The more my work shifts from “full kit” to plain clothes, the more I realize that I can’t simply throw the same tools I used during the military into my jeans pockets. There are two primary reasons.
Reason one being the, sometimes overhypedy keyword “Low Vis”. I can’t and I don’t want to wear cargo pants and equipment bags all the time. To many bumps in your pants just make people recognize that you are actually carry a lot of stuff in your pockets.
Reason two being pure comfort. It sounds like an amateurs argument, but as soon as you feel that your EDC is getting to cumbersome or heavy you will reduce it. This is especially right when you do concealed carry.
So in the last years I tried to reduce my EDC to the pure essentials. My EDC being now:
- Pencil
- Notebook
- Lighter (wrapped in tape)
- Lip balm (wrapped in tape)
- RATS Tourniquet
- legal knife
- Compact Flashlight
- Package of adhesive bandages and alcohol wipes
- Compressed gauze
- Multitool
Recently I looked more and more into optimizing my multitool. I changed to a swiss pocket tool a year ago, but I really missed the pliers on this. So when doing some research about micro tools I stumbled upon the Gerber Dime. The Dime is sized smaller than an electric lighter and offers an impressive array of tools:
You get a plier that is able to do some serious tightening and bending work. The plier is serrated and offers a good grip. It also integrates a wire cutter.
You also get a small blade, which is very sharp but has no sharp point. So it is great for some smaller cutting work. Like all other tools on the Dime. The blade has no locking mechanism and you need two hands to present it.
One feature I really like is what Gerber calls a “Retail Package Opener” as it not only works great for opening packages without damaging contents, but also does a great job in opening zip ties. Gerber could have expanded this to a small webbing cutter to make it more versatile.
Of course you find two screwdrivers one that fits flat- and one that fits crossheads up to a medium size. One of the screwdrivers also features a metal and and a wood file texture. Sadly this is more of an afterthought because you don’t really get much surface contact. But it’s nice to have.
What I really like is the included pincer. It really helps when removing thorns out of the skin or when gripping very small objects. A feature you miss on many big multi tools.
Also you find a small set of scissors. They work great for cutting small pieces of tape or paper or lose threads. They also come in handy when you need to cut fingernails.
Integrated into the case comes a beefy bottle opener that really works great.
What I don’t like is the integrated key chain. It just sits in the way all the time, so I removed it and just put it on for the review.
I really like the small size of the Dime. Because the best tool is not always the beefiest one, but the one that you really carry all the time with you. Whether wearing casual, business casual or even a suit. There is no dress code that prohibits caarying the Dime on person. The small size of the Dime and its non locking tools also prevent you from getting into legal trouble. I tend to carry mine in the watch pocket of my jeans most of the time.
The Dime really fits the gap between a full multitool and a swiss pocket knife. This gap is especially needed in times when more and more people rethink the basics of EDC. The Dime is not your tool for fieldcraft or when you depend on your multitool for daily work.
I ordered my Gerber from Knives-And-Tools, a shop that I really like because of their awesome customer service.
If you ever experienced your pants sagging because of a heavy multitool feel free to comment and follow us on Instagram.
