Carrying A Multi-Tool

[paulears]

Just before the Covid pandemic, I flew back to the UK from Berlin and discovered I still had my leatherman on my belt when it dug into me putting my seatbelt on! Somehow I had gone through security, with it under a fleece, and the beeping was me forgetting to take my watch off - and seeing be struggle to wiggle it off my thin wrist and big hands, the security guy waved me through. 

I had a bit of a panic - here I was on the airplane with a knife, and then wracking my brains to think if they x-rayed when you get off a plane? Would customs pick me and find it, and hand me over, should I own up to the cabin crew, should I transfer it to my laptop bag and plead ignorance - but then how did that get through security etc etc. In the end, I left it where it was, told nobody and tried to act normally, and if stopped, be as amazed as them.

 

I've never been so pleased to walk out into the sunlight in my life! Since then, I have actually stopped wearing it - and the Blackbelt Barrister's video convinced me further. I miss the thing, but the plane thing really scared me.

[Junior8]

Not ot do with blades but I have had reason to visit a government office recently and if you are similarly scheduled don't take a flask of boiling hot beverage with you in the bag. You may well be asked to take a quick sip  as you go through security. It is not the easiest thing in the world I can assure you. 

[Brian]

Multi-tools? What are they?

Oh yes, they're those things, usually over-priced, that are always the wrong tool for the wrong job. They're the thing with a wire stripper that leaves you with a mangled mess; a crosshead screwdriver that messes up your screw's head because it's Philips and all decent kit uses Posi; it the tiny flathead screwdriver that you can't actually use because the rest of the tool's body is too big to get into the confined space; it's the saw that, well, when was the last time you needed a saw with a 3" long cutting edge?

[gareth]

4 hours ago, Brian said:

those things ... that are always the wrong tool for the wrong job

The three 'rules of tools' :

1. Always use the right tool for the job.

2. The right tool for the job is always a hammer.

3. Any tool can be used as a hammer.

[Brian]

1 hour ago, gareth said:

3. Any tool can be used as a hammer.

Except, ironically, a multi-tool as they don't have enough mass to work as an effective hammer.

[themadhippy]

Quote

They're the thing with a wire stripper that leaves you with a mangled mess;

why bother with the stripper when theirs a perfectly good knife.

Even gets over the pozi/phillips/jis problem with interchangeable bits

[david.elsbury]

9 hours ago, Brian said:

, when was the last time you needed a saw with a 3" long cutting edge?

I’ll have you know that the saw on my Gerber was the perfect tool to open up locked conference rooms at a venue I used to work at. 😇😁🤣. There was no strike plate, and a big gap between the doors, so it was easy to insert a saw blade and lever the latch open. This was of course easier than finding a duty manager with a key… 

😇

 

 

[kerry davies]

I learned my lesson when I watched a young lad drive screws through a sign into 4 X 4 posts with a hammer.

"And what do you think the slot in the end is for?" I asked in my most supercilious voice.

"Taking them out." Quoth he.

Edited April 19, 2022 by kerry davies
SPAG

[Stuart91]

11 minutes ago, david.elsbury said:

 This was of course easier than finding a duty manager with a key… 

😇

There's a hotel I've worked in where a 5p piece works as an alternative to the lift key. Far quicker than trying to track somebody down. It seems to be common knowledge. 

[sunray]

1 hour ago, kerry davies said:

I learned my lesson when I watched a young lad drive screws through a sign into 4 X 4 posts with a hammer.

"And what do you think the slot in the end is for?" I asked in my most supercilious voice.

"Taking them out." Quoth he.

Well the correct tool is a screwdriver and technically a driver is a tool to pound something with ( pile driver, &golf club spring to mind). Therefore the correct tool for driving a screw in is a hammer.

One of the very old tool lists I saw in a museum sort of environment listed a "turnscrew", which is also a term an 80 year old dockyard worker used back in 1973.

[sunray]

11 hours ago, Brian said:

Multi-tools? What are they?

Oh yes, they're those things, usually over-priced, that are always the wrong tool for the wrong job. They're the thing with a wire stripper that leaves you with a mangled mess; a crosshead screwdriver that messes up your screw's head because it's Philips and all decent kit uses Posi; it the tiny flathead screwdriver that you can't actually use because the rest of the tool's body is too big to get into the confined space; it's the saw that, well, when was the last time you needed a saw with a 3" long cutting edge?

I completely agree with all of this. Over the years I've been given 2 as presents, the 2nd was a leatherman which sat in the shed until it was rusted into the pouch, I think the 1st was a Gerber and wore it for a short spell but I could never do anything with it. I didn't cry when it grew legs and ran away.

I've confiscated such tools from newbies before they f****d to many screws & nuts/bolts.

Edited April 19, 2022 by sunray
I'm finding there are as many Philips headed parts as Pozi these days.

[Ynot]

17 hours ago, kerry davies said:

I learned my lesson when I watched a young lad drive screws through a sign into 4 X 4 posts with a hammer.

Did you never see the pole erection guys fix the foot steps onto telegraph poles??
:)

[kerry davies]

I had gladly forgotten all about those things until now. The Polecat crews used to get newbies to try to put on a step with an adjustable spanner and they spent forever just trying to get them started. 

No good tickling them with an ordinary hammer either, it was a job for the 3 lb ball peen. 

[Bryson]

Now I need a video.

 

[kerry davies]

This is the rarer King version of the Simon Polecat PEU (pole erection unit) and is the only vid I can find so far showing a very brief shot of fitting a step. The modern contractors seem to erect the stick then send along a MEWP to fit the pole furniture. 

These two guys were probably instructors demonstrating new kit in 1965 which became standard in 66. Some still have to be dug in by hand using a rabbiting spade and post hole spoon.