Are multi-tools any good?

I am in the proper tool for the job / never used the multi-tool category.

Over time we have evolved to three tier tool storage on the boat
- immediate use - knife, pliers, scissors and two small screwdrivers in the top drawer by the chart table
- small toolbox easily accessible for next category of tools
- bigger toolbox unr a bunk - more hassle to get at but needed for large rarely used stuff
Personally I would not want to be carrying a knife / multi-tool around on a general basis. Probably not be an issue, but if plod does decide to take an interest they are likely to apply letter of law and not see boat ownership as a good reason to flex. And if/when start to get the wrong side of this sort of thing lots of others like employers etc suddenly seem rather inflexible and can suddenly escalate
 
Whilst I am all in favour of using the proper tool for the job, unfortunately my tools live in an out of the way way place most of the time. I've found having multi-tools (30yr old swiss army knife and 10yr old leatherman) to be really useful if kept handy.
At least it takes away the urge to put off doing something until I can be bothered to get toolbox out of the cave in which it normally lives...
Agree with earlier comments about buying good ones though - the cheap ones break easily and definitely don't get the job done.
 
To be fair, the Gerber Crucial is one of the cheapest multi-tools they make. Perhaps they use a lower grade metal on their cheaper models. Long since lost the receipt but one day I'll get in touch with Gerber and see if they can help.
 
Neil said:
I'm of the era when every small boy had a penknife in his pocket. As a boy scout We would wander around with a fixed blade knife on our belts. I never stopped carrying a folding knife in my pocket, despite the change in attitudes from lawmakers. After nearly severing a finger trying to cut a shim from plastic bottle with a non-locking SAK, I use a locking blade folder.

I've never been stopped and searched in 54 years of knife carrying, and as a 62 year old grandfather, I probably won't be. If I am, my position is that I'm carrying a tool, not an offensive weapon, on my way to the boat or going fishing or that I'd forgotten it was in my pocket after sailing or fishing. If they don't like it, they can prosecute, and I'll pay the consequences, but I see no great need to compromise.
Click to expand...

+ bluddy loads
 
They have their place and I don't think they're money wasted even if you just use the knife. Proper jobs do of course require proper tools but if you're doing small jobs on the fly as you notice them then a multitool can be invaluable. You do have to be aware though when a job is going to be too much for it though since it's easy to balls something up with one when the proper tool would have done no harm at all.
 
Whener I am with someone with a multitool, the enthusiasm with which they whip it out for minor tasks (bottle opening often) makes me think they are longing to to use it with few opertunities. I HAVE a corkscrew!
MD
 
dunedin said:
I am in the proper tool for the job / never used the multi-tool category.

Over time we have evolved to three tier tool storage on the boat
- immediate use - knife, pliers, scissors and two small screwdrivers in the top drawer by the chart table
- small toolbox easily accessible for next category of tools
- bigger toolbox unr a bunk - more hassle to get at but needed for large rarely used stuff
Click to expand...
Exactly the same here.

Personally I would not want to be carrying a knife / multi-tool around on a general basis. Probably not be an issue, but if plod does decide to take an interest they are likely to apply letter of law and not see boat ownership as a good reason to flex. And if/when start to get the wrong side of this sort of thing lots of others like employers etc suddenly seem rather inflexible and can suddenly escalate
Click to expand...
But differ here, I've carried a single blade folding knife (very flat, Wilkinson Sword, pruning style) in my trousers pocket for nearly sixty years. I would feel undressed without it and go into mourning if I ever lost it!
It gets sharpened about once a fortnight, so the curve on the blade is now somewhat diminished.
 
I don't worry excessively about the legalities, but am aware of the risk from a stupid plod. (An intelligent one would rightly feel my collar if I'm waving it around at closing time outside Weatherspoons, but not if it's in its pouch on my belt in Asda).

However it's a pet peeve and an excellent example of the "Something Must Be Done" type of legislation that never achieves its object and has all sorts of unintended consequences.

Beforehand, there was perfectly good offensive weapons legislation. An offensive weapon was anything made, adapted or intended for use as an offensive weapon and if you had one "without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, the proof whereof shall lie on him" (the carrier) you could get your collar felt.

It left room for commons sense and it worked, unlike the new law that means my safe penknife that locks open can't be in my pocket in any public place, so I have to carry the dangerous, non-locking one that will have my finger off if I'm not careful. A public place would include walking across the public foreshore from the club pontoon to the club bar. Under the old law I'd be fine with the locking one - unless I'm carrying it with a view to filleting the Commodore!
 
Stemar said:
However it's a pet peeve and an excellent example of the "Something Must Be Done" type of legislation that never achieves its object and has all sorts of unintended consequences.
Click to expand...

