- Knipex Cobra sizes at Murphy's: two. The 4-inch XS and the 5-inch, both $39.99, both in stock.
- The 5-inch adjusts at the touch of a button, on the work, through 13 positions. The XS slides, one-handed, through 11.
- The XS publishes the numbers that matter for tight work: Ø 28 mm capacity, 24 mm across flats, at 100 mm long.
- One inch decides where the tool can go. It doesn't decide how hard it bites. Teeth are 60 and 61 HRC.
- Buy the 5-inch first. Buy the XS the day a bolt sits somewhere the 5-inch head won't fit.
- In Alaska, Rick hit both walls in one trip: one bolt with no room for pliers at all, and a rusted plug that wanted a bigger pair.
1. Two Sizes, One Price
Most buying guides start by ranking things on price. This one can't, because the two Knipex Cobra sizes Murphy's stocks are the same money.
Cobra XS, 4 inches: $39.99. Cobra High-Tech, 5 inches: $39.99. Same store, same shelf, same receipt.
So the usual question is off the table and a better one takes its place. Not which is better value, but which one is going to be in your pocket on the day it matters, and whether it will fit where you need it to go.
The store is upfront about the size thing on both listings, in the same dry tone. On the 5-inch: "Yes, they are only 5"… make sure you know what 5" looks like."[1] On the XS: "These are only 4" long. Make sure you know what a real 4" looks like before you order."[2] Somebody has clearly processed a few returns.
2. The Published Specs, Side by Side
Everything in this table comes off the two product pages. Nothing is estimated.
| Cobra XS 4" | Cobra 5" | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $39.99 | $39.99 |
| Adjustment | Single-handed, by sliding | Push button, on the workpiece |
| Jaw positions | 11 | 13 |
| Gripping capacity | Ø 28 mm, 24 mm across flats | Not published |
| Overall length | 100 mm | 5 inches |
| Head | Very slim, compact | Standard |
| Tooth hardness | approx. 60 HRC | approx. 61 HRC |
| Joint | Box joint, dual guide | Box joint, double guide |
| Self-locking on pipes and nuts | Yes | Yes |
| Pinch guard | Yes | Yes |
| Warranty | Limited lifetime | Not listed on the page |
Read that last row honestly. The XS page lists a limited lifetime warranty and the 5-inch page doesn't print one.[1][2] That's what the pages say today. It isn't a claim that one tool is covered and the other isn't, so check the current listing when you order.
3. One Fits a Pocket, One Fits a Gap
An inch doesn't sound like much until you look at what each pair is built around.
The 5-inch is built around the adjustment. Push button, "directly on the workpiece," 13 positions, plus "fine adjustment for optimum adaptation to different size workpieces and a comfortable gripping position."[1] You never take it off the job to resize it. That's worth more than an inch of anything.
The XS is built around the head. "Optimum access in the narrowest spaces: an especially compact design with a very slim head."[2] And then the number that makes it interesting: "gripping capacity Ø 28 mm, width across flats up to 24 mm – at only 100 mm length."[2]
Twenty-eight millimetres of jaw out of a hundred millimetres of tool. That ratio is the entire reason the XS exists. It gets its teeth around something more than an inch across while the body of the tool takes up barely more space than your fingers would.
Both share the important stuff. Box joint, hardened teeth, self-locking on pipes and nuts with low hand force, and a guard so the handles can't pinch you shut.[1][2]
Knipex Cobra XS. Very slim head for the narrowest spaces, single-handed slide adjustment across 11 positions, Ø 28 mm gripping capacity and 24 mm across flats at only 100 mm long. Box joint, teeth hardened to approximately 60 HRC, pinch guard, limited lifetime warranty.
4. Is 4 Inches Too Small for Truck Work?
Too small to be your only tool. Exactly right as your second one.
Think about what actually stops you on a truck. It's almost never that the jaw wouldn't open wide enough. It's that there's a frame rail, a bracket or a hose in the way and you can't get a hand in there, never mind a tool with a fat head on it.
That's the XS's job and it does it at the cost of leverage, which is the honest trade. A hundred millimetres of handle gives you a hundred millimetres of leverage. On a fastener that an impact gun put on, or one that has been sitting in water for a season, you want length. No amount of hardened tooth makes up for a short handle.
So the answer depends on which wall you keep hitting. Can't reach it? Go smaller. Can't move it? Go bigger, and probably go to a different tool entirely.
