Leatherman multi-tools and accessories have been a popular topic on TM (3/4/08, 5/22/08, 3/18/09, 7/7/09 and 7/24/09 to list a few). Well, their “original super-duty Leatherman is back.” The Super Tool® 300, 4.5″ long (closed) and weighing in at 9.6 oz. with stainless steel handles and body has 19 tools “for the working man.” The 300’s tools include “larger” regular and needle-nose pliers — which are really just different sections on the same jaws, but I guess you have to count everything to get up to 19 tools — file, saw, straight-edge knife, serrated knife, bottle opener, can opener, awl, and wire cutter for both regular and hard wires (the small notch at the base of the wire-cutting area is the hard-wire cutter). The wire cutters are removable so you can sharpen, perhaps with the 300’s own file, or replace it if needed. (more…)

I own more than a few pocket knives — not as many as Sean, of course, but I have at least 20, including some really nice ones. But the nice ones aren’t the ones we carry around day-to-day, are they? My daily-carry knife is a total beater, and it’s the one you see pictured above: a 3-1/2″ Winchester.

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I’m one of those horribly old-fashioned types who prefers using cash over plastic money, but here’s one bit of processed petrochemical I wouldn’t object to carrying. The Swisscard Lite has the same footprint as a credit card, and is about as thick as four of them — it doesn’t take a Nobel laureate to note that it’s perfect for wallet carry.

The surprising part is the number of functions Victorinox packs into the Swisscard. Knife, scissors, tweezers, a pin, a pen, light, and a small mirror, which is pretty much a list of things I don’t remember until twenty minutes into the morning commute. Okay, maybe not the mirror.

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The normal order of most low- to mid-grade “multi” products is a great number of tools Frankensteined onto a familiar platform. The 13-Piece DIY Utility Knife Kit from Garrett Wade is no exception. The problem here is it looks pretty handy.

Here’s the thing — it’s a standard folding utility blade that comes with variously shaped blades that can be swapped in and out and are suitable for cutting all sorts of material you might run into like wood, leather, paper, cardboard, linoleum, or carpet.

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A few months ago, with the noble goal of getting into a locked junkyard Grand Am through the trunk, I used my pocket knife to slice through the upholstery from the rear. The steel grate supporting the seat put one hell of a nick in the blade, and it took a good three hours to massage away the nick with a coarse diamond whetstone and a bottle of Tap Magic. The process left me wondering if there’s a better way which produces an edge as good as hand-grinding. Ceramics are excellent finishers, carbide removes burrs with ease, and whetstones produce the best edge, but which is best?

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Do it Best has the Stanley 10-788 for $10 online before the $5 mail-in rebate. A nice feature of the rebate — if you’re so inclined — is the ability to donate it directly to Habitat for Humanity. If you don’t want the utility knife, you can get $10 off the $20 online sale for a Stanley FatMax 1-1/4″×25′ tape, or $5 off the $10 online sale for a Stanley 16-oz. Fiberglass Rip Hammer, with the same option to donate the refund. The offer expires 10/3/09. Do it Best offers free shipping of online orders to a local store for “participating” locations.

Stanley 10-788 [Manufacturer's Site]
Do it Best [Website]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

This was going to be a simple post comparing the Gerber Artifact with the Mini SuperKnife as a keychain knife/tool. As I started gathering details, it was turning into a Gerber vs. Gerber post: Gerber was acquired by Fiskars in 1986, and in 2005 Fiskars Brands acquired Superknife and integrated it into their Outdoor Recreation division, Gerber Legendary Blades. One big happy conglomerate…

Anyway, I decided to add a couple more similar-sized tools alleged to fit on a keychain, and solicit your opinions. From right to left in the picture (not to scale): the folding blade SOG Micron, 1.5″ blade length and 3.44″ overall length when opened, costs around $10. The Mini SuperKnife, 1.77″ long closed and 2.95″ long opened, is a small folding utility knife that costs about $5. The Utili-Key, 2.75″ long, goes for approximately $7 (TM mentioned this device 7/24/08, 5/1/09, and 8/20/09). The Gerber Artifact, 3.5″ long closed and 4.8″ long opened, is available for $6-7 (TM had a 9/15/08 post on the Artifact).

