Customer Reviews

Gerber 22-41770 Artifact Pocket Keychain Tool

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

SAVE THE THUMBS. I love my Gerber Artifact tool, but there's one issue. The blade arm is difficult to swing out from its safety position for use. After weeks of daily use, I learned the hard way and sliced my thumb to the bone trying to open it. As I type this, my thumb is hovering unused and bandaged over the keyboard. Since then, I think I've figured out a safe way to open the blade arm and I wanted to share it to try to spare the thumbs of others -- use a coin to pry the blade arm out from its safety position. A quarter fits perfectly in the slot near the key chain loop on the tool. Stay safe.

Imagine reaching into your pocket for your keys and feeling a sharp pain followed by the warmth of flowing blood. This was my experience with this pocket tool, a long deep gash down one of my fingers that refused to stop bleeding. As a working plumber I thought this would be a good pocket tool to carry in addition to my multi tool for when I have crawled into a tight spot. Until they come up with a more secure lock my artifact will be just that, a artifact in my tool box.

Awesome look and feel. Having a nail puller around all the time can be surprisingly useful not only for nails but for removing screws and bolts that are stuck or aren't threading out, and for prying all kinds of things apart. This helps make this tool a very good complement to when you have you big tool with you also, where as most micro tools are pretty worthless when you also have your bigger/faster/nicer/more productive tool with you.

The big downside is the knife is way to hard to open and every copy of this took I have seen at least one of the screws on the inside of the knife are not in straight as if all of them were threaded badly. Also they use screws that have a crazy small what seems like a torx head so its not very easy to try and adjust anything (I have at least 50 torx bits and non are this small).

The drivers on this could also be better, I find that both the flat head and the philips head manage often to just barely not work well enough, maybe a micro socket driver would have been a better choice, but then you would have to worry about keeping track of bits.

I think exacto knifes are awesomely sharp and useful but tend to be a lot more expensive, not as common, and have a lesser variety then razor blades, but I have a ton of razor blades so the exacto part was probably what sold me on this item.

This tool also has some heft to it which can both be a postive since it has a solid feel at makes some tools like the nail puller more useful but not always something you want in your ultra portable tool.

If I was going to buy only one (and normally a person only carries one small tool) I would suggest getting Gerbers moneyclip/razor blade combo knife which is probably my favorite razorblade out their since it so light, nice looking, doesn't scream tool/knife, and is dirt cheap to get great blades for like the Stanley HD and the Lenox/Irwin blades. That tool has no other extra tools on it though, hopefully Gerber will combine these two tools so I can have more micro tools from them :)

The principle drawback of this tool is that most attempts to open the blade will result in a severe finger laceration. The action for opening the blade is very stiff and the only way to get any leverage puts the fingers very close to the blade. Any minor slip while will result in the razor slashing a finger and a nasty, bleeding cut.

I read the other reviews that mentioned that it's easy to cut yourself with the blade and thought "Well, I'm not that stupid plus why did they still give it 5 stars? I'll buy it anyway."

Once I received the Gerber Artifact I immediately tried to open up the blade - being cautious due to what I had read- and, indeed, found it extremely hard to open up. The lock seems to keep the blade arm in place pretty well but it is poorly designed and a pain to get open (one reviewer said he always opens it with a coin). Nevertheless I opened it with all fingers still in tact.

I immediately closed it and found the closing lock to work ok even though they should put some kind of description on the package because it's not that obvious for either locking mechanism. After that I tried out the other tools and they all seem to work pretty well. I was pretty pleased even with the few obvious flaws.

Cut to 15 minutes later: I had to cut out something and jumped at the opportunity to use my new tool. The blade begrudgingly opened and I put it to use. Afterwards I went to close it and the closing mechanism didn't work so I gave it a little pressure to close it - and BAM! sliced my finger to the bone.

Needless to say I am that stupid and the other reviewers were definitely right about this product. Hopefully the good people at Gerber peruse these reviews every once in awhile and start putting their designers to work on Artifact 2.0.

I wanted to add a compact and effective tool to my every day carry system. When I saw the Gerber Pocket Keychain tool, I thought it was exactly what I was looking for all this time.

Sorry... To put it succinctly, it pretty much sucks.

Some of the functions work well, some great, and some not at all.

