Agree with David, we started with gentle giant tongs when we started our company a few years back, I still ended up using them more like a hook anyway
but if you were using the mouth as it was designed it spreads the pressure and has a rubberized platform as well.
However every forum or article I've seen where folks are using tongs they look like they've already bisected the snakes body with force completely unnecessary for our native snakes.
The hook is ultimately the tool of professionals and to the snake it is more natural like crawling over a stick or something in the environment than being "mashed" between two surfaces which can cause the fight or flight to increase let alone injury to the snake.
I don't have anywhere near the amount of calls for snakes or experience that he has but I'd agree wholeheartedly, go for the hook and learn to use that rather than the tongs.
(I will say though the tongs are useful for lots of other needs we have and odd jobs. Reaching an out of the way pigeon nest or dead animal/bird the reach I get from my old gentle giant tongs is nearly indispensable.