Awesome Tools

At just 2.64″ long when closed, OKNIFE’s 11-in-1 multitool fits in the palm of your hand. Despite its size, it packs needle-nose and regular pliers, a wire stripper, a knife, scissors, a can opener, a bottle opener, slotted and Phillips screwdrivers, and a SIM card remover tool. Made from 30Cr13 stainless steel with aluminum alloy handles.

Gear up for the holidays with this great selection of gifts from Everyday Carry. This year’s buying guide includes organizers, knives, backpacks, flashlights, watches, water bottles, tech gadgets, and more. We’re hoping Santa brings us that awesome AceBeam Terminator M1 flashlight.

Ever needed to tighten or loosen a screw in a spot where your drill won’t fit? DeWalt’s pivot bit holder lets you access screws in tight spaces thanks to its adjustable pivot head. It can angle up to 20º or lock into a straight mode, and holds standard 1/4″ hex bits. This set includes a 12-pack of #2 Phillips and #2 square-drive bits.

Premium accessory maker Craighill teamed up with sommelier André Hueston Mack to create the Best Wine Key. This precision-engineered tool opens bottles with smoothness and elegance. It features a stainless steel body and corkscrew, textured red PPE handle scales, and a folding serrated blade for removing foil. It’s also got a sturdy bottle opener built in.

A useful survival tool, UST’s black oxide-coated stainless steel ParaHatchet Pro makes quick work of chopping wood and has a built-in rope cutter, a trio of wrenches, and comes with an 8-foot length of paracord that serves as its grip. It also includes a whistle, a firestarter, and a nylon sheath.

This pocketable multitool can pluck splinters and pick up small objects thanks to its precision, titanium-coated steel tweezers. It also packs a 1.5″ drop-point knife blade, a nail cleaner, a file, a flat-blade screwdriver, and a bottle opener. A quick-release keychain clip protects the tweezer tips when not in use.

This compact multitool from PNW Components doesn’t weigh you down with unnecessary blades, giving you just the tools you need to fix your bike on the go. It’s got 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, and 6mm Hex, and T25 Torx drivers, as well as a Dynaplug tubeless tire repair tool.

This pen-style multitool combines five useful functions in one: a hobby knife, a flashlight, a touchscreen stylus, a glass-breaking tool, and, of course, a ballpoint pen. Each of its brass modules screws together between its engraved endcaps to represent the golden band of Ruyi, a Chinese symbol of good fortune and prosperity.

This tactical flashlight from Nitecore is impressively slim at just 0.56″ while still being quite bright. It has a dual-core LED light source that outputs up to 3000 lumens, with a maximum beam throw of 721 feet. It’s powered by a 1700 mAh Li-ion battery and has five brightness levels plus a strobe mode.

The highlight of Gerber’s straight edge flipper blade is its marbled acrylic handle scales inspired by classic barbershop razors. It has a 2.7″ satin finished sheepsfoot blade with a liner lock for safe and secure storage. It also comes in a tortoiseshell pattern.

Zip ties, aka cable ties, are great at bundling cables and attaching items. The only thing we don’t like is having to find scissors or shears to cut off the excess. Zip-Tite tie wraps solve this problem by indenting the edges of each tie so you can break them off at any length without tools or sharp edges. Plus, they retain the tensile strength of regular zip ties.

This multi-purpose utility tool from ToughBuilt combines a retractable utility knife with a pry bar.  It’s great for cutting boxes, opening cans, pulling nails, and other common tasks. Its blade doubles as a wire cutter and stripper, and it has a deep-carry belt clip.

Bomber & Company’s Razor folding knife opens packages and breaks down cardboard boxes with ease. It folds to under 3″ long when closed so that it won’t bulk up your pocket, and it has built-in hex head wrenches, a pry bar, and a bottle opener. Its stubby, straight-edge blade is made from durable 440C stainless steel with a black stonewashed finish.

Some mechanics’ lights are quite large, but the versatile Nitecore NWL20 is small enough to carry anywhere. It has a smooth 600-lumen COB floodlight, a focused 290-lumen LED spotlight, and steady/flashing red light modes for preserving night vision and emergencies. Its base has 180º adjustability and both hook and magnetic mounting options.

While our default for online shopping is Amazon, there are lots of other places you can buy knives and pocket tools. Our friends at Everyday Carry offer up several other places where you can find great blades, whether you like the convenience of online shopping or the hands-on experience of buying in person. They also list some of the best knife brands.

Medical professionals use a special power saw to cut through casts when it’s time to remove them. While the high-speed saw blade slices effortlessly through a hardened cast, it does nothing to your body if it makes contact with your skin. Steve Mould investigates the physics that allows this ingenious device to work without causing bodily harm.

One of the coolest things about metal is that it can be heated over and over again to make new things. My Mechanics, shows us how they transformed an ordinary steel nut into a tool that can turn nuts. The miniature wrench they made can grab onto nuts up to 8.5 mm across.

These firestarter rods include a few bonus features which could come in handy in an emergency. In addition to a magnesium rod and striker tool, they’ve got a built-in compass and whistle, and come with a length of paracord. They come two to a pack, so you’ll always have a spare. Available in several colors, including glow-in-the-dark.

This unique folding knife features a locking, replaceable blade system, so you can switch between drop-point, tanto, and saw edges in seconds. The blades measure 3.25″ to 3.5″ long and are made from black-coated steel. It has a smooth ball-bearing flipper, and its handle is made from durable and lightweight G10.

This Swiss Army-style key organizer features a full titanium body for durability. It can hold 1 to 10 keys and incorporates an LED light, bottle opener, flat blade screwdriver, four metric wrenches, ruler, file, and a 1/4″ hex bit holder. Available in a brushed or matte finish.

This versatile bladed tool from Barebones Living combines several useful functions for gardening and camping. It has both straight and serrated edges for cutting, a twine cutter, and bottle opener. It also digs holes and has 1″ markings on the blade for measuring hole depth. Made from stainless steel with a walnut handle.

Powered by Worx’s interchangeable PowerShare battery packs, the WX027L is a versatile source of illumination. It combines an LED flashlight, a desk lamp, a 360º lantern, and an emergency light in one. Its top telescopes and is hinged so you can adjust its angle as well. Available with or without a battery pack.

With this 112-bit driver kit from iFixit, you’ll never be caught without the proper tool for opening gadgets. It comes with 1/4″ and 4mm bit driver handles with magnetic bit sockets, knurled grips, swivel tops, and high-quality bits made from S2 and 6150 steel. And if anything ever breaks, it’s covered by iFixit’s lifetime warranty.