The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

[82brutus]

Just a few shots of some multis I picked up recently.  One was super cheap and I was in a weird mood where I thought I might throw away a dollar on a tool to see how good it was and the other was just Ugly and I couldn't resist the opportunity to see how it worked.

First a hint of what's to come (cue music - whistling and waaa, waaa, waaaaaa)

The Good:



The Bad:



The Ugly:

[82brutus]

So, starting off with The Bad:


It's about the same size as a Leatherman Fuse.  Made of stainless steel and the tool name on the plier head says Garrity Stainless.






In plier mode:




Tools are pretty standard.  Saw, phillips, small flat, cap lifter/flat on one side.  The phillips driver is pretty funky.  Hard to explain really.  It looks like they took sheet metal and folded it into a square tube, then crushed it down to a plier shape.  I might try to get a better picture or take a closer look at it later.



PE blade, small awl, can opener and metal file.




Close up shot of the metal stop that pushes up to the plier head to provide stability and strength when the plier is being used.  It's a bit flimsy. 




When the tool is closed, the handles don't meet up flush.




Overall, the tool is okay.  There is way too much flex in the handles when I squeeze them together while using the pliers.  The little metal stop is thin and doesn't quite do the job.  I don't trust it, but it may be okay. 

The other tools are kind of standard.  Seem to be finished well enough, the file and saw are okay but not great, the blade is fine and the other tools do what they are supposed to.  I didn't put it to a very harsh test, mostly just had time to take photos since I had a few interruptions during the photo session.

[82brutus]

The Ugly:

This one is just odd.  I happenened to spot it on fleabay and it was so cheap, I just

felt like I had to take a closer look.

At first glance, the sheath looks like it could hold a folding shovel.  It's HUGE!!!!





The sheath seems well made and sturdy though.  It opens in an interesting way.




There are three components to the main tool and then a bit set which is in the pocket

on the right.



Naked tools....




First, the bit set.  It appears to be fine.  Standard size bits, decent assortment.




The bits fit into a bit holder on one handle of the tool.






The other handle has the PE knife blade, the can opener, small flat driver and file




This handle can stand on its own.




The plier head is independent and reminds me of a St Andrews cross spider.




 The grooves in the sides of the plier head slide into a matching groove on the plier

handle.






When pressure is applied to the plier head, it locks the head in place although I still

have my doubts if you grip something and then pull really hard if the plier head will

stay locked in.

Overall, the plier head is made well enough. They are springy and everything seems

machine well enough related to the plier head and groove that it slides into. 

The bit driver seems well made, but the rest of the tools seem cheap.

The handle is obviously stamped metal. It doesn't seem overly sharp but you can tell

when you start to use the tools, it won't be very comfortable. 

[82brutus]

Last but not least.  The Good (part 1):

Crescent Toolzalls

These tools are awesome.  For the most part, they seem very well made and very sturdy. 

They certainly are heavy enough.  All the tools open from the outside which is super

cool.  Tools are very well made, have very clean lines and good clean edges on all the

tools with a few exceptions... we'll get to those later.

Sheaths are well made, velcro closing.  Nothing too exciting.




The tools are solid.  One is about the size of a Fuse, the other is more in the

Swisstool size.  I meant to take comparison pics with a ST and a Fuse or Spirit, but

unfortunately, I had several interruptions and I started to run out of daylight.




I'll start with the smaller one first.




The plier head is machined well with good lines.  The tip meets up well, the teeth look

like they'll grip well.  The tool has no give when you squeeze the handles together

unlike The Bad.




PE blade, 2 flat drivers and the sturdiest lanyard hole ring I have ever seen.




The other handle holds a serrated blade, phillips driver and can opener.




In general, every one of the features of this tool are very thick and sturdy. The tools

do not lock in place but snap into place very strongly and don't close too easily.









Some comparisons I did manage to do.  Fuse vs Toolzall.

Phillips driver:




Can Opener:

[82brutus]

The Good (part 2 aka almost as good):

Now for the larger of the two Crescent Toolzall tools:

CE blade, small flat driver, phillips driver and file.  Tools are well made, well

machined and feel very sturdy.  The tools lock into place and the tools clump somewhat

when you open them.  This isn't good or bad really, it's just the way it is.  I like it

on this tool.




Other side has can opener, flat drivers, pry bar, lanyard ring, awl and saw.  This is

the sharpest most dangerous awl I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!!!!  The saw seems adequate but

there's a problem with this tool and I'll try to show it later. 




Like the smaller one, the tools are very thick and sturdy.




The awl is very, very, very sharp... scary sharp even.




Can opener is well made, with very nice clean grind lines.




Plier head is awesome!  Machined very precisely.  Teeth are sharp and grippy, tip meets

up well.




There is a metal stop in each handle that meets up with the plier head and keeps the

outside opening tools from making contact with it and also from closing too far.




This is how the plier head should meet up with the handle to make it sturdy.  It fits

into a collar (?) on the handles and this holds it good and tight when you squeeze down

on the handles.




Overall, everything is very well machined.  Let's look at the locks on the tools. When

you open one of the tools, it snaps in to place with a noticeable pop. Here's the

mechanism.  To unlock the tool that's open, you have to slightly open one of the other

tools to force out the lock spring and release the lock.




If you remember, I mentioned this one had a problem.  When I open the saw, you can tell

that there is something wrong.  It just never locks into place.  Upon closer

examination, it appears that either two of the tools are too thick at the pivot point

or the saw is too small.  Compare this picture to the one above:



The tools are machined funny with no real consistency as to size.  There are other

problems with the machining of the tools as well.  Across the board, not very uniform

or clean.  I can't tell if it's just a quality issue or some shenanigans has gone on.

Overall, I'm very happy with both Crescent tools.  I will probably carry the smaller

one.  I love the PE blade and the phillips driver.




I can't help but wonder if it's because there has been some blades replaced on this one

seeing as the overall tool is so well made.  But it could easily be QA problems.

[Steinar]

Thanks for the reviews! 

I really liked the look and tool selection of the smaller Crescent Toolzall, seems like a handy tool.

[Lynn LeFey]

The tool with the reversible plier head is AWESOME, a very innovative design. However... I can imagine pinching you hand in the plier head not in use would be less than pleasant. I've determined it's best to have nothing between your handles, and handles that cannot come together. Breaking either of those rules can mean hand-pinches if the tool slips. Still, very interesting concept.

[MultiMat]

'The Ugly' sure looks a odd contraption  , like a FlipGrip that has fallen apart  .

The Toolzall's are re-branded Bearjaws made by Bear & Son , Victorinox bought(& then sold ) Bear & Son so they could use their designs to make the Swisstool  . I think the non locking Toolzalls/Bearjaws are better than the locking versions. The tool lock up on the locking versions are generally not very good at all  . Strange that Bear & Son can do such a great MT design & make a almost great MT but then fall over with terrible tool lock up  . I would love to know what would of happened if Victorinox had held onto Bear & Son & invested some time & money into it  , Bear & Son's MT line-up has been pretty stagnant for years & I think they never did fix the lock up problems on the locking Bearjaws 


Thanks for sharing mate , I like the Toozalls the best 

[David]

Nice pics . i like the ToolZall best.  I wish Bear and Son would do a little work on their lock issues on their later issued MT`s. I do like their MT`s but those locks really leave a lot to be desired.

[dks]

I like the aquatic. 

The handles plastic scales look like the ones on a Ganzo I have

[82brutus]

Thanks all!  I hadn't really set out to do a review necessarily but it seemed unfair to just post the pics without explanation.

I was pretty happy with the pics overall.

Martin

Sent from my phone.