GERBER DIME MULTITOOL (review)

I don’t write about multitools anywhere near as much as I use them, which is almost everyday. 
Stuff about the house, opening boxes or fixing my bike.
For years I’ve had a little MICRA LEATHERMAN on my my keychain, it’s served me well but it didn’t have pliers and that my friend was the biggest reason for the change over to the;

GERBER DIME MULTITOOL… IT’S GOT PLIERS!!!

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TECH SPEC

Length: 4.25" | 10.8cm
Closed Length: 2.75" | 7cm
Weight: 2oz | 62.3g
Blade: 3Cr13 stainless

THE GERBER DIME A CLOSER LOOK 

The DIME follows the tried, tested lay-out that we’ve all come to know and love. Basically take a butterfly knife, replace the blade with a pair of pliers and there, you have it. But what really impresses me is the deign. Not nessisarlly the look and feel of the tool which is kind of cyber-punk animi chic but the individual tool designs and how the hell do the designers over at GERBER fit them all in?

FIRST TOOL LIST AT A GLANCE. 

• PLIERS 
• SCISSORS 
• LARGE FLAT HEAD SCREW DRIVER 
• SMALL FLAT HEAD SCREW DRIVER 
• NAIL FILE 
• METAL FILE 
• BULL NOSED BLADE 
• PACKAGE BLADE 
• BOTTLE OPENER 
• KEY CHAIN RING 
• TWEEZERS 

OK LETS START WITH THE PLIERS

The pliers jaws are about an 1.00" in length and starting right at tip, left and right jaws meet with precision when the pliers are closed. This first 0.16” is completely smooth and great for fixing fine jewellery that’s made of something soft and you don’t want to damage, re-shaping an earring or re-linking a snapped neckless for instance. They also work great for removing tiny fish hooks from the back of my hand but that’s another story.

Next down is a parallel and serrated section. When the jaws are closed there’s a very slight gap this is so the left and right jaws don’t damage each other when closed with pressure. When something can and needs to be gripped, this section of the jaw anatomy works well.

Next down is a small, serrated 0.38” diameter bar/pipe/wire grip.

Last-but-by-me-means-least are the shear wire cutters. These work nicely on fuse wire. I’ve also cut bike brake cables with them but I had to do this one strand at a time, it worked and the pliers are fine but I would only recommend this in an emergence.

For me a really nice feature is that these pliers are spring-loaded which means you can use them like chunky tweezers and in my experience makes them much easier to use, especially for really fiddly jobs essentially one handed which makes this pliers very, very useful indeed.

OTHER TOOLS

SCISSORS
The scissors are tiny being only 0.58" in length but really useful never-less.
Do you ski? well you know when you have to trim a passport photo to fit your ski pass?
Yep you’ll be super pleased you have them, when you have to do that and I’m not even kidding, that’s happened to me. Then the guy in the next seat asks if he can borrow them. Yep super useful.  They’re sprung loaded so it’s easy to use them one handed.

LARGE FLAT HEAD SCREW DRIVER
This is small, only 0.58" long and 0.28" wide and in my opinion only for emergency’s. I wouldn’t want to fix a shelve with this screw driver but a fuse? or to ping the lid off a small tin of paint? Have at it. When you need it, you’ll be glad it’s there.

 SMALL FLAT HEAD SCREW DRIVER 

(Doubles up as Phillips, Including file and nail file.) 

You could say this blade is four tools in one. At the tip there’s a small flat head screw driver but you can safely use it for Phillips heads as well, as long as screw heads are the right size. Either side of the blade are files. One is for nails and in my opinion is next to useless because the key chain ring gets in the way and the blade is short. The second is a metal file and because it’s on the other side, it’s much easier to use and I found it work well on finger mail too so that’s problem solved.

BULL NOSED BLADE. 

A multitool needs a blade even if it's only 1.38" in length and shaped like a mini Parang. It cuts well and its bull nosed profile makes it a bit more cop and security control friendly. It’s made from 3Cr13 stainless steel which is a good compromise between taking and holding a good edge and corrosion resistance.

PACKAGE BLADE
The GERBER DIME has a nice little box opener. I’m not super familiar with this tool so when I tell you that when I got the chance to use it for the first time, I just flicked it open, sliced that tap and opened that package. What I’am I trying to say? It’s easy to use, its guillotine blade doesn’t cut the packaging too deep so your gear inside doesn’t get damaged.

BOTTLE OPENER.
Probably the most used tool and the easiest as it’s on the outside the DIME doesn’t need opening before the bottle opener can be used and I for one think that’s great design. Simple is best especially toward the end of a great night.

KEY CHAIN RING.
The DIME wouldn’t be complete without a split ring for your keychain attachment. This is located at the end of the tool, next to the Bottle opener. I think this is a bit small and fiddly but I guess, due to the tiny size of the DIME this is understandable.

 

TWEEZERS.
So you think that’s it and just when you thought you had discovered all the tools in the tiny yet mighty little package, you find the tweezers stashed in little scabbard hidden in the handle scales. I really like this detail.

All the tools are stainless steel and the handle scales are textured aluminium, saving weight and creating grip.

MAINTENANCE ON A DIME
Apart from some cleaning and a bit of oil I don’t maintain my knives as much as I should, so bearing in mind I think this is something I should pay more attention to in the future, the GERBER looks like it’s strippable. It has Internal TORX head screws holding the DIME together. These are tiny and fiddly, as you’d expect give the size of this tool however they’re screws and not rivets so that’s all good by me. 

So it’s tiny and some of the tools are awkward to use but in an emergency you’re going to be pleased you have them awkward or not. But those pliers are very useful for real jobs of the right ilk I.E. Minuet fiddly delicate tasks but small as they are, they are real pliers that really work.

Small enough to hang around your neck, use as a zipper pull you could even stash it in your wallet at this size this weight and this minimal inconvenience you’ll forget you’re carrying it until you need it.

Find out more about the GERBER DIME MULTI TOOL visit - https://www.gerbergear.com

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GERBER DIME MULTITOOL