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In which Doc attempts to escape a burning building
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03-02-2012 7:01pm#1Well not exactly, much as I love you guys I'm not about to lock myself in a room and set the house on fire just to crash test a bit of kit, but I am going to do a review of the Lidl multitool axe-hammer thing as requested last week by Tabs, by seeing how quickly it will get me through one of these:
That's your standard or garden variety household door, used throughout the land in offices, apartments and houses everywhere. The back of it was damaged by a previous tenant, so may as well get some value out of it before it's dumped! If there was a fire and someone was locked in, its fairly equivalent to something they might need to get clear of.
So, here's the multitool itself:
I always buy two of everything when I can, suppliers love me, but it keeps redundant backups and spare parts always to hand, not to mention being able to outfit a second person if I need to.
These aren't branded, presumably made for the shop to order, but they are of Dutch construction, not Chinese, unlike a lot of cheap tools these days.
The first thing I noticed was the weight, its not a heavy item, maybe a third of a kilo, but its top heavy, so you get a nice heft when you swing it. The mass of the hammerhead behind the axe lets it punch above its weight, and vice-versa.
This causes a slight issue with the pouch mind you, since the belt loop is low down and the centre of gravity on the tool is high up, pulling the pouch away from the body somewhat, and generally I prefer utility items to stay snug to me, the less flap the better. There's a little pocket behind the belt loop which might explain that, as it opens when the pouch is affixed to the belt.
That's the open tool, the internal tools are:- Flat nosed pliers
- Hammer
- Pliers
- Knife
- Wood saw
- Cross screwdriver
- Chisel
- Open ended spanner (6-10mm)
- Unversal saw, handy for meat and bone
- Slotted screwdriver
- File
- Bottle opener
- Wire stripper
- Side cutter pliers
- Axe
The build of the tool isn't exactly to aeuronautical standards, you can see here there's a slight chip in one hammerhead, and the axe grind was uneven on both. Easy to remedy with a few strokes of the sharpener mind you, these aren't really functional problems.
The clip to hold it closed will slip off if you look at it the wrong way, I think because there's some flashing inside the notch where it fits, again easy to remedy with a file and not really a functional issue.
You can see the top down view here, pretty well put together although I wouldn't stand on it laterally myself! This is not stainless steel, so you will need to keep it oiled to ensure a lifetime of use.
Knifewrench! Safe AND practical.
I'm wearing gloves for protection here, and also eye protection - anyone thinking of crash testing equipment like this should of course take the neccessary precautions.
And so down to business! I gave myself 90 seconds, didn't count the strokes but I was fairly hockeying into it, and the result as you can see was quite satisfactory:
I would say given four or five minutes I could have had the whole thing down easily enough. I'm sure you can imagine the effect on a car door or other obstacle.
This is how the axe looked afterwards:
The other tools were of the same quality, sharp out of the box and reliable enough for domestic work or light outdoor work. I wouldn't say it's that comfortable to use the axe for long periods, since the reverse side of the handle is all ridges due to the other tools, you'd need to cushion that somehow.
So in summary, for €6.99 its a hell of a tool. Does it pass the "bet your life on it" test? Probably not. But in addition to other tools this could certainly make an invaluable contribution to any BOB or camping kit. The range of applications in camping especially is limitless.
Would I recommend a purchase? Definetely yes, at that price point.
And a special treat for those Cold Steel fans in the audience, ever looked speculatively at a door and wondered what your shillelagh would do to it? Well wonder no more!
I took a few swings with the Cold Steel Irish Blackthorn just for the craic, not too shabby!
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Oh definetely get it to shaving sharp if you can, anything being used to cut should be as sharp as possible. I'll go over the two I have today with a file and sharpener to smooth them out, that was an out of the box demonstration there.
In hindsight actually I'd say I could have had the door open in 90 seconds or less if I had concentrated on the area around the handle, certainly if it was sharper.
Next test sharpen it and have a hack at a log and see how well it keeps its edge? Its not a peice of steel I'd be trying to get a really good edge on as I doubt it will keep, but you can prove me wrong
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I would agree, like this guys axe!Oh definetely get it to shaving sharp if you can, anything being used to cut should be as sharp as possible.
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They don't cost much more here tbh, but you'd have a hard time getting through one without some sort of a tool - it passed the solid kick test!Feck it I didn't think it was possible to buy such a light door in Ireland, must have come in during the Tiger to save developers a bit of money. In the states a door like that costs $15-25 or there about. Wouldn't want to be depending on one to keep people out, but if you could pry one open in a more gentle manner you could hide a good stash of stuff in one
You'd need to cut it in half along the side to make an invisible join, it appears to be moulded in one piece. Maybe a slot could be cut out on the side and pasted in? 0 -
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Grizzly 45 wrote: »Looks like a Swedish Ganfors axe,which are exellent steel.
My point exactly
. The steel in a cheap multi-tool isn't up to working with a razor edge. If you can get that sort of edge on a multi-tool either it will bend off or get hammered back into the main body of "steel" behind it as soon as you use it. Better to have a far less acute bevel and sharpen with a file to leave lots of metal behind a filed edge that will hold together than start with a razor sharp multi-tool that will be totally blunt very quickly. 0 -
Its a wetterlings chopping axe, good review here, the guy didn't seem all that impressed.
To be honest the only thing you'll achieve by not getting the best edge possible on the multitool axehead is a prematurely blunt axe head. Yes if you tried to split logs all afternoon you'd get the same effect, but that's not really the purpose of this tool.
This to me seems more like a light camp wood processing axe, quite useful in a rescue situation when you've little else to hand, or at an archaeological dig for example. I'd bring this along camping or hiking in a heartbeat, and could probably find a few uses for it around the house too, along with the other tools in it.
In any case, no matter what axe you're using, I'd probably recommend a quick resharpening for every ten or fifteen minutes of continous use anyway. Sharper is better! 0 -
In my experience, steel will take a razor edge.The steel in a cheap multi-tool isn't up to working with a razor edge.
How long it keeps that edge is a function of steel quality, heat treat, retained carbides, whether the steel has become Austenite, Bainite, Martensite or something else, alloying elements, edge geometry and usage.
That's why I love sharpening, and crosswords, always looking for a solution.
These days there is a tendency among "my people" or knife knuts, to dismiss steels that are not the latest and best. M390 vs. M4 vs. Stellite may be found on the cover of knife magazines. In fairness the differences aren't game changing any more. Stone to Bronze, yep I'd switch in a heartbeat and sell my custom rock collection.
Bronze to Iron to low grade steel? Swappity swap swap!
AUS6 to AUS8 to 440C to 01 to D2?
They are all decent steels, dependent on heat treat great steels.
Even the worst pot metal steel is better than bronze age tools, we live in a great time for knives and stuff
That said...Stanley Fubar for ripping **** down, dead on hammers for nailing stuff and a Hooligan bar (Halligan bar) for opening stuff up!
My own preference for stuff that seems to be tomahawk dominated in the US Forces would be a Stanley 20 oz. roofing hammer.
Breaching, sentry takedowns, opening crates, making holes, digging pits etc. Yep, steel hammer does the job. :rolleyes: Even when I was a builder, a good hammer was 80% of the toolbox, Mr. Vice Grips making up a lot of the other 20%!
For wrecking a house, get builder tools. Wrecking/Crow bars are cheap and a favourite of Dr. Freeman!0 -
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