Crimping tools may be broadly defined as devices to make connections between two items using compressive force to constrict or deform a specially designed connector element. These devices fall into two basic categories: hand operated and powered. The most common of these two groups are the hand operated varieties which are generally used to crimp smaller electrical connections. Powered crimping tools usually make use of a source of pressurized hydraulic fluid to execute the crimp and are typically for joints which are too robust to crimp by hand. Within these two groups, crimping tools are again divided into categories defined by the crimp type they produce.