My wife's uncle is the managing owner/partner of Xuron. They are an American manufacturer of hand tools.
While visiting him last summer we stopped into the factory and he gave us a tour and handed me the Split Ring pliers:
http://www.xuron.com/consumer/pliers.htm (#496)
I tossed it in my shelf and thought nothing of it really.
Today, I had a stubborn blade that didn't want to open and I busted off my nail trying to do so. Dang nab it….that hurt!!
What have I got to lift this sumbich out of it's hole I thought. Let me see what's in this sleeve my wife's uncle gave me….
I grabbed the nose portion into the nail mark and pulled up and WHAMO…worked like a freakin' charm.
If you are sick and tired of bustin' off your thumb nail trying to extract a corroded blade from it's cave, getcha some of dese here pliers!!
American made thru and thru! Woot!
The History of the Colonial Knife Company, by Robert Paolantonio