Sizes of tongs matter a lot. For the classic tongs, I’ve problem in using the bigger longer ones compared to the smaller shorter ones of the same design, the hand strength to grab the bigger ones make hand tiring in prolonged usage. Also I find softer and smaller sized food tend to hide inside the tongs and it’s annoying to clean.
For lighter jobs, sometimes I prefer chopsticks.
I’ve got this pair from OXO, as well as the 12 inch without the tips:
They’ve held up for years, I use them almost daily. They also have a few with silicone tips that I have yet to try.
@Saregama I agree that skimmers are essential. Great not just for frying but for fishing out gnocchi, ravioli, pierogi and other large items out of boiling water. Mine is stainless wire with a metal handle like you have pictured.
Have you tried normal old-fashioned tongs? Like these below. I have a similar pair and they do not require any force at all (there is no tension).
I think it might be interesting to see a scissors design with the larger head like the OXOs, maybe in nylon or silicone for use in tin.
And spiders all the way for deep frying!
I only shallow fry, so tongs are needed to flip the food.
Ooh, I like those Indian tongs. I’ll have to try a pair–just not on tinned copper.
Funny! My son loves spicy Cheetos but hates getting the orange residue on his fingers so he will only eat them with chopsticks.
So we’re having hamburgers, cottage cheese and some steamed broccoli, and I put out a variety of chips. He heads for the drawer to get chopsticks. Seems kind of incongruous to bring chopsticks to a hamburger meal. But he doesn’t get orange fingers.
To Tim’s question, I’ve got 2 scissors-style, both just stainless rods bent into a square box at the grip end, 2 pair of the spring-loaded; one stainless tips, the other has completely plastic tips (press fit onto the metal, not metal coated with plastic, I mean). I like the scissors-style for scorching tortillas or chiles on the stove. I like the plastic-tip guys for most other uses because they seem to hold the food better.
I don’t think we bought any of these. Most probably came from a relative who dumped a bunch of her old kitchen stuff on me when I got my first apartment (and I was grateful to have it, despite using “dumped” - maybe “gifted” is a better word).
I’ve got one quite large pair of tongs for the grill (18 inches). I bought this item myself and still use it, but the design isn’t very good. It’s single-piece stainless with circular profile, rather than the flattened metal rectangular profile of most tongs, making it prone to twisting with heavier food items like a roast or a bird. (Edit - much like the one shown below, except mine have larger grippers tack welded at the end.). Also, it requires a lot of force to compress it so if I’m trying to hold something for any length of time, like to get an edge seared on a roast that won’t stand on its own, my hand gets pretty crampy.
I guess I need to put better designed grill tongs on my thrifting wish list.
I have similar tongs to those described here.
The kinds with the spring at the end most of you describe - both plain and silicon tipped. I use these to pick up or turn specific foods when cooking, and sometimes for twirling / plating pasta. I don’t like the silicon tipped ones very much - food sticks to them and they are not so easy to clean.
I have the Indian ‘chimta’ tongs that @saregama showed a picture of, and use it for rotis and to pick up more delicate foods that might tear.
I have the perforated spoons for frying in a couple of sizes.
Then I have these ‘pakad’ tongs for picking up hot utensils from the stovetop, less flappy than using kitchen towels or gloves (though I have those and use those too, e.g. for items in the oven):
Interesting. I mostly shallow fry as well, but I use a spatula or slotted spatula to turn things in that case, not spatulas or skimmers.
There’s no grip at the tip (intentionally), just be aware.
Weeelll. In the full tong pantheon I also have the more standard version of the Indian vessel tongs.
They aren’t of much use in a western kitchen because they’re intended for indian cookware, which has no handles, where these tongs act as the universal handle.
I do often use the one that has one straight side @Rasam posted — to lift separators out of the pressure cooker and instant pot, or to pull a small tray out of the countertop oven when mitts would be too bulky.
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These other ones I have never actually gotten the hang of, but I’ve seen used in Chinese cooking as well — to lift plates and bowls out of a wok or steamer.
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And these, which are similar to canning tongs, but are also plate / bowl lifters that I bought in Chinatown - very effective.
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And of course canning tongs that I barely use because I haven’t found many alternative uses yet (or there’s a better tool for those uses)
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The first pair look like a blacksmith’s tongs. I once took a class in Hawai’i from a British blacksmith, who arrived with one small pair of tongs and a hammer. His first order of business wherever he went was to use that pair to make all the other sundry tools the class required.
I own 12 tongs in different sizes and shapes.
8 from Rösle
2 from Zwilling
2 from WMF
I like to eat my own macaroni salad with chopsticks, because otherwise I’d be using a shovel …
8 from Rosle? A lot
Is that the infamous chopsticks diet?
Proponents of the “chopstick diet” always say, “Have you ever seen a fat Asian?”
Look over here. 
I just did an internet search. I think I was using a different definition than other people. My definition of chopsticks diet is more about people who do not how to use chopsticks well, so it a long time to eat a small amount of foods. 
I like their different Tongs designs.
Wait! There’s a chopsticks diet? 
I’m proficient enough with chopsticks that I can consume mass quantities while using them. There’s also holding the rice bowl up to your mouth and pushing things in. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!!!
