Key Ring Multi-tool

This month I wanted to look at different options for one piece pocket tools to put on my key ring. I already carry a bottle opener on it, but if I could find a tool that had a bottle opener along with other tools, I could reduce the number of items I carried. As I started researching tools to carry I discovered there is a wide range on quality and prices. I decided to start by looking at tools below $10. The two that I picked based on pictures and other reviews were the Gerber Shard and the Nite Ize doohicKey. I decided to carry each tool for a week, attempt to use all the features of each, and compare them. We’re also going to give away one of the tools to our readers (the rules for the give-away will be at the end of the article). This give-away also is going to start a series of giveaways. We’re hoping to do a giveaway every month or two for at least two years. What we give away will depend on what we are either able to purchase or what we’re able to have donated to us.

The first tool carried was the Nite Ize doohicKey.

It was purchased on Amazon for $6.80. It listed tools are ruler, wrench, carabiner clip, bottle opener, box cutter, and flat head screw driver. The box opener work really well for taped packages and isn’t sharp. I used it open a couple of different packages and it was nice not fouling up my knife with tape. The bottle opener works, but it isn’t the best keychain bottle opener I’ve had. Generally it took 3 tries to get a lid off the bottle. I tried the wrench out on a couple of nuts and it seemed to work well. All the nuts were 5/16”. The screwdriver worked, but not as well as the wrench.
 The screwdriver needed to either be thicker or made for smaller screws. While I was able to use it to remove screws from a license plate on a car, it rounded off the screwdriver. The screwdriver was a bit large to use for removing screws from a computer. The other thing to consider in this review is that this tool really is an emergency tool for when you do not have the proper tool. Based on performance and the fit of the tool in my pocket, I would continue to carry and use this tool while I search for a better performing one-piece multi tool. The biggest negative that I had for this tool is that it was made in China. I would prefer a tool made in the USA. There are similar tools made in the USA, but they all seem to start out in the range of $60. One other improvement I would like to see is having the corners of the tool rounded off. While some corners are rounded, there are more corners that should be rounded.

The second tool I carried was the Gerber Shard.

It was purchased on Amazon for $5.99. The tools listed for it were bottle opener, pry bar, and Phillips head screwdriver. The pry bar can be used as a flat head screwdriver. The Gerber felt more solid than the Nite Ize doohicKey, and the black coating was well liked by the people to whom I showed the tool. I was pretty excited about trying the tool out, especially the pry tool. I went to put the Shard on my key ring and found it did not go one easily. This was due to the carry hole of the tool being place more towards the center of the tool and the thickness of the tool. I ended up carrying the tool in my pocket. The shape and contours of the tool made the tool wear on my pockets and was generally uncomfortable. The Phillips head screwdriver did not work on any screws that I tried. Gerber tried keeping a flat profile at the screwdriver and this made the screwdriver much thicker on one side than the other, which made it not fit screws well. The Phillips head screwdriver did succeed in stabbing me through my pocket. The bottle opener worked better than the Nite Ize, but why carry a tool for a single feature? There are better single feature bottle openers available. This tool was also made in China – just another negative for this tool. While I was able to dismiss some of the short comings of the Nite Ize by classifying it as an emergency tool for when the proper tool isn’t available, the Gerber Shard features do not even work in an emergency. If one can be obtained for free, it isn’t a bad thing to throw in a glove box in a car in order to have a pry tool or bottle opener available, but the screwdriver is worthless. The tool is not worth $5.99 and I wouldn’t carry in an EDC pack as it would just take up space and rarely be put to use.

It looks like I’ll keep searching for an inexpensive one-piece multi tool for my key ring. The Nite Ize isn’t bad, but I prefer to get something made in the US. I’ll expand my search and look at tools up to $20.

As promised we’re giving away the tools used for this review. In order to enter our drawing, you must subscribe to our blog (Which means you’ll probably have to get a Google+ account) and leave a comment on this article. Leave only one comment and the order that comments are received will represent your entry number. We’ll use a random number generator to determine which number wins (In this case both the Nite Ize and the Gerber will be given away and so two random numbers will be generated). The first number generated will get the Nite Ize and second will get the Gerber Shard. Any comments left without subscribing to the blog will be thrown out. Anyone leaving multiple comments will have all entries thrown out. You can enter this drawing through Monday August 11, 2014 at 11:59:59 pm CST. We won’t ship out the US for this drawing.