I gotta to admit thinking that the new Strata was nothing more than this year's reincarnation of the Suspension. After all, re-dressed Suspensions have made up the majority of Gerber's "new" multitool introductions for the past few years.
But as I quickly learned upon actually handling the tool and speaking with the folks at Gerber who designed it, the Strata is an entirely new model with improved features throughout.
To begin with, the Strata is thinner and more densly packed than its predecessors. It has thinner handle scales, and none of the wasteful gaps between the blades that the Suspension has. The result is a tool that feels more solid in the hand.
Also different are the sliding blade locks, which are big enough to grasp with cold wet fingers, yet are contoured into the handle shape so as to not create any pressure points on your hand when squeezing the pliers. Internally, they use the same proven method of locking blades (I believe) that Gerber has been using for years.
Blades on the Strata are longer than those on the Suspension, even though both tools are about the same size. This is accomplished by making more efficient use of the available space. I also appreciated how the thumbstud was repositioned so that it actually works quite well. (how did they get this so screwed up on the Suspensions?)
Speaking of blades, the ones on the Strata don't set the world on fire, but they aren't too bad either. I like the shape of the knife, don't much care one way or the other about the combo can opener/bottle opener, like the big screwdriver for prying as well as screwing, and have always thought Gerber scissors were pretty good. One thing worthy to note is that all of the blades are polished (instead of the traditional Gerber bead blast) which I think does wonders in terms of better resistance to rust.
The other side of the tool is stocked with a:
- Saw blade (significantly longer than that short worthless pos on the Suspension)
- File blade (the fingernail cutout reduces the useful size of the large flat area on the file, but leaves you with a tiny needle file which might come in handy)
- "Square" phillips screwdriver (Yippee! Death to the flat phillips!)
- Small flathead screwdriver/push style clam pack opener
The Gerber guys demonstrated the clam pack opener on a sacrificial victim they had nearby. It worked quite well actually. I imagine it would also work well as a strap cutter or a seam ripper. The only thing I'm undecided on is whether this type of cutting action is best done in "pull" mode (think SOG v-cutter or Leatherman Charge gut hook) or in "push" mode like the Strata does.
Extra photo of the phillips driver on the Strata and also the new Octane. Notice the squareness.
Notice the length.
These are so superior-looking to the flat stubby drivers on the Flik, I can't wait to see how they really work. Good job Gerber!
Almost overlooked in the discussion about blades and locks are the new wire cutters on the Strata. I can't recall seeing anvil-style replaceable carbide inserts on a multitool before....?
Pretty sure this is a Gerber first. The nice thing about anvil cutters is that they can be made blunt and stout, and are far less likely to shatter. Also no hard wire notch is needed.
So that's the new Strata in a nutshell. First impressions only of course, as we only got to check it out for about 15 minutes. But they are available for sale now, and I for one will be
-ing Zack (who already has one!) to hear how it performs out in the real world.
