Atwood Prybaby vs the Navy 2001 Emergency prytool

[Mr. Whippy]

So today was the day.  First up are a series of shots comparing the Navy tool with an Atwood Roid Rench and a standard Atwood G5 Prybaby.

The first thing to notice is, the Navy tool is much smaller in all dimensions:





The wrenches and prytip have crisp, distinct outlines.  The machining appears to be top rate:

Navy on left, Atwood on right:



Atwood on top of Navy:


Navy on top of Atwood:


So today, I went out to test it (the Navy) head to head with Atwoods.  The first thing I found out is, the Navy is all metric:

You can see it simply doesn't work for a standard nut.

As it turns out, the openings have very tight tolerances.  Very tight:



These nuts are on a Honda mini dirt bike. When I moved on to Home Depot brand metric nuts, they wouldn't fit.  While the Honda nuts are highest quality, the Home Depot ones have irregular and slightly thicker walls.  Crappy metrics not allowed.

The thing is, the tool is so short, with edges that aren't eased, so it's quite painful to reef down on the wrenches.  I couldn't really loosen truly tight nuts, but with high quality metric nuts/bolts, the tool fits very snugly and is not at risk of damaging the nut.

Then I turned to the prytip/standard driver.  This was a bit of a disappointment.  Turning woodscrews damaged the tips on the very first try:




On the same screws, the Atwood was undaunted:



I suspect the damage is due to the sharpening done to the Navy tool. It makes the tip too weak for torquing screws, IMO.

In summary, the Navy tool has tight tolerance metric wrenches, but due to the sharpness of the edges of the tool, the shortness and the thinness of it, it is extremely difficult to generate a lot of torque on the tool.  However, it would hold a metric nut just fine.

The prytip is not a good screwdriver.  It would be a very good wire stripper however, due to the sharpness of the V grind.

I almost forgot:
1.  The prying ability is very limited--even moreso than the Atwood.
2.  The bottle opener works very well.

This tool has potential, and for the price, it'd be a reasonable Christmas stocking stuffer.  Definitely not an Atwood, it's still a pretty solid little tool for $10.

[jekostas]

Very interesting.  Mirrors my experiences with the Navy 1001.

Tight tolerances, light duty only due to the size.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Still,  one could look at it as ten dollars for a screwdriver that doesn't work, a wrench that only works on some nuts but even so gives you no leverage, a bottle opener and a pry bar with as little leverage as the barely functional wrench.

It just goes to show that pretty precision machining isn't all it's cracked up to be.  The tool is still interesting, and now the good news is we get to see if there's any kind of warranty on it, and if so, how good their customer service is!   

Def

[Mercury]

Great show Nate, thanks for the work there.  I like atwood tools and the only thing I don't like is the fact that they are so small, it seems hard to actually use them.   This showed me it could be worse!

[Mr. Whippy]

I had meant to say (but forgot to):

If you're looking at one piece tools that small, I would recommend the TT Keeper or Chopper.  The screwdriver tips are seriously high quality and are only slightly more expensive than the Navy tool.

[kirk13]

That was very interesting!It seems it really boils down to paying your money and taking your choice.Thanks for doing the test

[symphonyincminor]

The damage would indicate that the Navy knock-off isn't heat-treated.

At the price point, it wouldn't surprise me.

Anybody, in any country, with a CAD program can reverse-engineer pretty much anything. This is a ***** product from someone who is incapable of creating their own designs.

Thanks for the tests!!

[Seamaster]

Thank you very much for sharing the results of your research. Well done.

Like I said in "the other" thread that slightly derailed into a discussion on business ethics: Compromised design leads to compromised production leads to compromised performance.

The only problem with the real Prybaby is that it is so difficult to obtain. If only e.g. Chris Reeve, Spyderco or Leatherman produced them under licensing from Peter.

[AHB]

Thanks for write-up Nate. Great comparison pics too..

[50ft-trad]

Thanks for the insight. It's a pity the driver function failed so quickly. 
Still seems like a cheap "better than nothing" tool though for those with limited means or who aren't sure if a one piece tool is for them

[jzmtl]

The damage would indicate that the Navy knock-off isn't heat-treated.

At the price point, it wouldn't surprise me.

Looks like it's chipped, so it's treated too hard/ground too thin for the purpose. If it wasn't heat treated something would've show at wrench use stage.

The only problem with the real Prybaby is that it is so difficult to obtain. If only e.g. Chris Reeve, Spyderco or Leatherman produced them under licensing from Peter.

I think price qualify as another.

[Mr. Whippy]

The damage would indicate that the Navy knock-off isn't heat-treated.

At the price point, it wouldn't surprise me.

Looks like it's chipped, so it's treated too hard/ground too thin for the purpose. If it wasn't heat treated something would've show at wrench use stage.

The only problem with the real Prybaby is that it is so difficult to obtain. If only e.g. Chris Reeve, Spyderco or Leatherman produced them under licensing from Peter.

I think price qualify as another.

It doesn't show well in the pictures, but it's almost like it crushed/smeared the edge of the V (where it's been chisel ground)

[jekostas]

Well, Navy is a knife maker first and foremost so I have a feeling that they heat-treated the 2001 just like a knife - ie. way too hard.  I've had zero problems with the 1001, and the edge holding on the blade has been pretty good thus far.

[Mr. Whippy]

So, after the tool was damaged, I contacted the seller:

Hi,

I received my Emergency rescue survival multitool. However, the first time I tried using the screwdriver tip, the tool showed significant damage to the screwdriver:
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z231/bluebadger88/misc/Chinese%20Atwood/Picture021.jpg

This picture shows the damage.

My question is, what sort of warranty replacement policy do you have?

Thank you

Here's their reply:

hi,
sorry in u case first,
can u send me full pic,
i will report to supplier & claim u tools,
plesae let me know u address,
i will ship the new one to u,
portable

And, today the replacement arrived!  I don't know if it's any tougher, but they did send a replacement. 

[jekostas]

And, today the replacement arrived!  I don't know if it's any tougher, but they did send a replacement. 

Huh.  Two weeks to get a new tool in hand and you didn't even send it in.  I can't even get the Canadian Leatherman service centre to *look* at something in two weeks.