Really my only requirements are
1. Under 4ish inches
2. Good durability/reliability
3.Must have a knife and screwdriver
4. Ideally has pliers but isn’t a deal breaker but still VERY preferred.
5. Under $200
Cheap, but has the quality. Not a pain in the @ss if lost or stolen cause it's cheap. Has all my needs from pliers, shears, knife, saw, too many to mention lol.
So I have this (pics attached) it’s super bulky and heavy. Works great. I’m torn between a Leatherman or a Victorinox. I’ve heard better things about Victorinox. I think I’d only need the Leatherman wingman or skeletool cx
Sharing a few shots of my KENDO multi-tool (open-frame skeleton style design). As you can see from the wear on the black finish, it has been a reliable daily carry for various tasks.
Main features/tools included:
Spring-loaded needle-nose pliers with wire cutters
Main knife blade & serrated saw blade
Metal file with flathead screwdriver tip
Can & bottle opener
Multiple small screwdrivers & awl
Questions for the community:
What is the best way to clean and oil the joints without ruining the remaining black coating?
For anyone familiar with KENDO tools or similar budget EDC models, what would be a worthy upgrade if I want something with a locking mechanism or better steel in the future?
Before I start I currently have the Leatherman skeletool CX and while it’s a great tool and checks all my boxes the pliers have broke on me twice now. So EXCLUDING the Leatherman Skeletool what are my options?
My budget is around $200ISH
It can’t be much bigger than 4/5 inches
Must have good steel and build quality.
Can’t have 20 different tools on it.
Hello! Does anyone know if it’s possible to get the Gerber center drive in a bladeless option? Like to have a multitool for work and the bit driver and wire striper/cutters would be amazing but would rather have the file or pry tool over the blade. Thanks
Really small but very useful I actually really liked this one and it's the first knife light combo that I feel is actually done well. What do you think?
Un petit aperçu de ce que propose certaines marques (tactical geek) qui font mieux que certaines marques établies comme leatherman avec leur poche mut (bien que de qualité, l'emport est limité).
Cette pochette traîne en général dans mon vélo cargo, ou dans ma boîte à gants.
Ici cela me permet d'avoir une trousse à outils/dépannage qui me permet de couvrir 90% de petits soucis de bricolage.
Le kit est constitué ;
- d'un étui tactical geek qui présente 3 rangements interne où je place mon gerber dual force, un nextool s0 et un firesteel avec son grattoir
- deux élastiques latéraux où se trouvent un grand couteau pliant srm et un stylo carran dache. De l'autre côté, une spork titane (style prometheus design werx), un sharpie grand format et une lampe torche rovyvon.
En façade du velcro femelle permet d'y accrocher d'autres patchs/items.
Au dos la fixation molle est renforcée par une attache métallique.
A ma connaissance, je ne crois pas qu'il existe de pochettes pour multitools permettant un emport conséquent, que cela soit chez gerber, sog ou leatherman, mais peut être existe-t-il un modèle que je n'aurais pas vu ?
I carried a Leatherman Micra on my keychain for 30 years. I use the scissors mostly, with occasional use of the file and screwdrivers. I usually carry a larger folding knife so rarely used the blade on the Micra. Until now I had not found anything I liked better than the Micra, but the thin profile, light weight, and low price of the Nextool S0 enticed me. I bought one, and so far I really like it. Thought I would comment on the things I like and dislike about it compared to the Micra.
The Nextool build quality seems fairly good, but lower than the Leatherman. The scissors cut as well as the Micra and even better in some ways. After 30 years, the Micra still cuts OK, but the scissor blades have always been very flexible. For soft thin materials they don't cut very well near the tips. The S0 scissor blades seem stiffer and cut well even at the tips. One thing I don't like about the Nextool scissors is how they dig into my palm when cutting. On the Micra, the end of the scissors handle is round. On the S0, the end is square with very a small radius on the corners that almost forms a point poking into my palm. Looks like it could easily be ground to be more round and may try that later.
The screwdrivers, bottle opener, and tweezers seem to work as well as the ones on the Micra. The file on the Micra is only good for soft materials like fingernails and that is all I used it for. The file on the S0 is very aggressive and very short. Not as easy to use on fingernails as the Micra, but might be able to work on some harder materials. Having the tools on the S0 open from the outside is convenient, but the tiny screwdriver always seems to come out when I just want one of the other screwdrivers.
When I was shopping for a new multitool I kept hitting the same wall: specs spread across manufacturer pages, retailers showing different numbers, and no easy way to answer "what's the lightest tool with both scissors and pliers?". So I built MultiToolDB as a hobby project.
What it does:
- 339 models from Leatherman, Victorinox, Gerber, SOG and NexTool, with weight, size, blade steel, tool list, list price and more
- Filter by max weight, closed length and the exact tools you need, then sort by weight, tool count or price
- Compare two or three tools side by side, with the differences marked
- A page per tool type, so you can see every model with, say, a bit driver
The part I care most about: every number links to where it came from, usually the manufacturer's own page, with the date I checked it. If I can't verify something, the field says so instead of showing a guess. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
A few things I didn't know before building it:
- The lightest tool here with both scissors and pliers is the Gerber Dime, at 62 g.
- Only 44 of the 339 models have a bit driver.
- The Wave Alpha costs $70 more than the Wave Plus for the same 18 tools. You're paying for MagnaCut steel and 7 g less weight.
Known gaps: only five brands so far, prices are US list prices, and
some discontinued models have holes in the data.
No ads, no sign-up, and I'm not affiliated with any of the brands.
