My co-worker are at a stalemate on this.
Is it bad to store your vice grips in the closed position? Half of us are saying that it will wear out the spring and they will lose strength.
Should we be making sure they are open when we put them back in the tool box?
I just leave mine closed…hell, it’s not like they’re super-expensive.
I store mine in the closed position because they are always in a vehicle or my pocket. The vibration causes the adjusting screw to back out and then I have to dig throgh the tool box to find all the pieces. I’ve loved vice grips for more than 40 years, and probably have the very same original pair and have never yet seen one with a worn out spring.
If it ever does wear out, hang it over in mantle and tell your grandchildren all the stories of the different jams your old vice grip pliers got you out of.
Vice Grips and Duct Tape, what more do you need?
I store mine closed, but with just enough pressure to keep them closed.
Vice Grips? Oh the jokes everyone missed!
Vise Grips. Like holding something in a vise.
A hammer and two screwdrivers. (Flat and Philllips)
NOW your toolbox is complete.
It’s not the spring that exerts the force between the jaws of the grips anyway. The spring only keeps the release lever from acidentally triggering and letting the grips fly open.
Locking force is exerted from an adjustable screw at the end of the handle, and mechanical advantage is achieved via a compliant mechanism.
I, like Johnny L.A., keep mine closed, and tightened just-barely-enough so they don’t pop open when dropped or jostled.
I also usually keep a light coating of WD-40 on the entire tool to inhibit rust, and a little more on the thumbscrew, so it’s easier to turn. It’s likely there are better choices for this than WD-40, but I always seem to have a can of the stuff around.
If anyone else is considering purchasing a set of these pliers, I find the real Vise Grips brand to be best. Choose the kind where you have to hook your hand under the release lever and pull; the push-to-release types will fly open by accident. If you buy the cheap flea market brands, the teeth will crush and distort when you try to put them on really tight.
I, like Johnny L.A., keep mine closed, and tightened just-barely-enough so they don’t pop open when dropped or jostled.
I also usually keep a light coating of WD-40 on the entire tool to inhibit rust, and a little more on the thumbscrew, so it’s easier to turn. It’s likely there are better choices for this than WD-40, but I always seem to have a can of the stuff around.
If anyone else is considering purchasing a set of these pliers, I find the real Vise Grips brand to be best. Choose the kind where you have to hook your hand under the release lever and pull; the push-to-release types will fly open by accident. If you buy the cheap flea market brands, the teeth will crush and distort when you try to put them on really tight.
What Chris said, except, what is “rust”? 
(a “location” joke!)
No one said you can’t use Vise-Grips® for vice? Actually I’ve been looking for some keychain size locking pilers I’ve seen at Sears for certain nefarious purposes.
There are lots of brands of excellent adjustable wrenches apart from Crescent® but never buy clone Vise-Grips®.
Has anybody seen a worn out pair of Vise-Grips? I haven’t.
I’ve got a pair that were my grandfather’s back when he worked construction. They still work, but they are REALLY loose and REALLY squirrelly!!!
I also leave them closed but just tight enough to stay that way. I was taught that if you store them under much tension, the metal can crack if it gets very cold.
I’ve seen worn out vise-grips. They still worked but were very sloppy and the teeth were worn off.
You probably didn’t grow up with a welder for a father. I’ve seen and worn out plenty of pairs of vise grips. The mechanism still works but the pivots are loose jaws are eventually worn smooth.
When I was in the navy I sometimes asked if anyone had ever seen a brand new floor buffer. After never seeing one that hadn’t been through years of hard use I determined the factory must make them that way.
They still worked but were very sloppy and the teeth were worn off.
This is for all of the men who red the “why men think of sex all the time” thread… it had to be done.
That should be read. OOPS
I also have several of my Grandfather’s Vise-Grips. They work as good as new, though they’ve seen a LOT of very hard service. I store them in the closed position, but not set at “crushing” pressure level. I only do that because if I did, they’d be a little harder to open.