Buffer Tube & Coaxial Cable Stripper K-162

• Three sizes, told apart at a glance by handle colour — grey for cables up to 3.2 mm, blue for 3.2–5.6 mm, black for 4.8–7.9 mm — so the right stripper for the tube or cable in hand is the one you pick up
• Blade depth is set by screw for the jacket in front of you: dial it in once on a scrap end and every following cut rings the jacket to the same depth, without nicking the fibers, conductors or shielding inside
• Both cuts in one tool: the straight blades ring the jacket crosswise, the round blade draws a lengthwise slit — ring, slit, and the jacket lifts off in two halves, at a cable end or mid-span
• Spring-loaded handles hold the jaws open between cuts, so the tool works one-handed in a closure or on a ladder and closes down small when it goes back in the kit
• Sized for the cables FTTH crews actually meet: loose buffer tubes, 2–3 mm indoor fiber cables, mini-coax, CATV and CB antenna cable, twisted pair and flexible power cords
• 85 mm pocket tool in a moulded body with steel blade hardware; the blade set (three straight blades, one round blade) is replaceable when it finally dulls
• Supplied neutral and unbranded as standard; private labeling is made to your requirements — labels with your logo, part numbers and barcodes on the inner boxes and outer cartons, so the goods arrive ready for your warehouse

Opening a buffer tube or a small round cable is a depth problem: the cut has to run through the jacket wall and stop there — a hair deeper and it scores the fiber, the coax braid or the pairs, and the damage only shows up later as loss or a failed test. This tool takes the judgement out of the depth. The blade sits in a head sized for one cable range, and a screw sets how far it stands proud; set it once against the jacket thickness on a scrap end, and every cut after that repeats the same depth.

The head carries two kinds of blade. Straight blades face across the cable: clamp the tool on, turn it around the cable, and they score a ring at the set depth. A round blade faces along the cable: clamp on and draw the tool lengthwise, and it slits the jacket along its run. Ring at the strip point, slit back to the end, and the jacket comes away in two halves — the same pair of cuts opens a tube end before splicing or windows a jacket mid-span.

The three sizes exist because the blade head has to match the cable. In the grey size (up to 3.2 mm) the head wraps small buffer tubes and 2–3 mm indoor fiber cables closely, so the blade meets the wall squarely all the way round. Put that cable in the black size and it sits loose — the ring wanders and the depth varies. The blue (3.2–5.6 mm) and black (4.8–7.9 mm) sizes step the same geometry up for mini-coax, thicker indoor cables and twisted-pair jackets; the colour code means the size is read off the handle, not measured each time.

Working habits that keep the cuts clean: set the depth on a scrap piece of the same cable before the real cut, and re-check it when the jacket type changes — wall thickness varies more between cable makes than the diameter does. Turn the tool a full circle for the ring cut rather than rocking it, and draw the slit in one steady pull. When a blade starts to drag or tear instead of scoring, change the blade set; a dull edge is what pushes a careful depth setting into a nick.

• One K-162 stripper in the size ordered — grey, blue or black