Michael Morris was nice enough to us over one of his friction folders and I’ve been carrying it around for a couple of days now. I thought a review was in order and here I am… Spouting off about something I love – Knives.
A Time To Get, one of my favorite blogs, recently ran a little article with some great photography of new and vintage multi-tools. Nothing really new here, but it is fun to see such ho-hum objects portrayed more as art.
The trend in affordable daily blades these days seems to be multi-functionality, but in a sleeker package than your typical Swiss Army package. The AO FAST 3.0 is the latest from Gerber that flaunts such sensibilities. It’s a $75 knife that features assisted opening, a bottle opener, and a built in carabiner. I bought one out of curiosity and can report typical Gerber manufacturing quality, but I’m not a fan of the size. It’s a little big (5.3″ closed) and heavy (4.91 Oz) for pocket carry, but I guess that’s what the carabiner is for. It would make a great pack carry blade for you outdoor freaks.
This is pretty bitchin’… Quirky put their noggins towards developing a modular multi-tool. They came up with the Switch, which is essentially a folding tool with interchangeable bits. Depending on your needs and the size of the tool you want to carry, you simply add or omit bits. Ingenious… I wonder if it’s as durable or reliable as a Leatherman?
I think I’ll order one and report back.
Check out all of the details here.
About 2 months ago, images of the new 2010 Leatherman tools were leaked on the internet. Leatherman quickly got to work and had the images removed from just about every source they could find. Since then, I’ve been waiting on the Leatherman website to feature the new tools. The update has yet to come although the 2010 dealer catalogs do, in fact, feature the new tools.
Check this craziness out… It’s the world’s first multi-tool created by Romans in 200AD. It’s made from silver, but has an iron blade and features a spoon, fork, spike, spatula, and a small tooth-pick. The clever litte device was extracted from the Mediterranean about 20 years ago and now resides in a museum.
There is a frenzied cult following for Atwood pocket tools. If you aren’t familiar, Atwoods are small multi-function tools that are typically made of titanium in limited production runs. They are expensive new (think around $100), but the collectable variants can bring even crazier money. People love and collect them.
In a way, it’s a shame because it’s hard for a fella to use and abuse such a handy little device when they have so much dough wrapped into one. It looks as though PocketToolX is trying to bring a similar tool to the market for much less coin (although still not cheap). The Piranha is a wrench, a screwdriver (both flat and phillips), a bottle opener, nail puller, scraper, and a pry bar… All wrapped up in a small pocketable stainless steel package.
I might get one just to review. $50.
You fellas know that I’m a sucker for just about any multi-tool. I typically dig on the super compact stuff as I’m mostly an urban dweller, but if I was a man about the woods there is no doubt that I would give the above from Brook & Hunter a shot. It’s an axe, a hammer, a screwdriver, a knife, a saw, a can opener, a wire cutter, a file, pliers, and a wrench… all in one super manly little package.
And, it’s only $40. Check it out.
