Review: Five Bananas CT-175 Plastic Clip Removal Tool
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Five Bananas? What an obscure name for a tool company! During removal, I have struggled with not breaking those plastic push type clips commonly used in the automotive industry.
Came across this tool while surfing the web and figured i would give it a shot.
The Five Bananas CT-175 Automotive Clip Tool remover is obviously from overseas. There is very little english on the package and it comes covered in that machinery oil that comes on most cheap tools.
At first glance it does seem somewhat well built. The plier jaws line up and an internal spring forces the jaws open to assist with one handed operation.
The blue handles are OK and the the head of the tool has three different surfaces. The first and outermost surface is sharpened to a semi sharp edge to assist in sliding under automotive clips.
The second surface is a hole with gripping teeth to allow the tool to grap onto the exposed neck of the clip once you have popped the top head of the clip up with the bladed surface.
The third surface is on the vertical portion of the tool close to the pivot point. This area is also machined with cross hatches into the surface. I can only imagine that this is for grapping the clips and providing additional torque if necessary. This is just my guess, however, as there are definitely no instructions provided with the tool
The premise of this tool is a simple one. Slide under the automotive clip to be removed and provide the necessary leverage to remove while minimizing the potential for damage to the clip itself.
While the idea itself works in principle, there are several things this tool cannot overcome.
First, the angle of the tool head, combined with the length of the handles make it to awkward to fit into most spaces where these clips reside. I would venture to say that the CT-175 tool will be able to be utilized less than twenty percent of the time you encounter a clip needing removal.
Second, it just doesn’t feel like a smooth transition to slide the clip on the tool from the bladed end into the hole at the middle. It seems cumbersome and you begin asking yourself if you should just grab a screwdriver instead. I want to like and use the tool, but it seems like there are easier options.
On a side not, I had a fear of cutting through the automotive clip with the sharpened edges. After experimenting on a few of them, I think you would almost have to purposely try and do this as the blades dig in but don’t seem to cut into the plastic unless real force is applied.
Overall the tool does feel sturdy and well built. It does work but I don’t know how often I will actually be able to use it given that these clips are usually tucked away in tight spots that are not necessarily easy to get to.
I’m not sorry I bought the CT-175 as I feel that some day I will be able to use it. I would not advise purchasting this tool if you think it is going to save you loads of time in the shop with clip removal unless you have a lot of easily accessible clips to remove. In that case go for it!