Tools

Each year the makers of multi-tools continue to impress us with their creativity and sheer determination to squeeze utmost functionality into easily carried packages and 2021 was no exception. Let's take a look at the best of the bunch.

A typical do-it-yourselfer may end up buying a reciprocating saw, a circular saw and a small electric chainsaw. The Photonix Multi-Tool is designed to simplify things and save money, with a modular system that combines all three devices.

The time-honored utility knife with its retractible blade is an indispensable tool for many, and has undergone many iterations over the years. Aerocrafted has now put forward a particularly minimalist one with style and simplicity at its heart.

A new study is presenting archeological evidence of the oldest known bone tools used for making clothes. The tools, found in a cave in Morocco, suggest humans were skinning animals for fur to wear as clothes up to 120,000 years ago.

Wild cockatoos have been seen making sets of tools, each with their own design and purpose, and using them in a specific order to crack into fruit. This behavior places them in an exclusive club that previously only included humans and some primates.

The tried and true form factor of a utility knife is one many will be familiar with, but toolmaker ToughBuilt has just introduced one with a very handy trick up its sleeve, able to instantaneously turn into a scraper at the push of a button.

Leatherman's mutltiools have taken all shapes and sizes in its 38-year existence, but in designing its latest creation the company is returning to its roots with a version based on its first ever model launched in 1983.

With a lineup of titanium pocket tools and pens, Tennessee's Big Idea Design has established a name for itself in small, lightweight everyday carry (EDC). Its new Bit Bar Inline shrinks and lightens that EDC even more.

Startup Keytool is stepping into the world of everyday carry with the belief your keyset can do much more than open your front door, offering an eponymous multitool with an impressive suite of functions.

The latest multitool from purveyor of cycling parts Wolf Tooth is one that might tick quite a few boxes, functioning as a set of master link pliers with a slew of different attachments tucked inside the handle.

A new multitool has just landed on Kickstarter promising an impressive degree of versatility in a very cost-effective package. The Talos offers 14 tools in all, spearheaded by a multifunctional knife and 3-in-1 pliers, alongside other old favorites.

There’s no shortage of multitools around these days, but not all strike the same elegant tone of The James Brand’s offerings. Its latest is a basic but stylish bit driver, which neatly stows its extra bits away in its cylindrical body.