Titanium-bonded
Also called titanium coated, TiN coating
Stainless steel with a bonded titanium layer for extra corrosion resistance and edge hardness, at a fraction of solid titanium's price.
Solid titanium pliers exist and cost several hundred dollars. A titanium bonding is a surface treatment on a stainless body, usually recognisable by a gold or dark grey finish, that gets you much of the corrosion resistance and hardness for a small fraction of that.
It is a coating, so it wears. The high-contact areas, the cutter edges and the jaw tips, will show bare steel eventually. That is normal and it does not make the tool bad.
For freshwater it is comfortably enough. Solid titanium only starts to make sense in saltwater, where anything less will eventually seize.
Aluminum is the other common body material and it sits below both. It is the lightest and cheapest, it will not rust, and it is soft enough that the jaws deform if you lever hard on a stuck hook.
Rinse and dry coated pliers after use anyway. A coating slows corrosion, it does not stop it at the pivot.
Related terms
Where this comes up
The guides that use titanium-bonded and show it on real gear.
Titanium-bonded is one of 206 terms in the glossary.
Browse the full fishing glossary