Gerber 1027824 Center-Drive Multi-Tool Silver

Product Information

The Leatherman Surge is another heavy duty multi tool that was designed to be the most rugged and dependable tool on the market. The Surge includes a full 21 different tools, all built to withstand any kind of abuse you can throw at them. It’s actually heavier than the Center Drive if you can believe it, coming in at a hefty 12.5 oz. Sheath / Holster / Pouch– Like many of their other top level tools Gerber offers a number of sheath options with the Center Drive. You can get it with no sheath, a standard nylon sheath, or a Berry compliant sheath for members of the U.S. armed forces. The pry bar is alright for its size but for a tool marketed at the construction trades you’d think they would have upped the strength a bit. The nail puller actually worked better than we expected. Most multi tool nail pullers are good enough for staples but don’t pull nails very well. Not so with the Center Drive. It was able to get underneath a standard nail and lever it up no problem. Arguably the most important piece of the Center Drive, the outside access bit driver on this tool is much longer and larger than on similar multi tools. It extends fully 3.2 in from the body of the Center Drive and has a curving shape to it that allows the bit to sit right on the axis of the tools body. This tool is definitely a bit beefier than the other tools on the list, and also focuses heavily on the military functions of the tools. We know that a lot of you guys are shooters and this is the perfect multitool to ensure that you never have issues when you’re shooting.

The Center Drive has space for one more bit and comes standard with a flathead screwdriver bit. So that’s a Phillips head and a flathead screwdriver bit carried on the Center Drive. Given the bit driver is one of the main tools and a feature, it would have been good for Gerber to have designed the capability to carry more than 2-bit types onboard. Spare Hex Bit Holder Replacement Parts– Gerber offers a 25 year warranty on all their multi tools. This covers any defects in materials or manufacturing but doesn’t cover damage from use. It’s a good warranty overall and Gerber stands by it. The Center-Drive is available in several configurations. MOLLE and Berry-Compliant sheaths are also available. Here’s a breakdown of the MSRPs (retail prices may be lower): Out of all of the multitools on this list, none of them come close to this one in terms of getting the feel of having actual tools in your hands. The fact that the knife blade and bit driver are so long and sturdy makes this feel amazing when you go to use it. The build quality of the rest of the product is no slouch either.Another good design decision by Gerber was to spring load the pliers. It’s especially useful in a tool that markets itself as being one-handed deployable. Let’s face it though, most multi-tool pliers aren’t spring-loaded and are perfectly usable. In fact, most full-sized pliers aren’t spring loaded either. Still, works well for this multi-tool. With the Center Drive Gerber tried to shake up the heavy duty multi tool market. From everything we’ve seen so far, they succeeded. The Center Drive is an odd looking tool there’s no getting around that. It also includes fewer tools than you would expect on a tool its size. The rest of the tools on the Center Drive are all contained in the interior of the handles. The bottle opener, pry bar, and nail puller are all made up of a single piece. The bottle opener works well in that it opens bottles. Here we would like to emphasize that in this case we used the basic version of the Center-Drive. There are also other models on the market with an additional bit set, or with other tools. One-handed opening pliers

In keeping with the rest of the tools on the Center Drive Gerber decided to go big with the knife blade. Made of 420HC stainless steel, the main blade on the Center Drive is a 3.25 in long straight blade that opens externally. This is a serious blade. It comes sharp from the factory and is large enough to replace your current folding knife without issue. The Gerber Center-Drive includes 12different tools: spring-loaded needle nose pliers w/ x-channel rail system, standard pliers, rotatable carbide wire cutters, 3.25″ 420HC fine edge blade, magnetic 3.25″ center-axis bit driver, extra bit holder, ruler, bottle opener, pry bar/nail puller, awl, fine & coarse sided file, and a serrated blade.You can also get it with the optional bit set.

