Gerber Crucial Multi-Tool, Black, Medium

Product Information

We’ve previously covered the Center Drive, you can get a more in depth look at it here. The Gerber Center Drive product picture Gerber went with an aggressive curve on the Crucial’s center line. We found it really uncomfortable to squeeze the handles when trying to turn a stubborn nut or hold onto something with weight. One side would always dig into the meaty part of your palm while the other just didn’t sit well. Overall not a great handle design for applying real torque. The wire cutters were another disappointing feature. Gerber describes them as “V-cut” wire cutters but they definitely weren’t as good as those on other multitools. They were designed to meet together rather than overlap but we found that they often had trouble getting through even mid gauge copper wire. Hard wire was just about impossible to cut through, especially given the uncomfortable handles. Knife Blade Users have been comparing Gerber Crucial with some of the existing market competitors. One major advantage that this product seems to have over others is the ease of usage. For instance, the blade can be accessed without using the other hand due to the presence of a well-placed thumb stud. Pliers can be used comfortably owing to the butterfly opening design. Some people have also found the bottle opener a great addition compared to other products.

Where buyers have been applauding the built quality of the product, there have been complaints regarding the design of individual tools. The screwdrivers are of fixed sizes and a bit fragile. The knife, while being sharp, is not blunt-edged. The small size of Crucial may be perfect for most, but people with large hands may find it difficult to operate. Meet the tough but light Crucial. With professional-grade components of precise needle nose pliers along with eight other carefully selected features, this everyday carry essential multi-tool belongs to the ever-diverse, ever-popular series of Gerber multi-tools. The Dime seems to give more than the Micra does. We found the Micra to have a sleeker appearance, better build quality, and generally more useful tools. This is especially true of the scissors. At keychain tool sizes scissors make more sense for a main tool. The Leatherman Micra product pictureThis exceptional product is equipped with almost every imaginable tool, organized and optimized for compact function

The precise assortment of tools provides compactness to Crucial. It comes with a butterfly opening design making it possible to fit multiple components in just a 3.6-inch body. A lot of people will say that Leatherman pays closer attention to detail, but Gerber still produces excellent tools. Many of their top products are still made right in Oregon by American manufacturing, something a lot of EDC enthusiasts prefer.

We think Gerber beats out Leatherman in this category. Folding knives are the companies bread and butter, they’re just more experienced that Leatherman and produced an overall better product. The Gerber Obsidian product picture The Gerber Crucial sits in an interesting position on the spectrum of multi tools. At 3.6 in long and just 5 oz, it’s a good bit smaller and lighter than full size tools. Despite this it’s still significantly larger than the keychain multi tools we’ve reviewed before. What it comes down to is that Gerber has a broader range of products that go from extremely entry level to top of the line. If you’ve only experienced their consumer focused stuff bought at Wal-Mart you’ll have a different opinion of them than if you’ve been using their multi hundred dollar products. What is great about Leatherman that Gerber doesn’t offer