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For most of my life I’ve had a multi-tool that I’ve kept with me to fix and open things. The only ones that I’ve had used are Leatherman tools and I’ve had three of them. The first one was a Pocket Survival Tool, which was the basic one with pliers, wire cutters, a knife, can/bottle opener, awl, a screwdriver and file. That one was stolen along with a camera in a bag that I had. So I replaced it with the Pocket Survival Tool II, which added some scissors in addition to everything else. They also had a ruler along the side if you folded the tools flat. I still have that one, but I thought it was time to get a new one and I chose the very cool Skeletool.
The first big difference in the Skeletool is the design. No longer is it straight, but it is very curvy and it has holes in it which greatly reduce the weight. It has a beautiful look to it and it is much more ergonomically designed as well. When it is open and being used in the plier mode it’s very comfortable. It also opens with a satisfying click, so it feels much more solid. There is a knife blade that opens without needing to unfold the tool, which is handy as well. There isn’t a can opener, but there is a very nifty bottle opener that next to a carabiner that allows you to hook the tool onto a strap or ring. The spring-loaded carabiner also holds onto the bottle cap after you open something!
Instead of a set of screwdrivers that fold out, now there is a screwdriver bit in one of the legs of the tool, and you can swap it out for different bits. There is a set of many bits that you can get, and one double-sided bit can be in use with another one in the leg, so you’ll have two options for adjusting screws.
A removable clip lets you keep the tool on your belt, but I’m not really that guy who always has a bunch of tools on his belt. It’s always in my bag when I’m going somewhere though. What impresses me about the tool is that it has less stuff than my previous tool and is lighter, but it feels a lot sturdier. It’s a great design along with an intelligent reduction in the complexity of a tool.
