You say you want a Evolution?

Grant Lamontagne · **on:** August 13, 2012, 12:33:36 AM

Paraphrasing Travis' Beatles homage last month is a great opportunity to start discussing evolution of tools- at least with Charter Members who get the reference. For the rest of you I should perhaps say Evolution rather than evolution since we aren't talking about evolution in general, so much as I am talking about the Evolution- the MP650 from Gerber.

This is another one from my bucket list that I have recently been able to cross off. The Evolution came in two varieties- this one with blunt and needle nose pliers and another deluxe version with four different heads in this old picture of Chako's:

I have yet to get that one, but I did manage to get the two headed version and I am quite pleased with it.

As I mentioned in the other thread these classic tools have an aura around them- they are much more exciting in many ways than the current lineup of offerings from most of the manufacturers, and this one moreso because it embodies irony in a way no other tool does.

This tool is called the Evolution, and my guess is that it is called that because it "evolves" into a solution for the age old question of whether to carry blunt nosed pliers or needle nosed pliers. In fact, since it was very short lived, it is an example of evolution's most basic law, survival of the fittest. Like it's function swappable ilk (CRKT Flux and Coleman ProLock) the Evolution simply couldn't keep up with the grab'n'go nature of more standard type tools. Still, it wasn't a complete failure and at least one aspect lived on- the blade exchanging saw, that not only went on to great things with Gerber but was also copied by other manufacturers and has become a strong trait in many other tools. So while the Evolution itself may have died out, it still played a significant role in the evolution of multitools.

Darwin would have had a field day in Multitool.org!

Def

Gareth · **Reply #1 on:** August 13, 2012, 12:43:37 AM

Great find Grant.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #2 on:** August 13, 2012, 12:44:44 AM

Thanks Gareth- this is an awesome tool that I am very proud to add to my collection and share with everyone else here on the site!

Def

nuphoria · **Reply #3 on:** August 13, 2012, 01:56:23 AM

It's definitely a clever idea - the four head set is something I would enjoy playing with.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #4 on:** August 13, 2012, 02:10:40 AM

The problem with this one is that you never really know what you are going to encounter when you are out and about in the world, so you either have to select one head and hope for the best (like you would with any multitool) or you have to carry all of them which makes it a bit on the bulky side- even moreso than usual because these heads don't retract into the handles like the other MP600 series tools do. As much as I love this thing, from a user standpoint you'd be better off with a couple of inexpensive dedicated pliers and a Swiss Army Knife tucked into something like a Pock-It's XL sheath to carry them all in.

However as a collectible it's priceless!

Def

J-sews · **Reply #5 on:** August 13, 2012, 03:02:26 AM

Congrats on scoring a 650!

Those are getting to be pretty hard to come by these days, especially at a decent price.

Hmmm, y'know, given that Gerber made this tool work with their existing plier head castings, and I doubt very much they had the 650 in mind when they designed those plier heads, it is surprising how securely/easily the head and handles lock together.

MultiMat · **Reply #6 on:** August 13, 2012, 05:48:26 AM

Congrats Def the old 650/Evo is a bit of a tough find

.

Just be careful with the inner handle clips/springs that the pliers lock into. I had one 650 break on me & I bought a known brocken set that had snapped clips. If the pliers launch themselves out of the handles when unlocked the clips need to be bent a bit so they are not under so much tension

. Hope yours is a goodun mate

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #7 on:** August 13, 2012, 08:08:36 PM

Opening mine up long enough to take pictures (or perhaps to use the bottle opener for next year's bottle opener challenge!

) is likely all the use this one is likely to see. If it was my only tool I might worry about it but I have a few others I can use and leave this one on the shelf.

Def

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

Zed · **Reply #8 on:** August 13, 2012, 08:13:23 PM

Thats a truely great find Def

its a very cool MT and would save you having lots of different MT's with different pliers,

Syph007 · **Reply #9 on:** August 13, 2012, 08:14:40 PM

Ya I can see the problem of not knowing what head to need ahead of time, and needing to carry them all, but this one is high on the gadget/add to the collection factor.

Also thanks for adding another to my MT bucket list of unfulfilled tool desires!

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #10 on:** August 14, 2012, 02:06:26 AM

Quote from: Zed on August 13, 2012, 08:13:23 PM

Thats a truely great find Def its a very cool MT and would save you having lots of different MT's with different pliers,

Sort of but not really. By carrying around multiple heads I might as well be carrying multiple pliers too. Great concept on paper, not so much in reality.

Quote from: Syph007 on August 13, 2012, 08:14:40 PM

Also thanks for adding another to my MT bucket list of unfulfilled tool desires!

I aim to please...

Def

loki-mobile · **Reply #11 on:** October 08, 2013, 07:32:43 AM

My MP650

gregozedobe · **Reply #12 on:** October 08, 2013, 08:17:57 AM

Quote from: loki-mobile on October 08, 2013, 07:32:43 AM

My MP650

So you have both versions - the "military" (spring loaded handles and 4 heads) and the "civilian" (no springs in the handles) and two heads. I'm jealous

(I have the civilian one, but still looking for a military one)

As Multimat says in an earlier post, be careful inserting and removing the heads on the civilian version, it seems the clips inside are VERY easy to break (mine was broken on an essentially unused tool). The military version seems more robust.