I need to buy some nocking pliers and a bow square to well, put some new nocks on.  From what I've seen from reviews is that buying from Amazon will probably get you a knockoff version of what you pay for so I'll probably pick an online bow shop to buy from. 

There's an assortment of bow squares and a few different pliers out there with very few reviews which leaves me basically guessing at this point. I figured if anyone knew which brands/model to choose it would be you folks.  Does anyone have a recommendation for a bow square and pliers?  All bows are recurves if that matters. 

Brandi

Maybe this is picky of me, but I like a bow square that gives me an accurate reading of brace height when I hold the short end against the throat of the grip and read the brace height where the string crosses the long scale.  Most cheap bow squares have a cutout of about 1/8" or so on the short end of the bow square, so the reading you get is more than the actual brace height by that amount.  My Easton bow square gives me an accurate reading, whereas two cheap ones I have do not.  Maybe some cheap ones do give an accurate reading, but I don't know how you would ever tell by looking at a photo in an ad.

The bow squares with the 1/8-inch indentation have clips meant to be attached to the string.  That is, the base of the square is placed toward the string with the string captured inside the clips, and the ruler is laid on the riser at the throat.  That 1/8 inch is accounted for in the markings on the square.  It's 1 7/8 inches from the base of the square to the 2-inch mark.  But it's 2 inches from where the clips hold the string to the 2 inch mark.  They yield an accurate measurement.  But like Dave, a lot of folks like to hold the base of the square on the throat of the riser and lay the ruler on the string.  Using that procedure with the type of square just described will give a brace height 1/8-inch more than actual.  Regardless, it doesn't really make any difference which way you do it as long as you're consistent.


Regarding nock pliers.  You might check out a few tutorials on this site, or other sites or UTube dealing with how to tie on nock points.  Very easy to do, kinder to the string and much less abrasive to your glove or tab than a squeeze on metal nock.  Too, a tie-on nock is easily adjustable. I've actually taken to using masking tape to tape on my nock points.  I use different diameter arrows, and it takes me about two minutes to take off the old and wrap on some new masking tape to change nock point height.

Good luck.