A multitool is one of those things that should be in every man’s drawer. From opening the notorious blister packs to popping the cap off a cold beer, the multitool is your best friend. Gerber have established themselves as being amongst the best of the best when it comes to tools, but you certainly pay a premium over the cheap plastic ones.
The Gerber Suspension Multitool is made from solid stainless steel and has a strong design that is clearly influenced from suspension bridges. Just to hold it in your hand, you get the impression that it’s clearly been well designed and that it’s going to survive quite a lot of heavy use. Included with the multitool is a matching nylon case which can be attached to a belt.
As well as the spring-loaded pliars and the wire cutters, the Gerber multitool has 8 components, each about 2 to 3 inches long, that slide out from the handles and lock in place when fully extended. These include: a knife and serrated knife, a saw, scissors, Phillips screwdriver, two flat-head screwdrivers and a can and bottle opener. The mechanism to release these tools is pretty straightforward and smooth and two little spring-loaded sliding toggles on each handle unlock them. They do require a bit of force to operate though, so you need to be very careful if you’re trying to collapse one of the sharper tools.
My only criticism of this multitool would be the scissors. Although they’re far better than the ones in any other multitool I’ve used, they do seem to suffer from the problem that plagues so many of these tools. They can sometimes get stuck and when the two blades are brought together, they can occasionally slip off the spring. Because of this, I am going to give this a rating of 4/5, although I can wholeheartedly recommend skipping over the cheaper ones and going straight for this. It’s well worth the extra money.