MP700. Is it silly? or Good? I can't tell.

[gerleatherberman]

I have wanted an MP700 legend for a while, but was waiting for a decent deal. Picked this one up on ebay. Pretty good shap, except for some minor marks on the pliar tips. No rust and blade is factory sharp and unsharpend. It is smaller than I expected.l to be honest, even though I have seen tons of photos of them side by side. The toolset it small. Three flat heads (one with bottle opener), phillips #2, tweezers, short plain blade, and ok scissors. Same scissors and screwdrivers as the much bigger MP800. The pliar head is nice and sturdy looking, but notably smaller than the 800. Replaceable cutters are nice and it is an American made version(as so is the 800 I have). The tool feels fairly good in hand and is sturdy on initial use. But, with all that being said, what the heck was Gerber thinking? Tweezers? Why not a small file? The MT body makes any finess of the tweezers useless(compared to removable tweezers). The blade is ok, so I won't joke on the fact that the tang could have been smaller and more edge utilized, just like the 800.
I would have liked to see a small saw instead of one of the three flathead drivers. This is not 1950, we do not need so many flatheads. Instead of a saw, a can opener would have been an improvement,  same as the 800.
Gerber screwed the pooch on what could have been a fantastic tool. It just seems a little silly to me. I feel the same way about the 800 as well. How can Gerber follow a TRUE legend (MP600) with silly tools called "Legends"?  No wonder the production went overseas and eventually ceased. Calling them Legend, Urban Legend, etc seems a stretch. I know the 700 is not meant to be a HD tool,  but they could have had something nice if they had actually tried harder on the research and development.
Do I regret the money spent on the 700 & 800($33 for MP700 & $10 for the MP800)? Not at all. They are neat as all get out to have, but they are not really serious tools in my opinion.
Please tell me if I missed the point of the 700 & 800. I would love to read some different takes and opinions on this. Maybe some people who use it. Hopefully some people have found it to be exactly what they needed and felt satisfied with the toolset.

[Zephon]

I *tried* using it for a day -- as it is a lot smaller than an MP600.  I got the 700 and 800 as a tool of sorts for my 10yr old boy scout son, but that's a whole other story.

Since I work a desk job anyway, I thought that the 700 would be perfect -- it's small, unobtrusive, nonthreatening and all that.  Then I needed a can opener.  Not all cans in my country are easy-open tops.  In a way, I must have been better off with a Deluxe Tinker that time.

I guess the 700 is the kind of tool you'll want to pair off with either a Climber or a Pioneer X.  Well, if that was to be the case, then I ended up going back to the 600 because of the toolset.

OR you can go pack a 400 then carry a SAK Locksmith and you're pretty much prepared for anything!

[AimlessWanderer]

I carried a MP700 on and off for a few years, and really liked it. It did well at work occasionally too, when I found myself with that in my pocket instead of my usual modded Wave. I rarely had use for a saw, and when I did, nothing less than my Bahco Laplander would do (such was life at the time). I fixed various things at home and at friend's houses, assembled two large kerosene fired infrared heaters, and maintained electrostatic air scrubbers. It worked, what more can I say. I even found the tweezers useful occasionally.

I recently sold my last one, as my usage drifted more towards the Gerber Balance - identical toolset in a different format. In many ways the Balance is inferior to the MP700, but it was one of those tools that I connected with - just feels right for urban carry somehow. I do miss the 700 at times, and I I recommend giving it a chance as a light/medium duty carry 

[gerleatherberman]

Thank y'all both for the info and first hand accounts! I may try the 700 out once I make it through my current mt challenge. My interest has been peaked.