Anyone else guilty of not exactly, well, maximizing the use of their multitools?

Jack of all trades, master of none. :D

My Charge AL is a good example. If I'm using the 'tool' tools - pliers, screwdriver, file, ruler and scissors I'm unlikely to be needing both blades and a saw. If I'm using blades, can opener and saw I'm unlikely to be needing a screwdriver. I can see certain occupations where it all comes together but they're not all that widespread. As such having a 'workshop' tool and an 'outdoors' tool seems to make more sense, you're not carrying a bunch of weight that is rarely going to be used. If you're just tossing it into the car or boat then why not have either real tools or a more dedicated tool set for either. That and the tools being very much 'I can't reach the real stuff', especially the pliers (weak), saw (small), scissors (tiny) and flat screwdriver bits (very prone to stripping phillips and hex) mean that I'm not hugely convinced by the application of the concept. More task specific multitool tool sets would make more sense to me. There are some out there, I carried the Skeletool for a couple of years but again, the toolsets are not all that pleasant to use if you could get your hands on real tools.

That said I think SAK options are indeed better segregated by use case and small enough to make much more sense. If you need something bigger you should be using something bigger anyway. It's not trying to be something that it isn't.
 
I have a PST (got one for Christmas as a kid, still have it, got another as part of a work thing) I found it frustrating with the non-locking tools (esp the Phillips screwdriver - when it 'flips' as you try to apply pressure - :mad:)
Bought a Gerber 600 - also frustrating with the unwieldy size of the tools - you just couldn't get it into the right areas.
Finally bought a Rebar - locking tools and does what I ask of it very well. I've used pretty much every tool apart from the woodsaw. The metal saw is a bit 'meh'.
 
I
Wurger190 said:
I have a PST (got one for Christmas as a kid, still have it, got another as part of a work thing) I found it frustrating with the non-locking tools (esp the Phillips screwdriver - when it 'flips' as you try to apply pressure - :mad:)
Bought a Gerber 600 - also frustrating with the unwieldy size of the tools - you just couldn't get it into the right areas.
Finally bought a Rebar - locking tools and does what I ask of it very well. I've used pretty much every tool apart from the woodsaw. The metal saw is a bit 'meh'.
Click to expand...
I like the Rebar.

I own both Gerber and Leatherman MTs. The Gerber tools see more use.
 
I bought this Gerber multitool almost five years ago, it's been on my belt mostly ever since. I use almost all the tools on it, though some more often than others. Easily the EDC tool purchase of mine that has paid off the most.

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My multitool is a Micra. I carry a 4” Channellock which gets used a lot. I carry an SAK, but don’t use it much.
 
I'm a contractor and I can't tell you how many times a day I lean on my Leatherman. I bet I use every tool at least once every two weeks with the pliers, knife blade, and flat head/pry bar getting used the most.
 
For me, the reason I carry a multi-tool (Swisstool in my case) is not so much how often I use it, but more how handy it is when I need it. I use many of the tools fairly regularly, but depending on changes in my lifestyle I may go weeks without using it or I may use it every day for a month straight. That being said, the tool I've used the most often is probably the cap lifter ;). Also, the function I probably use the least on a multi-tool is the blade, with so many in my pocket at the ready.
 
I use the pliers, wire cutters, screwdrivers, scissors, and knife on a weekly basis I'd say. I'm the default IT/fix it guy in my office so I find the tools handy. I use the saws on a monthly basis. The bottle opener a few times a year. My wife and I don't drink and neither do most of our friends.

Better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it.
 
I carry a wave every day on my belt. Most of the functions I never use but the pliers, screwdriver, and bit driver I use pretty regularly and the knife comes in handy for something I don't want to use a good knife on, like cutting something off metal.

It just comes in handy enough, often enough, that I've carried it every day at work for a few years now.
 
I have an old leatherman supertool in the tool box in my truck, and a Gerber in my rangebag but neither of them gets used with much frequency.
 
I have small tool boxes in my cars and toolkits for my touring bicycles. Most of the traveling tools are compromises compared to the bench tools. I carry several SAK’s and a small pair of pliers, and they are often useful. If I am near my work benches, I much prefer sockets to slip jaws or box wrenches to adjustable Crescent wrenches.
 
DangerZone98 said:
Or perhaps you only really find yourself using just one or two functions, haha. They’re great to have in the pocket but I find that I don’t really use the super specific tools that often.
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Only thing I ever use on my Gerber is the pliers. I have used the saw a time or two and the driver with bits but almost always reach for a purpose built tool. In fact I would say that I could definitely do without the multitool in general. Which is why I still have only a 20 plus year old Gerber.
 
rhino said:
The only tools on my multitools that don't see regular use are the knife blades.
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I detect a common theme for many of us knife knuts , for not much using the knife blade on a MT .

We usually carry a better dedicated knife (or several ) most of the time that we prefer to use .

That said , I have two of the big RangerGrip SAK's that have perfectly good, nearly 4" knife blades . No reason they couldn't be used except habit .
 
one gets a plier tool because of the pliers.
and everything else is sorta secondary
and built around it.
when i first got into plier multi tools
i found the knife handy, and so was the file, the screw drivers
weren't perfect but great they were there.
yeah, so don't have much use for anything else.
theae days i've gone back to the leatherman minitool.
LEATHERMAN Mini-Tool, mit Nylon-Etui: Amazon.de: Sport & Freizeit


its a compact plier that i m after.
and with this classic, the hndle length
is cut in half. for full leverage it can
be extended into the full length of the
original pst.
and being minimalist serves my purpose.
verdict,, guilty of maximizing this multitool.
 
DocJD said:
I detect a common theme for many of us knife knuts , for not much using the knife blade on a MT .

We usually carry a better dedicated knife (or several ) most of the time that we prefer to use .

That said , I have two of the big RangerGrip SAK's that have perfectly good, nearly 4" knife blades . No reason they couldn't be used except habit .
Click to expand...
That's why I carry a bladeless multitool.
 
Use the Wave 2 as an extra set of pliers and use the file a lot but seldom use the other tools
With either of my skeletools, use the pliers and screwdriver a lot but seldom use the blade
 
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