Gerber Vise Review

The Vise is one of a few keychain-ready multi tools they make and have made over the years. All of these are roughly similar in size, but have different features and construction quality. The Vise is our least favorite of the Gerber keychain tools. Its construction quality struggles, its bottle opener requires extra moves, and there are no scissors. The Vise, as compared to other small tools, has two blades. This is nice. The Vise's combination of a straight edge and a serrated blade is unique among small tools and is the main reason you might pick it.

Performance Comparison

The Vise is effective but maybe surpassed by any of a few other options out there.

Photo: Rosie De Lise

Functions

The Vise is pretty typical for a keychain sized tool. Closest competitors include scissors but omit the second blade that the Vise has. For most of our team, the little scissors on other keychain sized tools are preferred to the serrated blade of the Vise. If your habits have you cutting sturdier rope or webbing and want a blade to do so on your keychain multi tool, the Vise is the best bet that we know of. Otherwise, other tiny tools in this size range have better feature sets.

Just like other small multi tools, the functions are tiny and compromised. You can't get around this on a keychain ready device. For light-duty tasks, the drivers, pliers, and files are better than nothing but nothing like their full-size, standalone alternatives.

The phillips driver bit of the Vise, as is typical on these tiniest tools, is a flat thing that works for light turning but is overwhelmed by stiffer screws.

Photo: Rosie De Lise

Ergonomics

Again, tiny tools are inherently compromised. The Vise packs a lot into a tiny space, but those little tools are limited in utility. The pliers are better thought of as sturdy tweezers and the wire cutters are only appropriate for the wires in small electronics and the like. You won't be cutting household or automotive cables with the Vise.

Both blades are similar in size and that size is small. We measured the main blade to be 1.4 inches. On a dedicated pocket knife, this would be one of the smallest possible functioning blades. It does function, but won't stand up to sturdier applications. This isn't the tool you pick for extended work. The blades of the Vise are better suited to opening letters and to carving up a small apple than they are built for whittling or extensive carving.

The small main blade of the Vise is effective for light duty and short tasks.

Photo: Rosie De Lise

The outside corners of the deployed pliers handles are sharper than they need to be. In the unlikely event you are using the Vise for extended pliers work, you risk chafing and abrasion from these handles.

Portability

All the above compromises we observe are mitigated by portability. The Vise is tiny. Others are smaller, but not by much. As modern car keys get bulkier and bulkier, small multi-tools seem smaller and smaller. Fact is, they aren't actually shrinking, but it is a relative thing. A Vise on your keyring definitely takes up less space than the wireless fob of your new Audi (or Hyundai…). This is a very good thing. There might not be many functions and the ergonomics may suffer, but the Vise virtually disappears in your pocket or purse.

This is the real appeal of this product. The Vise virtually disappears on your keys.

Photo: Rosie De Lise

Construction Quality

Our experience with Gerber multi tools is definitely mixed. Some are tight and stiff, with good materials and confidence-inspiring design. Others are more flexible and flimsier. There seems to be only the slightest correlation, within the Gerber line, between price and quality. The Vise is one of their lower quality products. If only as assessed by play and flex in the pliers action (which we've found to be a pretty good indicator of overall quality) the Vise suffers next to similarly priced and sized Gerber offerings. This is perplexing.

The small pliers of the Vise are better thought of as overgrown tweezers than as downsized pliers.

Photo: Rosie De Lise

Value

The Vise costs less than a family's visit to a fast food restaurant. This is a low-priced product. The quality is in line with the price, and function suffers as much for size as it does for design issues. We can call it an ok value. Really, the only reason you might not choose an alternative product that is a few bucks more is that you really want the Vise's serrated blade on your keychain multi-tool.

Conclusion