My Gerber Dime failed in an entirely new way.

[WiseDuck]

I sometimes remove my Dime from my keychain and play around with it. It's got a certain fiddle-factor, so I open the pliers over and over. And all of a sudden, one side feels coarse, gritty. So I try to clean that side, I blow into it and so on. It just gets worse. Then I discover that the plier head pivot section and the backspring are wearing each other down. After a couple of hundred more cycles, almost half the spring is gone. Another hundred or so and I've almost worn through the entire spring. Suffice to say, this was unexpected.

Oh, and this was a replacement Dime because my previous one had damaged backsprings from the factory. I have pretty much lost all faith in this tool. I really want to like the Dime, but I will not get a replacement after this. So it's back to my Minichamp again.

Oh Gerber... 



First pic is of the metal flakes that I got from opening and closing the pliers.
Second is of the worn down backspring.

[AimlessWanderer]

Another Dime fan here 

That looks to me like a piece has broke off it, almost as though ther was a piece of grit or something between the spring and abutment when the pliers were being used. If that was the case, the grainy surface on the underside where the piece broke off would indeed rub like that. The fractured piece would need to fall out in order for the grainy part to rub, which might not happen immediately after the fracture. If the grating only happened while you were playing around, that's likely to be when the broken bit fell out.

I would get that sent back in and replaced.

[powernoodle]

I hear you, Mr. Duck.  I want the Dime and the PS4 to last for at least a few years of light usage.  But at $16 shipped (U.S.), and sometimes less, the Dime is just not a quality multitool that instills confidence.  I've had issues with the Dime, and had a PS4's scissor spring commit suicide with no usage.

These are light duty, disposable convenience items.  I think that if we characterize them as such, we can use and enjoy them for the duration of their sometimes-short lives.  Returning them under warranty is not a bad idea either.

[WiseDuck]

Oh I assure you guys, this wasn't just a piece of grit that got stuck in there. I checked the spring from both sides and moved the spring itself from side to side, couldn't see anything in there. It the plier pivot and backspring just decided to grind each other down, see the pictures I've attached.

When I noticed the grittiness, I cycled that side of the pliers 200-300 times or so and that removed a LOT of metal. It's almost impossible to open the tool now. I will not send it in. I could, but it takes time and effort and knowing that a new tool could fail catastrophically at any time like this, makes me not want to carry it anymore. So I'll move back to the Minichamp. But it lacks pliers and I never was a big fan of the PS4. Blah, Victorinox needs to release a small 58, 65 or 74 mm tool with pliers and their legendary QC!

[WiseDuck]

Oh and because the spring has been weakened from that major loss of metal, I decided to simply use a bit of force and clamp down on something. And sure enough, that part of the spring broke right off at the thinnest point. The pliers can no longer be opened now after being closed. So the tool is completely borked now.

[powernoodle]

I would pay more for a quality micro MT.  A quality level higher than the PS4, which in my view is higher than the Dime.

[WiseDuck]

I used to have a PS4 but gifted it to a friend. I liked Dimes design more and its got better tools.
But PS4 was definitely a high quality product in comparison. A lot of Gerbers Chinese stuff suffers from cheap materials and poor QC, which is unfortunate. I'd rather pay a little bit extra for a tool that lasts, than having to use their warranty over and over. Which matters very little when you lose confidence in the product itself.

I even gifted family members 3-4 Dimes or so last year. I take pride in gifting things that I would use myself, but after two of mine failed... I hope theirs are doing better. I want people to enjoy these products.

[AimlessWanderer]

Sorry, I may have confused you. I think a bit of the spring on the underside my have broken off, exposing a grainy textured surface. That surface is what was rubbing and releasing the smaller fragments. That fracture may have been caused by a bit of grit wedged in there which perhaps came out long before the piece of spring that broke away fell out.

If that's the thinnest part of the spring, it's possible that area was of a higher hardness and a little brittle. At work we've had items made all out of the same batch of steel, and all put through the same treatment process in one batch, and one or two items in the batch have treated differently to the rest and failed - not our fault and there wasn't a thing we could have done extra to prevent it. Sometimes these things do happen, even with appropriate batch sampling inspection processes.

