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by Peter Brett - December 2006
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01444 440188
Perfect Christmas Presents?
I was sent two models for this review, the Gerber Suspension Multi-Plier and the Gerber Legend Multi-Plier 800.
The Suspension Multi-Plier is interestingly named because the inspiration for its metal openwork handles came from looking at the suspension bridges of Portland, Oregon, near the Gerber factory. Common sense says that if you want less weight, you leave it off, and this is exactly what has happened here. A really professional looking grey coating covers the handles and makes the whole product look a bit space age.
To open the tool, one simply folds the handles back over the pivot point, revealing the beautifully forged plier jaws. They have quite a pointed nose and a slim profile with a good wire cutting edge and gripping jaws. I tried cutting the inevitable wire coat hanger which always seems to be my answer when I want some emergency wire, and it cut like a dream.
The handles contain four tools each. In order that they don’t spring out when you least expect them, they are held by a spring-loaded locking slider. This is certainly effective in keeping the tools in place, but it takes a bit of getting used to to get certain of the blades out, in particular the knife blades. The button to push the blades out is too near the fulcrum, and as a result needs quite a lot of force to move it.
However, I did find that as I used these blades more often, they did become easier to move, as is often the case with ordinary penknives.
I have mentioned the two knife blades already, and they are deadly sharp as befits the Gerber tradition.
The one blade is a standard blade and the other is serrated, so all the angles are covered there. The other blades are:- a pair of scissors, a small saw, a can opener, a pair of straight screwdrivers and a Philips screwdriver. All pretty well expected on this type of multi-tool.
I commend the Gerber scissors because they actually work, unlike my old swiss multi-tool that balks at my fingernails. Gerber says that it will cut seatbelt material, and it does. I tried it on my 25 year old son’s booster seat because I don’t think he is going to need it any more. The scissors are quite small but they have a powerful return spring that enables them to work effectively.
The screwdrivers appeared to have hard enough tips to work effectively, and I managed to unscrew and screw up an electrical plug, some simple components in the engine compartment of my car and a couple of other household things. You can&Mac226; get away from the fact that they are never going to be as convenient to use as a normal screwdriver, neither are they going to be as ergonomic, but they do work, and they will make a good fist of an emergency situation.
Funnily enough, the can openers on these multi-tools often work very well, sometimes much better than the ordinary domestic ones. They do tend to leave a jagged edge on the tins that is highly dangerous so you have to watch out for your fingers. However, no self-respecting backwoodsman should be too worried about that.
I have never been entirely convinced about the need for a saw on a multi-tool, but this one, though small, is effective. It has a double row of very sharp blades that cut through dry and wet sticks up to 40mm diameter very easily.
What is really effective and shows the quality of the original design is that each individual tool can be used, locked in place, with a decent grip on the handle. There is never any danger to the user, provided he/she locks the blade in place and turns the handle back into its storage position.
The Gerber Legend 800 Multi-Plier is a big step up from the Suspension. For one thing, its quite a bit larger, with alloy handles inlaid with grippy rubber.
The pliers are much more substantial and the wire cutting edges have replaceable carbide edges to them.
They are clearly meant to be out of the ordinary. To finish the package off well, the Suspension comes in a ballistic nylon pouch that can be attached to your belt or kept in your pocket.
I found getting the blades out of the handle of this one very easy, perhaps someone else had been practising on it before me!
The balance of tools is almost completely different from the Suspension, being altogether more specialized. The main cutting blade is half serrated and half smooth, and is very sharp. In the same handle is a stubby philips screwdriver and a carbide toothed saw that will cut metal, ceramics and quite a lot of other things besides. This blade is replaceable, so that when it wears out you can get another one.
On the other handle, there are three sizes of straight screwdriver, a file and a can opener. As with the Suspension Multi-tool, these all worked well.
The nylon pouch that holds the 800 is a bit bigger and has a second pocket to hold the small hex key to enable changes and adjustments to be made to it. For example, changing the inserts in the wire cutters.
I liked these multi-tools for being fairly straightforward and practical. They didn’t try to fit in so many features that would simply confuse the issue and make the tool unwieldy and hard to use.
Perhaps the macho person in your life, male or female, would like one for Christmas.
Independent Review by Peter Brett
Airstream Communications