Are multi-tools any good?

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SimonFa

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A friend was recommending the Leatherman multi tool as a must have on the boat: http://www.multi-tool-store.co.uk/wave-t582?gclid=CNTr8bWi28gCFUS4GwodWRUDOQ

Its coming up to birthday time and Christmas and after 31 years of marriage presents are always difficult to think of so I thought I might ask for one and wondered if they are really worth it?

I normally have an old pare of snipe nose pliers and a couple of screwdrivers kicking about for emergencies and my tool kit is fairly easy to get to so I'm not sure if I'd get much use out of one.

Any satisfied users or those who think they wasted their money like to comment?

Thanks in advance,

Simon
 
They're the sort of thing that older people buy, thinking that they must be useful to have, then never use them. My late father-in-law developed a habit of often returning from shopping expeditions with a new torch. He had more torches than I've had hot dinners.
 
I got one for my 21st... use it all the time. Very handy thing to have around when half your tools end up in the wrong place (shed, boat, car...).
 
They are a nice thing to have engraved with your name.

I like them, particularly for the winter when doing all sorts of jobs and you don't want to climb back on board just to get a screwdriver for opening a tin of paint. I find the fine pliers most useful but don't lever with them or they will snap.

If you buy the expensive huge, heavy things you will not carry them in your pocket, as a matter of course, and it defeats the object. The 54 quid jobs are probably the best for portability.
 
They can be extremely useful in circumstances where you wouldn't have a toolbox. Offices, pubs, markets, out and about generally. During my brief stint in the Army most soldiers carried one on their belt, a habit I carried into civilian life for a number of years and it was regularly used. Everything from opening parcels to changing car lightbulbs to tightening the screws in wobbly chairs. As Doug says, the oversized ones are a poor choice as they're too big to have hanging on your trousers every day.

A well-found yacht is the one place they're less useful, as you're never more than a few metres from a toolbox.

Pete
 
In my experience, they're never as good as the right tool, but they tend to be in your pocket or on your belt when you see something that needs attention, so the little job gets done before it becomes a big one.

Just watch out for Plod. Most have fixed blades, so are illegal to carry in the street - forgetting to take it off to pop to the shop could get you a criminal record!
 
Stemar said:
Just watch out for Plod. Most have fixed blades, so are illegal to carry in the street - forgetting to take it off to pop to the shop could get you a criminal record!
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Which, of course, completely negates the whole point of a multitool (that you have it with you when unexpectedly needed) and explains why my post above is in the past tense :(

Pete
 
I keep a cheap one in my sailing dinghy. It's paid its £5 purchase price. The pliers will deal with dinghy stuff, but really not much use on a 45ft boat.
Save up for a serious stainless adjustable spanner and a good knife.
 
I have one that occasionally proves useful as well as a 23 function Swiss knife which is priceless ( first ever gift from Swmbo...)
 
prv said:
They can be extremely useful...

A well-found yacht is the one place they're less useful, as you're never more than a few metres from a toolbox.

Pete
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I have a comprehensive toolbox in the bilges forward. I also have a Multitool in it's pouch attached just inside the companionway. Even I am surprised at how often I use it rather than digging out the toolbox. Little jobs that take less time to actually do than get the tools out!!! Well worth it in my opinion.
 
I had a cheap Halford's multi-tool on my boat and it stayed in the doghouse when at sea and on the chart table when docked. Over 8 years it was by far the most used bit of kit on the boat. It was used by myself and crew for countless small and simple jobs which were often done much faster and simpler than looking for something from a toolbox. The more you use a multi-tool the better you know what gizmos it has that can be used for opening bottles of beer, cutting rope / electric cable, shackle tightening, screwing etc.
 
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