Rob's Reviews: Bahco Adjustable Spanner and Smartfit Cable Glands

Back in 1888 Swedish inventor Johan Petter Johansson patented the very first adjustable spanner.

​Since then Bahco has gone on to manufacture over 100 million of these adjustable spanners considered by many to be the best in the world, myself included.

​127 years later Bahco now offer a wide range of adjustable spanners, some with extra wide jaws, some with polymer handles and one that even converts to a pipe wrench.

But the models every RAC engineer should have in their tool kit is the 8071, 8072 & 8073 (8,10 & 12”). If
you have never used a Bahco adjustable spanner you really don’t know what you are missing.

The jaws are the stand out feature on these spanners they hold onto the nut perfectly, instilling confidence in the user. They are lighter than you expect, yet feel incredibly strong. These spanners have gained iconic status and for good reason, they are outstanding at what they do.

The Smartfit Glands are different from standard cable glands as they don’t require a lock nut.

You simply push & twist the gland into the 20 or 25mm hole until the splines click into place, tighten the outer lock nut, feed the cable through the gland before tightening the dome nut to secure cable in place. ​It's that quick and incredibly easy.

Much easier than using standard glands and lock nuts, because space is nearly always at a premium inside isolators and panels and always a fiddle trying to tighten up the locknut when next to another gland.

​To remove the glands you buy a separate pack of gland removers, pack 2 for 20 & 25mm glands. (£2.63 +VAT).

Every once in awhile a product comes along and you think “That’s brilliant” and you are happy to pay the extra money because it makes your life easier. And, Smartfit Glands are one of those products. All the review crew thought they were excellent and happy to pay the extra money for them.