What’s your choice for a small keychain knife/tool: A knife-only option, or a pseudo multi-tool?

SOG Micron Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Mini SuperKnife Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Utili-Key Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Gerber Artifact Via Amazon [What’s This?]

The companies that make new and improved utility knives must think that millions of dollars in labor are lost each year when workers stop to change blades. Either that or they just need to make a better profit margin on blades. Not to be left out, Clauss manufactured yet another “next generation” utility knife that uses a cartridge-based system to hold and replace blades.

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Columbia River Knife and Tool designed the Get-A-Way Driver Multi-Tool to be part of their ID (Inspired Design) tool system, but it also stands alone as its own tool. It carries four insert bits with spring-loaded detents which keep them secured in the bit driver. It also functions as a flashlight, 10mm wrench, bottle opener, and oxygen bottle wrench.

Weighing only 1.9 oz., the tool is only 3.75″ long and 1/2″ thick. The bit driver can be placed at the end of the tool and used as a straight screwdriver or placed on the side and used as a right angle driver for when you need extra torque. The flashlight requires two R927 3V lithium batteries.

CRKT sells two models of the Get-A-Way driver. One model comes with 2 flat and 2 Phillips-tipped drivers, and the other comes with T5, T6, T8, and T10 Torx bits. They claim the tool uses standard insert bits so maybe you can carry other bits you commonly use. Pricing for either model starts at $11.

Get-A-Way Driver [CRKT]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Ever notice how you never have to sharpen your steak knives? The serrated edge keeps its ability to cut much longer than a straight edge, but some of the trade-offs are you don’t get as clean a cut and it’s not fun to sharpen. Neither of these disadvantages matter for many tasks you’d use a utility knife for, as you’d probably rather work longer without stopping to change blades.

Rapid Tools manufactures Rapid Edge blades for your utility knife. They claim the blades last longer because the serrated edge has three to five times the cutting surface of a straight blade. This reduces friction, keeping the blade sharper longer. While you might not want to use the Rapid edge for cutting drywall it supposedly works well on materials like carpet, wire, rope, and asphalt shingles.

Rapid Edge Blades fit all standard utility knives. They come in packs of 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 blades and start around $4 for a five-pack.

Rapid Edge Blades [Rapid Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

This 3-in-1 drywall knife from Labor Saving Devices takes a snap-off style utility knife and adds a saw blade and a keyhole saw blade into approximately the same amount of space. It looks like the same mechanism retracts and extends all three replaceable stainless steel blades, so you probably need to remove the other two blades in order to use the third. And you can lock the blade you’re using in position so it doesn’t slide back into the handle.

For what it’s worth, Labor Saving Devices’ Three-In-One drywall knife would probably be more attractive if it didn’t cost $20. If you only had to spend a few bucks, it might be handy to have a really compact knife and saw that you could put in your pocket or pouch and forget about it until you need it.

3-in-1 Drywall Knife [Labor Saving Devices]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

I like tactical knives. They have a nice clean look and are handy to have around. However, depending on what level of state, federal, or general media outcry you’re looking at, the idea has come up more than once to try to limit or ban the use or sale of tactical knives here in the states. I began to ponder the subject in some depth.

To get a bit smarter about the situation at hand, I first wanted to know what the exact definition of a tactical knife actually is. Herein lies the first issue — there isn’t a hard and fast rule on what makes a TAC knife. One group seemed to think the blade shape was the determining factor; others thought size and handle material was the ticket and one very confused group seemed to state that anything black or camo-colored was lumped in the tactical group as well. This is a small problem.

