When I’m boating, I don’t leave home without a multi-tool. I first adopted the habit of carrying one when I was the curator of a museum that occupied many buildings. I often needed a tool for small jobs—too small to warrant a trip to the maintenance building where the “real” tools lived—and having a multi-tool on hand was a must. On a boat—especially a small one—a toolbox is inevitably limited, but the need to fix something is often immediate. Once again, the multi-tool comes into its own.

Most multi-tools have pliers. Beyond that, my minimum requirements are to have at least one decent knife blade, and both a flat-head and cross-head screwdriver; all the tools must lock. Beyond these basics, most multi-tools come with a can and bottle opener, a file, often a serrated blade, and typically a way to attach a lanyard—beyond these, the range of offerings is wide.

Photographs by the author

The Gerber Multi-Plier 600 has 14 tools, most of which fold away within the handles and require two hands to access. Unlike most multi-tools, however, the Gerber pliers can be opened—and closed—one-handed, as demonstrated in the video below. The multi-plier seen here is at least 10 years old and is in daily use. It has suffered more than one salt-water immersion and yet continues to function well.

When it comes to operation, however, there are fundamentally two types of multi-tools that have pliers. Both stow multiple tools in the handles. But to access the pliers, one opens butterfly style, needing two hands. The other—with a flick of a wrist—slips the plier jaws out from the handles into their working position.

I was introduced to the concept of a one-handed multi-tool many years ago by a foredeck hand on a high-end racing sailboat. When you’re hanging on to the boat, they told me, the spray coming at you cold and hard, you need pliers that you can access with one hand. They had a point, and I was sold.

My current go-to one-handed multi-tool is the Gerber Multi-Plier 600, which comes in various models.

Favored by the U.S. military, the Gerber Multi-Plier 600 has 14 tools: one plain and one serrated knife, a crosshead screwdriver, three sizes of flathead screwdriver from 1⁄8″ to 1⁄4″, a file blade with two grits, a tungsten-carbide wire stripper/crimper, pinch-cut wire cutters (fixed stainless-steel on the basic model, replaceable carbide on the upgrades), measuring scales to 3″ and 8cm, a can opener, a bottle opener, a lanyard holder, and of course, pliers—needle-nosed with a toothed cutout that allows you to grip objects such as nuts up to about 1″ in diameter. I’ve had fancier multi-tools with more features, but this one does all I need. The pliers open with a flick of the wrist and, indeed, must be opened before the other tools can be accessed. Once a required tool has been opened, the plier handles can be closed and the plier noses retracted.

All the tools have fingernail hooks for opening, and all lock into position; unlocking them to close the tool requires light pressure on a side-mounted slide. I do lubricate my Multi-Plier from time to time; it has been dunked in salt water more than once and I have weak fingernails, but I still have no trouble opening the various tools.

The Multi-Plier 600 is American-made of stainless steel and weighs 9 oz; when closed it measures 5 1⁄8″ end to end, 1 1⁄2″ wide, and 3⁄4″ thick. All Gerber tools come with a limited lifetime warranty, and in my experience the customer service is excellent. When the tool lock on my last MP 600 failed, I took a picture and sent it to Gerber; within days they had sent me a new tool. Of course, they won’t replace a Multi-Plier that has been lost or dropped overboard, so I attach a paracord lanyard when going afloat.

The nylon sheath has stood up well to being always on my belt ready for use. The generous amount of hook-and-loop fastening on the flap accommodates the extra length of the multi-plier when its lanyard holder is extended, as seen here.

The Multi-Plier lives in its nylon sheath on my hip pretty much all the time—indeed, it’s only not there if I need to go someplace fancy or through a security checkpoint. On the boat, I do have a separate sheath-knife with a bigger blade and one-handed access, but I will often just use the Gerber blades, and the pliers never let me down. I am now on my third Gerber Multi-Plier in 30 or so years—the first was lost overboard and the second had that faulty lock. I wouldn’t be without one.

Ben Fuller, a regular contributor to Small Boats, and curator emeritus of the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport, Maine, has been messing about in small boats for a very long time. He is owned by a dozen or more boats: kayaks, canoes, a skiff, a ducker, and a sail-and-oar boat.

The Gerber Multi-Plier 600 is available in stainless steel or stainless steel with black anodized finish through various outlets. It is also available direct from Gerber where the price ranges from $99.99 for the standard model to $124.99 for models with replaceable carbide wire cutters. Please note that the Gerber website can be confusing. The links above are for the multi-plier without anodized finish (as reviewed); for the anodized finish visit: Multi-Plier 600 Basic. Customer service is no longer offered by telephone but only through the website.

 Is there a product that might be useful for boatbuilding, cruising, or shore-side camping that you’d like us to review? Please email your suggestions.

For more knives with extras see:

Sailor’s Tool, Myerchin’s rigger’s knife with pliers, reviewed by Kent and Audrey Lewis

Colonial’s Marlinspike Knife, a traditional tool favored by the United States Navy, reviewed by Kent and Audrey Lewis