What is the best bench vise?

The record number 6. NOT THE IRWIN RECORDS FROM THE PAST 23 YEARS, THE OLD ORIGINAL RECORDS FROM ENGLAND!!!

while at times people can shutter a bit over a 6 inch vise being “too large” for what they need to do, Record vises of all sizes are EASILY one of the most common vises you see in shops all across canada. Additionally they are farmed out under a few different names despite being nearly identical; Eron in Japan, ive seen old mastercraft branded ones, and the old names before record; WODEN, and PARAMO. whichever name you see you always here the same thing from the people that talk about them. they are absolutely capable of handling work, and are high quality.

I am a firm believer that these vises were made of a quality that might not have been bigger and better than quality vises of the day, but that the quality was absolutely on par with what would be described as high quality during those old time frames where vise quality was truly high. I have never in my life heard anyone say they were inadequate in any commercial or industrial setting. Instead what happens is these vises are bolted to benches across the entire country for decades , performing perfectly that whole time, while hardly being noticed. Because they are such a crazy cross section of high quality, and extreme quantity I often view them as the best vise. This also does not take into consideration the REALLY old and REALLY large Record vises like the 518 or other old overbuilt versions from england that rarely appeared in canada.

If you totally ignore availability, cost, and focus purely on what vise is capable of the most heavy work before breaking, I have heard quite rarely that ATHOL vises are a slightly overbuilt interpretation of a REED vise. however its hard to choose a version of the ATHOL vise that is the biggest and the best, because they have so many versions. ill include a picture of the classic record # 6, an older rarer larger stronger version of an english record, and an athol which I have heard are extremely durable in my estimation