You said yourself in the title of the thread, this is not a usual defect. Having worked in manufacturing all my working life, I wouldn't be pointing a finger at Gerber for this unless this was happening with any regularity.....

...... the scissor spring on the Style's and Squirt's different story  I haven't owned one that HASN'T broke 

[AimlessWanderer]

I would pay more for a quality micro MT.  A quality level higher than the PS4, which in my view is higher than the Dime.

I think the Leatherman pliers design is far superior on these small tools, as is the way the backsprings are supported. A far more rugged design and better spring opening system too. However, I do prefer the Dime's unimpeded gripping area, and most of the included tools (with the exception of the farcical Phillips nail file).

I have however had several manufacturing defects on the smaller Leathermans, and none on the Dime aside from a little grittiness perhaps.

Your earlier points on price, I would agree with. Despite it's imperfections, I think the Dime is a bloody good little pocket tool for the money. I've said before, Gerber don't always make a better tool than Leatherman (in many cases the Leatherman tool will be superior if it's built properly), but Gerber often offer better value for money. I've had good and bad tools from Gerber, but I've had more disappointment from their Portland neighbour

[Mr. Whippy]

I hate seeing this. 

The Dime concept is excellent.  I like the tools and actually like the whole layout of the Dime.  I just get sad when I realize it isn't a quality build.

[WiseDuck]

Either way, having two Dimes fail on me is a bit much. I still have a Dime Travel that I intend to use when I travel this year. That thing will see little use and should last a bit longer I hope.

Still, I'll agree with some of what's being said here. I hate this too, because I love the design of this tool. It's compact, has tons of useful tools and looks great. It's just let down by poor design choices and cheap materials. If Vic made a tool with similar capabilities at a similar size, they would rule this part of the market too for sure.

[captain spaulding]

We have a lot of Dime fans here. I am not one of them. Never liked Gerbers "keychain" tools at all. They seem poorly executed and poorly designed in my opinion. I stay far away from anything Gerber smaller than a MP400.

I am not saying others should feel the same. Just how I view those small tools in Gerber line.

[super m]

We have a lot of Dime fans here. I am not one of them. Never liked Gerbers "keychain" tools at all. They seem poorly executed and poorly designed in my opinion. I stay far away from anything Gerber smaller than a MP400.

I am not saying others should feel the same. Just how I view those small tools in Gerber line.

What about the shard ?  Dislike ?

[captain spaulding]

We have a lot of Dime fans here. I am not one of them. Never liked Gerbers "keychain" tools at all. They seem poorly executed and poorly designed in my opinion. I stay far away from anything Gerber smaller than a MP400.

I am not saying others should feel the same. Just how I view those small tools in Gerber line.

What about the shard ?  Dislike ?

I do not like the Shard at all. I owned one and gave it away. First time I used it to open a bottle it chipped a huge piece of glass of into my beer. If you ruin a beer for me that's a big no, no.  I put it on my key ring and it was very uncomfortable in my pocket. I also do not like how when attached to a key ring the phillips driver protrudes into the center of the key ring. You could say I dislike the Shard with a passion.

[Roc]

Awesome. Not exactly the thread I was wanting to see about the dime. If mine fails i guess I'll go back to my executive and use the pliers from my main mt. I realize these are not a hard use mt, but they shouldn't fail from deployment of the pliers.

[Semajmarx007]

Bought a Dime but decided to gift it. Seems poorly made and the scales scratches off easily. My Vic Manager has been with me for about 8 years and i don't mind the scratches and some of the cellidor chipping off. The gerber was in my hand for about two hours and the scales were already chipped due to the closing and opening of the pliers.

The shard i am happy with but will not be putting it in my keychain. Wrapped some nylon strings around it and placed it in my emergency kit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Corwyn]

I love the design and tool layout of the Dime.
It would make the perfect keychain tool... unfortunately the quality is just abysmall.
I had two, barely used them... the first one was a nail breaker with rough edges all over. The second one came with painting flaws, a big chip right out of the box and offcenter pliers... truly a shame... so much potential on this... if Vic would make such a tool, I'd buy one in a second.. even if it cost twice as much as the Dime.

