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?]

Soon all new cars will come with tire pressure monitoring systems, and a lot of vehicles have ‘em already. Maintaining another computer and mechanical system will bring another set of challenges to professional and backyard mechanics — four sets of wireless, battery-powered sensors all spinning at highway speeds sounds like problems in the making.  GearWrench’s Tire Pressure Monitoring Kit will help you with these maintenance tasks.

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Designed to be part of your basic camping gear, the 15″-long Gator combo axe by Gerber packs an axe and a razor-sharp 6″ saw in one 1lb 12oz package.

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Earlier this year Gerber released the Artifact mini-tool.  Coated with titanium nitride, this eight-function tool measures just 3-1/2″ when closed and weighs about as much as two quarters.  What’s unusual about the Artifact is that instead of having a built-in knife, it uses #11 hobby blades.

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If you’re in the market for Gerber’s Deluxe Mine Probe Kit, one of two things is probably true: A) You’re underpaid, or B) you need to move. People who remove unexploded ordnance work mostly on their bellies, inching across the battlefield, constantly in danger. For these serious people and their serious work, Gerber makes some precision mine probe tools to replace that old KA-BAR.

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If there weren’t already enough ways to lose a digit, Superknife makes the UltraShear — an anvil-style cutter reminiscent of pruning shears. Unlike garden-variety pruning shears, when UltraShears dull, you can replace the blade with a standard utility blade.

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Gerber’s Shortcut might remind you of the tiny pocketknife your grandfather carried, sometimes referred to as a “gentleman’s pocketknife.” Much like your grandpa’s knife, it’s small, useful, and good looking — unlike that knife, it packs a small set of stainless steel scissors as well as other implements for hacking, cutting, and fixing.

In the Shortcut’s 2-1/2″ frame (4.13″ fully extended), you also get a file, two flathead screwdrivers, a crosspoint driver, a nail cleaner, and the obligatory bottle opener. The frame, made of aircraft aluminum, comes in either “Red Tail Hawk” or “Special Ops Gray.” Street pricing is about $15.

ShortCut [Gerber]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] (B0009JVEKM) [What's This?]

The ultimate way to break s$#! is to blow it up, and the folks over at Gerber offer a multi-tool designed especially for the trained demolition techicians whose job we all covet. The Gerber Multi-Plier 600 Demolition Explosive Technician Tool is the only multi-tool certified for explosive ordinance disposal units and follows U.S. miltary specifications.

The tool includes a non-reflective black coating, a blasting cap crimper, and a universal saw coupler with remGritT saw. You also get a standard cross point screwdriver, large, meduim, and small flat- blade screwdrivers, a file, a bottle opener, a lanyard, and a nice ballistic nylon sheath.

And right now you can pick one up from Snapberry for just $79.05 with $8 shipping.

G7400 DET Tool [Gerber Tools]
Gerber G7400 DET [Snapberry]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

Here’s a deal for all you Gerber knife fans: over at Amazon they’re offering this Gerber 22-47188 Paraframe II and Mini-Paraframe lockback knife set for $25 — with free shipping. The set includes the Paraframe II (3-1/2″ blade) and Mini-Paraframe (2-1/4″ blade), both equipped for single-handed opening. Both knives have stainless-steel handles, and are lightweight at 4.1 ounces and 1.4 ounces, respectively, with a 1-year limited warranty.

Paraframe [Gerber]
Via Amazon [What's this?]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

You’ve probably owned a Gerber knife or multi-tool, but did you know they make a machete, too?  The machete is a nice compromise between an axe and a knife, and Gerber’s model, complete with a polymid fiberglass handle and hooked high-carbon forged stainless steel blade, looks lightweight and durable — perfect for making short work of brush and small branches.

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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.”

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Do you think of outdoor exploration or soccer moms when you hear the phrase “sport utility?”  Gerber’s betting on the former with their new “sport utility kit” — a collection of a few practical outdoor items in a sporty-looking pack.

The kit features a 2-D-cell MagLite, a multitool, a backpack axe, a folding spade, and a hand saw.  This looks like it’d be great for semi-urban “camping” trips, or any serious road trip. (more…)

While we’ve been buying up any Mini-Bucks we find ever since Buck discontinued them, we’ve also been searching for a replacement for that sad day when the supply finally dries up completely.

(For those of you not familiar with the Mini-Buck, it’s a small folding pocket knife with a plastic handle that’s great for day-to-day carrying.  It’s durable and useful, yet very light and unobtrusive; It’s much less likely to get you dirty looks when you pull it out to cut open a package in the office, for example, than larger knives.)

Today we came across a knife by Gerber that might fit the bill: the Microloght LST.  It features a fiberglass-filled nylon handle and a high-carbon stainless steel blade, and best of all it’s just 3-3/4″ long, weighing just 4/10 of an ounce.  It even looks a bit like the Mini-Buck, with the same slightly-wedged utilitarian blade.

The Microlight LST’s available at the Gerber Store online for $10.95, though we saw it for just under $10 at Lowe’s.  The next time we’re in we’ll pick one up and let you know what we think.

Gerber also sells an Ultralight LST, which seems virtually identical except for being slightly larger at 4-3/4″ and 6/10 of an ounce.  It sells for $14.95 online.

The Microlight LST [Gerber]
The Microlight LST [The Gerber Store]
Street Pricing [Froogle]