Received my CrossCut today. Quick Review

[sawman]

The SOG CrossCut retails for around $20 and claims to include 10 tools.  I got one off Ebay for a reasonable price and just received it today.  Here's my initial thoughts:

Basically, except for the chisel ground knife blade, all implements at first glance seem useless.  The scissors and spring mechanism, however, are exceptional, so this tool has found a spot on my keychain.

Toothpick - I can't imagine myself walking out of a restaurant with this toothpick and CrossCut hanging out of my mouth.  It's not a sharp ended pick, so I don't think it would be successful in removing steak from my teeth.

Nail File - I honestly tried, but could not get this nail file to work on my fingernails.  Even if it did, the rectangular nail nick cut into it for opening purposes acts as a stopping divot to whatever you are attempting to file.  Perhaps this file would work on things other than fingernails, but then, it's awful short.

Tweezers - First of all, the ends of these do not meet up, making them competely useless.  I wonder if this imperfection is due to its being made in China 

Flat Driver - I did not test this, but it looks like it should work Ok.

Small Driver and Bottle Opener - The small driver is too thick to fit into any small screw slots that I've come in contact with.  I can't imagine a use for it.  I did not test the bottle opener but will assume that it works.

Scissors - These work quite well on everything from Clam shell packaging, to plastic, to paper and even thick stock.  I very much like this functionality and therefore am willing to forgive the rest.

[Lynn LeFey]

Wow... sorry to hear this.

A friend of mine recently got a new Crosscut, so I figured it'd match up with his, which I compared to my old one. On mine, and his, there's no problem with the tweezers. In fact, I find them best-in-the-industry. That yours don't match up is both saddening and seriously confusing to me.

Small driver... again, very confusing. Mine is perfect, and my friend's is perfect (for eyeglass size screws).

File... I love the file on mine. I loath the cast-sandpaper-whatever crap on the Micra and Vics. I have no problem with mine.


Man... Now I've got to wonder if the QC on the Crosscut's taken a nosedive.

This is a sad day indeed.

[sawman]

I found my crosscut in a drawer and was playing around with it. Funny thing: I still feel exactly like I did in the above post.

I'd like to see some better tools incorporated into the Crosscut like a diamond file and Phillips. The Micra has them and I thought the idea was to provide an alternative to the Micra.

Lynn, are you still using your Crosscut?

[Corwyn]

+1 on all what you said.
Still it was my first brand-name multi, my first SOG and the first thing i ever won on this fine forum so I'm sticking with it.
The only really nice thing are the scissors, the toothpick, tweezers and nailfile are almost unusable. It does look really cool but it's too limited to stay on my keychain (and replace my Rogue) and too heavy to stay on my carkeys and replace my Alox Classic.

[Lynn LeFey]

Lynn, are you still using your Crosscut?

Not currently, but it's not from any hatred of the tool, just that I'm trying a bunch of new stuff.

I LIKE the Crosscut's toothpick, and used one for 15 years. I found it one of the most useful implements for real day-to-day use (in the office environment I worked in).

The flat driver is every bit as good as the Micra's and that's saying something.

The small driver on the NEW Crosscut, the 2.0, wouldn't slot into an eyeglass screw, although my old one WOULD, but it took about 5 minutes with a file to fix it. No big deal, IMO.

The cap lifter on it, and the micra, and virtually EVERY keychain scale tool (minus the Leatherman Style carabiner) ALL suck equally. They work... but poorly. So I don't knock it for that.

The tweezers on the tool I have came with one arm torqued slightly, so one corner of the tweezer edge would touch before the other. I used small pliers and torqued the tweezer until both corners touched at the same time. This was one of the big disappointments for me on the tool, since the tweezers on my original version were the best tweezers I've ever owned, including a fairly expensive pair of eyebrow tweezers. Now, the tweezers on my 2.0 pair are acceptable, if not extraordinary.

The toothpick on the SOG is, IMO, perfect. Not too sharp, so the tip doesn't blunt over time, and you can't LOSE it. I've lost 3 toothpicks from 91mm SAKS, and that smurfs me off. I had and used one of these for 15 years, and they are fine, when you actually need to pick something from your teeth, as opposed to letting it dangle from your mouth. Go find some other oral fetish if that's what you need.

The scissors are still awesome. On par with the Micra, except when cutting super heavy material, where the Crosscut takes a slight lead.

One of the disadvantages of the Crosscut compared to the Micra, is due to the compound action of the scissors. You can't jackknife one handle open for a longer handle, on... say, the flathead driver.

