Dime Damage

[theonew]

Just throwing this question out there; just what are the chances that Gerber designed a pocket tool with wire cutters and then didn't ever test them?   Seems at least a little unlikely to me, so with that in mind I'm at least hoping it's a heat treatment failure rather than a fundamental design flaw.

I will for sure be having a very close look at my Dime when it gets here though.

That's a pretty good point. My secondary worry though is that they did test them but only on the lightest of materials and the failures evidenced here would be considered by them to be outside of normal usage.

[Gareth]

I can perhaps see them not designing them with steel wire in mind, but I'd be surprised to hear they didn't use them on single core copper.  Could be the case though.

[dks]

 :think:We are the Beta testers;that is why these ones were so cheap.
After we finish they will bring out the proper, improved version and sell it for $30!
 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I poked at one of my friends in the warranty department at Gerber and got this response:

Hi Grant,

Thank you for the heads up.  We are in fact aware of some public notices of failures and I saw some Facebook comments for the first time this morning.  Though most all messages are answered daily, I have to wonder if his email may have found its way to our “junk” folder to which we don’t have access.  If this is the case, he may never get a response.  His best course of action would be to fill out the on-line form and of course, we’re happy to answer him as quickly as possible. 

I believe our Quality Team is also looking more closely at the Dime and have reviewed the comments that have filtered in (not many, but the few have captured our attention).  This is serious concern for Gerber and though I don’t have any resolutions to offer you today, please know that we’re aware there may be issues with the Dime and that we’re looking into them.

We managed to get in on the first run of Dimes, and while I admit this is not a great thing to find, you have to expect the occasional issue with a first run of something.  That's why you never get a car the first year it comes out, and it's good to see Gerber is on it.  If anyone has issues and doesn't get a response from Gerber please send me a PM and I'll do what I can to help on my end.

Def

[Chako]

If your a hoarder of shelf queens, than the first run is right where you want to be. 

After looking at mine, I can see how it could fail. I mean, the Dime is so diminutive, it is smaller than all other plier based pocket sized MTs from Gerber.

[jzmtl]

:think:We are the Beta testers;that is why these ones were so cheap.
After we finish they will bring out the proper, improved version and sell it for $30!
 

Always the case with new stuff, which is why I don't try to get on early anymore. Like android ICS was released for my phone early this month but I'm going to wait for a while before upgrading, let the early adapters sort out the bugs first. 

[sawman]

If your a hoarder of shelf queens, than the first run is right where you want to be. 

After looking at mine, I can see how it could fail. I mean, the Dime is so diminutive, it is smaller than all other plier based pocket sized MTs from Gerber.

But then you wind up paying for not only the errors, but the fixes.

[Drewglynn]

Makes me think of my gerber vise...
I was holding something with it that I was super gluing when this happend, wasn't bearing down hard at all.. I've just about lost confidence in gerber..

[Grant Lamontagne]

Despite the damage to the Dimes you see listed above, I can honestly tell you that the Dime is MUCH better than the Vise.

Welcome to the forum.

Def

[scrappy]

I received my dime
I like the knife, scissors, and bottle opener. The pliers are too thin for me. For a plier based hey chain tool I would rather grab the leatherman p4 or sog cross grip. I like the package overall. I am just nervous about the pliers.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Really?



I think the pliers are just as robust (if not moreso) than the Squirts.

Def

[Carlos]

I've used the wire cutters to cut a 1mm diameter clip, and the dime survived 
Also the cutters themselves didn't get dented at all.

These clips are pretty hard, I'm not sure if this is stainless steel, but I had a rough time trying to cut them, because as the handles have small length, the face palm gets a lot of pressure. So far so good.

[Carlos]

Photos here.

[dks]

This happened to mine:
I was looking at it today and noticed that a screw was missing.
The screw head had snapped off.
Possibly because it was screwed in too hard at the factory.
The tool seems secure enough since the screw bit that stayed in seems to hold the tool together but the scales now move.

I will probably just superglue them back together.

