- Joined
- Apr 6, 2005
- Messages
- 3,930
Gerber Recoil Review
Oh ya its a long one. Not sure if anyone cares but here is the story of my Gerber Recoil. One of the reasons I wrote this is that my multi-tools get longer tours of duty then my knives do and so I really get to know them better. I change knives like twice a week but the multi-tools stick around at least 6 months. So for whats its worth this is how it happened that I have one and how I feel about it now.
Being a knife nut and an all around collector of cool gadgets I was intrigued by the Gerber Recoil right from the start. A local retail store had them in the camping section and so while the wife would shop for the important stuff I would wander the store aimlessly but I would always make my way back to the camping section to drool over the tools. I was able to resist for a while, mostly because of the Leatherman on my belt not to mention the fact that I always had a new knife coming and my dear wife, tolerant as she is of my madness, has her limits.
Well of course I finally gave in and decided to buy one. So one day when the wife was headed to the store with my oldest son I gave him the orders bring me the Gerber Recoil. As I sat in eager anticipation of their return I imagined pulling it out and snapping it open to the amazement and envy of all. Way too cool.
They return and report that the store no longer carries the Recoil. Hmm seems I waited to long. Oh well, it was about time I visited my local knife shop anyway. My main knife pusher man Jerry orders me one and it goes on my belt replacing my Leatherman Wave as my multi-tool edc. There. Background done.
Been about...umm...eight months or so now and I have some thoughts about this tool as I ready myself to lay this to rest and adopt a new muti-tool. I dont think Ill be giving many first impressions because its been a long time since I got it and I have the memory of a goldfish.
First off, the coolness factor was there right from the get and I did get some ooohs and ahhhs from the guys. That of course that only lasts until all your friends have seen it once or twice. I thought about getting new friends but who has that kind of time so it was on to the day to day carry and thats where Ill stay from now on. By the way, you are the very model of patience if you have read this far.
Without further ado.
The sheath. Wow do I hate the sheath. It is a nylon shapeless blob on my belt that sits crooked and it collapses when I pull the tool out which makes it hard to get the tool back in. It amazes me how loud the Velcro is even now that it has lost most of its grip. It just doesn't make sense. It sounds like a room full of two year olds tying their shoes.
On to the tool itself.
Opening is fast and easy. Just slide the safety to the fire position and push the button. Very satisfying snap and you are ready to go. After all this time it still has a nice hard snap and the pliers have held up to much abuse including prying my van door open enough to get a wire hanger in when I locked my keys in a few weeks ago.
I do have a problem with the relatively small opening width of the jaws. More times that I care to remember Ive opened it and then closed it right away when I realized that it was to small for the job. More my fault for thinking I am carrying a bigger multi-tool which of course makes me think I want to carry a bigger multi-tool.
Not a big fan of the spring loaded handles either. I mean they sound like a good idea but in practice it just feels like they are fighting against you.
The only other issue with the pliers is that sometimes it does not lock in the open position because I didnt have the handles all the way apart. You try to grab something and they slide right back from whence they came. Easy enough to just open your hand and let them lock but it is annoying.
The scissors are rather weak. They are ok for cutting paper but dont try to cut a tag off your shirt or anything. It just wont work unless you go thread by thread and again, who has that kind of time.
The knife has been useless to me. I do like the blade shape but it is way too hard to get out. They made the pliers one handed and the blade two handed. Go figure. It does has a cutout to use as a thumb hold for one hand opening but unless your hands are made of 9oz leather there is no way you can one-hand it. Its simply to tight. Not that I would reach for my multi-tool for its knife blade anyway. I think they should skip the blade for us knife guys and give us another tool in that slot.
The flat head screwdriver is ok but the phillips is just to narrow and slips out most of the time. The other problem is that the arm that these drivers are on quickly branch out into other tools making it impossible to slip them into tight spots.
The locks functioned well and never let me down and there has been no rusting anywhere.
Conclusion
The tool selection is limited because the auto opening device takes up a lot of room. This is the tradeoff that just doesnt payoff to me. All that wasted space in this big old tool just so I can open it fast and feel cool? I think not. For the size and weight Ill take more tools.
