Photo Session: Gerber MP800, Strata & MP700 (And Few Notes)

[zuxbg]

Finally, bunch of three shiny alox Gerbers is complete. There are couple of online reviews of these multi tools, but I haven’t found at one place comparison of three siblings.
 
I collect second hand multi tools, so presented items are of unknown (miss)usage history. They аre cleaned and lubricated, so photo session can start.









Notes on MP800

• Good pliers ergonomics.
• Solid tools implements.
• Scissors spring has rounded cross section so it will bend sideways and fail. (On picture marked with red rectangular.)
• Only two sided file
• Hard to find removable blade replacements. It uses obsolete B&D U shank.(I had to modified 3rd party blades.)
• Locking lever bites fingers
• For given size, tools are smaller than it should be.

Notes on Strata

• Better replaceable wire cutters design then MP800/700.
• Tools have polished finish (good), while MP800/700 have some coated finish.
• Locking lever is hard to deploy. So hard, that at some point I need to do LM PST trick: to unlock one tool, just open at half another one. I think it is due to plastic on plastic mechanism.
• Pliers are off centered so half of longer tools are shorter that it could be.

Notes on MP700

• Strong and ergonomic pliers for given size.
• Tools set could be more efficient. Instead of tweezers and lanyard ring metal file could be implemented. Cap lifter could be placed on center, so longer tool like wood saw or serrated edge could be implemented.
• Scissors spring has rounded cross section so it will bend sideways and fail. (That happen on my sample.)

Final Words

As of 2017, only Strata remains in Gerber catalog (I think it will be retired also, soon). There are lot of reasons why this line of similar Gerber multi tools failed on market. Today, they are for collectors only. If you need multi tool to use it, to be efficient, go for some other models (actually brands).

[ChrisEDC247]

Thank you for the photos of these often overlooked models.
 
The Strata has steel wire cutters or are they carbide as well? It's hard to tell from the photos. I know there are a lot of folks who wish Gerber would get rid of the carbide cutters and use 154CM like LM does on the Surge or Rebar.
I always get a kick out of Gerber's lesser known MTs. They have a lot of interesting ideas and it's a shame some of them never caught on.

[gregozedobe]

Thanks for the review/comparison.  It is always interesting to get different people's take on tools.      

[zuxbg]

Strata has double sided sharpened wire cutters (~60 degrees) while MP800/700 have almost plain wire cutters (single side sharpened at ~80 degrees). I don't know which material it is. Here are more photos.







I found some U shank files, but I had to modified them to fit at MP800: I had to remove 1 mm at U shank and to widen second hole for 0.5 mm.




Once more on scissors spring issue. My MP700 had problem when depressing scissors its spring bar bent away from scissors itself. I had to bent that spring opposite to work properly. Now it is as shown bellow.



 

[ChrisEDC247]

Interesting, Gerber says the cutters on the Strata are carbide but I've only ever seen them on this tool. Hopefully they don't shatter because replacements look hard to find. That said they look much more stout than the standard Gerber ones and "anvil" style shape of the Strata cutters tend to work better than the "scissor" style cutters for stripping and cutting soft or braided wire.

[zoidberg]

Good pics, thanks.   

[haja.maideen.988]

I don't like any Gerber with butterfly opening plier. butterfly opening plier is for leatherman and copies.

[gregozedobe]

I don't like any Gerber with butterfly opening plier. butterfly opening plier is for leatherman and copies.

Why do you say that ? 

Leatherman didn't invent the concept of butterfly opening pliers, in fact BONSA and AB co (and possibly others) made MTs with butterfly folding pliers many, many years before Tim Leatherman started making his prototype MTs.   There were also a number of manufacturers who made folding scissors and pruners with a similar folding action.