5. What the Alaska Trip Showed
The Alaska episode is a good test because it's ten days of work with almost no workshop. Three flooded machines on a river bank, about 30,000 lbs of equipment, and a family camped next to it in grizzly country.
Rick goes under one of them to drain floodwater out of its belly, and the pliers come out before anything else does.
"It's a good thing I got my pocket pliers. Stand by, folks. I'm going in, babe."— We Camped In Alaska Grizzly Bear Country To Fix A Truck…Will It Start?
The plugs turn out to be Allen-headed and rusted after a season underwater. From under the rig comes the line that makes the case for owning more than one size: "This might be a job for my slightly bigger pocket pliers." Then, a beat later: "The good news is I can reach the plug, though."
Reach first. Grip second. In that order, every time.
And earlier in the same trip, the opposite wall:
"I came 3600 miles and forgot an Allen wrench. … Now I got to figure out how to get an Allen bolt out without an Allen wrench. See, there's no room. So, I can't get a pair of pocket pliers under there to take it out."— We Camped In Alaska Grizzly Bear Country To Fix A Truck…Will It Start?
No room. That's the sentence the XS was designed for, and the one that sells the second pair to anybody who has heard themselves say it.
One thing this article won't do is tell you which exact pair Rick had in his pocket on either day. He says "pocket pliers" and "slightly bigger pocket pliers," and that's all the footage supports. What it does prove is that he carries more than one size, and that he chose between them based on what he could reach.
6. Which One to Buy First
Buy the 5-inch. It's the broader tool, the push-button adjustment genuinely saves you time on the job, and it's the one the store calls Wrecker Rick's favourite pocket pliers.[1]
Buy the XS second, and you'll know the day. It's the day you're lying under something with a bolt you can see and can't touch.
If you're buying both anyway, they come to $79.98 together, which is less than one decent socket set and takes up less room than a phone.
Push button on the workpiece, 13 positions, approx. 61 HRC teeth. The general-purpose pair.
Very slim head, 11 positions, Ø 28 mm capacity at 100 mm long, limited lifetime warranty.
Three LEDs, lightweight aluminium. You can't pick a jaw position you can't see.
Every keychain, sticker and coloring page, one tumbler, one flag, and a pair of the pocket pliers.
A pocket tool on a recovery job is still a tool on a recovery job. The vehicle doesn't know how big your pliers are.
- Retire sprung jaws. Hand tools "shall not be used when jaws are sprung to the point that slippage occurs."[3] Rounded teeth count.
- Blocks and chocks before you go under. Rick goes under a flooded machine on flat ground with the wheels secured, not up on a slope.
- Nothing under a vehicle held by a line or a jack alone. Cribbing or stands, every time.
- Pull the handles toward you. If the jaw lets go, you want to be travelling away from the steel.
- Stand clear of a working winch line. "A good safety rule is to stand farther back than the full length of the winch line."[4]
- Gloves and eye protection under the rig. Rust, mud and old coolant all come down on your face.
Sources
- Knipex Cobra® High-Tech Water Pump Pliers 5" product page — adjustment, 13 positions, tooth hardness, box joint, pinch guard, price, store copy. Fetched 2026-09-19. murphysdiesel.com/products/knipex-cobra%C2%AE-high-tech-water-pump-pliers-5
- XS Water Pump Pliers 4" product page — slim head, slide adjustment, 11 positions, 28 mm capacity, 100 mm length, tooth hardness, limited lifetime warranty, price. Fetched 2026-09-19. murphysdiesel.com/products/knipex-cobra%C2%AE-xs-water-pump-pliers-4
- OSHA 29 CFR 1926.301, "Hand tools," paragraph (b). Quote confirmed verbatim, fetched 2026-09-19. osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1926/1926.301
- BFGoodrich Tires, "Recovery Techniques" (4x4 Driving Guide). Quote confirmed verbatim, fetched 2026-09-19. bfgoodrichtires.com/auto/learn/4x4-driving-guide/recovery-techniques
The Inch Is About Access, Not Strength
Both Knipex Cobra sizes in Murphy's store cost $39.99 and both bite hard. The 5-inch gives you push-button adjustment and 13 positions, and it's the one to own if you only own one. The XS gives you a slim head and 28 mm of capacity in a tool 100 mm long, and it earns its money the first time you find a bolt you can see but can't get to. Most people who work on trucks end up with both in the same pocket.