Used Gerber MP-600 'Frankenstein' (Lynn's $15 MT Challenge)

[Lynn LeFey]

This tool review is part of a challenge, to find the best tool I could for $15, with shipping and tax included. The main thread to the challenge can be found here...
https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,76694.0.html

This tool was part of a lot, and was worth about $15 of the total cost of that lot.

The tool is an MP-600, which has been obviously assembled from at least two tools. It is missing the standard Lanyard loop, and in its place is a second plain edge blade. The frame, and 6 of the tools are black oxide coated, while the rest of the components are plain stainless steel. The only parts of this tool that aren't stainless steel are the plastic locking tabs. The tool is held together with bolts which, if there's a name for the type of head on these bolts, I don't know it. However, it can be disassembled with pliers or vise grips. And, because of the mix of plain stainless and black oxide, this one obviously was disassembled.

It weighs 235g (8.27oz). It did not come with a belt sheath.

Despite the mix of components, the tool is actually in very good condition. All components move well, lock securely, and the plier head can be flicked open one-handed very smoothly.

The black oxide version of this tool has been a standard issue item in the United States Military for some time, and as far as I know remains so to this day. Finding used models on ebay is ridiculously easy, but finding them at the $15 price point is tougher (but not impossible).

On a personal note, the winner of my previous challenge was the kid brother to this tool, the MP-400. After that, the quite positive experience of testing the Multi-Plier earlier in this challenge, and having been an owner of an MP600 of some time, I have high hopes for this tool.

[Sam Lim]

Well, I already see a winner here!

[Lynn LeFey]

The pliers.

This tool uses a sliding plier head design, allowing the pliers to be deployed by 'flicking' the head out of closed position, making them one-hand accessible. Unlike the Multi-plier, reviewed eariler in the challenge, this tool has need nose pliers. There is a very small amount of play in the pivot. The nose of the pliers is ground to a very precise tip, and the teeth are well formed.

Ergonomics on the tool are VERY good, and the tool has a very comfortable amount of handle splay. This tool should work pretty well for people with smaller hands. And, as an improvement on the previously-reviewed Multi-Plier, the gap in the plier's handles has been widened slightly, decreasing the chance of the 'pinch' typical of the older Multi-plier.

The needlenose tips did a fine job of grabbing the self-tapping screws in my basement ductwork. They were good at this both from the side and nose-on. I didn't feel.



They were also good at grabbing the 3/8" bolts holding my storage shelves together.



They also worded very well for grabbing the large 1/2" nuts holding the stair treads in my basement together. Here the fairly small handle splay allowed good grip.



After the bolt testing, I used the wire cutters on a piece of hard wire (coat hanger).



Despite the absence of a hard wire notch, it cut the wire quite easily.

It would not cleanly cut the stranded wire from a pair of headphones.

After the wire cutting tests, I used the pliers to bend the hard wire. There was no great amount of torsion flex in the plier heads bending the hard wire that is felt in many other pliers. These were extremely solid.

I then tried bending a tight loop in solid 12-gauge copper wire. The needle nose is not as fine as some other pliers, so the tool was only moderately good at this task.

These are incredibly good, very sturdy feeling pliers, that are comfortable to use with heavy force, and still reasonably good at very fine tasks. The wire cutters are capable of all but the finest cutting. Access is quick with the flick of the wrist. Complete win.

[Lynn LeFey]

The blades.

This tool has three blades on it, one is a sheepsfoot fully serrated blade, and the other two are both wharncliff plain edge blades. All of the blades seem to have the factory edge grindmarks on them. Both plain edge blades came sharp enough to cut phonebook paper fairly cleanly, but both received 20 strokes per side on ceramic rods. This made both hair-popping sharp.

The serrated blade was very sharp as received, and I did not sharpen it further.

All of hte blades have solid lockup in the open position. There is very slight front-to-back play in each, and no side to side play in any of them.

Since the plain edge blades were the same, I decided to only do cut testing on one.

After sharpening, I gave it ten passes through corrugated cardboard, across the corrugations.



It felt well under control doing this test, and the ergonomics of using the blade under fairly high force were quite good. Unfortunately, the relatively short, absolutely straight blade, partially obstructed by the other handle of the tool is going to make this thing awkward in a lot of situations. Still, it performed well on this task.

It then went back to phonebook paper to test edge retention.



It still cleanly cut phonebook paper.

Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I then decided to see how it worked for piercing. I took it against an old plastic trashcan to see how well it would penetrate heavy plastic.



First, it was very bad at puncturing the plastic, but it DID manage it with enough force. Second, at no point was I worried that the blade would collapse on me under that force. However... I REALLY don't recommend trying to use this thing for a thrust.

I don't like the wharncliff shape, and doubly dislike it when you bury it in a tool handle like this. It would be less terrible as an outside access tool, but still not great. Here, it's going to be of limited use, I think. However, for basic cutting tasks, it was both sharp and sturdy.

I gave the serrated blade a go at cutting 550 paracord, and denim.


It made pretty easy work of both. The only downside is that the serrations create a bit of shredding in both materials. That's pretty minor.

I wouldn't call the cutting ability of this tool fantastic. I would go so far as to say it was 'utilitarian'. PASS

[Lynn LeFey]

On the to drivers.

(And, apologies for the delay in testing)

This tool has a phillips driver and three flatheads in various sizes.