[HarleyXJGuy]

... if Vic would make such a tool, I'd buy one in a second.. even if it cost twice as much as the Dime.

Yes.

[WWW]

IT has so much potential to be a great tool, but no. And it is all because Gerber.

[Aloha]

I bought a Dime before I got my LM P4 and loved it.  It never failed but the nail breaker implements did annoy me.  I had hope time and use would loosen them but no such luck.  I did enjoy they tools they selected for the Dime but I got a LM L4 and game over.  I gave my Dime away and haven't looked back. 

I LOVE THE SHARD and sadly lost mine.  There are better little pry tools but what a nice IMO straight forward tool. 

[WiseDuck]

I won't pretend to know how a company works. But if I had any power whatsoever within Gerber, I'd sit down with the QC people and look at the current line-up of products one by one, perhaps one every week or month, then go through consumer complaints, test a couple of samples and see what can be improved.

#1 Right off the bat with the Dime, there's the problem with the scales rubbing against each other when opening the pliers. This has been an issue with every Dime I've handled except maybe one that was perfectly put together and 100% straight. The other ones? First opening, worn out scale edges.

#2 Misaligned pliers, on the Dime that broke, they were actually a little twisted. Not enough to be a big problem, but it was quite noticeable. The needle-nose was not perfectly aligned.

#3 On another Dime I had, the knife actually closed too far somehow and hit the stainless steel liner every time I closed it, so a small part of the knife was always a little dull.

#4 The "file" can be used to file down nails, but it is still a very poor excuse for a file. Why not use the body of the package opener tool instead? You've got a large unused surface there that can be made into a nail file.

#5 Plier backsprings. Way WAY too easy to bend. You need very little force to permanently deform the springs. On one Dime I had, these came bent from the factory and all I had to do to finish the job was squeeze a pencil with the pliers and the springs broke completely. They need to have a serious look at the geometry and heat treatment here.

#6 Other random QC issues, such as misaligned tool handles that leave a gap when you close it. Black model is a nail breaker because the coating makes it ever so slightly thicker. They use way too much loctite which makes disassembly pretty much impossible and the list goes on and on.

They should do this with every tool. If they improve the tool, charge a bit more for it, I'd pay more for a properly made Dime with high quality materials. In my experience, Gerber has a lot of interesting ideas and designs, but the execution is often quite poor.

[NetsNJ]

I have two dimes.  I enjoy them as "toys".  The design is sexy and tool selection is actually pretty good.  But both my dimes have QC issues.  Weird gaps between components, liners that seem bent, stuff like that.  You can just tell that any non-trivial force on the pliers would snap those springs.  I like the design but the quality isn't even close to an LM Squirt or Micra.  It is disappointing since these products tarnish the Gerber name, and the MP multi-tools have exemplary quality.

[sLaughterMed]

I have two dimes.  I enjoy them as "toys".  The design is sexy and tool selection is actually pretty good.  But both my dimes have QC issues.  Weird gaps between components, liners that seem bent, stuff like that.  You can just tell that any non-trivial force on the pliers would snap those springs.  I like the design but the quality isn't even close to an LM Squirt or Micra.  It is disappointing since these products tarnish the Gerber name, and the MP multi-tools have exemplary quality.

Unfortunately, the MP series is one of the only Gerber products to escape from their typically poor QC.

[Smaug]

Now, I don't feel so bad that my Dime Travel was lost. (buried in the beach by my niece)

I don't think the Lifetime Warranty applies in Sweden, so I guess you're out of luck with that one.

It sounds like either a design flaw (spec'd too soft of a steel) or bad manufacturing substitution. (factory ran out of good steel, used what they could find) Not a QC issue.

The MP series is good because it is an American factory, where there are a lot of long-time workers who have more pride, rather than just staying alive.

