Best Multi-tool ???

[Kmarr]

Seems to a a lot of anti Gerber BS going on in this thread.    I have carried a Gerber 600 bluntnose for close to 10 years. Even though I own tools from all the major brands the 600 is still my most carried MT.  And the only one I trust comepletely.

By any chance do you live in Albany, NY and work at the lodge in Dick's sporting goods?

...I ask because the guy at Dick's said almost the exact same thing

[Styerman]

I owned a couple of Gerbers in the early ninties , based on that experience , I would not advise anyone to get one . I very much doubt their quality has improved , the ones I had were US made , the present crop is mostly offshore . Actually it was three if you count the one I got in trade , and passed on as quick as I could .

I have a number of chronies in the Canuck armed forces who have broken several each , and now rock Leathermans.

As always YMMV , I don't however pan anyone unless I have owned at least one of their offerings . The whole Gerber bussiness saddens me as at one time Gerber made great stuff . MK1's , FSII's , original Guardians , then along comes Fiscars- poof .

Chris

[WH867]

Seems to a a lot of anti Gerber BS going on in this thread.    I have carried a Gerber 600 bluntnose for close to 10 years. Even though I own tools from all the major brands the 600 is still my most carried MT.  And the only one I trust comepletely.

By any chance do you live in Albany, NY and work at the lodge in Dick's sporting goods?

...I ask because the guy at Dick's said almost the exact same thing

Don't think it was me.  Only been in NY once. And that was over 30 years ago

[Kmarr]

At least now we know your doppelganger likes MTs too

[Mercury]

I said all of that to say this. No one here can tell you what your perfect MT is (we don't even know what ours is)

Well said.  All of us have our biases.  (gerbers stink!, did I say that out loud?)  You will most likely buy one that someone has talked about, then find something you can't stand about it and try another, and so on and so forth.  I have been through quite a few lately, and my conclusions have merit in my mind, but they may not make sense to you.  Pick one and remember, it's not the only one you can ever own.

[WH867]

I owned a couple of Gerbers in the early ninties , based on that experience , I would not advise anyone to get one . I very much doubt their quality has improved , the ones I had were US made , the present crop is mostly offshore . Actually it was three if you count the one I got in trade , and passed on as quick as I could .

I have a number of chronies in the Canuck armed forces who have broken several each , and now rock Leathermans.

As always YMMV , I don't however pan anyone unless I have owned at least one of their offerings . The whole Gerber bussiness saddens me as at one time Gerber made great stuff . MK1's , FSII's , original Guardians , then along comes Fiscars- poof .

Chris

 We disagree, but its not the first time.   Based on my experiences I highly recommend the 600  series.  Mine has been used hard for the 10 years I have had it and still going strong. It was used when I got it. It started out in the US Coast Guard.
  Gerber has made some stuff in the recent years I would'nt use but thats no reason to condemn a whole brand.  I can't name any brand of MT that I would recommend every one of their models.

If your happy using a lesser MT good for you. Somebody needs to keep those guys in business also.


Dennis

[WH867]

I said all of that to say this. No one here can tell you what your perfect MT is (we don't even know what ours is)

   my conclusions have merit in my mind, but they may not make sense 

I will agree with that.                                        Now how about stopping the Gerber bashing untill you have actually tried one of their top models.   Since you admitted earlier never handling a 400 or 600

[J-sews]

I don't think any of us should make negative comments about a tool (or any item really) unless we've owned one and put it through its paces.

[Grant Lamontagne]

What's the best tool?  Simple- the one you have with you when you need it.  That's a bit of a cop out, but even that hiker who was trapped managed to survive simply because he had a tool with him, despite it being a cheap knockoff.  Even the crappiest model will beat none at all (although some more than others!) and a good quality tool is just that- good quality.

I honestly don't feel you can go wrong with most offerings from SOG, Gerber, CRKT, Leatherman, Victorinox, Wenger, or Bear.  Some manufacturers/models may suit your needs better than others, but as you can see by everyone's suggestions, they all have their pros and cons, and what works for one person may or may not work for another.

So, in short, the best multi is any of the above- try to figure out what you need, and compare that to the feature set of the different tools available, and go for whatever seems to match up best.

Def

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Give it it's due, the 600 series are fine tools

[DaveK]

Moving swiftly back towards the op's question, the answer surely is another question or two!

What do you intend to use it for gillm? And, what is your budget?

You'll have realised at this point that there's a whole array of personal opinion out there, and the answer to your question will depend on all sorts of things. If your requirements aren't too specific, and if this would be your first multitool, then I dare say that any multitool made by the brands mentioned above will leave you feeling pretty good. Including Gerber!

Once you have used your new multitool for a while, whichever it may be, you'll probably find that there are some things you love, and some things you hate about it! That's when you can start homing in your own, personal "best multitool".

If you are like me, and don't have any unusual requirements for a tool, and just want a good all-rounder, I would humbly suggest any of the following:

Leatherman Wave
Victorinox Spirit
Gerber Flik
SOG Powerlock (bit bulkier than the above)

I reckon any of those would make a great starter multi, all of them are very capable tools with bags of functions. Each one has it's own unique features that will help you learn what's important to you, and none of them will let you down.

I see you are in the UK too, so you may or may not be concerned about our knife laws that stipulate that we can't carry locking blades without good reason. If this is something you want to carry around everywhere, you might want to consider something like an old Leatherman PST which is legal to carry in public for example.

