Caveat Emptor.
I broke down and purchased a real crimper. Mine is a Iwiss SN-28B. Seems to work well, all my crimps are well formed.
I found after striping the wire I would put it in the terminal and slightly close the insulation holder tabs, enough to hold the wire to the terminal. Then just put it in the crimper and you should be good to go.
Also I found using silicone wire #26 or #28 works best, this wire is really flexible and crimps well. You can find it on eBay.
Yes, this is a reasonable crimper too.
There are 8 crimp slots versus the 2 of the Platinum Tools 16801C crimper.
Oops, thought it was the IWISS IWS-2820 
I much prefer the ratcheting type crimper. Easier on the hands and you know when the crimp is "finished"
In addition, I found #26 silicone insulation is the largest I could get into the eBay dupont housings.
Yes, I have a ratcheting tool also, works well however, seem to migrate to the Platinum Tools 16801C crimper most often.
Given the apparent ambiguity over dimensions of a ‘DuPont’ female connector, I’d appreciate knowing the exact length of the type you are each using please. Meanwhile I’m assuming 10 mm, based on the measurement I showed.
To make use of my present kit I’ll try a two stage crimp.
That’s surprisingly small.
The silicone insulated wire has relatively thick insulation.
As mentioned earlier, 28-20AWG can be used, however, 28 and 20 are at the extremes.
26, 24, 22 are easily accommodated.
The good thing about the silicone insulated wires shown is the strand count they have.
To repeat:
Silicone insulated wires as mentioned
- 28AWG 16 strands
- 24AWG 40 strands
- 20AWG 100 strands
These strands are ≈ 40AWG.
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And in the present. Let us hope we can get them in all possible futures.
a7
That’s surprisingly small.
when you are thinking of wiring a house or car yes. But for Arduino I/O signals it is more that enough, and the stuff is as limp as a noodle.
My small boards can sit on the desk without being dragged around by the typical PVC wire. Much easier to work with. And if you have to solder it, the insulation doesn't melt like PVC.
#28 is about 0.2 ohms / meter. The resistance is negligible. And still much better than the purchased dupont hookup wires which are often copper plated steel. For a 20ma LED, the voltage drop over a meter is only 4 milli volts.
Of course you should have some larger sizes for hooking up stepper motors etc. My largest silicone wire is #20.
Thanks, that’s good. I have a reasonable length of 24 AWG.
Stranded copper wire, correct ? 
BTW
This thread might be of interest to you:
Thanks, understood, good points. I’ll order some 26 but meanwhile have a fair stock of 24 I want to use.
Larry,
Yes, flexible, stranded.
Terrific articles, a tour de force!! That thread will indeed be of great interest. I anticipate some enjoyable and rewarding reading. 
Keep an eye open for old telco cables (stranded wire, not solid), also old parallel printer cables.
However, the wires are usually only 7 or 9 stranded.
I now have the correct DuPont crimp connectors and housings, both male & female, so my crimp tool finally works as it should, I was hoping to use my supply of AWG 24 silicone wire but now realise what you meant in your post. My #24 with an od of 1.5 mm sadly does not fit the connector.
I’m hesitating between 26 and 28. Suppliers never seem to specify the all important od dimension, which is critical for the standard DuPont connectors.
Are there any other connector housing that have slightly larger entry holes and will accept the DuPont crimps? Housings are significantly cheaper than wire, so…
Larry,
As per my post #38 just now, I cannot use even #24. What are you accommodating it in?
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About 50% of the time I use 24AWG wire similar to this in the link below:
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25% each, I use 26 and 28 AWG.
With the 26 and 28 AWG wire turnover the stripped wire on itself to get more thickness.
- If I had to pick one gauge over the rest, I’d use 26AWG.