Wednesday 23 December 2015

Gerber Shard

Gerber may have made good stuff at one time. Now they, like so many other US firms, are little more than a marketing department with a warehouse. And all the Bare Grills branded stuff? I’m not even going to go there.

They tried their hand at a one piece multi-tool, the Artifact (that I don’t think is offered any more), which was panned across the board. Being a long time user and fan of the X-Acto #11 blade, I thought it looked intriguing. Never did get one, mainly because the reviews I read dissuaded me.

This little gadget however has received more favourable press.

It was originally released as a give-away at...SHOT Show I think....but not as something to sell to the public. When photos of it emerged, people started asking for it, but they steadfastly refused to sell it. Finally, after months of badgering by consumers, they relented. 
This gives a sense of the size. Some kind of stainless steel and a TiNi coating. Not super high tech, but it should be fine for this application.
A few different angles. A pry bar, nail puller, two different sized slot screw drivers, a bottle opener (that also makes for an okay O2 tank wrench in a pinch) and Phillips screw driver.
Not very big at all. 7 cm long (2¾") by 2.5 cm wide (1") and not even 3 mm thick (less than ⅛"). Weighs about 17 grams (0.6 oz.)
2 1" pieces of webbing and a 1" space between them, to give another sense of the size. And also demonstrates how the hole is big enough for a carabiner to fit.

Close ups.
I wouldn’t want to use this for an entire night of opening hundreds of bottles of beer, but for a bottle or two? Just fine.

And I also wouldn’t want to use the nail puller for a day of framing, or the pry bar for a whole day of renovating. But for one or two things? Sure. Like so many multi-tools, they’re not the ideal tool for the job, but compared to not having anything, they are a more than serviceable option.

I got it for $15 Cdn at a retail store. All in all, handy little gizmo. I like it.

Not sure if Gerber has entirely redeemed themselves with this, but it’s definitely not a total turd.
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2 comments:

  1. Ben Simon25 December 2015 at 01:43

    I eagerly picked up a Shard a few years ago. Unfortunately, I found the tool just didn't work for me.

    Instead, I use a P-51 can opener as a one piece multi-tool and find it to be a much better fit for my needs.

    But that's the great thing about these one piece tools - they're cheap to experiment with and you can find what works for yourself.

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    Replies
    1. Exploriment25 December 2015 at 09:18

      I haven’t gotten a lot of use out of it yet. I have gathered that it’s really too small to be really effective at some of the tasks it sets out to do, and it isn’t a shape to be that comfortable carried long term in a pocket.

      But you’re right. For the price, fun to play with and see if it suits. And if it doesn’t, perhaps I can pass it along to a friend to play around with and see if it suits them.

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