Author: Edward S. from Alabama
My name is SPC Sparks, and I was issued a Gerber multi-tool before I left for deployment to a war zone in Afghanistan. I’ve kept the multi-plier with me every day and use it constantly. I love this tool. In fact, it saved my life: it was early morning, and a battle buddy and I were driving through a dangerous area in a civilian vehicle, headed to the next camp over on our FOB (Forward Operating Base). When the front tire on our vehicle blew, we pulled off to the side of the road and got to work removing it. The design for the tire’s structure on this particular vehicle is a bar inserted through the trunk area, with the tire lowered down on a winch system. Digging around in the mechanism revealed the winch had broken. After several minutes spent attempting unsuccessfully to make the winch work, I asked my battle buddy to grab the multi-tool from my bag. Trying to cut the braided wire with the cutting blades only managed to break the blades, at which point I pulled out the tool’s saw and severed the wire with several long cuts, forcing the wire to finally snap and the tire to come down. We rushed to get the old blown tire off and replace it with the spare. The car’s jack lacked the cross handle which would’ve allowed easy turning of the jack. Instead, I grabbed the end of the jack with the pliers of the multi-tool and spun it until the truck was high enough to switch out the tire. New tire in place, we scrambled to get out of the area as quickly as possible.
I’m permanently grateful for my Gerber multi-tool. It provided crucial assistance in a situation that could have deteriorated rapidly for both myself and my battle buddy if not for the multi-tool’s presence. Thank you, Gerber, for the tool that was pivotal in keeping us alive.
