I got an unexpected surprise today when a courier stopped by and dropped off a little present from the fine folks at Gerber. When I opened it up, there was a new Gerber ComplEAT multitool inside.
I have to say, I was quite happy about this as I have been looking at these since they were announced at SHOT this year. I really like the Light My Fire sporks, but I have broken a few of them, and was wanting something a bit more robust.
The ComplEAT is a pretty neat tool- it combines a spoon, fork, vegetable peeler, spatula, scraper, tongs, can opener, bottle opener and package opener into one easy to use package. The only thing missing is a knife, but I am guessing Gerber expects you to have a knife already, which is a pretty safe bet if you are reading this.
I'd strongly suggest that you take a bit more care when cutting it free of the backing card though, as I put a nice scratch on the multitool part doing that.
You can see it going from the serrated cutting edge to the Gerber logo. Fortunately, I am a user more than a collector (ok, some days anyway...
) so a scratch isn't that big of a deal. Sorry for the poopy photos, there will be better ones soon.
As you can see, the utensils are similar in size to the standard Light My Fire spork, which is good because that is a very manageable size. You'll also notice that the ComplEAT's fork is more spork-like, allowing it to serve as both a fork and a spoon, which could be handy if you have help eating, and need two spoons for one of those boil in the bag meals- which I did, but that's getting ahead of myself.
The Gerber's fork tines are not as pointed as a regular fork, or as pointed as the Light My Fire spork, but it is pretty thin, so it should pierce things well enough. I haven't tried that part yet, but I hope to soon enough.
Likewise the spoon is a good size with a deep enough bowl that I could get heaps of chili out of it without a problem. It felt like eating with regular utensils, which was kind of nice on the trail today.
Either the fork or the spoon can be attached to the scraper to form a set of tongs that work quite well, at least for clicking and making Megan laugh at how silly I look. I haven't used them for anything yet beyond that, but they feel as good as any of the tongs I have in the house. Like some of the other features, I will report more on them when I have actually used them.
Because the whole thing has to be springy to use as tongs the fork and spoon feel flimsy at first in the hand. The stamped aluminum is pretty thin, but not really any thinner than the
titanium Light My Fire spork which I also thought was thin, and it has held up pretty well. Also, as I said, I ate a bowl of chili on the trail with it and it was more than up to the task.
Getting back to the scraper, I have to say that I really like this. Part of the bottom and one side are silicone, which allows you to get every bit of goodness out of the corners of a can or package so you don't waste anything. I think that's a really handy feature. It also has a serrated edge on the other side, which could come in handy if you didn't bring your knife. Bear in mind it is plastic, co it could probably cut most foods, but I wouldn't expect it to fare too well in a Cold Steel type Proof video. Last but certainly not least, the big flat bit also works as a spatula/flipper.
Naturally Megan decided that we needed to go out and test it ASAP, so we loaded up the small isobutane stove, pot and fuel along with the ComplEAT into my Maxpedition Sitka, dusted off a pack of Alpine Aire chili and headed off for a hike... but those photos will come later. For now we have to get ready to go out for supper, but here's a bit of a teaser for you.
My initial thoughts were that I liked the ComplEAT- after using it a little bit, I am liking it more than I thought I would- way to go Gerber!
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