While I didn't spot any problems with any of the tools on initial inspection, I realized during these tests that the flathead connected to the cap lifter actually has a considerable amount of torque bend to it. However, it doesn't affect function.

I put the phillips straight to the difficult task of long woodscrews in the bench on my back porch.



It slotted in well, and didn't feel like it was camming out under force. The locking tool felt absolutely rock solid.

Next came the medium flathead, used on the screw on the faceplate of a lightswitch.



This is the driver with the torque bend to it, although that's not really evident in the photo. I would never use this thing for a job heavy enough to torque it, so... I'm not sure what happened to it.

I then tested the large flathead driver on the big screws holding my door hinges together.



It had no problem. Not pictured, but I also tested it as a light pry tool on a crusty paint can's lid. It is an extremely sturdy pry tool.

Also not pictured, and I'm sorry to say not tested, is the very fine flathead. I have yet to find screws that this size driver would slot into. I'll be honest in saying that if I were going to carry this tool, I'd be sorely tempted to modify this into an awl.

Taken together, the tool has a really good set of drivers, capable of serious, heavy work. If there is a valid critique that could be leveled, it would be that they are not particularly long, and might not have great reach.

Still, excellent, heavy duty drivers.

[Lynn LeFey]

Down to the last few functions.

The file.

This is a two-sided file. I didn't find it particularly aggressive, but it did a fair job notching a heavy nail.



The can opener works. It's a bit finicky, and I had to go fairly slow, but it functions. Since this is the kind of function that, if needed, isn't needed all that often for all that long, a mediocre can opener is still a pass. I only went a third of the way around a small coffee can... because there will be other can openers I need to test. Frugality and all that.



The cap lifter matched with the medium flathead is actually really good.



And that's it. All functions covered.

With the absence of a lanyard ring and belt sheath, carry options are... I guess... throw it in your back pocket or in a bag.

The tool seems super solid. It feels like a hard use tool. Yes, there is a reason it was reviewed this late in the challenge. It was worth every cent of $15, and feels like the kind of tool that could handle anything you throw at it. Or at least anything ANY MT would handle. While it's an old design, I think there's a reason it's still in production.

[gerleatherberman]

Very nice write-up, Lynn! Thank you! The 600 is a true workhorse! I know a lot of people will talk about how tough their swisstool or LM is, but for the money, the MP600 is unbeatable and unmatched(aside from the blades) IMHO of course.
The grind of the flat drivers makes them great as well. They tend not to slip out like a polished or stamped flat driver.

Again, thank you for your good work in the MT world, Lynn!

[Lynn LeFey]

You're welcome. 

This is the third sliding plier head design to show up in the challenges. The MP-400 from the $10 Challenge, and the Multi-Plier earlier in this $15 challenge. The first time I owned a MP-400, I instantly didn't like it. It rattled, and getting to the tools was a multi-step process. Open plier head, open tool handles, extract tool. That was a bit cumbersome. I traded it away. I think in hindsight, I was comparing it to the Swisstool Spirit, and Leatherman Wave, without considering how much less expensive it was. Some months later I got a beat-up MP-600 from ebay, linked here...
(https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,49504.msg827315.html#msg827315). And oh... hey... that would have made it into the price range for this $15 challenge. I have no idea why, but that one struck me differently. Since then, I kind of love the platform.

I thought I'd also discuss this tool compared to the winner of the $10 tool challenge, the MP-400 Compact Sport, reviewed here...
(https://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,75967.0.html)

This tool required much less maintenance, and had sharp blades as received, compared to that MP400. I also think the pliers are a good bit more robust on this compared to the MP400. They otherwise share a very large number of tools. The weight difference (and there's almost 2 oz difference) is just the frame and plier head, but you can feel that difference when applying rotational torque to the plier jaws. The MP400 jaws had some flex, where the MP600 had none bending heavy wire. I'd do a more in-depth comparison, but sadly, the MP400 went to a new home, as part of a giveaway.

One thing is for certain with the MP600. It is ubiquitous enough that it's likely to find fairly cheap on ebay. Even new, the black oxide version can be had for $35 new on Amazon.

The patent on the tool was marked as 1996-12-20, so the design of this tool is over 20 years old, and it's still going strong.

[gerleatherberman]

One of those classic "If it ain't broke" tools.

I got one of my 600BNs in good condition for $17 shipped, so the 600 is definitely a $15 contender if someone is patient.

[ReamerPunch]

I had won two MP600s on ebay for about $15 each and was so happy. A couple of weeks later, Australia Post lost them. 
I am not surprised it did well in the challenge, and I will not be surprised if it wins. It's a proven design and built like a tank.

[Sam Lim]

I am wondering if having 2 set of pivots to work on gives it more strength or some kind of assisted leverage when gripping down on something.. 

[Lynn LeFey]

I am wondering if having 2 set of pivots to work on gives it more strength or some kind of assisted leverage when gripping down on something.. 

Not really. This isn't like the SOG plier head with gears granting improved mechanical advantage. In fact, it's just a place where there are more hinges that could potentially fail. However, they're REALLY solid hinges, so...

I guess those hinges might actually provide something like dust covers for the plier pivot, but that would be pretty minimal, and only when the plier head is extended.

They're really only there to allow for the sliding head design.