- You are here:
- Home
- Knife Reviews
- Rive
OK, this really doesn’t fall into the traditional, mainstream “pliers-scissors-screwdriver” multi-tool category but it’s still a neat multi-tool so I thought I’d share it with you guys. It shows us that multi-tools can be of all shapes and sizes.
My father was a BIG tobacco smoker back in the 1970’s and 80’s. According to him, he would smoke cigarettes in the morning, a cigar for lunch and a pipe in the evening. He quit smoking in the late 1980’s and about 10 years ago, gave me an assortment of cigarette lighters, cigar cutters and pipe tools. I never really looked at them and always kept them in a cigar box but this past month, I rummaged through the box to see what I had. When I saw this neat little item, the first thing I thought was “cool, it’s like a mini multi-tool.”
The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) recently (circa 2007/2008) began issuing a customized version of the SOG PowerLock EOD Black Oxide to its troops. As far as I know, this is issued to ALL recruits entering Basic Military Training as P.E. (Personal Equipment), which means its yours to keep and not something you have to draw and return from your unit's Quartermaster. It can also be purchased from the SAF eMart (SAF equivalent of the PX) if you want it for about S$70, either using your own money or eMart credit. (eMart credit is a credit-only stipend for purchasing military equipment that gets worn out such as uniforms, boots, webbing, packs, etc).
What I've gathered so far is that this is an SOG PowerLock EOD Black Oxide (not the 2.0) that was procured by ST Logistics (Singapore Technologies Logistics) via Sheares Technologies Pte Ltd for the Singapore Armed Forces. Singapore Technologies is a publicly traded company that amongst other things, manufactures arms, ammunition, military vehicles, naval vessels for Singapore's military and for export. Sheares Technologies is a private company with a storefront that deals mainly with the gadgetry most of us are familiar with, such as tactical flashlights, knives, multi-tools, etc.
This is what the package comes with:
The KF4, though now retired, was introduced by Leatherman in 2001 with the launching the Juice line. It’s been released in “solar” yellow as well as “storm” grey. You’ll also see my customized beater in a few picks.
As far as the tools go, the KF4 tool list reads like a fully equipped large multi-tool, with the notable exceptions of scissors and can/bottle openers. Everything on this tool solidly snaps open with back springs like a slip joint pocketknife.
All opened:
Kobalt by Lowe’s Multitool Review
Nov 20 2008
Reason for purchase:
On the ever-present lookout for “the” tool that is perfect for all applications we once and a while comes up with issues that are unseen and another tool is necessary. It was about 2 years ago that I lent a brand new Surge to a co-worker that returned it in the most abusive manner by skidding it across the shop floor a total of about 50 feet. Then the search came to be to find the ultimate loaner tool and beater.
Fast-forward 1 year and while walking through Lowe’s I decided to look into the tool area to get a new SOG. Sitting on the shelf there was the Kobalt Multi tool. At a cost of about 15$ I decided that this would be a cool tool just to keep in the car for a beater, but found the thing to be a really useful implement.
The original Big Boy of Multitools the Leatherman Super Tool
The Super Tool was the third tool produced in the Leatherman Lineup and the first 4 and a half inch tool. The Super Tool was produced from 1994 through 2001 where it was replaced by the Leatherman Super Tool 200. Also of note is that some of the early models of the Super Tool as with the early PSTs lacked a hard wire notch. The Super Tool had a great run in it's 7 year run. This is a tough tool that was built for everyday heavy duty use and abuse.
The tools of it where also bigger and beefier than it's smaller counterpart (PST) and each tool locked. It included 18 listed tools. A clip-point knife, a serrated knife, needlenose pliers, regular pliers, wire cutters, hard-wire cutters, electric crimper, small, med, large screwdrivers, a phillips head screwdriver, wood/metal file,a saw, a wire stripper, a bottle opener, a can opener, 9 in / 22 cm ruler, and an awl.