Value

When you compare what Gerber is doing with the tools included in the Center-Drive, you begin to wonder how you ever used anything else. After trying out the driver we found it to work just about as well as a regular bit driver. You really notice the extra length when getting into those hard to reach places and the central bit orientation is a very nice feature. The only real downside we noticed was that holding the multi tool handles was still less comfortable than a round screwdriver handle. Bottle Opener, Pry Bar, Nail Puller, Awl, File, Lanyard Ring and Ruler What’s the much-hyped Center Drive bit driver like to use? For a multi-tool bit driver, it’s one of the best I’ve used. There are a few reasons for that. Because the bits themselves are full “3D” hex bits that you would see in a dedicated hex bit driver, I have more faith in being able to put a lot of torque into them. Also, the length of the driver’s arm and it’s center alignment does make it comfortable and natural in the hand. Finally, the bit holder is magnetized so the bits won’t drop out if you are up some scaffolding and you point the driver towards the ground. It’s a nice touch.

As the name might already suggest the special Center-Drive screwdriver is the highlight of the Gerber multi-tool. Until the Center-Drive was introduced using a bit holder was always a little awkward. The holder is namely not located in the middle of the axis of the tool, like with the Wave. Gerber came up with a solution: a long bit holder with a kink in it to make sure it will sit exactly on the axis of the multi-tool. As such tightening screws is a lot easier. The bit holder is also long and narrow to make sure you can also reach hard-to-reach places. This bit holder is made from standard 6 mm bits as you might have seen before on regular screwdrivers. The inside of the other handle only does one thing. It contains a holder for one hex tool bit. Flip it out and grab the flathead screwdriver hex bit out. Use-ability There was a lot of fanfare on the release of Gerber’s Center Drive multi-tool. Gerber themselves made a big deal about it being a revolutionary new type of multi-tool with one-handed opening and it’s long-handled hex bit driver. And so did the multi-tool enthusiast’s community who were keen to see whether Gerber could move the multi-tool design and functional game along. Could they build a great multi-tool that would convert some of us Multi-Tool MacGyvers away from our favorite Leatherman’s and Victorinox’s and some SOG fans as well?

With regards to features, It’s worth mentioning the other stuff this tool comes with: primarily, a very stout leather sheath which Gerber describes as “Berry Compliant.” For those not familiar, the Berry Amendment requires the US Department of Defense to spend money on domestically produced products. This is relevant since Gerber is a DOD supplier. Beyond the domestic certification, the sheath itself is very stout, using a button snap and rivet construction for durability. It has a very wide pass-through in the rear for a belt, and a built-in compartment in the front to stow the bit kit which comes with the Plus model. The bit kit carries twelve ¼” hex drive bits, and it comes with the following: #1/#3 cross bits, #1/#2 square bits, T10/T15 Torx bits, 5/32”, 7/32”, and ¼” flat bits, and 9/64”, 5/32” and 3/16” hex bits. Of course, since these are just standard ¼” drive hex bits you can customize the bits you carry in there as much as you want. Field Test The Pliers on the Center Drive use a unique design that combines the snub nose of regular pliers with the accessibility of needlenose pliers. Gerber claims this gives you the gripping strength of full size pliers with the ability to get into nooks and crannies. As far as we can tell these work pretty well. The shape seemed like more of a novelty at first but it does allow you to really grip down and apply torque. The MUT multitool features 16 different tools: needle nose pliers, regular pliers, premium replaceable wire cutters, premium replaceable hard-wire cutters, stranded-wire cutters, electrical crimper, 420HC combo knife, saw, replaceable cutting hook, hammer, bolt override tool, replaceable bronze carbon scraper, #8-32 cleaning rod/brush adapter, replaceable firearm disassembly punch, carabiner/bottle opener, and a large bit driver, and it weighs in at 11.2 ounces. For the past 6 years, I have carried around a number of different multitools and used them for every purpose under the sun. I personally carry around a Gerber Center Drive whenever I leave the house. It’s super useful, has a bunch of tools, and feels awesome in the hand. The 3 outside accessible tools on the Center Drive are what this multi-tool is all about. It’s these 3 tools that Gerber claims is where their innovation in multi-tools is. The main tool of most multi-tools are the pliers and in this case, the pliers are one-hand opening pliers. The pliers have a flat gripping section and a nut and bolt gripping section. The wire cutters are of the replaceable variety and have a notch for wire stripping.