Sog Paratool Review

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Here's my review of the Sog Paratool

Initial Thought's

I've been wanting to get my hand's on one of these for quite a long time as it's one of the VERY few Multitool's that are completely legal EDC for the UK, plus I wanted to see for myself how well those unique pliers worked


Build Quality

Well first up this isn't my tool so while it did get used, it certainly didn't get abused , but even so the quality of manufacture really shines through , no hint of rust and all tool's had a decent even polish too them, the tool's deployed very smoothly, allbeit with some clumping, and the general fit and finish was excellent

Pliers

Now I really wanted to like these, as I thought them a novel solution to the problem of grabbing thing's in really tight, inaccesable areas

The reality though is that the tool handles keep folding up while you trying to use them unless you use them very, very carefully, and it's very hard to use them in any other way, other than as conventional pliers, which sort of defeat's the point, so on the whole I was disapointed with the whole 'flexible headed pliers'

The wire cutter's I didn't test, as it's not my tool, but they look like they'd be effective enough at light/medium tasks

The plier's are however very comfortable in use

Individual Tool's

Knives

Well this example has got both a serrated sheeps foot, and a clip pointed plain edged. The plain edge's blade while perfectly fit for purpose, is only ground on one side!, now this is another of my presonnel hate's as Sog is a knife manufacturer for crying out loud, they should know better than most how to make a parallel ground blade

The serrated blade on the other hand is really quite good as the teeth are really quite 'soft' so it does'nt rip the snot out of what your cutting , and being a slip joint and a sheepsfoot means you can use it around people pretty safely

Metal File/Saw

Like many file's of it's generation it's teeth lack aggression, but it get's the job done, and it's quite nicely finished too, with no rough edges, and a nicely rounded tip . It's a shame there's no teeth on the edge so you can use it as an impromptu hacksaw though


Can/Bottle Opener

This is in the Wenger mold, and opens can's pretty effectively, being a tea totaller I've not tested it on bottles, sorry lad's , but it is better than the stupidly small bottle opener on the Charge so it'll probably work pretty well

Screwdriver's

Nice assortment of 3 flat's and 1 philips, reach isn't too bad for a tool of this age and size, certainly a lot better than some earlier Gerbers  , they all work well, and despite the polish aren't prone to slipping

They are how ever a bit on the thin side, so I would have a bit of a question mark over how robust they are


Awl

Now this I really like!, properly sharp, shaped, and pointy . Why oh why can't other manufactures (Vic excepted) make an Awl like this one

Top marks on this one

Conclusions

Well obviously one man's meat is another man's poisin, and while this is a fine tool in a lot of respect's, the whole package fails to gel some how , which is a shame as I really wanted to like it, but the flexible plier's really bugged me (although I'm sure you'd adapt in time) and the lack of robust tool's is a really a bit disapointing as it really does limit the tool to light uses only

So on the whole while I'm glad it exists, as it show's another method of MT design I wouldn't really recommend one  

[Tarrodemierda]

heretic

i carry one in my apocalypse pack,it beats the H-LL out out of many other i concerned to put in it.its quite nice priced and for emergeancy/light task use its just perfect for me.

 

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I'm sure it's a fine tool, but the game's moved on and you can get a Blast or a Spirit which will do the job better and for about the same money

[Benner]

I thought it was quite novel, but probably not a great option for EDC.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

I thought it was quite novel, but probably not a great option for EDC.

Which is why it's such a great shame as it would've been legal edc

[Anthony]

Tightening the bolts that hold the handles to the plier head might stop the head/handles from flopping aorund while it's in an angles position.

[Tarrodemierda]

Tightening the bolts that hold the handles to the plier head might stop the head/handles from flopping aorund while it's in an angles position.

yep it worked for mine

[tomcrx]

The angled head is good for use as a clamp and general holder of small bits. I used mine a lot when I solder electronics.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Tightening the bolts that hold the handles to the plier head might stop the head/handles from flopping aorund while it's in an angles position.

These one's are already pretty stiff