I use the cheapo CAT stripper that used to come with the Elan panels among other products. It is yellow and has a punch down tool on the end as well. I replace it every few years when the blade wears out enough that it will not cleanly cut the hair in the wire. I hate that hair!

EZRJ45 crimpers.

Liberty compression tool...the red one with a single reversible die. I had the Cable Pro version forever but I always lost all the adapters it needed to do all the types of connectors. The liberty one is the best I have found.

I use a cheap Ideal coax stripper as well. Spring loaded "button", spin around a few times type. Not my favorite, but I rarely use it anymore and it takes up very little room in the case. I wish someone would make a useful one step coax stripper that worked. I have one that I tried once...I think it was made by either Ideal or Klein. I do not remember how bad it was but I did not use it after the first time I tried it so it must have been pretty dismal. It was not cheap either. I am going to find it now and see if it has decided to start working in 2015.

I used to do a lot of RG6 and RGBHV terminations...as did we all. So glad that is behind us. :) Now, it is mainly RJ45, an F connector here and there, and RG59 RCA for the subwoofers we prewire. Analog cables in racks get Planet Waves and I would like to try their RG6/RG59 ends as well.

I have this yellow tool and it's fantastic. Love the built-in adjustable rotary cutter, it's great for Category cable.

I use this for cat, speaker, etc.

[Link: amazon.com]

How about for rj45 jacks?

panduit's tool is tiny but rarely do I have the budget for panduit jacks unless it's commerical project.  For those I use this:

[Link: amazon.com]

snap AV's tool works well enough but isn't very compact.

for rca type stuff we use AQ ITC

100% Absolutely agree!!!   Best cable stripper i've ever used by far.  I've probably got a dozen other types of strippers in a box at home that I tried out and never looked at again.

I use a variation of this $25 compression tool from Home Depot!

[Link: homedepot.com]



I realize, after reading the description, that it will do more than the RG6 that I use it for. It seems to work as well as the sixty to ninety dollar compression tools I see others use.

This is a good quest, to find the best tool.