I know this is getting off topic (Sorry!), but an excellent case in point is the 2008 amendment banning the importation and sale of curved swords with a blade length of greater than 50 cm. It was then amended to exclude handmade swords or those made before 1954 (?), or those intended for religious purposes. (Was there someone running amok with a curved sword in 2007 or so?) In any event, while it might ban a cheap £50 stainless 'samurai' sword sold on eBay, it wouldn't stop anyone buying some massive pig-sticker, just so long as the blade was straight.......this sort of logic is difficult to understand.
 
Last edited:
So, hurrah, mostly agreed that aside from the weirdos who wear belts from which they carry the things, Leatherman type things are a bit rubbish.

IMHO esp rubbish cos of course if it's a present, well, when you lose it even worse than normal losing stuff.

Hence much better to have a present be something requiring low level of responsibility such as anything edible or drinkable. Otherwise face the present-givers unending dilemma twixt presents that range far and wide over the complex plane of Price v Usefulness v Beauty v Makes you look like a knob, where f(multitool) scores high values of M and disappointlingy low values of U.
 
Stemar said:
I … am aware of the risk from a stupid plod. (An intelligent one would rightly feel my collar if I'm waving it around at closing time outside Weatherspoons, but not if it's in its pouch on my belt in Asda).
Click to expand...
That's a perfectly valid position, if you're prepared to pay enough in taxes to ensure a policeman outside every busy pub at closing time.

In the UK, however, we have a bunch of coppers standing around in the busiest part of the high street at closing time on Friday and Saturday nights, running around dealing with incidents.

If you have a knife and you want to stab someone then they are bleeding, and quite possibly dead, before a policeman comes running.

Taking a knife off someone who's "waving it around" might be effective against braggadocios, but not against the kind of genuinely violent assholes who'd actually use one.

Stemar said:
However it's a pet peeve and an excellent example of the "Something Must Be Done" type of legislation that never achieves its object and has all sorts of unintended consequences.
Click to expand...
Except that crime in general, and knife crime specifically, has been falling for years.
 
prv said:
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
Click to expand...

Ditto.

I've had my Leatherman on Ambler for 5 years now.

I know where it is near the nav' desk but I also have an 'every day' box of tools not too far away sitting under the companionway way steps. I always go for the latter and cannot recall ever using the Leatherman.

So, a very useful piece of kit but possibly too large to carry daily on self, and not good enough to do the majority of jobs on the boat.

Car perhaps?

S.
 
I think on average about half of our crew have a leatherman or similar in a pouch on a belt. They're absolutely invaluable when racing, as anything that needs a tool needs one "RIGHT NOW" not after someone has gone below, dug out the toolbox and rummaged around for a bit. I'd guess one is used most times we go out, mainly as pliers on shackles, but sometimes as a knife to cut string pulled into a block or similar.

I do though entirely agree that when doing planned maintenance I don't use mine at all, as the purpose built tool is better. The only exception to that was when I needed 2 pairs of pliers at once...

On the carrying a knife thing... A few years ago when I worked for Sunsail as a skipper I was living in London, Brixton to be precise... Got home one night, no food in the fridge so wandered down to the high street for some takeaway. The plod did take a definite interest in the leatherman on my belt, and I think it was only the Sunsail logo on my shirt that convinced him not to take me in for a chat. He did warn me that if he saw me with it again he would arrest me though.
 
I had a switchblade purchased in France in the 70s that resided in my sailing trousers. razor sharp and instantly available if needed on deck. Never got challenged in 30 years plusas it was well out of sight probably covered by a snotty handkerchief, leathermen on belts are too obvious. I had a cheapo non -poser multitool in a holster strapped to a dorade vent protector on the coachroof for when a shackle opener was needed, it now it resides in the emergency grab bag. I gave the switch blade away to a sailing friend before we left the UK and now have a spring assisted opening lock knife, legal here in the USA where I could even get another switchblade if I so wished. My nails don't get as dirty these days however.:D .
 
I have a leatherman wave. Is it useful? Definitely. I use it a lot. The most used tools are the pliers, then scissors and then knife. Screw driver much less often.
I would suggest that you do get one

TS
 
I have a Leatherman Wave on my harness (that I wear all the time because I'm singlehanding) Use it often, and always in places where it would be difficult to search for the "right tool". For example the pliers are great to open a stuck piston hank when I'm at the bow. The knife to cut any line. The flat screwdriver to open the top of a winch when it sticks.

Important: Don't take your Leatherman right out of the box onto the water. Make sure to spray it with some oil (or WD40) and wipe it down well first. And then do this a couple of times a year. I was given my first Leatherman as a gift just before the Singlehanded Transpac and it was rusted solid by the time I got to Hawaii. I've had my second one in perfect condition for many years now. I just oil it once or twice a year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top