What are you after?

[Mercury]

  
Gerber bashing will cease, until I have owned a newer 600 series and beat the hell out of it.     

My apologies to all the Gerberites out there, no harm or offense intended.      

[Kmarr]

I've owned Gerber knives but never Multis.  I beat the living daylights out of my EVO and for the 6 or so years I've EDC'ed it, all that it had was a chip off the ol' tip.

I've yet to own a Gerber MT, been thinkin' on it for a while.  I should probably get on that so I can throw in my 2 cents with this Great Gerber Gap that plagues some threads

[Styerman]

With all respect I don't see ever trying Gerber again . The one hand open feature is not valuable to me , if I get onehanded anything it would be the blade . Their butterfly opening stuff , doesn't offer anything that isn't offered by others in whom I have more faith . Even if they were rock solid ( which I have some reservations about ) I don't care for the hand feel or Ergos .

I very much hope they return to the quality that attained back in Pete Gerber's day .

Everybody has to make a buck , so I'm glad somebody likes them .

I'm guessing that poor old Pete is spinning in his grave .

Chris

[Grant Lamontagne]

I doubt that- Pete Gerber wasn't a knifemaker, he was a salesman.  I think it was ad sales for a newspaper, but I could be wrong.  One year he decided to get a knifemaker client of his to make some kitchen knives for his other clients as a Christmas present and thank you for their business that year.  He put his name on it and gave them out, and people liked them so much he decided to go into the knife re-naming and re-selling business.

The fact that they now design and produce their own knives is a step up from what old Pete used to do IMHO.

Def

[jim guy]

Give it it's due, the 600 series are fine tools

I got to give credit my wife gave me a bo 600 that saw 2 years in Iraq and it still functions fine

[Styerman]

I doubt that- Pete Gerber wasn't a knifemaker, he was a salesman.  I think it was ad sales for a newspaper, but I could be wrong.  One year he decided to get a knifemaker client of his to make some kitchen knives for his other clients as a Christmas present and thank you for their business that year.  He put his name on it and gave them out, and people liked them so much he decided to go into the knife re-naming and re-selling business.

The fact that they now design and produce their own knives is a step up from what old Pete used to do IMHO.

Def

A lot of Petes stuff was designed by Al Mar , one of the better knife designers ever . He did the MKII , MK I , FS2 , just to name a few , their stuff used to be very clean . Then you get stuff like their Paul knives , an early custom collab , long before they came into style . The old ones were very nice . Al then started his own stable in the early eighties . He also designed a few Benchmades including the AFO ( one of the more commonly issued /better autos ) .

Chris

[Grant Lamontagne]

I'm not saying it wasn't good stuff, all I'm saying is that Pete never really had a hand in the actual mechanics of knife development, while Gerber does nowadays.

Def

[Styerman]

Back in the day when about the best you could get over the counter was Bucks  and Case , they were a breath of Fresh air . Wish I still had them now . Early Al Mar productions , blew the doors off many customs . Some of the early hunting knives were M2 , the original MKII was L6 . Wild stuff in it's day . Very imaginative , and to drawer .

Chris

[jim guy]

Back in the day when about the best you could get over the counter was Bucks  and Case , they were a breath of Fresh air . Wish I still had them now . Early Al Mar productions , blew the doors off many customs . Some of the early hunting knives were M2 , the original MKII was L6 . Wild stuff in it's day . Very imaginative , and to drawer .

Chris

yeah I wish I still had my old Al Mar sere

[ducktapehero]

I'll jump in with my opinion of the "best" multi-tool. It may surprise you but I gotta go with the same as always. A roll of ducktape. What other tool has literally BILLIONS of uses? 

[Kmarr]

I'll jump in with my opinion of the "best" multi-tool. It may surprise you but I gotta go with the same as always. A roll of ducktape. What other tool has literally BILLIONS of uses? 

I'm pretty sure its unpossible to disagree with that 

[mhhanson]

Looked at a website this week.  When you see someone add to the millions of uses by making a wedding dress, a prom dress, a purse, pants, ropes, out of duct tape you know any multi-tool is outclassed except to cut the tape.

Still "best" is what is appropriate for what you are doing with the tool.

          My tool varies by what I am doing.              Farm work     SOG Powerlock
                                                                      Office work    Leatherman side clip
                                                                      Fishing          Gerber fisherman 400
                                                                      Hunting         Took a Leatherman skelatool along last time
                                                                      Dress            A micra or cross cut
                                                                      Office repair   Cybertool
                                                                      General          KF4

         For all else you have "DUCT TAPE"

         Well at least the "best" concept let me go shopping instead of someone else.

[Tsquare]

Keep it as simple as you can. Get one that does the basics of what YOU need and is comfortable to YOU to carry. I have quite literally hundreds of multitools and saks, but the ones I usually have on me are light and have fewer functions. If you are fortunate enough to  be near a store that carries many different multis handle several and see what you like.

[Styerman]

Best multi is like best pistol , best Flyrod , best singlemalt Scotch - unanswerable conundrum . INVHO , it would be a tie between Vic. Spirit and Leatherman wave . Unless you have very exotic and specific requirements , these two will worn very well .

Chris

[Zed]

If you type (the best selling multi tool of all time) on a google, i wonder what turns up 

paul