Thoughts on the Gerber Artifact?

Tony8179

Tony8179

Joined
Feb 20, 2008
Messages
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For ten bucks I just don't think you can beat this little keychain. A prybar, bottle opener, hobby blade, phillips head, large, and small flatheads, plus three extra blades. I've had it on my keychain for about a week now and I love it and have used it everyday. I highly recommend this sweet little tool. Anyone else have any thoughts on it?
 
I was going to start a thread on this...ya beat me to it:D

I actually asked for one of these little jobbies for Christmas. I didn't end up getting one, so I picked up on at Target about a week ago. What a perfect little minimalist tool:thumbup:

Light enough to not weigh your pants down, straight and flat enough to ride nicely in a pocket (I keep mine in my fifth/watch pocket of my jeans), and useful enough to do everything I want in a tool. The nice thing is that you never have to worry about buggering up the blade since Xacto blades are so super cheap:D

I have used mine extensively over this past week. Numerous beer bottles were opened, a few philips screws were turned, and the biggest job went to the Xacto blade. I replaced about 8 ceiling tiles in my office that were water damaged. Some of them had to be cut. To further complicate things, they were the recessed style that require about 1/4" of the edge to be trimmed down so that they would fit correctly. Artifact to the rescue.

If my wife would have just listened and bought it for me, she probably would have earned some kudos for surprising useful gift of Christmas '08;)

Long story short, it is everything that is supposed to be and nothing more. If this small set of tools is what you need, then by all means...pick one up:) For ten bucks you can't go wrong.
 
I like the Gerber Artifact and have used the pry tool feature several times to pry icy muck from inside the rain gutters while standing atop a ladder. It performed well while chipping the ice from a frozen rural mailbox, too. Scraped mud from my boots after walking in my back field.

No fear of scraping, dirtying up, or abusing the $10 Artifact during these tasks versus using my multitool.

I haven't used the knife, bottle opener, or screwdriver features yet.
 
dttomcat said:
Anyone have a picture of this "Artifact"?
Click to expand...
01770blog.jpg
 
I use mine to complement my surge, adding pry-bar, good bottle opener (although I think a bic lighter is better) and disposable razor blade to my most functional multi. It fits nicely in the small front pocket of the nylon sheath.

Dave
 
Just picked one up today. Haven't used it yet but my initial impressions are "not bad for ten bucks". -DT
 
Took down a sheet rock wall today with just the Artifact. Just wanted to see if it could be done and it actually worked great. The prybar pulled nails out easily, the blade was able to get paint and whatnot out of screwheads, and then the phillips tip took out the few screws that were used instead of nails. Everyone should own an Artifact. I'm definitely going to pick up two more.
 
how secure is the blade "locked'' into the handle when closed?

Is the textured part on the knife "handle'' on both sides"?
 
Suerte said:
how secure is the blade "locked'' into the handle when closed?

Is the textured part on the knife "handle'' on both sides"?
Click to expand...

While I'm sure it varies from artifact to artifact, mine is very stiff to open. Pushing it out is pretty laborious and almost requires your other hand to steady the tool so that you don't slip and slide your thumb over the blade as it opens. It sounds worse that it really is. It might loosen up in time, but it should never get to the point where it opens in my pocket.

It is also important to note that there is a half stop when you open the blade to the 90 degree point. I'm not a huge fan of this, but it is what it is:p

The textured grippy part is only on one side of the blade. It serves as a way to thumb the knife out. the other side is where you gently pry the spring metal to the side to release the xacto blade when you change it.

I have to reiterate, this is a fantastic tool for 10 bucks. it really fills a niche that a full sized multi or ever a small SAK does not.:thumbup:
 
Great price, cool tool, easy to carry! I paid alot more for the "other" pry tools and this one gets it done for $10.00! I gave them out as Christmas presents and got great feedback from the recipeints too!
 
from all the talk I grabbed one and a Vic secretary for light carry days when I don't feel like packing a heavier knife.
 
I bought one for me and two for my brother. It seems really great... I just haven't carried it. I'm pretty sure it's in my bag somewhere.

I always have a knife in my pocket and a prybar on my keychain... add in the bottle opener at my desk at work, and all I'm missing is reaching for a SAK or Skeletool for the screwdriver.

If I were only carrying one thing, and it had to be small, the Artifact would be a good contestant. That's just not normally the case.
 
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