scenario B.
3. Are you moving water or replacing a pump or fitting? Go with Scenario C.
4. Doing all three at once? Start with power off, then water, then holes.

The fundamentals haven't changed: clean terminations, solid anchors, no leaks. What has changed is the execution. Five years ago, we'd specify a plier set by brand and hope. Today, we specify exact models like the Klein Tools AEPJS3 or the Klein Tools crimping cutting tool 1005 because we've tested them against the materials we work with. That's progress. It also means the old 'good enough' mindset is worth updating—not because the old tools were bad, but because the new ones are measurably better.

That's why I still reject a delivery that doesn't match the approved spec, even if it looks identical in a photo. The photo doesn't show the batch number, the coating thickness, or the die alignment. Those are the details that keep a project on schedule and a crew safe.