Screw Drivers
The Sears Craftsman line is our choice for screw drivers.  They are merely adequate tools, but the lifetime warranty is superb.  We have exchanged hundreds and hundreds of Craftsman screwdrivers over the years and never once has Sears said a word.  Look for the orange handle ones when they are on sale for a buck or two; they qualify for the lifetime warranty also (Sears sells the cheaper Champion line, not marked Craftsman, that does not carry the lifetime warranty).  We do not like the feel of their ergonomic (black handle) line.

Large Pliers
Nobody makes better full sized pliers than Klein.  We like the D203-6 long nose (needle nose) pliers for tough jobs.  The D201-7NE lineman's pliers is a smaller version of the most famous of Klein's tools and is handy on the electronics repair bench.  The best diagonal cutting pliers in the world are the Klein 2000 series (blue plastic grips) with special cutting edges that handle steel screws and nails with ease; we like the D2000-28.  Klein has a "life of product" warranty, but our experience with their distributors has always involved an argument over what constitutes normal wear.

Small Pliers
In a small needle nose pliers, we like the Xcelite NN55.  Our Nashville, Tennessee distributor has always honored the Xcelite warranty with only minor protest, but there have been reports of serious problems with the Xcelite warranty by some users.  The Plato model 170 flush-cutting shear is our favorite and lists for less than five bucks; surplus "regrinds" are often available for a dollar or two.

Tweezers
Erem tweezers, part of Cooper Hand Tools, come in three grades, Swiss, Italian, and Economy (Pakistani).  The Erem Pakistani tweezers are a real bargain at around three bucks each, and they are of decent quality.  CHP tweezers by HAKKO are Italian made tweezers of very nice quality, cheaper than the middle grade Italian made Erem product.  Anti-acid and anti-magnetic stainless steel tweezers are our preference for electronics work.  For the one tweezers shop, the 00 style is a good choice; it has sharp tips, but is of relatively massive strong construction.  The well equipped shop should have several pairs of tweezers in addition to the 00 style, including the flat rounded tip 2A style, the very fine sharp tip 5A style, the curved sharp tip 7A style, and probably a few more.

Scissors
Fiskars scissors with their lightweight Scandinavian design and Swedish stainless steel blades cannot be beat.  The five inch version is excellent for cutting teflon or mylar tape for tedious jobs like making up radiation detector assemblies.  Fiskars also makes seven, eight (available left-handed), and nine inch versions, and even a cute little set of heavy shears, all of which we have in our shop.  The Klein 2100-5 and 2100-7 electricians scissors are also handy and practically indestructible with the ability to cut small diameter copper wire with ease.

Wire Strippers
Teflon wire, used extensively in logging tools and panels, is a real challenge to strip.  We have a large variety of strippers, including some complex "automatic" strippers costing hundreds of dollars, but one relatively inexpensive simple stripper is as good as or better than any of the high priced models.  The Milbar Model 7E hand stripper is great with Teflon wire; it works with AWG sizes 22 down to 30.  (Milbar was absorbed by Stride Tool which also owns the Imperial line of tools, so the Milbar 7E is now branded as the Imperial IE180.)  The geometry of the die notches may be the reason this stripper works so well with Teflon, and the Ideal, Klein, etc. non-automatics work so poorly.  A well broken-in pair works even better than a brand new pair.  Some vendors claim the Milbar 7E / Imperial IE180 is for solid wire, but we use the stripping notches as size-labeled for stranded E or EE Teflon insulated wire.  Several vendors sell the Milbar 7E / Imperial IE180 with their own house branding imprinted on the handles; Snap-On sold this wire stripper for years marked Model PWC7 as part of their Blue Point line, but recently dropped it from their catalog.  McMaster-Carr currently has the 7E for around ten bucks as their part number 7294K59.

We also use several types of thermal strippers, but we like HOTweezers by Meisei Corporation best (Contact Meisei at (805) 497-2626).  Thermal strippers are helpful for very small gauge Teflon insulated transformer, trimpot, etc. leads.

Misc. Hand Tools
We like Xcelite for nut drivers and the more exotic type drivers.  Their Series 99 interchangeable system has been the standard for decades.  Many of the ten-turn dials on logging surface equipment require a .048 inch Bristol six flute driver; try the Xcelite 99-61.