“The Multi-Tool Continuum” by Nutnfancy

Posted on March 16th, 2010 by admin

MT Continuum: A toolkit in your pocket. That’s what the revolutionary original Leatherman Pocket Survival Tool (PST) by Tim Leatherman promised its users. In many ways it delivered just that. It was small, lightweight, and fairly capable. Today’s MTs are even better and have improved on the innovative and original Leatherman concept. It is a good feeling being able to save the day with a multi-tool that you’ve brought along and an MT in your system gives you piece of mind. Cutting, driving, filing, opening, driliing, reaming, prying, grabbing and many other capabilities are yours if you have your MT with you. Current designs, like my reference medium-duty Leatherman Charge series, can replace the EDC blade with their quickly accessed and well-designed blade options as well. And yet, amazingly, few people carry the MT with high percentage. That’s a shame because an MT can also offer key capabilities in emergency situations as well. But of course and as discussed here, the multi-tool or MT is still a compromise for the better capabilities of a full sized, purpose-built hand tools. Successive generations in the MT arms race have come closer to approximating the functionalities of these full size tools, all while maintaining the ever-important compact size, elegant design, and light weight that makes the MT useful and portable. Also Style should be a part of the functional design and but never its own pursuit if the MT is to remain true to its mission of functionality. “Design elegance” for me is the integration of compactness, versatility, ease of use, comfort, strength and durability into a compact and lighweight MT. Ingenius approaches to this goal in successive MT generations make MTs interesting, engaging, and fun to collect as well. But a standardized methodology for their comparision and evaluation should be given. Set forth in this video are Nutnfancys categorical breakdowns of MTs for review purposes: Ultralight (2 oz or less), Light (2 to 5 oz), Medium (5 to 10 oz), and Heavy Duty (10 or more oz) multi-tools. These categories are weight-based since standardized size comparisons are more difficult to achieve. The smallest tools will provide some key functionalities but as the user accepts more weight and size, capabilities will increase (remaining true to my concept of “Firepower vs Mobility” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z50PFup95F8). And each user approaches the tool evaluation differently base on his or her needs related to their activities; some need the pliers more, some the knife, some the scissors, some the belt cutter, and some the bit drivers. As a reviewer I approach an MT review from my own perspective and experience but include these considerations while occasionally using in or adjacent category comparisons for interest. Current MTs options such as Leatherman, SwissTool, Gerber, and SOG serve prepared individuals every day with their already impressive capabilities. As long as the designers stay true to concepts of lightweight, compactness, and design elegance future MTs could even be better. /////////////////// Music: http://www.archive.org/details/Torley_Wong_-_The_Final_Selection).

Duration : 0:40:23


[youtube JSmgwFmwrdQ]

25 Responses

  1. jotayoch Says:

    Thats alot of MT …
    Thats alot of MT you have there nut its great i love them all man. I need to invest in one i need to use them almost everyday. getting one soon man! Thanks for the video nut it helps!

  2. kahkistarfish Says:

    i kept laughing …
    i kept laughing when he said longer shaft

  3. nathan1611 Says:

    My favorite nutn …
    My favorite nutn video by far. Great job sir.

  4. hewittdj1 Says:

    First multitool i …
    First multitool i ever owned i found on the ground, on a cf base, it was a black gerber issue tool that was all seized up because it had been sitting there all winter, i found it but another guy tried to take it but i got it in the end. It served me well.

  5. armypenguin Says:

    1992 I was born …
    1992 I was born then.

  6. nutnfancy Says:

    Yes I do, and as …
    Yes I do, and as groarty mentioned it was in the vid. Thanks.

  7. groarty Says:

    @jblucchi2 What …
    @jblucchi2 What video were you watching? Leatherman Charge al was a feature thoughout the vid.

  8. jblucchi2 Says:

    Nutnfancy do you …
    Nutnfancy do you have the letherman charge alx? If not it is an amazing tool that you should buy

  9. toshibavoodoo Says:

    grat
    grat

  10. shootingsportspro Says:

    Great video! This …
    Great video! This helped a lot when deciding on a multitool.

  11. Rschaden Says:

    I bought a juice s2 …
    I bought a juice s2 and love it. One problem. When i use my fingernail to open one of the flat head screw drivers; It digs/jabs into the top of my thumb (its like an annoying hurt) You just have to watch how you open the flat heads. Other than that. I use it at work to torch off melted plastic from parts such as washers, screws etc. It distributes heat very nicely. You can sit there and torch the needle nose and the metal in your hand won’t even get hot. Fantastic!!!!

  12. tekknorat Says:

    Better to have as …
    Better to have as much different tools as possible.

  13. TheYTViolation Says:

    True, but where I …
    True, but where I said “You name it” was meant to cover anything that the file could work on, including knife/axe/saw. Shaving metal covers sharpening, anyway. I wouldn’t buy or not buy a multi-tool based on if it had a file, but in an emergency…… might not be bad to have that option.

  14. tekknorat Says:

    Sir, You forgot …
    Sir, You forgot knife/axe/saw sharpening option (not all files can but some can do that)

  15. TheYTViolation Says:

    Lots of reasons… …
    Lots of reasons…
    File a burr, a hook, shave down some metal, plastic or wood for some reason.
    You name it.

  16. 817riverparkmusic Says:

    why would you need …
    why would you need a file

  17. Resistoon Says:

    Amalgamating – To …
    Amalgamating – To combine into a unified or integrated whole.

  18. GoldenColts Says:

    hay nutnfancy why …
    hay nutnfancy why do you disable ratings on all of your older vids

  19. PatriotEke Says:

    I have one of the …
    I have one of the original Gerber multi-tools. It is over 10 years old. I’ve used it as a hammer and beaten the crap out of it, and it is still not broken and fully functional. It has never been replaced because I don’t need a replacement. I’m not sure if the new ones are built so well, but I love the one I have!

  20. mamonas31 Says:

    ha ha i am a bad …
    ha ha i am a bad guy and i just saw your gear review mu-ha-ha

  21. apelsinas69 Says:

    respect fot that …
    respect fot that video men,many thanks

  22. Nighthawk961 Says:

    Could you do a …
    Could you do a video on ALL of your multi tools? That would be cool.

  23. nutnfancy Says:

    “… my general …
    “… my general MT’s tend to be the ultralights – Squirt P4, Gerber Artifact (Does that count?), Swiss Army Knives, Utilikey etc…but I’m not too impressed with weight / performance ratio.,,Keep up the good work Nutn” Yes the Ultralights and Light Duty MTs are our most used b. we most often have them with us. Utility suffers as you note however. My fav is still the Juice S2. Thanks for the good comment (so many on this video!).

  24. nutnfancy Says:

    “what do u think of …
    “what do u think of the leatherman core” Good HD MT and strong. Watch my just-posted LM SuperTool 300 vid for some info on it. The Core isn’t any lighter than the ST 300 and has an inferior plier head, rest is the same. I’d prefer the ST 300.

  25. nutnfancy Says:

    “these videos are …
    “these videos are so awesome… I’ve been using these videos as awesome references. Now I’m addicted in collecting the stuff nutnfancy reviews!” Thanks dude for saying so and truly one of my main purposes is to be a buyers’ advocate and hopefully good information source on all this cool stuff. It’s fun discussing and collecting too! Very grateful to all the good dudes who chime in here, peace.

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