There are few products that give me reason to pause. Usually when I buy something I have given enough thought that I am not too surprised. Sure, there are times I buy on a whim but that usually happens when I am in a bookstore. And that only happens if I see a Nicholas Sparks book on sale. Yes, I love Nicholas Sparks. He is a wordsmith; a modern-day Shakespeare. Come at me, bro. Anyways, setting aside my love for romance novels I want to look at a tool that has been on my key chain for the last week. Enter in the Gerber Shard.
I purchased the Gerber Shard on a whim from Amazon. I was looking for something that replaced the bulky multi-tool that I have been carrying for a year or so now. My reason for a replacement was because I only used the multi-tool for the screw drivers and the knife. Having changed jobs last year I no longer needed to carry around something that was as big as a multi-tool. I figured I could use a change to rid some of the room from my ever-expanding EDC.
The Gerber Shard is a small little tool that packs a big punch. Measuring a mere 3.1” and weighing less than a quarter of an ounce it was a major change up from the multi-tool. And with little room left in my pockets, a much appreciated one. Constructed from stainless steel, the Gerber Shard is surprisingly perfect for the niche that it was made for. Containing a small and a medium flat head screwdriver. It also has a Phillips head screw driver, a bottle opener, pry bar and a wire stripper. The bottle opener works great at opening packages, too. Which is nice if you’re like me and forget your knife sometimes when getting the mail. This along with my pocket knife rounds out my EDC and serves me quite well.
This tool is not meant to replace your entire tool box so if that is what you want then you will be disappointed. But for the everyday uses that I find myself in the Gerber Shard excels at. The Gerber Shard does quite well at filling the void between not having any sort of tool and a multi-tool. Now, I am not saying that multi-tools are bad. I happen to love mine and I even have one in my car as well as my range bag but having limited real estate in my pocket it was a nice little buy. I have found that in my everyday life I rarely need anything more than a small screwdriver/pry bar and a knife. So the multi-tool was just taking up a lot of unnecessary space in my pockets.
But enough about the role that it fills, let’s talk about quality. The Gerber Shard is well constructed from Stainless steel. It has held up to the tasks that I find myself needing it for. It has a black powder coated finish that also seems to hold up well. For as small as it is, it has a fair amount of heft to it which only adds to its solid construction. My only point of contention is the wire stripper. Let’s just say that what it lacks in that area it makes up with the pry bar.
If you are in the market for something that is small enough to carry on your keys then the Gerber Shard is for you. With this and a trusty blade you will be hard pressed to find an everyday task that you can’t handle.
You can find it on Amazon for less than $5.00. Trust me when I say that it is money well spent.