Here is my review of each component of the Bear Grylls Survival Tool from Gerber:
Pliers: The cutters are extremely solid. Whether you are stripping a wire or cranking down a loose nut it’s one of the most used items on this multi-tool. They are spring loaded and come pre-sharpened.
Wood Saw: The saw has a really aggressive profile. This seems to be the only tool that is as big as possible, and it needs to be. With a little elbow grease you can cut up some pretty sizable pieces of wood.
Scissors: It will cut paper, plastic, string, small ropes or paracord with ease. I think essentially it will cut anything you can fit in between its blades. (rocks or metal excluded)
File: What can I say…. It’s a file. On any prolonged stay in the wilderness one can offer up some of the finest manicure/pedicures on this side of Patagonia.
Serrated Blade: It can be useful when cutting through tendon on the hind quarters of a deer but you lose a little blade length because of it. It’s sharp out of the box and works well with the flint stick.
Small Flat Head: I use it on a daily basis. It is standard but I couldn’t get by without it.
Medium Flat Head: Although it is much less standard to include two sizes, I’m glad Gerber did. When it comes to standard hardware you are much more likely to find a larger slot than a smaller.
Pierce: This was very well designed. I was able to dispatch a can of its lid quickly to empty my mornings bacon grease with zero potentially dangerous slips.
Bottle Opener: I’m not sure of the validity of including this tool in modern society. I really have only used it to open my adult beverages. I don’t mind the inclusion on your everyday multi tool, but this is a SURVIVAL tool and I feel they could have come up with something more useful (gut hook or punch tool).
Philips Head: If you want to be picky it could be a size or two larger. (So you don’t strip screws) In all reality I use it either when I’m too lazy to get a real phillips head out of the tool box or if I just don’t have one on me. It saved me several months ago when my radiator hose blew off and all I needed was a phillips head to tighten down the hose clamp.
