Originally Posted by mlts22
By all means, do not do what I've seen some peeps do around campus -- they tighten spokes with pliers.
+1!!!! Not only are pliers awkwardly sized for this purpose, you'll round the nipples off so fast that they'll be unusable after a turn or two. Nipples are small fasteners that require a lot of torque, so a properly fitting spoke wrench is critical.