True Utility Multimate-Mini review.

[Gareth]

Initial thoughts are actually not bad at all.  This has to be one of the few tools that falls into roughly the same size category as Leatherman's Juice series and I was curious as to how well it was designed and put together.  Got it out of the blister pack and found it to be quite reassuringly solid feeling and so it was off to a good start.  Also the fact all the tools are accessible from the outside is a nice bonus.





First up are the pliers.  I'm not a big fan of spring loaded pliers in bigger tools but on something this size I think they work well, certainly nothing to complain about here in my opinion.  Also the gripping surfaces are well defined and crisp.  Sadly there is a small amount of lateral movement that I don't like, but the poorest part of the pliers are the cutters.  These are anvil style cutters, which I don't mind normally, but these ones are pretty blunt.  They did manage to crush there way through some copper wire though so it's not all bad.


The nail file and scraper is OK, nothing special but it does the job it's designed to do so nothing to complain about either.


The can opener is obviously modelled after Victorinox's design, though I've not yet tried to open a can with it, it does at least have a good sharp edge to it. EDIT-since first writing the review I have had a chance to give this a go, happily I can report that you'd not starve.  Due it it's small size you have to make quite a lot of cuts, but it cuts well and you'll get at your dinner no problem.  The small flat driver though is a little disappointing, it has been polished to the point it has no corners and wouldn't grip in a small screw.  A few minutes with a sharpening stone and I made it flat enough to work, though it's still very stubby.


If the can opener is based on a Vic design, then the awl seems to be based on LM's old design from the PST.  In other words; it's totally blunt.  Again a few minutes of work gave it a working sharp point and edge and seems to work OK now.


Like many small cap lifters this one suffers from a 'hook' that is too small to get a really good grip of the underside of the bottle cap.  I did manage to get into a beer though so it's not a total washout.  Also the flat screwdriver is a good size and worked fine.


Another design tribute is the serrated edge and cord cutter, this time taking it's cues from an older SOG design.  This is a tool I really like actually and it's well made and designed.  Full marks on it's cord cutting and the serrated edge ripped through some pretty heavy cardboard.


When I first saw the small Phillips I thought it would only be good for the tiny screws you'd find on little battery compartments, I was pleasantly surprised when it actually gave a good go at much larger screws, including Pozidriv's.  Maybe not my first choice but it's a whole lot better than nothing and gave a good account of itself.


The plain edge blade came pretty blunt to be honest, but it did sharpen up OK.  Again nothing special but does the job well enough.


This last blade has me a little bamboozled to tell the truth.  It's not a saw and it's not really a serrated edge knife either, plus we've already got a good one of them on the cord cutter.  The 'points' actually aren't all that pointy and are more like a series of little chisel tips in a row.  Tried cutting a few different materials with this and all it did was bind up on everything.  If someone can tell me what this is meant for I'd be grateful.


There was quite a bit of lateral play on all the tools when I first got it, though that was solved by simply tightening down the pivots.  This (like the LM Juice) is based around a series of backspings for all the tools and they are actually quite strong for it size giving the whole thing a decent 'snappy' feel.  The black rubber inserts do add a nice bit of traction on a tool that could otherwise get a little lost in your hand.  In conclusion this tool does have quite a bit going for it, but is let down by some quality control issues.  Most of them are fixable with a bit of time and effort but who want to have to do that with a new tool?

Pro's:
Small pocket size.
All outside accessible tools.
Great cord cutter tool.

Con's:
Loose pivots.
Over polished tools.
Very blunt wire cutters.

[Craig]

Interesting 
 Looking forward to seeing how you get on with it 

[Essexman]

Does the blade and tool lock?  Or slipjoint like the Juice??

[Gareth]

Does the blade and tool lock?  Or slipjoint like the Juice??

All tools are non-locking.

[Jamie_M]

The True utility website seems to have that last blade listed as a saw, although it doesn't seem too much like one.

[Gareth]

The True utility website seems to have that last blade listed as a saw, although it doesn't seem too much like one.

Humm..I did try it on some wood just in case it was some clever design, but it wasn't a huge surprise that it didn't work as a saw.

[Craig]

Useful info. Thanks Gareth 

[AimlessWanderer]

Thanks for your views mate   

To me the blade looks much better than the hollow grind affair on a Juice, and if it opens a can, it beats a juice in that respect too.

I take your point on the overly buffed tools softening the edges and the drivers, but for a tenner or so not too bad I suppose. The serrated doofer and the not-quite-a-saw  (looks similar to the blade grind on a utilikey) don't have any interest for me, but nice to see torx pivots to possibly enable a bit of jiggery pokery 

Let us know how it fares in practice please once you've carried it a bit 

[Lynn LeFey]

I had no problem with the can opener on my Juice. The initial puncture takes a good bit of effort, but after that, same as any other can opener.

Anyway...

What's the weight on this thing? I'm guessing in the 6oz/170g range?

[Craig]

I had no problem with the can opener on my Juice. The initial puncture takes a good bit of effort, but after that, same as any other can opener.

That's my experience too.  Juice can openers aren't the best in the multitool world, but they do work.

[nuphoria]

Great review, and pretty much the quality I'd expect from them.

What a bizarre tool that saw thing is! 


So how much did it set you back?

[zoidberg]

He paid £11 of the usual £20 I believe.

Looks ergo enough as pliers, does it bite?
How does the plier head spring thing work?
Can the rubber inserts be removed without much grief?

[Gareth]

He paid £11 of the usual £20 I believe.

Looks ergo enough as pliers, does it bite?
How does the plier head spring thing work?
Can the rubber inserts be removed without much grief?

I did indeed pay £11 from "I Want One Of those".  To answer your questions:

1) the ergo's are pretty good and no biting yet.
2) hidden spring on the pliers, nothing visible.
3) If you took the scales off you might be able to get rid of the rubber, without doing that they seem pretty well stuck in place.

[Lynn LeFey]

Sorry to ask again, but what's the weight on this thing?

[Gareth]

Sorry to ask again, but what's the weight on this thing?

oops, I knew there was something else I was going to do.   Going by my kitchen scales it's 132gm or 4 3/4 oz.

[Lynn LeFey]

Wow... much less than I'd have expected. Most of the full-size MTs I have of that shape are many ounces heavier than name-band tools of the same size, so I figured that lil guy would be a tank. It's actually not much more than a Juice S2. Cool. Looks like a serviceable little tool.

[Zed]

Looks a solid little tool gareth, ive had a few true utility MT,s and they have been ok plus not expensive, i also tend to file those little flathead drivers flat as most cheaper MT's always seem to have rounded small drivers 

heres my moded larger true utility MT