Any Schrade-ST12TSACP love?

[niftyprose]

The discontinued "TSA" version of Schrade's keychain multitool is a fairly standard small folding plier with scissors, screwdrivers, nailfile, tweezers, bottle opener but NO BLADE. Last week I scored one of the last ones left on this side of the pond, choosing it over the comparable Leatherman because it was smaller and I preferred the design. I suffered buyer's remorse before delivery -- was Schrade's quality up to the mark, were the jaws replaceable etc etc. The tool arrived this afternoon and I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. It's not as elegant or as tough as my Minibuck but the quality is easily good enough for a backup, especially when bladeless options are so limited. I've been disappointed with most of the tools I've seen this year, but not this one. Interested to hear what others think? Best, NP.

[Farmer X]

I was unfamiliar with it, so off to Google I went. Seems like it could be a decent enough little keychain tool. The bottle opener looks like it could be sharpened or replaced with a piece that has the proper hardness, so it could serve as a mini harness cutter sort of deal. However, one thing gives me pause: the bad reputation most everything bearing the Schrade name and produced within the past 20 years has earned. Let's hope they've fixed those issues. I could hope Gerber has done the same with their Dime, but that's probably best left to a different topic.

[niftyprose]

Thanks, FarmerX. My understanding is that the Schrade tool is a rebadged Chinese generic also sold by Kilimanjaro. Quality-wise it's streets ahead of the unaccountably popular Nextools, but it's not in the Victorinox league.

Having EDCed the Schrade for 48hrs I have to say that I'm noticing the extra bulk and will be happy to return to my Minibuck. The newcomer shares the basic problem of most pliers tools -- the direction of fold is in the main plane of the tool, so that the blades have to be located above and below the folded jaws, making a fat little package. The Minibuck grips fold "over and under", enabling other tools to be located in the ends of the handles and halving the overall size. (This is difficult to explain so I'll post a writeup with photos sometime.)

I was about to say that Schrade-branded products are rare over here so I didn't have any expectations. Actually, that's not quite true -- Schrade took over the excellent Wostenolm/IXL cutlery brand in the 70s and the quality of these brilliant old-fashioned penknives was widely reckoned to have suffered. But that's old news...