Multi Tool Saved the Day (and a horse)

Matt Shade

Matt Shade

Joined
Nov 24, 1999
Messages
4,981
Had an intersting day today. More so than I would have liked. Its another good story to answer why I carry knives and multi tools all the time though so I thought I'd share.
Most of you know already that I have horses. We had them all turned out today and wouldn't you know, with no warning at all one of the young stallions decided all the sudden he was interested in girls. He's only 2, so this hadn't been an issue yet and aside from seperate pastures we hadn't had to make any real special arrangements on turning them out.
Well it seems that not only did he decide the ladies were intersting all the sudden, he decided he couldn't live without a visit and tried to jump a fence. He dang near made it too. Close doesn't count in this case though and being a little guy he got hung upside down by his hind legs across the top of the fence.
Lucky for him my dad and I were only about 150 yards away and saw it happen. I jumped a fence and ran over to see what I could do. He was fighting pretty hard and there was no chance of me lifting his whole hindquarters over the fence. So since it was woven wire, out came the gerber 600 multi tool and I starting clipping wire. This is heavy stuff, probably 10 gauge wire, and its hardened. I popped my way all the way from top to bottom of the fence at the post on his left, which lowered him down to the ground. He was still fighting to get up, but wasn't free of the fence yet so I had to go around to his head and pin it down with my knee while I cut the other side of the fence at the post on his right. That kept him from thrashing around, and he layed there surprisingly calm. My dad caught up and pulled the wire from around his legs after I got enough cut loose from the post and once that was done I let him up, expecting the worst.
I didnt think he'd even try to get up, was afraid he'd broke a leg or something. He laid there a second got his feet underneath himself and jumped right up. I took that as a good sign. Then, wouldn't you know it, he shook himself off and took off at a dead run for the mares in the far end of the pasture before I could even get ahold of him! :eek: I guess we know that the cuts and bruises weren't the main thing on his mind still :rolleyes:
Luckily he slowed down, and I got ahold of him nd put him back in the barn. He's got a few good scrapes, but nothing really major. Not even that lame right now.
You can't even beleive how glad I am that I had my gerber on me and didn't have to go hunting something to cut him loose with!

My lucky pliars didn't survive though :grumpy: . Cutting the last strand of wire must have cracked the jaws. I tried to bend a peice of wire back against a post with them, cleaning the mess up when it was all done, and the jaws popped off like glass. So I'll be hunting up a replacement in the near future. Oh well, they were about 5 years old and had been through more baling hay and straw, and outright abuse than I ever expected them to survive anyhow.
 
Great story! Glad to hear the horse is o.k. Too bad about the tool tho.

You should send the story to gerber. Maybe they'll use it...pay you with a new tool. That'd be cool.
 
Excellent story!!! Send that to Gerber. I'm sure they'd like to hear it as well. :D
 
I've used my Leatherman to cut a horse out of a wire fence. Worked just fine but the wire cutting part of the pliers has these little craters all along the edge, totally useless now. I'm perfectly happy about though, a bit of damage to a $200 tool in exchange for the safety of many thousands of dollars of horse!

BTW, somewhat related to horses and tools, there was another thread about a hoof knife. If you look HERE and go to the horses and hoof care section you will see a knife with a pick and hoof knife included.
 
Thanks guys :)

Those pliars had been with me to put up probably 100,000 bales of hay and straw, had been used on fence before, and had seen a lot of abuse. The wire cutters were chipped and rolled over quite a bit to begin with. I'm more surprised that they held long enough to cut every strand than I am that they finally broke. I had to cut a whole section of fence out, so it was at least 2 dozen cuts on hardened wire. I think I'll just go buy another gerber and hope it lasts as long as that one. Trouble is finding one with the same tools in it.

I suppose I ought to go check on the little pervert again and see if I need to put any more medicine on his legs. He came out a lot better than anyone expected, but is gonna need a few days before he's back to his old self.
 
It surprises the hell out of me that the horse lay still with your knee on his neck! My fathers horses, even while geldings, were always rambunctious, and it took about 5 of us to hold down my fathers appaloosa, while we took care of his buddy, a mutt Arabian (both died within the next few years of old age). And the appaloosa was pushing 40 when we did that! You're very lucky you weren't bit, lucky his hooves or neck didn't connect with your body while he was thrashing around. Send the story to Gerber, they'll probably put your story in their catalog and give you a freebie :D.
 
Matt, head over to the multi-tool forum to find recent reviews on the Swisstool Spirit and a bunch on the LM charge. (there are some other SOG, swisstool and LM review threads in the "knife reviews" area too. - may have to search).

I have heard of more Gerbers breaking than others, but that is only heresay. They have always felt flimsy to me.. but that's just my opinion.

The Gerber Legend 800 has replaceable cutters, IIRC.

Also, I can cut coins with my SOG Powerlock (compound leverage) with no visible damage, and you can flip it open one handed.

