8-Inch Mini Bolt and Wire Cutter

After doing much research online, I decided to try this 12-inch bolt cutter based on my needs and uses, which I describe below, and I’m happy with 1 exception. I would recommend it if you have similar uses. First off, I bought this primarily as a backup for my bugout bag- my military experience has taught me that in any emergency situation, area denial is important. You never know when you might need to cut a lock quickly. Thus, my focus was on something small and portable, yet able to cut through most common locks, chains and fence. These bolt cutters do just that, and they do it well. I tried it on the most commonly found Masterlocks and Duralocks, including bike chains (but not teflon) and most-purchased chains from Lowes, and it cuts like butter through them all, and is small/light to boot. That being said, I don’t think it is for people using it for everyday use; like someone cutting links/chains regularly for their job. The reason I say this is I tried cutting on a few things rated higher than it recommends, such as hardened steel, and it DID cut, but it dulled the edge minimally. While doing this 10-20 times should be fine (again, this is on larger than rated, for rated sizes/materials it has no observable wear and tear), much more than that and I can see where it would damage the edge too much for cutting. Again, if you are a professional and need to cut a lot I’d guess you aren’t even looking at these in the first place. But, based on my needs, this perfectly suits the size, ability and cost I wanted.

After reading these bolt cutters were made in China, I wasn't expecting much. But when a hefty box came with about half a mile of packing paper wrapped around the box for these cutters came in the mail, I knew something was up. From the moment I slid the greasy plastic cover off the top of these cutters and hefted the full five pounds of weight these cutters pack, I was smitten... You see, I had spent an evening prior to this using my trusty old linesman's pliers (heavy duty) to try snipping a few 10 gauge steel wires supporting an old, rusty shelving unit (it had to go, but it also had to fit in my trash can). I broke those pliers. Then I tried using a metal hacksaw, and it was an exercise in frustration--I cut through about three bits of wire before I gave up. There were more than 20 cuts to go. I was researching the best super-heavy-duty ways of cutting things like steel wire and braided wires, and somebody mentioned bolt cutters. Light bulb moment. ...now, back to these bolt cutters. I pulled those handles all the way open to create a 1/4" claw of death in between the cutting blades, and bit that claw directly into the thickest part of the steel frame on my old rusty shelf. After applying maybe 50 lb. of force, "POW", the steel snapped like a cracker. On the smaller bits of steel wire, this cutter sliced through the wire like my (now departed) linesman's pliers cut through copper wire. Two minutes later, I finished the rest of the 20 cuts. Not only that, these bolt cutters are known to kill people in California (something like that--there's a warning on the label). Any tool that up and kills someone means serious business. Save yourself a lot of frustration, and buy yourself these bolt cutters. A great price for a great tool. The only downside I can see is that the handles felt slightly spongy when opening after my 20 or so cuts, and a tiny bit of paint had come off the cutting blade (without any deformation in the blade)... but I imagine I'll get a lifetime's use out of these bolt cutters, since I'll probably only use them a few more times. These are not the best bolt cutters money can buy. But they're the best I've seen for less than $50. (I bought the 24" cutters for about $25.)

For under $10, I have no doubt that these are about as good of mini bolt-cutters as you can find. Keep in mind, these are not so much 'bolt' cutters, as they are heavy-duty wire cutters. If you are building a chain-link fence, for example, and want something that will cut the fence to length relatively easily, that won't break the bank, these will fill the bill nicely. The little clip at the bottom of the handles, that hold them closed when not in use, yet folds out of the way (and STAYS there, until un-folded) is a nice touch. These are great for occasional use, like putting up a chain link fence for yourself, and other uses like that. Now, if you were in the business of fence-building, and wanted a true pro-quality tool, go with something like the Knipex Co-Bolt cutters, but keep in mind they are about 5X as expensive, as well. I'd say that these work well for cutting unhardened bolts up to about 1/4 inch (although it WILL take some effort to do it in one snip) and maybe 3/16" for a grade 5 bolt. It works great for stuff like chain link fence wire, barbed wire, as well as hogwire or the horse fence that comes in the big rolls.

I have an orchard and viscous deer. I need to add a surround on every tree until they get old enough to have hard bark. To do this I buy 100' rolls of fence and cut them at 10' each. The top and bottom strands are thicker than the rest and hard to cut. These cut 3/16 & #34; wire with one hand and I have 100s of trees. I only use them for the top and bottom. I could use them on all the wires but I think the regular heavy duty cutters are faster. Really a hand saver if you are cutting a lot of the heavy strands. I saw a few poor reviews. I had my wife try them and she had some trouble. I noticed she was trying to cut without pushing the wire into the jaws all the way. When she did that, it cut great. Leverage is King. Update on the cutters. I have been using them for several years now cutting 3/16 #34; steel wire. The blades are still like new. Plus I was making powder coat racks for my ovens and these work perfect for the heavier ends. They are like a standard Kitchen oven rack but different dimensions.

