Best Pocket Multitool, Not Bass/Luthier Specific

[logdrum]

Instead of spending money on a Leatherman, I just got a curated inexpensive set of essential tools from my local harbor freight or from garage sales, A small nylon bag with some tape, zip ties and clamps + a small WD can and stick it all our vehicles including our children who now live on their own.

When I had the role of technical marketing engineer in my previous company, as part of the schwag we were giving asway at shows and conferences , we gave away a multitool that had a wire stripper as well as usable pliers with a wire cutter that can actually cut hay baling wire and hard tip screw drivers and a sharp blades that I have used to reduced the diameter of a drum stick so I can it in my upright bass. I do not know what company we bought it from but I still have one. That was really popular and I got asked for it a lot.

It does not have a cork screw or tweezers. By the way if you have a power drill, You can used that to get the cork out of a wine bottle Just make sure it is WD-40 free

 

[logdrum]

Maybe they were made better back in the day, but...
In the early 1980's I was in a friend's car on a long trip and we got a flat. His jack was missing some key parts. I managed to use my SAK to improvise the parts and literally jacked up the car using my SAK.
Funnily enough, it was an oddball model called the Traveller", which had a pic of St. Christopher on it rather than the usual cross.

Similar experience, when I was touring with one of my older bands in the NE, When we got a flat and discovered our bottle jack pipe was lost we used the pipe of a cymbal stand instead. How did you use the SAK ? - I am guessing to rotate the scissor jack.

 

[kesslari]

Similar experience, when I was touring with one of my older bands in the NE, When we got a flat and discovered our bottle jack pipe was lost we used the pipe of a cymbal stand instead. How did you use the SAK ? - I am guessing to rotate the scissor jack.

That is exactly how I used it.

 

[Mike N]

This is about all the tools I need:

View attachment 7376134

I have that same cub scout knife somewhere around here.

And I'll bet if you flip those vise grips over they will read "Peterson Manufacturing, Dewitt Nebraska."

Like these......

 

[Mike N]

I have several pairs of the original Petersen Vise Grips, before they were bought out by Irwin.

The Petersen ones are 35+ years old.

 

[fdeck]

Sure enough! My vice-grips are around that age too. I used to carry them in my bike bag, and they've been remarkably handy over the years.

I found the knife on a trip, and of course was compelled to look it up. This knife apparently dates back to the 1920s, and was super cheap. It's like the kind of thing you'd see hanging on a hook at the gas station today. The wire bail was gone, but I made another one, and I used the colored string for a lot of my tools, so they're harder to lose.

And it instantly reminded me of this quote from Mark Twain:

>>> Mary gave him a bran-new "Barlow" knife worth twelve and a half cents; and the convulsion of delight that swept his system shook him to his foundations. True, the knife would not cut anything, but it was a "sure-enough" Barlow, and there was inconceivable grandeur in that - though where the Western boys ever got the idea that such a weapon could possibly be counterfeited to its injury, is an imposing mystery and will always remain so, perhaps.
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

 

[mapleglo]

I used to carry just this Kershaw multitool. But then I needed a few more things, so I started carrying this little tool box.

The nut driver socket fits my strap locks which seem to loosen up at the most inopportune times.

 

[Krisfield]

An employer gave me this Maxam multi tool. Great stainless steel. The saw has a file on the other side of it. Comes with a little pouch. I think I prefer the Leatherman style multi tool over the Swiss Army Knife.