Have you guys seen the Suspension multi tool that Gerber is selling? I’ve noticed them for sale at a few of the big discount stores around town, like Wal-Mart and Target. The open-frame construction of the handles is the first thing that caught my eye. The lattice-work look really makes the tool stand out from the others hanging on the rack next to it.

Finally arrives today, so I'm posting the first impressions I have, haven’t used the tool yet.

First thing I noticed was that the TTI was a lot smaller and lighter than my surge that I previously owned. That is one of the reasons why I wanted to sell the surge and buy one of the smaller tools because I would find the surge uncomfortable when in plier mode since the handles were so wide, didn't make them difficult to grasp as such, but the smaller length and width of the TTI handles are more comfortable.

The Buck Model 350 "Mini-Buck."

*Although this model is currently discontinued by the manufacturer it still be readily found second-hand at auction sites and internet classified listings.

If you are a multitool collector, or one who appreciates the engineering that goes into these products, and a person who delights in the new and seemingly endless ways that these clever engineers can make a set of blades and drivers fold up into a pair of pliers, then you will like the new Gerber Radius Multi-Plier. If you are anyone else, then I suspect you will consider the Radius to be somewhat of a joke.

Updating Gerber's unique out-the-front sliding pliers to a button-activated spring-loaded mechanism, the Auto Recoil has no peers in the multi-tool world. Being that there are no others to directly compare it against it is so easy to label it as a "gimmick" and move on to other, more mainstream tools. What we are here to determine today is whether this tool has redeeming characteristics or if it is merely a "gadget" for the uninitiated to purchase on impulse, play with for a few days and ultimately spend it's life in the junk drawer or the bottom of a landfill.