Multitools Reviews

Within a month of owning the Gerber multi-plier, the tip on the lg flat blade screwdriver broke off under NORMAL USE. No other problems in the last 6 yrs of usage.

Purchased this tool for about 3 yrs ago. Also picked up the accessory Tool Kit with this which gives you a little more functionality.

Have used indoors and out with no problems. Its been dropped, kicked, etc. and has always worked fine. Have used the screw driver both for normal use as well as to pry things up and haven't had any breakage issues.

Re design ... Gerber multi tools have all the 'tools' fold out from the outside. This means when you open it up to use the pliers you have a flat surface against your hand when you grip it. To me this makes the Gerber tool more comfortable to use v. other other tools (eg, Leatherman) have the opposite approach.

I would urge caution and price up the items individually - You will be able to save much money by buying them as seperates, even with the 50% off offer ! (Feb 2006)

I have given this as a gift twice, and both times it was tremendously apprciated. All of the individual components of this set are absolute TOP QUALITY. I can't emphasize that point enough - I have seen other 'sets' of various items that skimp on component quality. It is also very compact for easy storage under a seat or in the trunk. It is amazing how much utility is engineered into such a small space. I was VERY IMPRESSED with this set.

I will make the suggestion that this is a great gift for commuting working women (wives, sisters, mothers best friends...) Also would make a great gift for a teenager buying their first car. It says "I respect your independence, and want you have the tools to deal with contingencies on the road... I care about your safety." I mention this because it came up as a gift recommendation for 'men that have everything' and this it is appropriate for a much wider profile of people. Frankly, I might consider this as an off-beat baby shower gift, even, if the soon-to-be-mom spends a lot of time on the road.

It is expensive, but for the quality and compactness, it is worth it! Chip in together, if the price tag is prohibitive - you will not regret it and the recipient will really appreciate the thought.

I don't like this design for knife sheaths and here is why. In order to reduce the amount of material the leather is folded around behind the sheath. Then the corners are riveted in place with a flap for the belt loop. The leather always seems to tear at one of these rivets. Plus when you are threading your belt through the belt loop it tends to hang up on the open section of the sheath between the rivets. It's not that it doesn't work, its just that there is a much one.

For another dollar you can get a much better designed sheath. The ones's with the stiching around the outside of two pieces of leather. (931400 or model 931100) It's worth spending the extra money.

were you to spend the two seconds to place the case on your belt and pay attention at the same time, you wouldn't have the problem listed in the last/next review, this is a fine case and is everything you will ever need

this is another good product that almost made it. the idea is very good with the spring loaded pliers you don't have to fold the tool 359 degrees to use. It has a small button on the handle about 2cm in diameter that when pushed releases the spring loaded pliers. the whole operation of this spring load takes up half of the tools handles. it has about an inch and a half of travel out of the handles when the button is pushed. ok i have just one question. who needs quick release pliers? in my opinion it is a safe design, you don't have to slide anything to get it out, the handles are bent in the right places and give enough width to really put the pinch on something without cutting into your fingers. the blackened cover near the pliers houses the spring which keeps the tool pre-loaded in the open position. heres one of only 2 negative comments to make about this tool, when its time to put the pliers away you have to squeeze the handles to nearly closed, then push the pliers against some thing with about 4 to 6 pounds of compression. the palm of your hand would work but, there aren't any rounded edges on the pliers business end. i used my boot heel. if you are working somewhere around fragile items or planned on using this tool and putting it in and out of the sheath, know that it will mar whatever you use to compress it back into the handles. it locks automatically into stored position with just the tips of the pliers poking out about a 1cm. OK now that the pliers are in storage position you have to put on the safety switch that sits right under, literally under, the pliers' release button. its made of a polymer much like plastic but puts me in the mind of the same polymer used on hand gun bodies. it is firm and does feel like it would take quite a bit to break it. number 2 thing that is negative, all these multitools have a scissor of some sort that is always to small to cut much with other than toenails. this one is no different, cutting surface is about 5/8". that wouldn't be bad but try cutting some kevlar fishing line with them. the scissor handles have about 2 mm play that allows for a gap at the cutting surfaces. the kevlar line just gets pinched between the blades. pretty typical with most all the multitools i have cut my toenails with so, putting a scissor in a multitool is a waste of blade area. i would rather have a magnifying glass to burn bugs with. as for the rest of the tool, it is gerber quality. the blades are very sharp out of the plastic. one of the best things i have ever seen on a multitool are blade locks. when you pull a blade or tool out to use, rest assured it is locked in place. each handle has a black button made out of the same material the safety switch is. i just wish they made a torx bit blade lmao. it has a wire stripper??? nice....

