 |
OK, I promise, this is the last multi-tool we'll review (at least for a while). I just couldn't resist checking out the Swiss Army Swiss Tool. After all, Victorinox invented the all-purpose, million-gizmos-in-one tool concept with the original Swiss Army Knife. When I was a camping/hiking-obsessed teen (actually my friends and I mainly used "going camping" as a way to get out of the house so we could go boozin' and chasing girls, but that's another story), I loved my collection of Swiss Army Knives. Everything seemed so well thought out, so gosh-darn useful. When I heard that Victorinox had a multi-tool, I expected it to live up to this fine tradition. The Swiss Tool was even designed by Charles Elsener, inventor of the Swiss Army Knife! The Swiss Tool is large! And heavy! That's the first two things you'll notice after taking it out of the box. At 4-1/2" x 1-5/16" x 5/8" and 9.80 ounces, the Swiss Tool is the biggest and heaviest multi-tool on the market. I thought the Wave (at 8.0 ounces) was too hefty, so the Swiss Tool is several tokes over the line.
In terms of tools, you don't *really* get much more than the Leatherman Wave (and no scissors!). The Swiss Tool claims a whopping twenty three tools:
Twenty three tools sounds like a lot, but some of them are little more than hype and some are little (if ever) used. The "electrical crimper" is nothing more than two flat surfaces on the back of the plier's jaw pivot where you can smash electrical connectors together. That's like adding "hammer" to the list 'cause you can use the side of the plier head to whack the crap out of stuff. The "wire bender" is nothing more than a notch on the side of the bottle opener. The "crate opener" is the same tool as the 7.5mm screw driver. Hey, let's see how many other tools we can call it: Paint can pryer, stuck drawer opener, Lexus door scratcher, coffee stirrer... Some things I really like about the Swiss Tool:
Besides the size, weight, and lack of scissors, there are several things I don't like about the Swiss Tool. The needlenose pliers are crap. They are much wider than on a Leatherman and shorter. Too short. The pliers also have this obnoxious pivot where the handles pull out at an angle. This is to allow the two handles to lock perpendicular to the plier head so that you can use the handle edge as a ruler. The ruler may be worth it for some, but not for me. I want pliers where the handle doesn't splay out when opening the jaws. My brother-in-law, a tools salesman, looked at this and said: "Oh no. That will *never* do." Agreed. One of the goofiest things about the tool is that the edges on the Phillips screw driver have been ground round. What the hell were they thinking!? You want as much grip in the screw head as possible. Smooth edges on the driver head can lead to slippage. Compounding the problem is an extra long driver that extends 2" from the handle. This makes for an awkward grip. Equally clueless is that the wood saw teeth do not extend to the tip the blade, nor does the metal file extend to the tip. Another minor quibble is that the ballistic nylon case uses a snap closure. It's really hard to snap shut when the tool is out of the case, and if it's not closed, the snap rattles around. The velcro used on other multi-tools makes more sense. The snap might fit in with the army image of the company, but it's an inferior technology. I wanted to like the Swiss Tool, but I just don't. They made too many bad design decisions. They were smart enough to answer some of the needs of multi-tool users (outside access to tools), but failed to capitalize on others (one-handed opening). If you're not put off by the size and weight, you might consider the Swiss Tool (it is $20 less than the Wave, after all). If you're planning on using it for computer/electronics work, however, the needlenose pliers are not likely to meet your needs. - Gareth Branwyn [8/7/98] Other multi-tools reviewed on Street Tech:
|
