Contender 8- EDC Punisher Multi Tool Pocket Pry Bar Crowbar Wrench Bottle Opener

[Grant Lamontagne]

It just wouldn't be a cheap tool challenge without a skull tool, and the Fantastic Five Dollar Challenge is no exception!  You would have though that we would have had enough skull shaped tools in the Great $2 Challenge to do us for a lifetime, but here we are again!



Contender 8 is listed as EDC Punisher Multi Tool Pocket Pry Bar Crowbar Wrench Bottle Opener Outdoor Camp by the seller and comes in three colors- black, natural and rainbow.



The seller has this to say about it:

Details:

Weight:20g
Material: Stainless Steel 58-60HRC
Size: 20*75*4mm/0.78"*2.95"*0.15"
Powerful function: bottle opener, wrench(4mm,5mm,5.5mm,7mm,8mm,10mm), crowbar...
Color : black , silver ,rainbow (color will be sent in random)

Package :
1 X pocket tool (color will be sent in random)

I'm not sure what color I'm getting, as you can see, the above states the colors are distributed at random.  I'm glad that I'm not buying this tool to match my drapes then, or I might have to hold off redecorating my house until it shows up.   



Of course, this tool doesn't actually use the skull for any actual functions like some of the $2 Challenge tools, but then, some of those weren't very effective at doing what they were supposed to.



Still, it seems to have a reasonable amount of functions for a small tool, although I don't really know what benefit the skull gives other than looking cool- I suppose it could be considered extra leverage for the pry bar, although I am not certain this is a heavy enough tool to really survive a significant amount of extra leverage.  More likely, the skull is just there to dress up the Navy 2001 type tool.



This tool cost $4.48 with free shipping making it the second most expensive tool in the Five Dollar Challenge- the most expensive being Contender 1, however Contender 1 was cheaper, and only the shipping charge pushed it into the top slot.



So, this one loses a bit of ground right off the top on price, then the added weight/length/bulk of a pointlessly decorative skull.  If this tool wants to come in as a winner in the Five Dollar Challenge it is really going to have to put in a lot of effort.

Def

[Kampfer]

After I soften the edge on this tool I carried it for a while with KickASS (it doesn't have a cap lifter), it looks good and works well as pry tool and cap lifter, wrench is ok for ultra light duty

I like the form factor of this tool as well, pretty straight shape, unlike many others just extend sharp shape toward all direction claiming pocket space.

[Corwyn]

Loving my Punisher tool too.

I got the SS version and then the burned Titanium one.

Really nice prybar, nice opener, working wrenches.. too short for proper leverage and kind of sharp but was on my keychain for quite a few months, then I realised I really don't need an OPT... my Saks are better prybars and cap lifters anyway and the only time I needed a wrench  (to loosen the screws holding my car battery) the leverage was too short and had to borrow a full size wrench with extender too...

Still interested in this.. reallly liking this tool...  (I bought the SS one for 2 USD and liked it so much I paid another 30 USD on the burned Titanium one) so you can imagine...

[Grant Lamontagne]

I think I looked at one like this during the $2 Challenge but it was just slightly over budget.  I have no doubt that if one spent time and effort watching and searching they could probably get it for $2 or less.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

Contender 8 arrived yesterday as well, and what can I say, but it was everything I expected it to be.  Lucky for it, I didn't expect a whole heck of a lot! 



Even the various skull tools in the Great $2 Challenge, where the skulls actually had functions in them were hard to take seriously- so now, here with the stakes raised two and a half times ($2 x 2.5= $5) I'm even less inclined to take it seriously.  This seems like the kind of tool that someone would buy because it looks cool sitting next to his Dark Ops knife collection as he reminisces about the black bag operations that sound an awful lot like the last Expendables film.   



But, cheesy image aside, maybe it will have some actual function.  It's thicker than you would expect, so it should be fairly sturdy.  It's also quite small but has an awful lot of wrench cutouts:

9.54mm
7.71mm
6.72mm
5.16mm
4.61mm
3.65mm
and 6.75mm (again) in the bottle opener



Both of the ~6mm wrenches are too large to really hold a standard 1/4" bit, so basically it has duplicated something useless- serious points lost there, both in the duplication and the fact that both are terrible.



Plus, for a small tool it is actually quite heavy, given the excessive thickness.  About the only up side of that is that maybe it will be strong enough to stand up to some prying duties, although to be honest, I have never really used a pry tool that often or that heavily.  Still, that is, in my opinion anyway, perhaps it's only saving grace.  Yes, there's the bottle opener, but unless it can somehow flip the caps off a whole case of beer at once, I don't see how it can possibly add to the list.  If it performs well enough, the best the bottle opener can do is keep it from losing more points.   



That's a face I will probably make every time I use this tool.     Coincidentally, that is also the face everyone will make when this tool comes out in public.  So far I do not have high hopes for this tool making the grade in the Fantastic Five Dollar Challenge.  It may squeak by with a passing grade if it somehow manages to wow me, like perhaps allowing me to remove an access panel to block a leak in a damaged bathyscape (Abyss anyone?) and saving not only my life but also that of my attractive female costar.

I doubt that is going to happen though.

Def

[Corwyn]

Still sticking by this tool.. I was really impressed by it ... I tore down a cantilever rack with the prybar, dismantled a desk and a table with the wrenches (never measured them but they always fit my nuts and bolts) and pulled out many nails and opened bottles.

I would be interested in this going against a far more expensive, similar design, like a Leatherman Croc or a Pocketwrench 2 or even an Atwood Atwrench... Quite curious what they can bring extra at 10 or 100 times its price...

[Grant Lamontagne]

My toy budget isn't, shall we say, Atwood-esque but this one does seem very familiar to the Navy 2001 tool but with a skull attached.  Mr. Whippy posted a comparison of the Navy 2001 tool and a comparable Atwood here:

http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,31489.0.html

I'll probably compare this one to the Navy 2001 tool since they are so similar.

Def