Wire Strippers

Next up on the list are wire strippers. These handy tools may be a standard item in more advanced toolkits, but they still deserve a mention. There are a couple different types of wire strippers on the list, both offering benefits over the other but ultimately, it’s about personal preference. The first type are the more compact style wire strippers. These are made solely to strip and cut wires, which keeps them nice and compact, making them great for stripping wires both inside and outside of an RC car. They also make a great addition to a field toolkit or a pit box since they don’t take up much room. These are my personal preference and was my tool of choice when I work on automotive wiring in real cars.

The second style are the crimper / wire stripper combination. This style of wire stripper is bigger than its compact cousin, but it also brings more utility. The wire stripper portion of the tool is down below the pivot, near the handle and still gives plenty of control when stripping the shielding from a wire. Further up the tool there are two sections for crimping wire connectors, both of which can be very handy for RC connectors. The final bit of utility in the tool are the holes around the pivot, made specially for shearing screws. This can come in handy when you need to cut a screw down to size in a pinch.