Gerber snuck out this cute little “Artifact” multi-tool when I wasn’t looking. Just a little longer than a cigarette lighter, it includes a Phillips and flathead screwdrivers, a bottle opener, wire stripper, prybar, and a knife — and the knife uses replaceable #11 blades. Not bad for $10 — you might even be able to get it past the TSA by tossing away the blade before a flight.
Product Page [Gerber-Tools.com via Toolmonger]
• Atwood Knives Back in Stock Soon
• Spyderco Byrdrench is Literal Multitool
• Leatherman Skeletool: Lightest Full-Sized Multi-Tool
• Cabinet Jack: Multi-Tool for Cabinet Makers
*drool*
I’d get in way too much trouble if I had one of those.
I like that thought. I’ve been looking for a small multitool with no blades on it for flights, and here it is
At $10 and with the standard #11 blade, it’s an easy sell to just keep around in my toolbox and/or junk drawer.
Plus, Gerber Legendary Blades is less than a mile from where I sit right now in Oregon.
That is so hot.
That picture is giving me the screaming heebie-jeebies: I’m picturing someone trying to open a bottle with the knife blade open like that. [shudder]
I’d have to disagree with the indestructability of Gerber multitools. The last one I owned had a blade snap off – they’re known for being brittle. I’ve had several friends with the same problem.
I reluctantly switched to a Leatherman – in my mind, Leatherman vs. Gerber is analogous to the Mac vs. PC debate. I didn’t want to be one of Leatherman people, who think their $#!+ don’t stink. However, I quickly fell in love with it. Very high quality tool.
That said, I did like the Gerber, and I really miss the little “shnick” sound when you flick your wrist to make the pliers come out.
Oh, and I really dig this little guy. I think I have to get one.
And a skeletool.
Really neat. If it were not for the fact that we, in the UK, are charged UK pound prices for US dollar prices, this would be a fine buy. Why should I pay UK£10 for what costs US$10? Someone is trying to rip off UK buyers. This is not restricted to this sort of item, but to practically everything from the US. Who is responsible – ripoff UK importers or ripoff US exporters?
Ah, a #11 X-Acto blade, familiar to every old-time print designer/artist…I wondered how they had been keeping busy since computer page layout took over from waxers, amberlith or rubylith, and cutting boards.
–Gretchen
“you might even be able to get it past the TSA by tossing away the blade before a flight.”
You’ve been able to take a 3″ blade on a plane since last year.
This thing is a piece-of-crap rip-off of Peter Atwood’s Prybaby® tools. Atwood tools are hard to get, so I can see the attraction, but it really is a complete plagiarism of an original design by a true artist.
I’m look at the product page, and I’m not sure you can you safely stow the blade on that, or is there always going to be a little bit of an exposed blade flush against the body of the tool?
I’ve personally been nicked by tool blades in ways that you wouldn’t consider likely.
I’m about to have a kid. I know Cory recently had one. So when I saw the name Gerber, I thought it was a geek tool for new parents. I never knew there was a Gerber Tool company. You learn something new every day.
Anyone know where to buy one of these that doesn’t charge almost as much for shipping as the tool itself?
Fred@5 – I’d have to disagree with the indestructability of Gerber multitools. The last one I owned had a blade snap off – they’re known for being brittle.
These are replacable, disposable, relatively cheap blades. Feel free to break them.
Buy one for the fourth-grader in YOUR life!
False, as far as I can tell:
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm
Gauchoamigo: And now that you’ve bumped Mr. Atwood’s publicity just a bit more, they’re going to be even harder to get ahold of. Thank. You. So. Much.
*SIGH*
…You kids realize what this is? It’s a Klingon Army Knife!
Buy one for the fourth-grader in YOUR life!
bardfinn@#15: I was at a show this past weekend, one vendor (Moore Cutlery) had a box full of Peter Atwood tools, many are now on their web site.
GauchoAmigo@#8, I disagree — this Gerber product, with the replaceable razor, is different enough from Atwood’s designs that it is more than “just” a ripoff.
That said, I bought a couple of Gary Moore’s Atwoods at the show, but will not be buying this Gerber.
I swung by REI on the way home from work and picked one up for $11.95. It’s nicely thought out – the Xacto blade locks open with a little tongue, like a liner lock, and has a stop halfway closed, so that you don’t snap it shut on a finger. The “titanium coating” seems to be Ti nitride. It is rather dense, being all steel. This makes it slightly less appealing as an addition to my keychain, but still plenty light to rattle around in a pocket. So it’s not exactly a threat to the Skeletool, but if scratch it all up, you won’t feel nearly as guilty.
I’ll be taking a trip down to Cabela’s with my dad soon and I’ll be on the look out. That place is so ginormous there has to be one in there (even if it is dropped by another customer).
A few Atwood tools are almost always available at Moore Cutlery.
http://knives.cx/store/product_info.php?products_id=1958&osCsid=1f774b61741df32625c38c47fa225129
I’ve got his funnybone, titanium gasbaby and nibble and they’re all awesome pieces of man jewelry.
#17: A Bat’leth… erman?
It certainly does resemble an Atwood PryBaby at a glance, but from the photos on this thread you can see how different it looks, especially on the back and with the Phillips head. I hope Peter “steals” some ideas from this. Maybe a Prybaby with a slot for an XActo blade and a blade carrier system.
Secret_Life_of_Plants: I’m buying one for the fourth grader in my head, even though I’ve just picked up a Skeletool not too long ago. You can never have too many things for one’s utility belt.
SAVE THE THUMBS. On BoingBoing’s recommendation, I bought one of these Gerber Artifact tools, and I love it. There’s one issue, however. The blade arm is difficult to swing out from its safety position for use. After two weeks of daily use, I learned the hard way and sliced my thumb to the bone trying to open it. As I type this, my thumb is hovering unused and bandaged over the keyboard. Since then, I think I’ve figured out a safe way to open the blade arm and I wanted to share it to try to spare the thumbs of others — use a coin to pry the blade arm out from its safety position. A quarter fits perfectly in the slot near the key chain loop on the tool. Stay safe.