Every product I’ll talk about here was purchased retail with my own money. I have no connection with any company I mention other than as a customer, and I will not receive any consideration for this subjective review.
In my job, I’m typically on a plane 50-70 times per year. I cannot remember the last time I checked a bag other than when I fly internationally. And I very much prefer to have some basic tools with me; I’ve fixed my shaver the morning before an important meeting, zippers countless times, and so on.
When I am not flying, I will have a full-size multitool with me. My favorite is the Leatherman Arc (despite the shocking QC problem I had with my first one). But no full-size multitool can be carried on for a commercial flight — knifeless or not, the TSA will take it.
I’m a huge fan of the sadly-discontinued Leatherman Style PS — you can see it on
https://www.leatherman.com/retired-products.html by scrolling down about 1/3rd of the page. I keep it on my keyring constantly, and I clip it to a carabiner on my laptop bag at the X-ray machine. Sometimes the TSA ignores it, sometimes they ask, and sometimes they inspect it carefully by hand. The only time I lost one at an airport, the overseas TSA-equivalent security screener blatantly put it in his pocket. I accepted the price of leaving with equanimity.
While the discontinued Style PS is available used, it’s pretty dang expensive. I’ve been on the hunt for a replacement, for years.
My needs are as follows:
- Pliers — this is the sine qua non of a keyring multitool for me; by far the single most important tool for my use
- Some way to get it onto and off of my keyring easily, a carabiner style connection works very well for my purposes
- Some kind of small, inoffensive scissors
- A bottle opener
- A light-duty screwdriver
Recently I found the Troika “REISEGERÄT”. Despite the even weirder name it has on The Big River, I bought one from there for about $25 two weeks ago. I’m carrying it on my current international work trip. While I know little about the manufacturer, the don’t seem to specialize in multitools.
The form factor is excellent — it’s a bit less bulky than the Style PS. It feels solid and well-made without being heavier than it needs to be. It has all the implements I need (and some I don’t). I think it looks nice. For looks and first impressions, it gets an A.
The pliers on it are excellent for the size, keeping in mind this is very much a light-duty multitool. They don’t start to approach the excellence of a full-size Leatherman, but I don’t expect them to. They are spring-loaded, and as in the Style PS they assist in keeping the multitool closed when not deliberately being opened. A+.
The carabiner clip makes it easy to get on and off the keyring and opens beer bottles quite handily. Again, A+.
All internal implements are very difficult to deploy. My original Leatherman PST was made in the first or second run that Mr. Leatherman made, supplanting the Victorinox Swiss Army Knife that I begged my mom to buy me when I was 8 or 9. I mention this because I consider myself extremely skilled at deploying implements on multitools.
I’ve so far only needed the screwdriver for desktop fiddle-testing, and it’s acceptable. Keeping in mind that this is a very light-duty tool and my expectations are low, it would be a C+, were it not so difficult to deploy. It’s good enough for my purposes, but the deployment problems bring it down to a solid D.
The dedicated bottle opener is completely unused on my unit, due to the deployment issue. Also a D.
The biggest disappointment are the scissors. They feel sharp but the pivot on my unit makes them totally unusable. A member of my team developed a blister on her foot, and I was unable to cut moleskin for her at all. F-.
I wish I hadn’t chosen to test it on this lengthy international trip. I will throw it out when I leave for home.
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