Bear Grylls Compact Multitool

Millhouse · **on:** March 19, 2013, 07:47:05 PM

This is the first Gerber tool that I have bought in nearly 10 years. I suppose curiosity got the better of me, and it was cheap on Amazon.

Being use to an LM Squirt P4 and PS4, the Gerber feels fragile in comparison. It creaks and wobbles a bit. The pliers are gritty as anything. I'm trying to work all the crap out, at the moment its a constant stream of black sludge coming out.

The plain knife blade was dull, I couldn't cut my finger on it. Its now had a few swipes on the sharpmaker. The screwdrivers are very difficult to open, thought I would break a nail.

I had thought it might serve as my keyring carry, but I think I'll give this tool a miss.

Lynn LeFey · **Reply #1 on:** March 19, 2013, 09:01:00 PM

I have the Gerber Mini Suspension P, which is virtually identical. The only difference is the serrated blade on the BG tool is instead a nail file on the Suspension P, and the scales are a little different design.

Mine came with a fairly sharp blade. Actually, I just checked, and it's a ragged paper-cutting sharp (and I don't recall having sharpened it). Also, with a standard edge, I'd consider it a lot easier to sharpen than the chisel edged blades on a lot of keychain size tools. Considering that my Dime came dull, and I've seen a lot of people rave about how nicely sharp theirs were, I have no doubt that blade sharpness out-of-package is a total crap-shoot with Gerber.

I don't have any grit in the plier head, but I concur on the difficulty in deploying some of the tools, particularly the phillips.

The Mini Suspension came in a 2-pack with the Mini Suspension S (which replaces the plier head with scissors), for about $18. I think at that price, they're decent, and a better pick than some full-size tools in the under-$20 range.

At the price I paid, I consider these even on value. I wouldn't feel great having paid $15 for the BG version, but getting two for $18 seems okay.

EDIT: I should add, I don't carry this tool either. It was an 'okay, but not good enough' kind of design in my opinion. I think it's a tackle-box tool.

Gareth · **Reply #2 on:** March 19, 2013, 09:37:27 PM

Those two are both based on the older Clutch tool. I liked the Clutch well enough though I agree that it was not nearly as good as the LM Squirts. I did however like the fact it was just that touch bigger and more comfortable to use IMO.

powernoodle · **Reply #3 on:** March 20, 2013, 02:47:24 AM

I own both sizes of the Bear Grylls Gerber MTs. I figure why buy the standard models when you can pay twice as much for the Bear Grylls flavors and get exactly the same thing? Makes perfect sense, right? Uh, wait a minute . . . .

kirk13 · **Reply #4 on:** March 20, 2013, 09:20:53 AM

I've got a clutch of Clutches,as well as the BG.

While the BG isn't as good as a Squirt,or a Dime,it is a third the price of a LM.The pliers on mine are nice and smooth,though the tools are stiff.Blades were fine

shecky · **Reply #5 on:** March 22, 2013, 08:35:13 AM

Yeah, I think the BG Compact is a big miss. The plain blade was dull, the serrated blade useless except for tearing stuff apart. The drivers unexceptional. The tweezers uneven. And the pliers gritty and exhibiting too much lateral play. And on top of it all, it's bulkier than a LM Squirt/Micra. I'm just happy I didn't pay a whole lot, because it isn't worth a whole lot.

Interesting in comparison with the BG Pocket Tool scout-type knife, which I got at the same time for the same low price. This one is actually usable, and somewhat novel SAK-like design.

Yalius · **Reply #6 on:** March 24, 2013, 07:27:17 AM

I picked up one of these as well. I was waiting for a prescription to be filled and found it on the discount rack while wandering around the pharmacy. It was $10, and I think I got the short end of the deal.

Pliers: Not gritty, but poorly-fitted. Quite a bit of play, and they are so far out of alignment they scrape one of the handles as they're folded away. Usable, I suppose, but not really satisfying.

PE blade: VERY thin construction, poorly (un)sharpened, useless point, awful nail nick. A knife of last resort.

Serrated blade: I thought the plain edge blade was among the worst I'd ever tried. Nope. Serrated one is worse. They're not so much serrations as crooked, wavy little meanders of metal that aspire to be useful.

Tweezers: Not really. They're two flappy little fins of metal that squeeze towards each other in a general sort of way, without really meeting.

Small flat screwdriver: It's actually ground slightly at an angle, so slides right out of whatever slot you might direct it towards, when the slightest pressure is applied. Less than useless, it's painful to use and destructive towards whatever it's being used on.

Large flat screwdriver: Not bad, per se, but the worst nail nick known to man makes the one reasonable tool on the entire package nearly impossible to deploy.

Bottle opener: And whatever practicality the flathead driver achieved, is immediately taken back by a bottle opener that doesn't open bottles. The hook that, in theory, should grip the edge of the cap, is so rounded off that there is no conceivable way to actually grip the cap.

Philips driver: Not so much a philips driver as a bas-relief that was sculpted by someone who once heard a description of a philips driver. From someone who saw one in their childhood. From the side. It will turn a philips head screw, I suppose, right up to the point where the screw encounters a tiny bit of resistance. At that point, the handles flex, the driver twists on its pivot, and the head slips out of the screw. Every single time.

All in all, this was one of the worst multitools I've ever attempted to use. The $5 ones hanging from the checkstands at Home Depot are better.

Pros: Not a bad color.
Standard torx for all the fasteners.
When you stand it up on end and look from the right angle, it looks like Zoidberg.

Cons: ~~Almost~~ completely unusable as a tool.

Outback in Idaho · **Reply #7 on:** March 24, 2013, 07:38:54 AM

Quote from: powernoodle on March 20, 2013, 02:47:24 AM

I own both sizes of the Bear Grylls Gerber MTs. I figure why buy the standard models when you can pay twice as much for the Bear Grylls flavors and get exactly the same thing? Makes perfect sense, right? Uh, wait a minute . . . .