The pocket tool category seems to have exploded in the last year or so. I am continually finding more folks who either make custom pocket tools or companies who are just joining the market. We thought since the release of the Artifact and Shard tools from Gerber; there would be no other big companies who would jump on the bandwagon. Well seemingly out of nowhere a company called MK7 announces that they are going to start producing pocket tools that are going to be made of high quality materials similar to custom makers like Peter Atwood. 

CRKT/IDWorks Flux 

I was lucky enough to first see the CRKT Flux at the 2009 SHOT Show in Orlando- and in fact, I had the designer, Tom Stokes walk me through the components. I was fascinated as Tom showed me the concept of a multitool that is customizable to your intended needs, similar to the failed Coleman Pro-Lock. Coleman unfortunately did not support the Pro-Lock and as a result, the Pro-Lock never amounted to much. Let's hope that CRKT doesn't make the same mistake with the Flux.

When I was looking at pocket tools a while back one tool really got my eye as to be different than all the others. Most folks who are custom knife designers and dabble in the tool category make pocket tools like those by Peter Atwood. It’s really tough to find a designer who will break the mold and head into a different thought direction. Most folks carry a pocket tool to accompany a pocket knife and thus save their blade from use that would make most of us cringe. Most of the pocket tools made are pry tools; these are tools that can pull, twist and pry objects or material apart. The other category is tools that incorporate a blade rather than the pry end, some examples of these are the Atwood Ring Thing and the JDR Barracuda. You tend to get one or the other, one that pries or one that cut, not often one that does both. Jared Price is one of those individuals who thought long and hard and created a tool that had a knife blade as its main function and still retained the ability to pry.