Abstract: A hand tool combines jaws for gripping a wire with a spool for winding the wire so as to increase longitudinal tension in the wire prior to completing a splice. A method of the present invention for tensioning and splicing two wires includes the step of winding a wire around a spool while maintaining a grip on the wire between manually operated jaws until sufficient tension is established in the wires being joined. The hand tool and method provide splices with greater tension and lower risk of personal injury than possible with conventional tools and methods and are particularly appropriate for repairing electric and barbed wire fencing as used in ranching operations.