Gerber Dime Thoughts

The Dime is one of Gerber's many smaller multitool offerings. For the most part, I've had poor experiences with Gerber tools in the past, and the Dime is unfortunately no exception. The decent toolset in a compact package was ultimately ruined by terrible quality. It doesn't beat the Leatherman Squirt P4 as my go-to smaller plier-based multitool. I'll probably avoid Gerber like the plague now as their poor quality tools aren't worth the money.

The Dime is a budget multitool that you can normally find for $15 to $20. Any gear in that price range is always hit or miss in terms of quality so I knew there was a chance this would turn out to be a crappy tool. The fit and finish is bad, with tools not closing straight into the handles and the tweezers being completely bent shut making them unusable. This tool, or any of the Gerbers I've ever tried for that matter, have never stood up to Leatherman and Victorinox's high quality standard. The quality alone is enough for me to never want to carry the Dime. I like all the color options Gerber does these in, as it's very hard to find purple multitools. These come in at 2.75" closed which is a great size for EDC. It's not as heavy as I expected an essentially solid chunk of metal to be at 2.2 ounces. I personally think it'd be too big on a keychain, so I'd always carry it in my EDC pouch or bag. I do like that the tool is put together with torx screws instead of pins in order to take it apart easier. The nail nicks work as they should to get the tools out but thanks to some stiffness, they're hard to get out. I'm sure if I used it more over time they'd become easier to open and close.

In terms of the toolset, there are 10 tools: spring loaded pliers/wire cutter, knife, plastic clamshell opener, scissors, flat head screwdriver, Phillips head screwdriver/file, bottle opener, and tweezers. I like that all of the tools besides the pliers can be accessed from the outside. Most of the tools work as they should, but I think the scissors could be a lot better. The blades on the scissors are way to thick, so they always get stuck on whatever you're cutting. Plus they don't do detailed cuts well at all. As someone who uses scissors quite frequently, these are a nightmare to use. I don't like how the bottle opener sticks out so much either. I'd rather Gerber have removed it completely or made it an internal tool. The inclusion of the plastic clamshell opener (or what Gerber calls the retail package opener) is a neat tool that I wish more multitools would include. I liked using it more than the knife on clamshells. The knife is alright but nothing to write home about. I'm not sure what the steel is but I'm sure it's something along the lines of 3Cr13MoV. 

The tool is comfortable in the hand during use with no hotspots along the handles. I can realistically fit like a two-finger grip on here. It doesn't take much pressure to get the knife closed, but I wouldn't consider it unsafe unless you're being careless. This isn't the type of tool you'd want to use for harder tasks anyways. 

If you're looking for a smaller multitool, you might as well pay more for a higher quality or even go on eBay for a Squirt P4 which is about the same price anyways. Heck, I hated the newer Squirt PS4 from Leatherman but anything is better than this crappy Dime. You definitely are getting what you paid for. The quality is the biggest flaw of the whole tool. The toolset itself is good enough for basic EDC usage. I don't recommend it and suggest you look at companies other than Gerber for multitools. Thanks for looking!