The blade. Again, I carried one of these for 15 years, and the blade did everything I needed a blade for in office work. On my current one, it was the first time I ever attempted to reprofile a blade, so mine is no longer a chisel ground, but has a regular edge. I was, I'd say, 90% successful. It works, but has a not-exactly-sharp spot.

The Crosscut runs about $14.50, compared to the Leatherman Micra at $21. (Both prices from Amazon) With the micra, you gain a flat philips, lose the toothpick, and get a terrible pair of pliers instead of a moderate one.

I've talked a LOT about the Crosscut, and will continue to. For the price, it's STILL one of the best options for a keychain tool, if your primary need is scissors. over the years I carried mine, I found very little need for a philips, and at least weekly need of a toothpick.

The file is a nail file, and doesn't pretend to be anything else. The only keychain size tool with a better file is the Leatherman Squirt. Everything else just has a nail file, and they all file nails. (At least, all the name-brand tools do).

What i used most often on it were: Scissors (pretty much daily), Blade (pretty much daily), Flathead Driver (a few times a week, mostly as light pry tool), toothpick (a few times a week). The tweezers I might have needed a few times, ever. Same as the small flathead and bottle opener, and file. This means, that for my needs, the areas of weakness on the tool didn't matter to me. Also, I didn't need a philips driver more than a few times over 15 years, so I didn't miss the benefit the Micra's philips would have given. I WOULD have missed the toothpick.

I know the 2.0 isn't made as well as the original i had, but the decrease in quality hasn't greatly affected its function. The big thing for me is that it's pretty much the best tool you can get FOR THE PRICE.

For those of you that don't like it... sorry to hear. I guess that's one of the great things about having a good number of options.

[buck]

I just received an older CrossCut.  Apologies for the poor phone pictures.  How does it differ from the current ones?

[Corwyn]

http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,27053.0.html
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,46362.0.html

[ducttapetech]

Nice score Buck.

Nate
That's us mobile

[neillcurrie]

For those who think the scissors are great on the Crosscut, try the Schrade Tough Chip.
Much more robust, better spring action, sharp as the dickens. The other tools in it are at least as good as those on the Crosscut/micra, but it's nowhere near as compact and keychain-worthy as the micra.

[Lynn LeFey]

I have the Craftsman version of that tool, and it is in every single way less capable than the Crosscut. So, unless the Schrade version is massively better build quality (certainly a possibility), I have to disagree. In fact, I just did side-by-side cut tests on the scissors. Crosscut was equal or better at everything. While the blades are about the same length (Crosscuts very slightly longer), the position of them makes the Crosscut's better ergonomically, IMO. I'd also call the large flathead on the Craftsman tool 'bad' in comparison to the one on the Crosscut, and that's a tool I care about, as the principle pry-tool on it.

I'd love to get a Schrade version to test, but the Craftsman version of that tool is absolutely no match, and moreso when size/weight are factored in.

[buck]

So they moved production to China to avoid the American healthcare mafia surcharge.

[ducttapetech]

I am under the impression they left China. Not 100% sure. Some Stuff seems to be coming out of Taiwan. Not all of there stuff went to China. Some still in the US and some of there VG10 blades come from Japan.

Nate
That's us mobile

[sawman]

It seems the tweezer issue is common in all models so I'm thinking there are just major machining flaws occuring with this tool. If they really wanted to they could easily fix these issues.

[neillcurrie]

I have the Craftsman version of that tool, and it is in every single way less capable than the Crosscut. So, unless the Schrade version is massively better build quality (certainly a possibility), I have to disagree. In fact, I just did side-by-side cut tests on the scissors. Crosscut was equal or better at everything. While the blades are about the same length (Crosscuts very slightly longer), the position of them makes the Crosscut's better ergonomically, IMO. I'd also call the large flathead on the Craftsman tool 'bad' in comparison to the one on the Crosscut, and that's a tool I care about, as the principle pry-tool on it.

I'd love to get a Schrade version to test, but the Craftsman version of that tool is absolutely no match, and moreso when size/weight are factored in.

Well, have you actually used the tool I  recommended?
I have around 7 or 8 versions of SOG's, Carftsman and Schrade's, and the SOG Scissors all work less well. I see little real difference in the other handle tools, other than the overall size issue I mentioned above.

[Lynn LeFey]

I've owned 3 Crosscuts, and used two others.

Maybe I have a really bad version of the Craftsman tool, but it REALLY doesn't come close to the Crosscut in scissor performance. For it's size, it's actually remarkably unremarkable, if that makes any sense.

[sawman]

My Craftsman tool cuts very well. While I prefer the smaller size of the Micra, I think the Craftsman is a good value for $4.