What has two heads and seven handy features? No, it's not some multi-talented sideshow oddity, it's the Y-IN multitool. It's available in CNC-machined titanium or stainless steel construction, and is currently on Kickstarter.
Made by a gadget company of the same name, the Y-IN basically consists of a metal slab which slides back and forth inside an open-ended rectangular metal housing.
Slide the slab out one end of the housing, and the slab's "A-Terminal" end is exposed. Slide it out the other end of the housing, and expose its "B-Terminal." When the tool isn't in use, the slab stays in a neutral position with neither end exposed.
The A Terminal incorporates a pry bar that can also be used to slice open packages or perform other semi-sharp cutting tasks. A hexagonal hole in that bar serves as a hex wrench.
The B Terminal sports a 3-in-1 bottle opener, nail puller and quarter-inch bit driver – users have to supply their own screwdriver bits, and carry them separately.
As for the housing, it features four slots for user-supplied vials of glow-in-the-dark tritium (for finding the tool in the dark), along with a belt clip. That clip can be pivoted 90 degrees to sit perpendicular to the housing, allowing it to serve as a torque lever.
Switching between terminals is performed simply by grasping the housing in the middle, then flicking your wrist and letting centrifugal force do the work. A locking lever keeps the desired terminal in place until the next wrist-flick.
Assuming the Y-IN multitool reaches production, a pledge of US$89 will get you one in titanium, with $69 required for a stainless steel model. The planned retail prices are $169 and $109, respectively.
Backers can also opt for a titanium slab that has a knife blade at one end and a saw blade at the other. It can be swapped in to replace the existing slab by the user, and is available for an extra $24 (retail $39).
The Y-IN is demonstrated in the following video.
Source: Kickstarter
