Barrel Vises vs Action wrench

[foxx]

Easy guys... Seems like everyone likes action wrenches better that barrel vises. He was just saying you can do the same job with just a barrel vise.

I for one, use a big shop vise, with a pair of oak blocks I cut channels in, as a barrel vise, and have done just fine with them. Basically free, no money spent. And im happy with that. Just don't want people thinking you HAVE to spend the $$$ on these items. It can be done without.

Okay, I don't want a fight, either. Here's my next question, though. I considered the barrel vise and just went for the action wrench instead. Don't know why. What advantage, if any, is there to having the barrel vise instead of the action wrench? (I'm talking a real barrel vise, my shop vise was too small and I could not make it hold a barrel for anything).