Thoughts on Gerber Octane

[dbnyc]

This is a review of my new Gerber Octane.  Reading the reviews folks on this site have posted really helped me make the decision to buy the tool, so here's my 2 cents on it.  I haven't used it for any real work yet, so this is a first impression, take it for what it is.

I don't want to repeat what other people have already discussed, so here's a list of the reviews I read.  You can go through them for anything I fail to mention, also they have pictures. 

Chako's http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,18382.0.html
Zack's http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,17071.0.html
Defender's http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,19171.msg362713.html#msg362713

Physical

The good: I was looking for a lightweight tool for pocket carry, and the Octane really works for that.  It's a good fit for my hands and rides nicely in my right side jeans pocket with the clip.  The subtle curve of the handle and the angle of the plier head in the deployed position is good ergonomics.  The individual tools are solid and well designed.  It looks good.  There's a nice big one hand open blade. 

Not good, not bad: It has a bit of rattle and motion when closed, I see this as natural due to the sliding plier mechanism and not a flaw in the product.  There's some flex in the body of the handles when you squeeze the sides.  The pocket clip isn't actually as deep as it looks, the head of the pivot screw blocks the top 1/4 inch or so (unless you've got thinner pockets than me.)

The bad: The outboard cover for the blade is aluminum, with even more flex than the steel handle body.  The blade provides support when it's closed but when the blade is open the cover seems to me that it would be pretty easily damaged.

Mechanical

This thing started out really stiff when I first got it out of the packaging.  The plier head had a gritty grinding feel when deploying, the blade took a lot of effort to open, the plier jaws resisted opening.  After working on it a bit deployment smoothed right out and now the plier head deploys easily one handed.  The blade is still a bit stiff but can be opened one-handed now, and the pliers loosened up a bit.

The good: The sliding plier mechanism is cool and gives quick access to the pliers with a flick of the wrist, locking with a solid snap.  The plier jaws meet cleanly and close completely at the tip, and there's a gap between the plier handles when the jaws are closed, so no hand pinching.  The springs on the locks are nice and strong and most of the small implements are pretty easy to open.

Not good, not bad: The small screwdriver is a little tough to grab for me so I end up opening the philips with it.

The bad:

The plier head doesn't lock in the closed/undeployed position.  The slider buttons on both handles provide some friction that helps keep the plier head in the handles, but the lack of a lock in the closed position is a serious design flaw in my opinion because the plier heads point down when clipped in the pocket, so they'll tend to get pulled out if you wear the tool as it's designed to be worn.  I had to run for the train today after work and found the plier head had come half out of the handles from just that short run.  This problem alone is making me reconsider keeping the tool.

The slider siezes if the handles are squeezed while the plier head is sliding open or closed, so it takes a light touch to avoid getting stuck.  This is mostly a problem when closing the tool.  The one hand open works nicely, but when putting away the plier head I tend to squeeze the lock buttons with one hand and pinch the ends of the handles with my other hand and push, which doesn't work at all.  You have to push from the bottom of the handles, not pinch which squeezes the handles together and prevents the slider from working.  Not as big a deal as the lack of closed lock but annoying.

The other major problem, which other reviewers have mentioned, is the liner lock on the knife, which is very thin and feels flimsy.  There's a nice snap when the blade opens but I find a good deal of play with fairly gentle pressure against the back of the blade.

Overall:

I really want to like this tool.  It's lightweight, a good size and has the pocket clip for easy carry.  The one hand pliers and blade are convenient.  The curve and angle of the plier head is comfortable in the hand.  Plus it looks cool.  Plus there's a real phillips.  All the tools lock open.  There's a lot good about the Octane.  However, I have problems with both the design and the fit and finish of the tool. 

Design problems include the lack of closed lock for the plier head.  I don't want to be constantly worrying about the tool falling open in my pocket.  The slider needs a gentle touch due to the gap between the handles.  The thin gague of the body reduces weight but I wonder if it can stand up to heavy torquing on the driver implements.  Especially given that the ends of the tool don't meet to support each other, the entire length of the handle will be under twisting strain.  The liner lock on the blade feels flimsy.

