I thought I should give a small comparison and general thoughts on one of my newest additions to the Gerber family of tools
the Flik Fisherman.
The Gerber Flik is one of the first tools that I bought once I decided to get into collecting multi-tools. I had gotten it at the local Canadian Tire. At the time, I was impressed with its fit and finish, weight, and feel. I also appreciated the outside opening tools. My biggest quibble with the design are the Lilliputian secondary tools that look like they would fit right at home on a keychain MT.
The Flik Fisherman is basically the same multi-tool with a few key differences. For starters, you get the overly long needle nose pliers. This is very handy for fishing, but is a pain in the side to carry in its sheath. The reason being the overly long pliers do not fit well into the tool when stored away for carry. That is the price you pay for having long needle nose jaws.
Another difference is the inclusion of a very nice file. One side has the usually cross hatches. The other side has a very nice fishing hook sharpening groove. The file even features a hook disgorger at the tip. The file replaces the saw found in the regular Flik. All other tools are the same.
How does it stack up to a few other fishing centric MTs that I have? Rather well actually.
In the above photo, you can see that the Gerber based fishing pliers all feature very long jaws that jut out of the handles when stored. You can also get a nice sense of the size of each. The Winchester is based on the same Gerber principles. I do not know if Gerber made this for Winchester, who is renowned for pasting their names on everything or if it was licensed from Gerber and then made at a different factory.
The following photo compares the tool load out of both the Gerber MP 600 and Flik Fisherman models. As you can see, the tools are very similar. Both feature a very nice file with the same groove for sharpening hooks. The MP 600 is larger, and benefits from having longer secondary tools. That is traded with the slight hassle of having to open the tool to access the secondary tools. The Flik is all about convenience with its outside opening tools.
Now, the Flik does have some issues that I have found with the seemingly complicated closing mechanism. In the older Flik, sometimes, it would close properly, and other times, it wouldnt. There are hooks on the inside that engage when closing the tool. This prevents you from pulling the pliers apart with the head in the closed position. The Fisherman takes this finickiness to the next level. Not only does it have a sometimes issue with closing the tool, it now suffers slightly from opening as well. I find that if I do not slide the pliers out and then open the handles as far as I can, the pliers will lock slightly crooked. It just does not seat balanced unless I open the handles fully. This is very minor and doesnt affect the functionally of the tool. I must add, this does lend the Flik line some character. I must also add, that this complicated system does open the handles and locks them in a wide enough stance to eliminated pinched palms.
I like the Flik, and the Flik Fisherman fits right in there, being another variant of the same model. Given a choice, I would still go with the MP 600 Fisherman due to the size, functionality, and lack of the slightly annoying handle locking mechanism. The Winchester is a throwback to the days when a handle cut out was your locking mechanism. It cant compete with the much more advanced Gerber models. Overall, I am very pleased with the Flik Fisherman.
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