What sucks? Pretty much the screwdrivers. The philips head is pretty much useless, and the standard flat head is barely usable. And, it looks small. It feels small in your hand. BUT, and it's a big but, it feels HUGE in your pocket. I carry a 4Sevens Mini-123 in my pocket, and barely notice it. This Gerber tool, however, feels like I'm carrying a full-size screwdriver in my pocket. And, it's not much bigger than a 4Sevens Mini-123 flashlight (which is a totally slammin' keychain flashlight, by the way).

What works? Well, the bottle opener and nail remover are aces. And, it does an okay job as a pry tool. I think the exacto knife works well, but you do have to be careful. It does not open like a Spyderco, that's for sure, but I've found that the knife opens okay. The blade is screwed in tight, which is a good thing, and is a bit stiff to open. That's a plus since it does keep it from unfolding in your pocket.

The screwdrivers are soooooo bad that it knocks at least two, if not three, stars off the product. Not to mention the fact that it feels like you're carrying a giant screwdriver in your pocket.

Still looking for the perfect EDC tool.

I had been looking for a new bottle opener for my key-chain then figured why not get a small multi tool. I finally settled on this one even tho of all the reviewers who seemed to have cut their thumb with it I figured well since I know a lot of people have cut themselves with it I'll just be extra careful with it and remember not to use the blade if I had previously been using the bottle opener. Well two weeks later I reach into my pocket to get my keys & what do you know, you can add me to the list of victims only I didn't cut my thumb it was my finger also it did not go all the way to the bone although it did bleed quite a bit. Some how the blade worked its way open just a enough in my pocket to expose the razor. With that said I still like this tool & carry it everyday, admittedly I am a little timid when I reach for my keys.

....this little thing can be dangerous. I am very skilled with knives. My main knife is the Mora II if that makes sense to anyone, and have never cut my hands with a knife, not even the artifact (I attribute this to luck and warm weather). Opening this has a good chance for a bone-deep cut especially if your hands are cold or wet, reaching in your pocket for it is playing roulette, hiking with it is roulette with your balls. It would be fine if kept on a D-ring and worn outside of your pants. The tools and bulk are not enough for me to keep it, it's a toy for adults that don't have enough junk in their pockets.

Yes I have actually bought the Gerber Artifact from Amazon. ...and I agree with the negative reviews--this tool can cause you to bleed out.

While I'm not an expert, I'm what you might consider a multitool freak. ..ok, more of a hoarder. ...I own a couple of Swiss Army knives, 3 leathermans, one Swisstool, and the Gerber MP800 and Shard). Saw the Gerber Artifact and was highly intrigued. Pluses: the design is very innovative, and you have a number of basic tools included screwdrivers, bottle opener, etc., in a compact design, and at a value price.

...but I'm not an idiot and I've come to the conclusion that this is one dangerous tool that should be recalled by the Gerber, or ordered recalled by the Consumer Products Safety Commission. The problem is two-fold: 1) the blade itself, and 2) the design of the mount for the blade. Contrary to what some reviewers say, in my opinion the blade lock itself is just fine, and is secure..that is, IF you lock it properly. One design flaw is that the lock will actually stay open or will partially lock open in several positions. I pricked myself in the palm once when the blade was not fully closed, and then a couple days later, was putting my keys in my pocket (had the tool on my keychain, as suggested), and jabbed my finger straight to the bone...all because while I DID have the knife blade closed, it wasn't 'fully' closed. It clicked into place, but not completely, and had shifted open to the 45 degree position. Blood was literaly squirting out, and to have a couple of stitches. Also, Gerber implies that the blade can be opened with one hand/finger. ...real bad idea. If your finger slips while opening it with just your thumb, you will surely slice it open because your moving finger will be perfectly positioned and moving directly towards the EDGE of the knife.

Plus...who in their right mind would put a #11 hobby knife (an exacto knife--virtually a razor blade), on the OUTSIDE of a tool? In addition to it's inherent surgical sharpness, a #11 hobby knife has a very sharp point. So....I'm giving this tool a 2 out of 5 stars, and ONLY because the other features are innovative. Otherwise I'd give it one star. But don't keep this around your house or in your toolbox. You will get much more versatility (and safety) from any basic Swiss Army Knife.

I have to agree with the negative reviews for this product.

1. The mechanism to open the blade is so stiff that I often feared for my fingers.
2. On the other hand, that same mechanism became loose after about 10 months of use. It would come open just enough to expose the tip of the blade and I'd reach into my pocket and stab my finger. After that happened the second time, I retired the keychain.

Too bad, because having a #11 hobby blade ready to use in my pocket that also sports a bottle opener was my idea of a perfect keychain.