GRIPsher (Kickstarter Mini Pliers Tool) Review...

[alexTOOL]

Video from the Campaign (NOT MINE!)



Arrived today (with the last LM mini Tool): 



This thing is tinny, very light duty...



Complete review very soon on your forum, take a seat...   

[Steinar]

  (I participated in the Kickstarter, but haven't gotten the tool yet.)

[Vidar]

(I participated in the Kickstarter, but haven't gotten the tool yet.)

I got mine weeks ago so that was a bit weird? Maybe they send in batches or something.

[Steinar]

I see from the Kickstarter page I'm not the only one, so I won't waste my time with digging into it yet. When it's this much delayed, it's more about avoid wasting your own time than getting the stuff possibly slightly faster. 

[Steinar]

Update: Got mine yesterday.

The tolerances on this thing are so bad I almost feel sorry for the guy who designed it. The blade tool swings freely, while the file is pretty stuck and requires great force to fold out. The locking plier jaws certainly don't lock up. The design seemed original to me, so I supported the Kickstarter, but the resulting tool simply isn't useful. 

Edit: And of course, plenty of play in the pliers head.

[alexTOOL]

Short and fast review:

Junk.

An expensive useless toy   

[Vidar]

Edit: And of course, plenty of play in the pliers head.

Mine is fine in that regard. The grip for plier use is also ok, so I can get good pressure on the tip - the form factor for small plier use is interesting though somewhat bulky. The build quality and finish overall is actually pretty decent on mine - someone put proper work into that.

As for the various features and design solutions they are certainly original. Some came off worse than others. I do appreciate some rethink and different takes on things if nothing else.

If I got some kind of manual with this I've seem to have lost it though, so some of these rethinks seems lost on me: Anyone knows what the large protruding nut from the plier fulcrom does? There seems to be some kind of angle measurement, but instead of angle units the only unit is 1/8"? There is also a mysterious ledge in the metal at the same place, and some protrusion of some kind next to it? And one place it says "look" with an arrow to a hole - what is that one? It does look like a wire stripper thing. Why the green bit grip plier (even with a negative plier leverage) instead of just a fixed hexagonal holder? Some of these things I don't understand might be solid design gold for I all know, and I'm curious

(Two of those screwdrivers came very close to reminding me of a certain bicycle sheet metal multitool though...)

Still, I kind of enjoy this thing, although more from a quirky design viewpoint than anything else.

[Steinar]

The Kickstarter page has the explanation for those things you mention, Vidar. There are several pictures annotated with the intention of the different shapes.

[Vidar]

The Kickstarter page has the explanation for those things you mention, Vidar. There are several pictures annotated with the intention of the different shapes.

It just looked at the video. I might be slow minded today. Ok, back to Kickstarter to get wise  

[Vidar]

Been there, done that, and I did become become a bit wiser.

I do like the wire stripper. And while the measurement unit still seem nonsensical to me using the pliers spread for measurement seems like a good idea. (I think SOG already do that too?) Other things, like the described lock, just doesn't work on mine. Oh well.