Gerber Groundbreaker.

Chako · **on:** March 22, 2013, 02:10:25 AM

I was about 9 months away from the world of multi-tools, so I was taken by surprise that whilst perusing ebay, I came across an electrician tool called a Gerber Groundbreaker. I went and bought it. Well it came in to day. Oddly enough, I wasn't aware of how large this tool is...thus the box size took me by surprise as well. I really wasn't prepared by the sheer size of it. I even gave a little evil giggle while opening it.

What I pulled out of the large box was an equally large sheath and tool set.

On the front of the well thought out sheath are two small pockets. One holds the bit set, and the other for extra utility blades.

Sliding the tool out of its sheath, I was impressed by its size. Here it is against an MP600 Sight Tool.

The Groundbreaker is just a hair thicker than the MP600s.

The sheath is very well made with an included pocket flap as well as a belt loop if you so wish to wear it that way.

The sheath also has two side pouches for flashlights etc. One of the side elasticized pouches has a strap end. Likewise, the bottom of the main sheath also has a strap feature for add ons.

The Gerber Groundbreaker also comes with a well illustrated users guide.

The tool has 3 locking levers. One on the main wire stripper/plier head that locks the tool closed, and two lower locking levers to detach each of the handles.

This is a big sturdy tool. The spring assembly is the same type as that seen on the now discontinued Leatherman Genus.

The plier/wire stripper head is feature rich and well made. The instructions even tell that you can use the tips as a light duty hammer.

A closer look at the locking lever on the right, and the tool separation lever on the left.

The Gerber Groundbreaker has removable locking handles. One side is a utility knife with removable blades. The other is a dry wall saw and driver bit combo tool. This side has a metal end plate so you can hammer it with the plier tips.

Close up of one handle.

The other side showing the locking lever for the dry wall saw and bit driver.

What do I think of it? Well I was taken aback at the size of the tool.. Fit and finish is not bad. There are a few places where the pieces have separation cracks where the plastic does not meet perfectly. The sheath is just as impressive as the tool. Oddly enough, the handles are not insulated...which means no working with live wires. This was surprising to me.

Nhoj · **Reply #1 on:** March 22, 2013, 02:29:43 AM

I was really impressed with this tool... until you said the handles wren't insulated. Any electrical tool should have this for safety. Aside from that I really like this tool and the thought put into it. As I am a do it yourself kind of person so this could be useful for me instead of carrying a tool box of a bunch of tools. Overall I think this is a nice tool from Gerber with the two major setbacks of non insulated handles and possibly the size.

cbowt · **Reply #2 on:** March 22, 2013, 03:25:16 AM

Insulated tools are nice, but I've been an industrial electrician for 15 years, and prior to that an electrician in the US Navy for 6 years; I honestly don't think I've ever seen insulated wire strippers before! Any electrician stripping live wires won't be around long.
It is a really nice tool though! How much do they go for?

Chako · **Reply #3 on:** March 22, 2013, 04:20:27 AM

Around 100 to 120ish off of eBay.

Smitty44 · **Reply #4 on:** March 22, 2013, 05:37:03 AM

Well you impressed me again,thats the first thing from Gerber that has impressed me lately,thanks again for an other great input.

Gareth · **Reply #5 on:** March 22, 2013, 09:41:57 AM

Thanks for sharing Dan.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #6 on:** March 22, 2013, 11:21:03 AM

I like this one. It probably has the best dollar to size ratio of any multitool on the market! You certainly get your money's worth in this massive gizmo!

Def

Sent from a digital multitool

Chako · **Reply #7 on:** March 22, 2013, 11:41:47 AM

I agree Def. I still don't have a Cable Dawg...that price puts me off of it every time.

Zed · **Reply #8 on:** March 22, 2013, 11:44:48 AM

At the right price I could see this as a handy tool for me,thanks for sharing Dan

Lynn LeFey · **Reply #9 on:** March 22, 2013, 05:53:40 PM

Very interesting. Very odd, too.

It seems Gerber consistently is willing to try much more radical designs.

Also, now you have 'war club' as an additional function. What's this beast weigh? My guess is in the 18-20oz range?

EDIT: Just looked up the weight for myself. Listed on the Gerber site and 12.8oz. Really? Weird.

Pacu · **Reply #10 on:** March 22, 2013, 05:58:45 PM

seems like Gerber is really getting out there and trying new stuff.

great pics as always..thanks for sharing.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #11 on:** March 22, 2013, 08:32:44 PM

Considering how many multis are in the $100 range these days I think this one is pretty viable.

