Gerber Crucial Multi-Tool, Black, Medium

Product Information

Recently, fellow IFMGA mountain guide Jeff Dobronyi joined the review team. Jeff's busy outdoor lifestyle requires having the right tool for the job, whether that's repairing ski gear or mountain bike components in the field or doing repairs, or slicing food at home. The Style PS is a great little tool designed for frequent travelers and those who often find themselves in secured buildings. It doesn’t have any blade on it at all, just a small pair of scissors, tweezers, and a nail file. Compared to the Gerber Dime it has a lot less functionality but is still an excellent specialized tool. Going into this review we were a little worried the Crucial would be a solution to a question no one asked. Too dainty for real tasks but too heavy for the light duty work keychain tools usually face. Our biggest questions focused on how sturdy the build was, how effectively the smaller tools work, and whether or not it felt good in your hands. Many tools of smaller size have odd handle geometry or tools that just aren’t up to snuff. Let’s dig in and see how the Gerber Crucial holds up. Gerber Crucial Tools

If you’re looking for a reasonably good multi tool that’s lightweight and functional, the Gerber Crucial should be on your list. Simply put it’s too narrow to work effectively. You might as well use the flathead for phillips head screws as try to turn them with the cross driver. Unless you found a screw that was exactly the size of the cross driver it would frequently slip and scratch your screw head. Strap Cutter

Gerber Slim Everyday Multitool

The pliers, with their removable wire cutters, were a revelation. Having faced the annoyance of a small divot in my Curl’s cutters, the replaceable feature on the Wave Plus was nothing short of a blessing. The wire crimper just below the hinge of the plier handles proved to be a nifty addition, making wire crimping tasks a breeze. When you weigh the Crucial’s good and bad points you end up with a multi tool that’s adequate, nothing more and nothing less. Users have been comparing Gerber Crucial with some of the existing market competitors. One major advantage that this product seems to have over others is the ease of usage. For instance, the blade can be accessed without using the other hand due to the presence of a well-placed thumb stud. Pliers can be used comfortably owing to the butterfly opening design. Some people have also found the bottle opener a great addition compared to other products. Leatherman wins this one by a pretty big margin. The Crucial just doesn’t feel as put together as the Skeletool. The screwdrivers don’t work as well as the interchangeable bits on the Skeletool and both the pliers and knife are less useful. The final nail in the coffin was its odd shape. We found it to be much less comfortable to hold and use than the Leatherman Skeletool. The Leatherman Skeletool product picture There’s only a single knife blade on the Crucial, a 2.2 in combo blade with a rounded off point. It came from the factory reasonably sharp and was easy to put a new edge on but didn’t keep it for long. The steel seemed to be pretty soft compared to other multi tools and folding knives we’ve used before. As long as you don’t mind frequent sharpening it’s a functional blade at a reasonable size. Carabiner/Bottle Opener

This one mostly comes down to your own lifestyle. The Gerber Dime does have more tools than the Style PS but its general build quality doesn’t hold up as well. Some people will like the Dime more, but if you’re looking for a TSA friendly tool we definitely recommend the Style PS. The Leatherman Style product picture On receiving the Wave Plus, the first thing that caught my eye was its compact design. It’s only a tad heavier than the Curl but significantly lighter than the Surge, making it the perfect companion for my belt as I trail through rugged terrains. The 8-ounce mark indeed hits the sweet spot between utility and carry-ability, echoing my sentiment for a tool that’s there when I need it without being a burden. The Gerber Center Drive Plus displaces its non-Plus predecessor for this specialized award. The Plus takes all we liked about the original Center Drive and adds scissors and a larger blade, which we deem significant and worthy upgrades. The screwdriver configuration has a long extension and a handle ready for more torque. This award-winning Gerber centers the bit along the handle's long axis, vastly improving ergonomics and making it feel like a true, single-purpose screwdriver. The 12 bits that come with this model fit inside the included leather sheath along with the tool. The wire cutters were another disappointing feature. Gerber describes them as “V-cut” wire cutters but they definitely weren’t as good as those on other multitools. They were designed to meet together rather than overlap but we found that they often had trouble getting through even mid gauge copper wire. Hard wire was just about impossible to cut through, especially given the uncomfortable handles. Knife Blade Leatherman and Gerber are well-known manufacturers of multi-tools. Multi-tools are compact, versatile tools that combine various functions into a single device, making them useful for camping, hiking, and survival activities.The Leatherman Micra is just about the first keychain tool to hit the market. It has been continuously available since the mid 90’s and is one of the best tools of its kind. It has a pair of scissors rather than pliers for a main tool and includes things like a knife, attached tweezers, and screwdrivers. It has all metal construction similar to the the Gerber Dime but it just feels a bit better made. Founded in 1939, Gerber is one of the oldest companies involved in the manufacture of everyday household products. The company has now come up with a new tool to make life easier, or should we say ‘a lot’ easier. Keeping in view the difficulty in handling and carrying individual tools, Gerber has come up with Crucial. As the name suggests, it is a combination of several tools that can be used for a variety of purposes.