I've got two MP400s, and MP600 bladeless, and and MP600 Pro Scout on the way. But I don't think I'll try any more of their other series, unless I have a moment of weakness and know I can return it in case of any trouble. I guess that's not saying much, since I could return it right to Gerber.

I do have to ask though, how would a Minichamp replace a Dime? It's about the same size, but without pliers, it is not exactly a 1:1 comparison...

This is just another example of "The Devil is in the Details." Gerber does a good job of including tools that we like, at a price we like, and pretty nice looking overall designs. But they usually seem to be missing just a little thing here and there.

• On the MP400s, the nail nicks were on the wrong side of the blade for a while.
• On the MP600 with carbide cutters, they either shatter or don't cut well.
• The blade on the MP400 closes on the inside of the handle, such that the last few millimeters will always be dull.
• The Dimes are not well finished and have poor materials.

This is where Victorinox succeeds. They put that extra effort into perfecting the details, and their reputation is such that they can charge for this. They're in it for the long haul. One doesn't get the feeling Gerber is thinking that way sometimes.

[jerseydevil]

I have never had a problem with the carbide cutters, and would love to know where you came up with the generalization that all MP400 blades hit the handle and are dull near the tip. I've handled and used numerous 400's and 450's, and have NEVER encountered this "problem".

[WiseDuck]

I actually have that problem with my MP600 Bluntnose. The blades both hit the inside of the handles so the tips are always somewhat dull. It isn't a major problem, but it's still a really easy fix for Gerber. Just minor adjustments to the tool path on their milling machine, or a new tool for the stamping machine, or they can make sure that the lock tab that slides back and forth has tighter tolerances. If it were ever so slightly thicker, the tools wouldn't close all the way into the handle and there would be less play in the tools when open. Thankfully, that's the only problem with my MP600, the rest of it is pretty much perfect and the thing feels like a tank. I've gotten some good use out of it, especially since mine is paired with the bit kit.

As for warranty, Gerbers warranty works here too. They've been generous enough to mail me replacement products all the way from the states to here. My last Dime, which was a red one, was actually sent to me by a local Gerber distributor. So the warranty works over here too and it's really good.

[NetsNJ]

I do have to ask though, how would a Minichamp replace a Dime? It's about the same size, but without pliers, it is not exactly a 1:1 comparison...

I'll be honest I don't see the utility of a minichamp over just a rambler.  Extra tiny blade?  Cocaine spoon?  Come on.  I guess the orange peeler could double as a package opener like the Dime, but I don't think it is worth it. 

Why not just use a LM squirt to replace the Dime? 

[WiseDuck]

Swisschamp isn't a replacement really, it doesn't have all the tools I want. But it is currently the best mini tool I have with the most amount of features. I used to own a Squirt PS4, but I gave that to a friend after I received my Dime that I talked about in this topic. I might get another at some point, it's a real shame it lacks the package opener though. On my Dime, that was the tool I used the most.

[NetsNJ]

Ah, okay, I see.  Yeah I don't think it is a good replacement for the capabilities of the dime, but the tool ya got is better than no tool. 

[Smaug]

I have never had a problem with the carbide cutters,

Watch the carbide cutters of a new MP600 fail here. I think it's at about 1:26. To be fair, the much-loved Wave failed even worse.

and would love to know where you came up with the generalization that all MP400 blades hit the handle and are dull near the tip. I've handled and used numerous 400's and 450's, and have NEVER encountered this "problem".

Maybe I'm wrong, and it is not all MP400s, but the two in my home dull from hitting the inside of the handle, and I figured they're all the same design, so...

Since I discovered that, I don't snap it closed any more, but close it gently. Maybe you always closed it gently, and that's why you never had the problem. Or maybe your standards of sharpness aren't as high as mine, so it isn't noticeable to you.

I have also handled another MP400, but it was owned by someone else, and the blade was dull to the point of being useless, so I couldn't tell on his.

I don't remember if it happened on my MP600 blunt, I didn't have it long enough. (due to the bad cutter design)

We'll see how it is on the MP600 Pro Scout when it arrives.