AIRSOFT AND MULTITOOLS: A RETHINK…

FRENCHIE COVERED THIS SUBJECT SOME WHILE AGO AND NOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED, HE UPDATES US ON HIS THOUGHTS REGARDING AIRSOFT AND MULTITOOLS.

Some considerable time ago I wrote a series of pieces on the value of multitools to airsofters and I made some recommendations, based on experience, as to which I thought were worth buying. That was then, and this is now. If, like me, you spend or have spent years with a lump of metal strapped to your belt you may occasionally wonder if you need all that capability, day-to-day. I certainly did, and that started me on a journey through alternatives to the evercapable Leatherman or Victorinox Swiss tool.

My endpoint was not one I had anticipated but my argument here is that, maybe, this is actually all you need on the skirmish field.

LOOKING BACK

Let’s start a while back: Throughout my school days I carried a Victorinox swiss army knife in my pocket, not something that is deemed acceptable these days sadly, but it ruffled no feathers then. It was the “Executive” model, fairly slim and discreet, with the usual raft of tools. Since it was the only tool I carried, it did everything; a classic case of “if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail”. Somewhere at university it disappeared, I think, and I can’t remember what I used after that. Eventually, I was given a Leatherman, the original Pocket Survival Tool. I still have it and I still use it a lot. That was to set a trend of the next God knows how many years; why carry a limited knife, when you can have all that capability?

Over the years I have bought, used, lost and given away many multitools and I wouldn’t be without them – my thanks go out to Tim Leatherman for his persistence! However, they are moderately heavy, some more than others and are better carried in their sheath on your belt.