GERBER SHORTCUT
Written by Hawkchucker
12/08
It seems that every company out there has had their hand in making the latest and greatest tool to have in a key chain format or in the smallest package possible. Gerber entered that realm years ago with the introduction of the Shortcut, Solstice, and Clutch. Well I have to admit something I have been known on the forum as someone whom has a strong dislike of Gerber’s newest offerings, but after carrying the Shortcut around for the past 6 months I have to say that it is a great little tool that performs it main tasks flawlessly. It is a tool that does have quirks and shortcomings however the tool is very well made for a cost of around 10$.
Overview:
The tool came supplied in a clam pack from the local Wally world. I at the time of purchase picked it up for 10$ in the sporting goods section while shopping with the family. Upon returning home the pack was opened to find this little gem. It has all the tools needed in such a small package, and was made with some thought of usage, and implements needed in a tool of its size.
It comes with scissors, Main cutting blade, Fingernail file, can opener 2 sizes of flat drivers, one Phillips driver and tweezers.
Tool’s overall size is 2 ½ inches long to the split ring by 3/8 inches wide. The tool opened goes to 4 ¼ inches in length It is stainless for all the liners and tools with a black set of aluminum scales silk screened with the Gerber name and the shortcut printed on one side. Overall the weight of the tool while more than the Leatherman Micra is certainly not anything that will weigh you down in the pockets or the key chain.
Scissors:
Well we might as well start off with the main implement on this tool. I found the scissors to be of the highest quality and well outperformed any that I have on smaller tools to date. I found the spring-loaded scissors able to cut anything that you could throw at them. Main blades are 1 inch in length and really cut cleanly with no wedging of material in the blades found in some other tools. Cut medium was paper, Sailcloth and cardboard all was done with no issues or major flaws found. They cleaned up well after opening MRE packages, and the spring Mechanism cleaned out with hot water and suffer no ill effects from the task. Scissors were firmly staked together and showed no sign of wear and or breakage at the joint.
Main Cutting Blade:
At 1-¾ inches it is as smaller blade but at a ½ inch wide blade goes it way out performs the others in a similar class. While the steel is not fantastic I found that the edge would hold if used only for paper, and cloth. Wood will really dull it quickly, but that is not really what the blade is meant for. This is a utilitarian blade that will actually cut well and will perform even better if the fine stone is skipped and you only sharpen it with the course. The Fingernail nick to open the blade is pressed into the blade itself and the back spring is solid with the lockup needed to safely deploy and close the blade.
Fingernail file:
OK this tool is the same steel, and length of the Cutting edge and has a rough sand paper like texture to it. It has a cleaner on the end and cuticle pusher that works well for the size of the tool. I actually did use the blade as a sharpener of a brass rod at work, while it was a smaller diameter rod it made a point on it faster than it took to hook up a dremmel tool, so I guess it works fantastic!
Tweezers:
At ¾ of an inch long how good can these things be? Great! I actually can use them way better than those found on Victorinox tools. While they have nothing for a point they do not flex at all they remain stiff and well built. Unlike the Micra tweezers these remained solid and gripped well. I found them to be useful beyond words and they have restored my faith in tweezers on a Multitool.
Drivers:
Well this is the weak spot on the tool. The three drivers while they worked really did not work well enough to call them use full. While they did function, they slipped and folded in on the tool easily and would only work for the really small mundane tasks around the home or office. They provide really no reach, and the Phillips is a bladed driver ground to a point with a little ridge to form the x in the tool. Functional yes, but lacking in any power.
Can opener:
What can I say? Either they work or they don’t. This one worked. And worked well.
Well this tool while small I actually give it a 8 out of ten. I place it above the Micra due to the quality of the scissors and the tweezers. I would not say it is perfect, but it does come close!
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