So check around for a replacement and send it to Gerber in the meantime. It seems likely that the would consider replacing it.

Great story!
 
klattman said:
Matt, head over to the multi-tool forum to find recent reviews on the Swisstool Spirit and a bunch on the LM charge. (there are some other SOG, swisstool and LM review threads in the "knife reviews" area too. - may have to search).

I have heard of more Gerbers breaking than others, but that is only heresay. They have always felt flimsy to me.. but that's just my opinion.

The Gerber Legend 800 has replaceable cutters, IIRC.

Also, I can cut coins with my SOG Powerlock (compound leverage) with no visible damage, and you can flip it open one handed.

So check around for a replacement and send it to Gerber in the meantime. It seems likely that the would consider replacing it.

Great story!
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Thanks :)
The only ones I haven't handled before are the SOGs. Leatherman tools are well finished, but I just don't like em as well. The super tool is the only one that really feels as solid as the gerber to me, and its just not my style. I wish gerber had their warranty though.
The gerbers are tougher than most give them credit for. Don't be confused by a little play in the pliars, thats a by product of the slide action. I've hammered with em, pried with em, and done all kinds of other horrible things. I'll attach a scan of whats left of my old one, its got some wear on it.
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As far as the coin cutting trick. I read that once before as praise for the compound leverage. So I tried it with my gerber. Its quite easy and didn't damage the tool at all. One handed grip too, just don't see the big deal over compound leverage.
Now I haven't handled any of the newer gerbers, so maybe something has changed in the last 5-6 years. That one was the original 600. But thats what I'm going to look for first :D
 

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Matt Shade said:
As far as the coin cutting trick. I read that once before as praise for the compound leverage. So I tried it with my gerber. Its quite easy and didn't damage the tool at all. One handed grip too, just don't see the big deal over compound leverage.
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Well, the compound SOGs only give you about a factor of 2 leverage. It doesn't mean you cannot do it with other tools, it just requires half the force. My old wave can do it, but there's a noticeable difference in the effort required. The trick is how much the cutters are damaged. The cutters are thicker on my PLock than on my LMs or Spirit. The spirit has notches in the cutters and a warning about cutting wire harder than 40Rc, so I'm unwilling to subject it to that particular test... Yet.

You should certainly get a new Gerber, but don't hesitate to send your old one back in the meantime... if they give you a new one, you'll have a back-up.
 
I have had to do the same thing, fortunately they were just curios accident prone geldings that decided to step through the fence. My super leatherman worked just fine until I got the wire up into the main cutters instead of the heavy cutter portion. It put big nicks in the main cutter which I was able to somewhat fix with a Dremel, but the second time it happened was just too much. Leatherman was very good about it, sent me a new tool. I have even sent them an old tool that I had snapped the tips of the pliers off and had reground them even. They sent me a new tool with no hassle. Very good people to deal with IMHO.
 
That is a great story. When we were installing a chain link fence at my mother's home we had to cut the fence on several occassions and my brother in law had the same Gerber you just used. His broke too after like just a half dozen cuts or so on the chain link fence. They are good tools but not as heavy duty as my Swiss Tool. That Swiss Tool of mine has built several fences now, and cut numerous barbed wire and wire gardening fences and keeps on cutting. I've put dents in it and had to resharpen the cutters but they still work fine.

I'd recommend one of the Swiss Tools for your replacement. It is a tank of a tool and in my opinion the only one worth having. I've broken Leathermans, Gerbers, Sogs and Bucks and seen several other Gerbers and Leathermans of various models fall by the way that friends owned working side by side with me since owning my Vic and this one is the only one that has taken the same beatings those broke taking and then asked for more. I never leave home without it. I may forget my pocket folder, or my gun but that Swiss Tool is on my belt before I step out the door man.
 
Matt, if I remember right, this is the second time that you've saved the day with that tool. There was some kind of accident with a horse trailer once also.

I enjoy hearing this type of story.
 
tarsier said:
Matt, if I remember right, this is the second time that you've saved the day with that tool. There was some kind of accident with a horse trailer once also.

I enjoy hearing this type of story.
Click to expand...

Yep :D

Maybe I can find the old thread later. We had a tire delaminate on our truck, while pulling the trailer down the highway, last year I think. The spare had been stolen carrier and all, and when it was replaced they didn't give us a new key. So I had to cut the cable with the serrated blade on my gerber. I used it to take what was left of the running board off, and cut part of the shattered fender off with it as well.
 
You can easily replace the jaws on a gerber by taking off the clips that hold the pliers on the handles and gerber will send you another set. Then again you could just buy another for 29bux.
 
>"He laid there a second ... Then, wouldn't you know it, he shook himself off and took off at a dead run for the mares in the far end of the pasture ... I guess we know that the cuts and bruises weren't the main thing on his mind."

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Come on, guys! We've all been there, right? :D
 
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