Leatherman’s new Skeletool is a stripped down, lightweight (five ounces!) multi-tool with all the tools you expect from a Leatherman: a screwdriver, a knife, and pliers. And unlike with previous Leathermans, the knife and the bottle opener (the hook at the back) are accessible without opening the tool. Oh yeah — it also looks bad ass.
It’s refreshing to see a multi-tool that doesn’t try to be all things to all people. Instead, the Cabinet Jack focuses specifically on cabinet making needs, assisting in tasks like cleaning up hinge mortises and ease edges. Carrying the ‘Jack in your pocket might save you a walk to dig out a corner chisel, plane, marking knife, or some other unitasker.
Paratech’s Biel tool incorporates a lot of the features found on their larger forced entry tools – which are popular among firefighters – but it’s small enough to carry in your turnout gear. It’s a multi-tool by definition, but it’s designed for forcing open doors, windows, hasps, and locks. It can also be used for chopping through drywall, pulling down lathe and wires, and pretty much any kind of general destruction.
The name says it all: it’s a driver set that looks like a tank. Sold as a promotional item primarily, the Tank Tool is pretty functional, too. The tank’s turret and cannon make up a detachable screwdriver handle, and the treads pull double duty as socket and bit storage. There’s even a tray built into the center body of the tank to hold loose screws and other fasteners –plus a mini screwdriver. Hell, this “tank” is better equipped than some household “tool kits.”
What do you get when you cross a carabiner with a 1/2″ adjustable wrench, a 2″ carbon-stainless-steel blade, a high-intensity LED light, and a screwdriver? Answer: the Guppie multi-tool. Oh yeah, it’s a church key, too.
Not to be confused with Mr. Potato Head’s disfigured third cousin or an over-active teenager on a date, Mr. 7-Hands is a screwdriver-based multi-tool with an entire shaft for each of its multiple bits — seven in all. The shafts stow into the driver’s handle and deploy for use. Two AAA batteries additionally power a small flashlight in the handle.
OK, we admit that we’d probably have never posted this if it wasn’t for its goofy name, but we couldn’t help it. What sort of engineer looks at a multi-bit screwdriver and thinks, “What this needs is multiple shafts?”
Mr. 7-Hands [Apollo Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Product Search]
Via Amazon
Matt writes: “The Schrade ‘Tough Tool’ ST1 is an incredible multi-tool – tough as nails and solid as a rock. I’ve owned it for years and it’s survived all the abuse I could throw at it. The key selling point for this $40 tool is that the fold-out tools are on the sides of the handle and not on the ends where you’d normally grip it to dig in. Some of the tools in the handle — the saw, both screwdrivers, and the knife — also lock in place. I’d buy it again if I lost it, and I’d rely on it (still) in a pinch.”
Sizod sent us notice of this deal on an assortment of 42 bits that fit various Leatherman tools including the Charge, New Wave, and Removable Bit Driver — all enclosed in a branded nylon case. He writes: “At this low a price, this would make a great addition to your Leatherman. It’s also perfect for when you need to get your MacGyver on.”
It includes a variety of metric and standard hex, Robertson, Pozi, Torx, Phillips, and slotted bits as well as — my favorites — Phillips and standard eyeglass screwdriver bits.
As tired as I am of gimmicky multi-tools, Allied’s latest offering — the FlipGrip dual jaw multi-tool — still caught my attention. Apparently “flip grip” means that the grip flips back to expose a dual-headed set of pliers at the center pivot point.
The pliers look fairly useable and are much less ridiculous than some others I’ve seen. The Flip Grip also carries the standard array of saws, bottle openers and blades as well as a bit compartment in one of the handles that holds four screwdriver bits of various sizes.
Multi-tools have become part of the landscape in the last few years – some of them are lifesavers and some are, well, not. The 14-in-1 multi-tool from Sheffield sports the normal line up of multi-tool fare, but stands out because of a hammer head mounted prominently at the top.