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Columbia River Knife and Tool has a new addition to their excellent range of work knives by knife designers Josh and Jon Graham. The Razel is available in folding and fixed-blade versions of various lengths and looks to be a very strong blade with a unique design. The blade makes an unusual 90-degree turn to form the point, an interesting hybrid between a tanto-style blade and a light-duty chisel. It’s a clever, high-strength design which should serve well as a work knife.

As an added bonus, there are five variations on this basic blade design: two folders of different length, two fixed-blade versions (one short and nimble, the other with a finger ring for a secure grip), and a massive, 14” machete. It’s great for felling brush, or as a weapon of last resort when the zombies come. List prices run from $50 for the smallest folder to $200 for the 14-incher, but various retailers may offer better prices.

Folding Razel [Columbia River Knife and Tool]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

The Japan Woodworker claims this knife is of the traditional style used by Japanese hunters to cut meat in the field. While we can’t find any evidence to back up that claim, it still is one mean-looking knife for only having a 4″ blade.

The deceptively crude-looking knife is actually forged by master blacksmith Kazuyuki Tanaka. He folds  high carbon blue steel with sixteen layers of Damascus pattern soft steel to create a knife that is tough yet holds a sharp edge. To finish off the knife, the handle is simply wrapped with nylon cord.

The knife measures 9″ in length overall, and retails for about $100. It ships razor-sharp with a blade cover and instructions for care.

Hunting Knife [Japan Woodworker]

Many multi-tools seem to be a flimsy sampling of little knick-knacks. We’ve seen different versions for ages, but they rely on a simple straight-edged pocket knife to do most of the real work. However, Leatherman’s interesting Charge ALX model is a little different. It does away with many of the old issues multi-tools faced, like those Phillips drivers which always seemed to be less than helpful.

They have been replaced by a clever interchangeable bit system, much like what you’d find on an electric screwdriver. There are two of these sockets on the Charge, allowing you to keep multiple common bits ready for immediate use. Extensive kits with drivers for many different head styles are available and store nicely inside the same sheath as the tool itself.

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Designed as a tool of last resort by the smiths at Columbia River Knife and Tool, the Hammond All Bases Covered (A.B.C.) knife is a fixed-blade design for emergency situations. It’s described as a dive or whitewater-rafting knife, available in two styles called Aqua and Operator, with and without a sharpened point. Why bother with a blunt-tipped knife? If you’re in a full panic and need to cut away an entangling strap or line, you probably aren’t going to have time to be careful. The blunt tip allows the user to press the knife tip against their skin and slide it to cut the entangling object with the edge without gashing themselves in the process.

Sailors and water-sportsmen can probably appreciate this design, but the odd blade configuration, with two edges (one serrated, one straight) and no point, probably limits its utility in everyday life. And Johnny Law probably won’t appreciate you walking around with a 4-inch edge painted like a Mission Impossible prop. But if this is the kind of tool you can use, they run about $80 at full retail. And if the keen edge won’t kill you, the acronym overload will.

Hammond A.B.C. Knives [Columbia River Knife and Tool]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
ABC Operator Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Sword Demon is an interesting place to browse around. They have a wide array of tactical knives and folders but they also deal in blades that are a little less practical. From movie replica blades to Barbarian battle maces, Sword Demon can get you what you’re looking for.

The fantasy blades are just for show, of course. It’s strictly a high-end street market or carnival type of affair, but that can be fun too. Most of the blades you’ll find here are more for fun than anything else, but the less-exotic offerings like the M-Tech Folding Knife Pakkawood for $7 or the Sword Demon brand 2 Piece hunting knife set for $20 can be good practical purchases.

Into the whole holiday knife-buying spirit? Here’s a Fourth of July 7” folder for $7. If you watch the “Knife Show” on cable it’s very similar, just in website form.

Sword Demon [Website]
Stiletto American Flag Folding Knife [Sword Demon]