These Tekton 3386 8-inch Heavy-Duty Mini Bolt And Wire Cutters made cutting our 9 gauge vinyl coated chain link fence a breeze. I originally used heavy duty wire cutters that are longer handled, making it necessary to use both hands when cutting. That was a slow, laboring process as I went down the fence with the chain link fence ties, twisting them on top of the fence and side poles, then putting down the ties as I needed two hands for cutting the tie ends. Since I don't have weeks to tie my 9 gauge fence ties to the fence, I saw this Tekton short handled bolt cutter here on Amazon and decided to try it. I wasn't sure if it would be strong enough to cut vinyl coated 9 gauge fence ties, but it is. With over 300 feet of fence to work on, I needed a cutter that was comfortable in my hand, yet strong. This Tekton 8 inch bolt cutter is both. The weight of the cutter is very light, the grip is super comfortable and long so your hand never touches any metal. The strength of the cutting blades is very strong with nice sharp blades. It is perfect for one-handed cutting. Even 9 gauge chain link fence with vinyl coating cut like paper with these great bolt cutters. Walking along the fence with ties in one hand and these Tekton 8 inch cutters in the other hand made tying the fence down with the fence ties, then cutting the ends a very short job. The bolt cutters themselves are made of drop forged hardened alloy steel that have a compound cutting action that requires less effort on my part. Since these cutters cut through 9 gauge vinyl coated chain link so easily, I'm sure they'll cut through something a little thicker with very little effort. Tekton gives you a lifetime replacement guarantee, that should these bolt cutters ever fail during normal use, they will replace them to the original owner free of charge. Tekton not only replaces the cutters, but they pay for the postage too. I can see these lasting quite a while as they are that well made, and with this great warranty, Tekton knows they are that great too, as they really stand by their product! These Tekton 8 inch Bolt Cutters are absolutely perfect with their long comfortable handle for one-handed gripping, super strong blades, compound cutting action requiring less effort on my part and small and light enough to carry in my pocket. They made a long tedious job of cutting 9 gauge vinyl coated chain link fence around my entire yard a breeze and for these reasons, they deserve a solid 5 STARS!

Well I bought my first pair of these in 2016, they have been used a lot. I raise rabbits and use them for repairing, building, and modifying cages. To this day they are still as good as the first day I used them, I just ordered 3 more pairs so that when I have help they have a great/awesome pair of cutters,, all other cutters have broke/chipped, and have been thrown in the garbage, Tekton still going!!! Only thing I will tell you is if your using them alot , wear gloves, the handles aren’t blister free lol. Any other complaints about these are BS! I buy the 8” model FYI can’t brag about other models but I bet there just as good! Thanks for this great product Tekton, all other brands of about 8 have failed me , but yours keep on cutting!!!

I am a machinist and somewhat perfectionist, so to be mainstream and reasonable I should only say the obvious: china. I haven't actually cut anything yet with these, because, as received, the return spring was abusively stronger than it needed to be. When I took out the main pivot to modify the spring, I found tight pivoting of all the joints. More human joint and tendon wear and fatigue courtesy of china capitalists. And in spite of tight movement, the hole tolerances are rather wide, and likely to soon wear to where the jaws won't fully close. I bought these cutters to replace such cutters by another maker in which the pins and holes wore beyond the closing adjustment. Quality tools of this general type often have hardened pins and frames. These are not. Wear will probably be accelerated, I will keep them oiled. The jaws are hardened I notice by scratch test, but I will write more after cutting normal steel wire and such. A side note to other reviewers I've read: These are not for cutting hardened steel pins, lock shackles, or large diameter steel. I cringe when I read of some of the items claimed to be attempted to cut. I've seen 2-foot long bolt cutters rated at 3/8" max. diameter steel rods. As for hardness damage, its been a lifetime of damaging tools on my part to learn to recognize hardened materials in advance of ruining cutting tools on them, so I don't know how to advise the common person, except to try to scratch the questioned part with a sharp-pointed high speed steel tool and fair downpressure. The more the point digs in and sticks, the softer the item, with the point simply sliding across the hardest samples. no matter how hard you push in. Test the very jaws you are cutting with, and compare with the same test on the item. These jaws tested as hard enough, but the scratch hardness test isn't everything, there's toughness too. Overly hardened tooling or cheap alloys can be brittle. So how the price can be so low is amazing, but maybe not so if low-paid or slave workers are considered. I did hear of one analysis of china pricing; the aim was to slowly target and drive out of business all competition, short-term profit (the American style) being subservient to long-term domination.

This cuts wire. That's what I wanted. I walk my dog in a county park in the woods by a nice stream. At some point in the past, someone put up a wire fence (like chicken wire, only much thicker) in the woods. The fence fell down years ago, but is thoroughly grown over with plants and other foliage. And my dog is getting old and no longer likes to walk over the fence. So I bought these from Amazon, got them two days later, walked down to the park, and spent 15 minutes cutting through the wire fence where it overlapped the path. Then I pulled up the cut-off pieces, brought them home, and threw them away. Now there path through the woods is easy to navigate for my old dog. I am therefore extremely happy with this product as it did exactly what it was supposed to. The grip was secure and comfortable, the cutters were easy to control and required only moderate force to cut, they seem extremely well made for the modest price, and I am sure they will come in just as handy the next time I need to cut wire. I saw that some reviewers thought the opening was too small. In my case, they easily accommodated wire that was just over an eighth inch thick.