The tool was unused and just opened a few times yesterday when I took the pictures I posted in the Reviews section.
I have had problems with other makers products too before, but my experience so far verifies the fears I had for Gerber’s quality.

[enki_ck]

 

Makes me glad I decided to wait on this one. 

[AHB]

Makes me glad I decided to wait on this one. 

But you missed a MT.O Group buy buddy..   

[dks]

I have glued it back together...

I will keep it in the vice until tomorrow; Lets see how it goes

[Shalom]

Any news from the folks at Gerber?
Grant, have you had any response from Gerber?

[Gareth]

Photos here.

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

good of you to put yours to the test and sharing the results.   I'm not sure I'll be trying to cut any steel wire myself, but I wouldn't with any other keyring sized MT either.

[enki_ck]

Makes me glad I decided to wait on this one. 

But you missed a MT.O Group buy buddy.. 

I knew about that one but as I said in the group buy thread...

I'd like a BO one but if there will be a MT.O special run (with nice MT.O engravings) I'd rather wait for that.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Any news from the folks at Gerber?
Grant, have you had any response from Gerber?

Just the one stating that anyone with issues should contact the warranty department.  They don't usually feel the need to share what they are doing to rectify problems with me.  I'll probably find out next year at SHOT when I talk one on one with a designer.... 

Def

[Mr. Whippy]

Any news from the folks at Gerber?
Grant, have you had any response from Gerber?

They are supposed to send me a prepaid mailer.  Still waiting.

[Wootz]

Sorry to bump an old topic, but how did this end?

[Landrew]

Sorry to bump an old topic, but how did this end?

Don't be sorry, I hate to see some old topics die and become rotten-forgotten.

[Mr. Whippy]

Sorry to bump an old topic, but how did this end?

Quite well.   

Gerber has excellent customer service and they turned it around quickly.  (I think I may have put it in a new thread).  I haven't tried cutting solid core wire over 14 ga with the new one.  It is a very nice sized tool with excellent bottle opener. 

[Mr. Whippy]

This links to the follow up.  It only took a couple days. 

Happy end

[Wootz]

Sorry to bump an old topic, but how did this end?

Quite well.   

Gerber has excellent customer service and they turned it around quickly.  (I think I may have put it in a new thread).  I haven't tried cutting solid core wire over 14 ga with the new one.  It is a very nice sized tool with excellent bottle opener. 

Thanks. Are you still using the Dime and not the PS4?
The pliers are the main reason for me to drag a minitool around, so I'm very hesitant switching.
As I understand the quality of the Dime has improved on the later runs (?) so perhaps I pick one up and try it out. Perhaps not, because I've got a nice Piranha coming I'm exited about. 

[theonew]

I never sent mine in, though I'm sure they would have replaced it. I'm of the opinion that it is most likely a design flaw and thus were Gerber to send me a new one, I would immediately test it on similar wire and most likely experience the exact same result, thereby wasting both of our time and money.

I've used the wire cutters on both my Style PS and PS4 on some crazy things and the only failure that has occurred has been with my grip strength. That, IMO, is how a properly designed tool should work. I do like the little blade and package opener though and have kept the tool around for mod fodder purposes.

[Wootz]

I never sent mine in, though I'm sure they would have replaced it. I'm of the opinion that it is most likely a design flaw and thus were Gerber to send me a new one, I would immediately test it on similar wire and most likely experience the exact same result, thereby wasting both of our time and money.

I've used the wire cutters on both my Style PS and PS4 on some crazy things and the only failure that has occurred has been with my grip strength. That, IMO, is how a properly designed tool should work. I do like the little blade and package opener though and have kept the tool around for mod fodder purposes.

Thanks for that, appreciated 

[scrappy]

Really?

(Image removed from quote.)

I think the pliers are just as robust (if not moreso) than the Squirts.

Def

I have been using my black dime. I am not sure what I was thinking about them being thinner. They aren't. I am not sure about the plier. The cut out in the plier as it connects to the handle makes part of it thinner...
The only damage mine has seen is the handles are taking scuff marks from riding with the keys.