Def

Sent from my Motorola Atrix digital multitool.

Sazabi · **Reply #12 on:** March 23, 2013, 12:51:07 PM

So that's why they call it the Groundbreaker... if you drop it, the size of the tool will cause a sinkhole. Gotcha.

No, that's a rather large tool; do you mind showing it beside the SOG Blacktip, please, Chako? It does look like a neat tool, and at a heck of a lot better price than the Cable Dawg.

mulou · **Reply #13 on:** April 04, 2013, 01:48:15 AM

i haven't realized the price dropped that much since i last checked this tool out.
its at $100 on amazon, maybe even cheaper elsewhere.

so.. in 2 days I have one as well. I always liked the way they made this one and I hope it lives up to my expectations.

the main reason that i like it is that the tools on it don't seem to be "cool but not as good as the non-MT versions". They actually seems to be just as good as non-MT versions. Hopefully. ;-)

mulou · **Reply #14 on:** April 06, 2013, 05:30:48 AM

And received. Pretty good tool overall. It's big of course, it's not a pocket tool. The sheath is indeed nice. I like.
I have the same join issue with the plastic in the blade/bit handle. The problem is that the locking mechanism sometimes get stuck because of it - its too tight. Good luck unlocking with gloves when it get stuck. I use fingernails.

Rest.. is pretty good actually. All tools are useable like their "non-MT" counterparts. Now then again at this size, I don't know if it's really a big bonus vs 2 tools + small MT... I just don't know.
The advantage is that the tools are all of proper size and with good handling on the ground breaker.

Made a small vid of it

Gareth · **Reply #15 on:** April 06, 2013, 08:27:10 AM

Cool video mate, cheers.

SolomonKane79 · **Reply #16 on:** April 06, 2013, 09:12:40 AM

Made a small vid of it
[/quote]
From the video it looks like the lock release tab is a bit stiff... ?

Chako · **Reply #17 on:** April 06, 2013, 02:32:13 PM

Good video.

mulou · **Reply #18 on:** April 06, 2013, 09:14:01 PM

yep as stated the locking mechanism sometimes is hard to use. its not stiff per say. its just that sometimes it doesn't engage "straight", which still locks the blade/bit driver every time, but makes it harder to unlock.
Since the grip on the lock isn't great i do have to use fingernails to push down.
Might get better with time or even resolve itself I guess, or simply by giving a little more play. I did grease it a little, when I received it i couldn't open the blade one handed either.

I suppose its been mentioned otherwise but the tool is also very light for the size.. which is nice.

SolomonKane79 · **Reply #19 on:** April 07, 2013, 09:53:41 AM

Quote from: mulou on April 06, 2013, 09:14:01 PM

yep as stated the locking mechanism sometimes is hard to use. its not stiff per say. its just that sometimes it doesn't engage "straight", which still locks the blade/bit driver every time, but makes it harder to unlock.
Since the grip on the lock isn't great i do have to use fingernails to push down.
Might get better with time or even resolve itself I guess, or simply by giving a little more play. I did grease it a little, when I received it i couldn't open the blade one handed either.

I suppose its been mentioned otherwise but the tool is also very light for the size.. which is nice.

It looks and sounds like the one on the Strata.

Goatlord666 · **Reply #20 on:** September 11, 2014, 11:37:20 PM

finally got one for $50. I will not know how it'll work for me but I'll find out in a few weeks

JAfromMn · **Reply #21 on:** September 12, 2014, 12:19:16 AM

I still don't know how I feel about this tool.

AimlessWanderer · **Reply #22 on:** September 12, 2014, 12:23:24 AM

Likewise! Seems no cheaper or less bulky than using indivual tools. It's like the electricians version of the Wenger Business Tool .... although having said that, I quite like my Swiss Army stapler

Goatlord666 · **Reply #23 on:** September 12, 2014, 12:45:55 AM

I'm sure I won't have a use for it. maybe for home defense - like clobbering robbers out to steal beer from my fridge.

gerleatherberman · **Reply #24 on:** August 01, 2019, 03:17:00 AM

Sorry for the thread necro, but as of 2019 the GroundBreaker is a tough tool to find, as it has been discontinued for a while.

Found a site that had them NIB for $110 shipped. Kind of expensive, but I've wanted one for a LONG time. Since it os solely a collection piece, I didn't want to wait for a used one.

Gotta agree with most of what has been said here in this thread. And even though I knew it was a big tool, to see/hold it in person was still a little bit surprising.