This tool is a Bear and Son Cutlery Bear Jaws Electrician that has been rebranded by Crescent to a Toolzall Electrician Pro.
This is a 4 inch tool with a wire stipping head. The tools in it are as follow it has a serrated/plain blade combo, 2 straight screwdrivers, a phillips head screwdriver, a file, a saw, a can/bottle opener, a ruler and a lanyard ring (if you count that?) and all the tools lock and are outside opening which is a very good thing. The handles are also very comfortable to use when using the wire stripping head. Good solid tool with solid design.
Released last year, Gerber's Artifact got people's attention- probably more than Gerber was expecting initially at least. I first encountered it at the 2008 SHOT Show in Las Vegas, and was instantly taken with it.
Gerber's Shard model is the little brother to their Artifact, and despite being about half the weight of the Artifact , the Shard is only marginally less functional.
Let me just begin by stating that the SOG PowerAssist may well be the most sophisticated multitool ever made. High tech features abound. Every aspect of this tool is an evolutionary step up from the SOG’s that came before. No portion of the tool can be described as “ordinary.”
On top of that, the PowerAssist is an exceptionally high quality tool. Every individual component is perfectly formed, then given a bright high luster polish. Function is butter smooth without a slightest hint of a flaw. This is clearly the flagship of the SOG multitool line.
The Buck X-Tract hit the multitool scene last year and made quite a splash. Buck had wanted to break out of the mold and had designed a multitool that could be operated entirely by one hand. The tool has become quite popular and a lot of that is due to the fact that the knife blade plays a major factor in the tool rather than the pliers. This year Buck decided to give the fans a one-two punch with the X-Tract line, they released not just one but two new models. The Buck X-Tract LED is simply an X-Tract with an LED placed into the side of the thermoplastic handle. The LED is not real high intensity but works well for finding your way in the dark when no other light is available. I think the LED is more of a novel idea then convenience, a lot of us usually consider a built in electronic device makes for just one more thing to go wrong with the tool. The LED is a nice idea but it's not Buck's bread and butter, the other tool they released was called the FIN. Buck took their popular X-Tract model and aimed the design towards fishermen.
The SOG Powerlock has been out for quite a while and has remained the company's flagship. SOG is a company that is slow to make changes in their tool line. They feel that what they make is darn good and they make changes to their products when they feel the time is right. SOG took a second look at their very popular Powerlock model, made a list of all the pros and cons they have noticed over the years and decided to give this old gal a facelift. Some of the things that SOG focused on with this remodel were the gears that drive the compound leverage of the pliers, new locking system for the tools and the ability to keep their tools from clumping when finding the tool you need.
The first thing you notice when handling the Powerlock 2.0 is the new plier head. SOG worked on a collaboration effort with Paladin tools to create a multitool line for the telecom industry. Those tools became a testing ground for what would become the new Powerlock design.
Similar to it's more affordable cousins, the standard Skeletool and the yet to be released Freestyle, the Skeletool CX is the premium model in this particular line. It boasts the same features as the standard model, but with a few extra bonuses.
If ever there was the One Tool to Rule Them All, it’s Leatherman’s Pocket (or Personal) Survival Tool, affectionately known as the PST. This was the original Leatherman production model, and the source of inspiration for all current issue multitools, and the One Tool (see?) that was single handedly responsible for resurrecting a virtually extinct niche market and bringing it to the masses.
Another member of Leatherman’s Charge family, the Ti is now discontinued, along with it’s original titanium handled sibling, the XTi . While the XTi was replaced by the ALX model, the Ti was replaced by both the AL and TTi models.
What kind of people would write collect and review multitools? Quite simple really- we are designers and do-ers, outdoors types and indoor types, mechanics, doctors, problem solvers and problem makers. As such, we have, as a world spanning community, put every type, size and version of multitool, multifunction knife, pocket knife and all related products to every test we could manage in as many places and environments as there are.