The Schrade Tough Chip is about 3 inches by 1.25 inches and about a half inch thick. It's made in the USA of decent quality steel, though certainly not the best. The knife does hold a decent edge though

I carried this mini-tool for it's size and it delivers quite a punch for that form factor. It has a 1.5 inch knife, a phillips driver (flat - not a 'real' phillips X), and equally sized slotted driver. It has a smaller slotted driver on the end of the can opener tool. It also includes a nail file (spackled finish, not grooved) with a hooked end for cleaning under the nail, a tweezer, and plastic toothpick. Rounding that out is a 2 inch scissor and a lanyard ring that can be folded away.

The scissors and the rest of the tools are serviceable, save the virtually ineffective tweezers with an almost unusable tip. The scissors are decent, but they have a spring that get's sticky over time, and unfortunately once they do, the unit doesn't stay closed. The metal pinnings wear pretty easily too.

The locking mechanism for the tools is flawed as well... It's a unique design and unfortunately, the tools stick up from the base, so you tend to grip them and release any extended tools. It could actually be dangerous.

It's also a little unbalanced because one side has all of the metal tools and the other side has the removable items. All-in-all, it's an okay tool, has a fairly nice size, but there have been many improvements in this form factor since it came out. This model comes with a nylon pouch (mine is the older SC2 model). I'm giving it a 2.5 out of 5, rounding up to 3 since despite the flaws it has it's uses and I carried it faithfully for more than a year without too many problems.

Seems very well made and clever. For what it cost I figured it would be somewhat larger.

This is my first Leatherman and I bought it just because I wanted to have one and don't really need it day-to-day. Since my purchase I have used it twice, though I carry it around most of the time. The screwdriver and pliers worked very well. Opening it does take some getting used to. I was fiddling around with the other tools and they seem to be quite difficult to pull out, maybe because it is new and I need to oil it. I will update this review if I find more use for it.

I'm a Swiss Army Knife and Leatherman Tool fan, so I was very interested to find a similar tool for my gardening needs. Unfortunately, the fact that this costs a lot less than a good Leatherman tool is reflected in the limitations of this tool. When I recently had my first opportunity to try and use it to cut off a small branch, I was quickly forced to halt the attempt and complete the task with a real pruner. I'll still keep the tool, but won't rely on it instead of separate good quality tools as I can with a Leatherman or Swiss Army product.

I received this as a birthday present last year. I really like it, but it has drawbacks. It requires a battery for the light, of course but the battery goes bad in a few months, quicker than I expected. The pen dries out fast, I probably was able to write 10 sticky notes worth with it and it is now retired as a dull letter opener! It opens now instead of writing the letters... (sigh). It proved handy to have a usb memory key with me all the time, and it looks more MacGyver than Revenge of the Nerds, which is a plus. Airlines are familiar with this device too, and they just check to make sure there is no knife and then let it pass. Mine has started to come apart and I'm going to send it back to the store I was told it was purchased. It has only been dropped maybe twice... Overall neat presentation and handy combination of everyday "work" tools, but not perfected.

I received the first kit and returned it due to the way the entire thing looked. The tools looked as if they had been used, plus, the tools were very cheap looking. Some of the tools were hot pink, some were a lighter shade of pink. Some of the tools didn't even open like the scissors and some others. The second tool kit I received was basically the same deal. It was just extremely cheap looking and some of the items in the kit didn't even work. There was no way I could present this item as a gift, and that was the entire reason for the purchase. Not worth the money at all. Don't waste your money on this item......Seriously.

I only wanted it because it looks pretty in the picture. but the case is actually a dark maroon, and the tools are hot pink or brownish pink. Oh well. If the colors dont matter, its a pretty cheap set of screwdrivers and it looks like you can at least use the hammer, although the hammer has some weird scratchy black paint around the head...

This is not very good quality. If the only reason you would want it is that it's pink, then it's a decent purchase. If you plan on using it often, you should probobaly buy something a little more sturdy. I still like it because so far my son and husband have not run off with this set so I have a screwdriver where it actually belongs when I need it.