Oh ya its a long one. Not sure if anyone cares but here is the story of my Gerber Recoil. One of the reasons I wrote this is that my multi-tools get longer tours of duty then my knives do and so I really get to know them better. I change knives like twice a week but the multi-tools stick around at least 6 months. So for whats its worth this is how it happened that I have one and how I feel about it now.
Being a knife nut and an all around collector of cool gadgets I was intrigued by the Gerber Recoil right from the start. A local retail store had them in the camping section and so while the wife would shop for the important stuff I would wander the store aimlessly but I would always make my way back to the camping section to drool over the tools. I was able to resist for a while, mostly because of the Leatherman on my belt not to mention the fact that I always had a new knife coming and my dear wife, tolerant as she is of my madness, has her limits.
Well of course I finally gave in and decided to buy one. So one day when the wife was headed to the store with my oldest son I gave him the orders bring me the Gerber Recoil. As I sat in eager anticipation of their return I imagined pulling it out and snapping it open to the amazement and envy of all. Way too cool.
They return and report that the store no longer carries the Recoil. Hmm seems I waited to long. Oh well, it was about time I visited my local knife shop anyway. My main knife pusher man Jerry orders me one and it goes on my belt replacing my Leatherman Wave as my multi-tool edc. There. Background done.
Been about...umm...eight months or so now and I have some thoughts about this tool as I ready myself to lay this to rest and adopt a new muti-tool. I dont think Ill be giving many first impressions because its been a long time since I got it and I have the memory of a goldfish.
First off, the coolness factor was there right from the get and I did get some ooohs and ahhhs from the guys. That of course that only lasts until all your friends have seen it once or twice. I thought about getting new friends but who has that kind of time so it was on to the day to day carry and thats where Ill stay from now on. By the way, you are the very model of patience if you have read this far.
Without further ado.
The sheath. Wow do I hate the sheath. It is a nylon shapeless blob on my belt that sits crooked and it collapses when I pull the tool out which makes it hard to get the tool back in. It amazes me how loud the Velcro is even now that it has lost most of its grip. It just doesn't make sense. It sounds like a room full of two year olds tying their shoes.
On to the tool itself.
Opening is fast and easy. Just slide the safety to the fire position and push the button. Very satisfying snap and you are ready to go. After all this time it still has a nice hard snap and the pliers have held up to much abuse including prying my van door open enough to get a wire hanger in when I locked my keys in a few weeks ago.
I do have a problem with the relatively small opening width of the jaws. More times that I care to remember Ive opened it and then closed it right away when I realized that it was to small for the job. More my fault for thinking I am carrying a bigger multi-tool which of course makes me think I want to carry a bigger multi-tool.
Not a big fan of the spring loaded handles either. I mean they sound like a good idea but in practice it just feels like they are fighting against you.
The only other issue with the pliers is that sometimes it does not lock in the open position because I didnt have the handles all the way apart. You try to grab something and they slide right back from whence they came. Easy enough to just open your hand and let them lock but it is annoying.
The scissors are rather weak. They are ok for cutting paper but dont try to cut a tag off your shirt or anything. It just wont work unless you go thread by thread and again, who has that kind of time.
The knife has been useless to me. I do like the blade shape but it is way too hard to get out. They made the pliers one handed and the blade two handed. Go figure. It does has a cutout to use as a thumb hold for one hand opening but unless your hands are made of 9oz leather there is no way you can one-hand it. Its simply to tight. Not that I would reach for my multi-tool for its knife blade anyway. I think they should skip the blade for us knife guys and give us another tool in that slot.
The flat head screwdriver is ok but the phillips is just to narrow and slips out most of the time. The other problem is that the arm that these drivers are on quickly branch out into other tools making it impossible to slip them into tight spots.
The locks functioned well and never let me down and there has been no rusting anywhere.
Conclusion
The tool selection is limited because the auto opening device takes up a lot of room. This is the tradeoff that just doesnt payoff to me. All that wasted space in this big old tool just so I can open it fast and feel cool? I think not. For the size and weight Ill take more tools.