The Bear Jaws 155EL is the electricians’ variant of the the Bear Jaws 155L.
The biggest and most obvious difference between the 155L and the 155EL is the plier head which replaces needle nose and regular piers with wire strippers.
The ‘L’ in 155EL denotes that the tool has locking components. Other than the wire stripper plier head and consequently modified needle nose pliers, my example has only one difference in the tools selection – a serrated blade in place of the awl found on the 155L. The tools are easily accessible using Torx drivers, so it’s highly possible that my used examples of each tool have been customised by their previous owners.
The blade on my 155EL is a combo, part serrated blade, which is curious given that a full serrated blade is also present!
As with the other Bear Jaws variations discussed here, the 155EL is a great little tool, designed to function, not for glamour.
[…] In 2001, a variant of the Bear Jaws 155 was added featuring locking blades, the 155L and an electricians’ version incorporating wire-strippers instead of regular pliers was added soon afterwards, the 155EL. […]