If you are a multitool collector, or one who appreciates the engineering that goes into these products, and a person who delights in the new and seemingly endless ways that these clever engineers can make a set of blades and drivers fold up into a pair of pliers, then you will like the new Gerber Radius Multi-Plier. If you are anyone else, then I suspect you will consider the Radius to be somewhat of a joke.

Updating Gerber's unique out-the-front sliding pliers to a button-activated spring-loaded mechanism, the Auto Recoil has no peers in the multi-tool world. Being that there are no others to directly compare it against it is so easy to label it as a "gimmick" and move on to other, more mainstream tools. What we are here to determine today is whether this tool has redeeming characteristics or if it is merely a "gadget" for the uninitiated to purchase on impulse, play with for a few days and ultimately spend it's life in the junk drawer or the bottom of a landfill.

Big teeth: The Bear Jaws

I recently acquired my first outside-opening tool (thanks to supratentorial) in the form of a Bear MGC (now known as Bear and Sons Cutlery) Bear Jaws. I have been resistant to outside opening tools for some time, mainly due to the exposed nature of the tool compartment and the seemingly easy access this would give dirt, dust and other miscellaneous crap. After carrying and using this tool for only a week or so I have realized that even if the tools are bare to the elements the easy access to said tools heavily outweighs the supposed detriment.

Columbia River Knife and Tool (CRKT for short) has been well known for their fair priced knives made from well known and respected members of the knife community. CRKT makes a knife for virtually every kind of task you can think of and the only thing they haven't ventured into is the multitool market, until now that is.

About six months ago CRKT announced on their website that a division of their company called I.D. Works (which is an acronym for Inspired Design) is producing two multitools that will be released in June. The multitool enthusiasts and the general market alone was not only welcoming them with open arms, but the market needs a fresh face to it. So many of the tools out there are being made by manufacturers that have been making them since time began, and it was time for someone new with a fresh perspective to add something to the picture.