The 14-in-1 has a can opener, knife blades, drivers, and pliers, in addition to the hammer. The Sheffields we have in the shop actually are pretty useful especially when you consider the price tag normally associated with them.
But a hammer?
Stuey caught this one. He writes: “Leatherman’s New Wave tool is now $58.50 at Amazon right now. You have to add it to your cart to see the price. You also get a free pair of Binoculars - see the product page for details. This Leatherman is $70 at most stores — Sears, Dicks Sporting Goods, etc. Figure in about 7% in taxes, and that’s $16 in savings. If this deal is still allive by the time this can be posted, don’t hesitate! Hesitation might turn into disappointment! Also, don’t forget that with $150 in tool purchases, you get a free B&D driving tool.”
Matt writes: “This is the most bad-ass multi-tool out there. You’ve got to check one out for yourself if you’re skeptical. It’s very, very heavy and as strong as a real set of pliers. The best feature is the gear-driven pliers, which give you a two-to-one reduction so you can really hang on to things and also eliminates the problem of the pliers sticking together when the handles are open (due to fish scales and other crud getting caught in the mechanisms.) Also, I just saw that there’s gonna be a new version (2.0) coming out sometime – even bigger and heavier. Cool!”
In case you’re wondering, the “EOD” in the name does indeed refer to “Explosive Ordinance Disposal.” Yep, this multi-tool is designed for those guys.
Stuart writes: “I’m not sure if the Gerber Suspension Butterfly is a winner, but for $25 it’s gotta be better than my loose cheapo. The best part is that when you buy one from Amazon right now, you get a Gerber Clutch for free. I don’t have a Clutch, but I do have their Shortcut. As far as I can tell, the main difference is that one has scissors and the other has pliers as the main part of the mini-tool. So, for $25 you get a hopefully-adequate multi-tool and a great mini-tool. For those of you who (like me) can’t splurge on a Leatherman, this is a deal you might want to consider jumping on.”
Whenever I watch a James Bond movie, I wonder why Bond didn’t take better care of the cool gadgets that “Q” gave him. It always pisses me off when he trashes his cool gear. For instance, if 007 had the 12-in-1 pen tool, he’d no doubt use it to cut himself free after being tied up, pick the lock with the tweezers, then once he was out jab the guard in the neck with it and then throw it away.
If I were “Q,” I’d kick his ass.
Hiding inside the 12-in-1’s milled shaft are 12 different tools that’ll come in handy for all sorts of little repairs — or escapes from elaborate but easily escapable mantraps. You know, tools like screwdrivers, an awl, tweezers, a wire stripper, saws, cutting blades, and a stainless steel fork. Hey, you never know when today’s spy-on-the-go might need a fork hidden in his pen.
I consider a tool a good tool when I paid a fair price for it and it does the job for which it was purchased. While the Sheffield three-piece tool set isn’t a Leatherman set, that’s not really the point. It’s useful and boasts a low price point. I’ve used Sheffield knives before, too, and while they’re no SOG or Buck, they are about a third the price.
The set starts with a useful one-hand-opening liner lock knife that sports a 4-1/2” drop point pattern blade and a hardwood handle. The set’s other two pieces are pliers-based mutlis featuring the usual suspects such as saws, screwdrivers, awls, and clip pattern blades, and are also adorned in hardwood.
Mark writes: “This is a credit-card-sized tool that fits in your shirt/coat pocket or in your wallet. I’m a police officer and I own two. I keep one in my shirt pocket while working, and I also have one in my glove box. During a camping trip last summer, I used it constantly – especially the bottle opener and mini light. It’s a great value for the price.”
One caveat: Don’t forget and leave it in your wallet when you go to the airport.
This photo’s been making the rounds today. Since we’ve been covering a number of different multitools recently, we thought you’d enjoy it.
Update: Whoops. Saw this on Digg this morning, then noticed that SuperJdynamite (a relatively regular commenter here on TM) submitted it as well. Thanks SJD!
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