Fit and finish problems include the blade play - others say their blade locks solid, mine wiggles easily.  I found rust spots on my small driver tool, on the top edge and both sides.  One of the pivot screws doesn't sit flush with the body, there's a big gap on one side.

If I do decide to keep my Octane, I'll be modding it to add a closed lock.  From what I can tell I just need to add notches in the slider channel at the closed position matching the ones at the open position.  It shouldn't be too difficult with a file and/or a dremel.  That would address my number one issue with the tool.

Thanks for reading.

-db

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Great first post mate, and welcome to the forum

[kl27x]

Before you grind notches, be sure that the way you flick open the pliers will be compatible with this. The opening method depicted in the directions that come with the Gerber, and the way 90% of people open them up if you go by Youtube, would not be possible with locking notches.

Also, check this post, first. I've already done this mod, but I also lengthened the rails. You might wanna see if there's some room for improvement on the Octane, too, before cutting the notches in place. (The tip of the Compact Sport normally sticks out about 1/3" when closed, and can easily put a hole in a pocket.)

http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,19667.0.html

I think the Octane will serve you well. The Gerber slide pliers are my favorite needle nose pliers in a full-size MT, because of the handles NOT angled too far outwards like all the others. I'd probably get one, if I didn't already have a couple Compact Sports. And a Pro Scout. And...  Well, nice review, anyway! Post up some pics in the Mod Squad forum after you've spun up your Dremel.

[DaveK]

That is an excellent first post - welcome dbnyc 

I've not even handled an Octane yet - let alone owned one, but I'm alarmed that the pliers do not lock open. Am I understanding correctly, that if you were to push down on the pliers they would close, without the need to disengage them somehow? Or do the handles act as a lock / stop in some way?

[Chako]

They lock open. However, they do not lock closed. Personally, I would find that a bother to have to press the two buttons to open the tool. I much prefer to one hand open it by flicking it...very convenient.

Welcome dbnyc to the forums. Good write up.

[kl27x]

I always preferred to open it by holding the tool by the buttons, pliers pointing up. Press in on the buttons lightly (not too hard), and the tool slides open by gravity. It closes one-handed, the same way, if you turn it upside down. Or if you have any coordination, you can flick it up, against gravity.

[DaveK]

I always preferred to open it by holding the tool by the buttons, pliers pointing up. Press in on the buttons lightly (not too hard), and the tool slides open by gravity. It closes one-handed, the same way, if you turn it upside down. Or if you have any coordination, you can flick it up, against gravity.

That's what I do with my MP400 / 600s. That or hold them at the base and let centrifugal force do the work for me!

@Chako - thanks for that - that makes more sense!

[dbnyc]

The Octane is definitely growing on me and I have decided to keep it.  I'm still planning to mod it to lock in the closed/undeployed position though. 

Like kl27x I prefer the gravity assist method to open, so no worries about the lock notches interfering with opening.  Also, the plier head retracts completely into the body so I won't need to lengthen the rails, not that there's much space to do so anyway. You could probably only get about 1mm extra before the slider hits the lock buttons.

Nice work on that Compact Sport mod kl27x, it looks like it came from the factory that way.

Speaking of Octane modding it would be interesting if Gerber played with this outboard tool slot a bit and offered other tools (nice big pair of scissors, file, some sort of combi tool) in that location in place of a blade. 

[dbnyc]

Here's a quick update - I've stopped pocket carrying my Octane because it is now falling open all the time when it's clipped in my pocket.  The plier head just drops right out at the slightest provocation, and the handle opens up.  I haven't had the time to add the lock cutouts in the handles yet (maybe this weekend...)

I can't help but think that this is a serious design flaw in the product, though as I've learned more about the history of the sliding plier design I can see why Gerber would have done it this way.

So anyway, the Octane is shelved until I can fix it.

[DaveK]

That's a shame

I need to get one of these and see for myself I think !

[dbnyc]

Just used the bubble package opener for the first time - it is awesome.  Zip zip zip, and open - fastest I've ever opened one of these things.

Fittingly, I was opening the dremel burr set I'm going to be using to grind my lock notches.