1- Manual & Power Tongs
Large-capacity, self-locking wrenches used to grip drillstring components and apply torque. As with opposing pipe wrenches for a plumber, the tongs must be used in opposing pairs. As a matter of efficiency, one set of tongs is essentially tied off with a cable or chain to the derrick, and the other is actively pulled with mechanical catheads. The breakout tongs are the active tongs during breakout (or loosening) operations. The makeup tongs are active during makeup (or tightening) operations.

2- Slips
A device used to grip the drillstring in a relatively nondamaging manner and suspend it in the rotary table. This device consists of three or more steel wedges that are hinged together, forming a near circle around the drillpipe. On the drillpipe side (inside surface), the slips are fitted with replaceable, hardened tool steel teeth that embed slightly into the side of the pipe. The outsides of the slips are tapered to match the taper of the rotary table. After the rig crew places the slips around the drillpipe and in the rotary, the driller slowly lowers the drillstring. As the teeth on the inside of the slips grip the pipe, the slips are pulled down. This downward force pulls the outer wedges down, providing a compressive force inward on the drillpipe and effectively locking everything together. Then the rig crew can unscrew the upper portion of the drillstring (kelly, saver sub, a joint or stand of pipe) while the lower part is suspended. After some other component is screwed onto the lower part of the drillstring, the driller raises the drillstring to unlock the gripping action of the slips, and the rig crew removes the slips from the rotary.

3- Elevators
A hinged mechanism that may be closed around drillpipe or other drillstring components to facilitate lowering them into the wellbore or lifting them out of the wellbore. In the closed position, the elevator arms are latched together to form a load-bearing ring around the component. A shoulder or taper on the component to be lifted is larger in size than the inside diameter of the closed elevator. In the open position, the device splits roughly