Gerber 01471 Suspension Butterfly Opening Multi-Plier with Sheath
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Gerber 01471 Suspension Butterfly Opening Multi-Plier with Sheath
Customer Review: Excellent Multi Tool Outstanding price
Summary: 5 Stars
First off I would like to say the nay sayers are horribly mistaken about this multi-tool. I have own 5 multi-tool/pocket knife combos and I have used many of the competitors products. From 2 Swiss Army knives, a Winchester multi-tool, and a Leatherman multi-tool. The Swiss Army knives are always too compact and never have enough features to be useful (PLUS THEY ARE ALWAYS STIFF and HARD TO OPEN), the Winchester looks nice but weighs over 1.5 lbs! (Plus the materials used are cheap), and the Leatherman was nice but the price high ($65!) and it was always slightly awkward. I purchased this Gerber on a whim looking for a good lightweight multi-function tool, that was easy to carry in my pocket, had a good amount of features, and a good match of qaulity/price.
The Gerber suspension butter fly multi-tool (yes a mouth full to say) is a great mixture of all of my wants. Lightweight under 10oz, great styling very sharp to look at, compact, and under $30! This tool honestly sums up all of my wants and needs in a product plus it hits the right price point for me. A solid grand slam in my opinion.
Pros:
Needle nose pliers (most multi's only have bulking large pliers)
Spring loaded jaws for pliers (No more messing around with opening and closing the tool while tightening/loosening things etc)
Locking system (great for keeping a fixed blade to cut/use screw driver attatchements)
Can opener (that works surprisingly well)
Light weight (No more bulky heavy multi's that feel like bricks)
Comfortable to hold (some tools never feel right in the hand but this one certainly does)
Saws (work well from boxes, to twine, to rope, to lightweight metal cable)
Usable phillips/flat head tools (good size for mid to large applications)
Cons
Size (may be a problem for some with very large hands)
Scissors (not very useful as they are tiny)
Blades Size (If they were another half inch they would be perfect)
Phillips/flat head tools (Do not fit small applications well can bore out the screws)
Customer Review: Excellent Tool
Summary: 5 Stars
This was given to me by my wife last year for Christmas. Since I've had it not a single day has passed that I haven't used it. By far the most best gift that year.Customer Review: Excellent tools for the buget price
Summary: 5 Stars
Pro: stong plier, sharp knife,good scissors.Not too heavy.
Con: saw is little shorter than expected. Finish is not as good as Swiss army's.
Customer Review: Feels solid, looks good, works wonderfully.
Summary: 5 Stars
I just received this Multi-tool. I bought the expansion Gerber 22-49445 10-Piece Tool Kit for about $8 more to go with it. This multi-tool has one feature that overshadows similar models that I have owned in the past: It is nearly impossible to pinch your hand or finger if the pliers slip off of the part you are holding/turning with them. I used to get a blood blister on my hand often when my Leatherman or older Gerber model slipped off of whatever I was turning. This Gerber model doesn't allow the handles to close enough to pinch your hand.
Two of the blades are easily extracted with one hand via the handy thumb nubs, but only for right-handed folks. I can do it left-handed, but only because the blade is less than two inches long. Overall, it fits well in my large hands. The main blades are not super long, but they are long enough for any use I would use them for. It doesn't intimidate my sheltered office co-workers the way my Gerber knife does, either.
Both items came with a nylon belt sheath. The tool kit sheath has room for my Gerber 22-48447 Paraframe II Knife from REI.com ($24.61 at amazon.com) in a second pocket behind the tool set. While wearing both on my belt, I hardly notice them or feel the weight.
As for the reviews of this product breaking during use, I have to wonder if those people are using it for the job it was intended? The first thing I learned about tools was to "use the right tool for the right job". Sure, it's a multi-tool, but the handles are meant to be used as a hammer and the pliers aren't going to be as strong as an actual pair of pliers. A multi-tool serves the purpose of saving me the trip to the tool box for those small one-off tasks during the day. If I'm building a house, I'll break out the real tools.
This may be my favorite tool purchase of the year.
Customer Review: Finally pulled the trigger!
Summary: 4 Stars
After having lost my G.S., I mulled-over whether or not I would buy another. Weeks went by. More research was done. Then, I decided to replace my G.S.....
...with a Leatherman Wave.
Mother's day 2010...
I cannot believe this. I used my Gerber Suspension to cut a straw in a restaurant and left the dang thing on the table. Called back to the restaurant to see if it was still there, and guess what... it wasn't.
I'm PISSED! It was an awesome field tool. Guess it's time to buy another ~ LOL.
(Several weeks before Mother's Day 2010...)
I've been researching like crazy to find the best multi-tool for ME, and I've chosen the Gerber Suspension. Here's why...
PRICE - Can't be beat unless you're buying it from Gweedo of the docks or off the back of a box-truck.
SAFETY - It seems that when safety is a primary concern for a product such as this, you must sacrifice a bit of utility and functionality. No problem. I'd rather have a shorter knife plus tools that lock in place than pinched palms and blood-blisters.
COMFORT - I've played around with Leatherman multi-tools, and they always leave this nagging feeling in my hand as if something's just not right. There simply is no comparison between handling the straight edges of Leatherman vs. the butterfly contour of the GS. The GS offers a far more ergonomic and "friendly" feel when being handled. Spring-loaded pliers on the GS also add to ease-of-use so I'm not using my middle finger as a "spring" as I would have with the Leatherman.
EXPANDABILITY - The $8 bit kit squelches complaints about the lackluster philips head screwdriver. This inexpensive kit also helps to extend one's reach father than the Leatherman's stubby drivers.
UTILITY - It's got everything a multi-tool needs. Though it would nice to have a file, I've found that the solution to this is to purchase a separate, small, flat file that fits in the case.
KNIFE - One of the more attractive features of the Leatherman (Wave, Surge, TTi) is the knife. Leatherman offers a beefy knife with THOSE models, but not-so with their other traditional models. Apples to apples between the GS and standard Leatherman multi-tools proves the GS blade to be comparable. If I need to perform hardcore cutting, I wouldn't use a multi-tool blade anyway. RULE NUMBER ONE with any tool is to use the RIGHT tool for the job...ESPECIALLY if it has a cutting edge. With this in mind, the GS's knife is spot-on for mundane tasks like cutting string, cardboard, rubber hoses, cloth, etc. If I'm sharpening a stick to make it into a spear, I'd rather use a bowie.
WEIGHT AND MECHANICAL - Nothing wrong here. Great weight. Rigid. Tool-draw stiffness wears off with use (as it should).
Now, the only reason I give it four stars instead of five is the fact nothing deserves five stars until I've used and abused it for more than six months. I would rather come back and post glowing highlights deserving of a five-star redux after I've applied the GS to some real-world situations.
So, would I ever recommend, say, a Leatherman Wave, over the Gerber Suspension? Maybe...as soon as Leatherman brings its price-point down to around $35, adds spring-loaded pliers, extends the reach of their bits, and does something about palm pinching. Otherwise, I think anyone who needs a medium-duty EDC multi-tool will be delighted with the GS.
Finally, there's that issue of the GS being made in China. It sucks that it's not American made, but I have nothing against Chinese people, nor do I care to apply politics to "toolism". At least being made in China allows American small business owners to afford the wholesale cost of this product and make some money to feed their American families when people buy it. The GS is still designed by American engineers who work at an American company.
Let's not complicate the issue, though. Does the GS do what it's supposed to do, offer better-than-expected performance, and do so at a great price-point? Yes. 'Nuff said.
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