NexTool Mini Sailor Lite

[kirk13]

This has just arrived in this morning,  so its not a full review, rather a bit more of an unboxing and initial set of impressions.

Given the amount of time I've spent in hospital, and assorted offices, scanning departments and the like this year, and will be continuing to do, I've been giving the whole bladeless tool thing another look.

My EDC at the moment consists of a small pouch that holds emergency pain meds ( three types FYI ), and Vic Companion Alox Slim and a LM Squirt PS4. I've been looking at possibilities ways of streamlining, or at least reducing duplication of tool load.

I'd seen the Mini Sailor Lite on Amazon, and kind of liked the price (£25 with free Prime delivery), and thought I'd take a punt.

[kirk13]

The tool load is spring loaded pliers with hard wire cutter; 2d Phillips; combo cap lifter/flat driver; scissors; and sim card release tool. It has a mount to take a split ring; and an insert that glows in the dark(apparently). 91mm SAK is for scale.

[kirk13]

Packaging is nice, and the little instruction leaflet is clear and straightforward forward. I wonder though if NexTool and Olight are linked, as the packaging is very similar.

My initial reaction is that it feels cheap, but not terribly so. It's no LM Squirt, it lacks the sense of solidness, but is  not dissimilar to a Gerber Dime.

The pliers open easily enough and the spring rate is about right, not to stiff, not too springy.  The driver layer opens well enough, and the tools feel solid enough when open. You do have to half open the flat driver to get to the sim tool.

The scissor laver is not the easiest to open, but not so bad as to be a deal breaker. It feels solid enough when open, and it folds up and closes well.

If there's a flaw on first impressions its the split ring. It will interfere with using both the Phillips and the scissors. The ring itself as been removed, but the mounting  still sticks out, and will be a potential hot-spot. Lenghthwise its about the same as a SAK Executive but feels bulkier, the ergonomics are not as good as a SAK or Leatherman.

Heres a photo to give a further idea of size.

Ultimately use will tell if its any good. My gut feel is that it'll be a light use tool. At the price it won't be heartbreaking of its lost or damaged. Once I've tested the little guy I'll report back

[powernoodle]

 

There is DEFinitely something to be said for having a bladeless MT, especially when you carry a SAK along with it.

[ReamerPunch]

My initial reaction is that it feels cheap, but not terribly so. It's no LM Squirt, it lacks the sense of solidness, but is  not dissimilar to a Gerber Dime.

The pliers open easily enough and the spring rate is about right, not to stiff, not too springy.  The driver layer opens well enough, and the tools feel solid enough when open. You do have to half open the flat driver to get to the sim tool.

The scissor lever is not the easiest to open, but not so bad as to be a deal breaker. It feels solid enough when open, and it folds up and closes well.

If there's a flaw on first impressions its the split ring. It will interfere with using both the Phillips and the scissors. The ring itself has been removed, but the mounting  still sticks out, and will be a potential hot-spot. Lenghthwise its about the same as a SAK Executive but feels bulkier, the ergonomics are not as good as a SAK or Leatherman.

For that first impression, it certainly sounds like an average tool. Or below average. I thought it would be better.
I may have to order one just to see for myself. But Amazon AU has stopped selling NexTool altogether. Maybe they got sick of all the returns?
The Olight versions are out of stock everywhere as well.

[Vidar]

I've had one for a few weeks now, although it hasn't been used much. It is quite light weight, but as long as it holds up to the tasks it is meant for I consider that a good thing. Making something robust and heavy is easy enough - making something robust enough without being heavy is not easy.

I am positively surprised about the build quality. Tight snappy feel, closes and stays closed quite confidently, and no slop to speak of. I have multi-tools from big name manufactures with worse build quality than this one.

The pliers are really thin, so not for grabbing onto something and twisting around the length axis, but should be fine for light tasks. And of course way better than no pliers. The pliers do line up very well and they close precisely at the end - I can pick up tiny grains without issue. The cutters doesn't cut thin plastic (few do), but it does cut normal wires and thin metal.   

The screwdrivers work as expected. I'm not a friend of the scissors though. I need another tool to get them out, and they just feel a bit backwards and clumsy to activate. Once ready thought they work pretty well.

I can easily see this coming along for flights or light everyday carry. It is isn't an all dancing kitchen sink, but so far at least it seems to do what it does pretty well. Time will tell how it holds up.

[BPRoberts]

I have the knifeless one, and I found it agreeable as a semi-disposable, no-blade option for travel. It'll never hold up to the real hard stuff, but I don't usually need it to when I'm on vacation. (Unless it's camping or something, and then I'd have something better.)