Video Professional Mulit-tool

G

GEvans

Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
1
I've been searching for years for the right multi-tool for use in the studio, on-location, and in the editing bay. I'm wondering if anyone here might know of a tool that comes close.

Tool Specs:
Blade
Serrated Blade
Fine flat and phillips head screwdrivers
Larger flat/phillips combo head
tweezers (or mini pliers)
Nail/Wire clippers or scissors
beer opener (naturally)

With the video gear, I always need a small screwdriver, with a long/skinny enough shaft for better access. Also, I don't need pliers or the bulk they add to the tool. I'd MUCH rather have nail/wire clippers. I like both types of blades for cutting different types of materials for 'improved' solutions in the field. Video Pros are often improvising with existing materials to get the shot, and this tool would go a long way.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Garrett Evans
 
Garret, while a one-tool-does-all sounds good, it will be a one-tool-does-most-things-so-so tool. A small zippered tool kit is both classy and readily available with everything you asked for. Sears and many other places sell them.
Here is just one example:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/JENSEN-15-P...08785076?pt=US_Hand_Tools&hash=item2ed30487b4
mac-daddy version - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zipper-PU-c...83436581?pt=US_Hand_Tools&hash=item48680ea925

Or make your own - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bead-Kit-St...033?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d0ed67b19
 
I think the closest thing that came to making me happy as a knife geek (and now maker) was the Leatherman Charge ti with full bit kit, but even that fell short in several areas.

I have seriously considered designing a premium multitool for myself, but it is a massive undertaking whether for personal use or for a product. Plus it would open up a part of the market that I am not equipped to handle.

As a former professional technician and now knifemaker, I now carry a Leatherman micra on my Keychain, and a small essentials pack in the trunk.

Leatherman used to make the squirt e4 with a long thin flatblade perfect for terminal blocks, but then they "upgraded" it and removed the most useful tool from it.

I know this may be in the wrong section but I figured I'd hazard a reply since this is a problem I've experienced. The multitool manufacturers seem to be somewhat out of touch with professional techs other than one instance, Paladin relabels a SOG multitool as their telecom tool, with a couple specialty blades, but it was just as worthless to me as any other tool, as a former engineering technician that did a lot of instrumentation and video capture.

I've spoken to dozens of techs over the years that would pay a premium price for a quality multitool that was useful for general electronics work. I actually wrote Leatherman after they removed the skinny flat blade from the e4 and got a reasonable reply from their design department, although of course it just said they would take it into consideration.
 
Modding multitools is not all that hard, especially if you can find a "donor blade" that can be ground into the shape you want. Select a multitool that has bolted pivots, SOG, Gerber, and some Leatherman tools like the Supertool, Core, etc. For SOG, you can buy new blades, for the others look for a "donor tool" on EBAY. If you can't find an implement with the right shape for the tool blade you want to create, there's always starting from a piece of steel...

Back to the original question...If you can use a knife based tool rather than a pliers based tool look at the Victorinox Workchamp XL. There's no long skinny slotted screwdriver, but there's a marlinspike that could be re-ground...
 
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