GERBER SHARD Review

Today I have for review a GERBER SHARD. This is one neat little tool. These retail for around $6.61. There is another similar model called the Artifact. The Artifact is similar overall to the Shard but it has a fold out blade, which uses #11 hobby knife blades. I chose to go with the Shard because I pretty much always have a knife on me. Here are some specs on the shard.

• Overall Length: 2.75"
• Weight: 0.6 oz
• Stainless Steel - Titanium Coating
• 7 Functions:
• Pry Bar
• Small Flathead Driver
• Wire Stripper Puller
• Large Flathead Driver
• Bottle Opener
• Lanyard Hole
• Cross Driver

• Lightweight
• Titanium nitride coating for corrosion resistance
• Perfect size with the basics to carry anywhere
• Airline Safe

As you can see from the specs it is a lot of functions in a small package. The one thing that really jumped out at me was the pry bar function. This was definitely an area that my knife didn't cut it. I am not about to use my knife to try and pry something, the same goes for my keys. So when i saw something that was purpose built for the task and pretty cheap I gave it a go.

While it is small, it fits the hand nicely. There is no problem gripping the tool for prying or bottle opening. As you can see from the photo it has some light knurling on the edge where your thumb and fore finger would be placed for bottle opening. The flat head drivers are the forked portion of the prybar. One side is smaller than the other to account for the two different size flat heads. The cross tip or phillips driver is on the opposite end. It is the size equivalent of maybe a #3, but works on #2 screws also. The wire stripper is in the fork of the prybar.

Overall I believe this to be a handy little tool. It is however a jack of all trades and therefore a master of none. The two faults that I found with the Shard were the screw drivers. The larger of the two flat head worked fine, however the smaller one was too thick to fit any screws that I tried it on. This could be fixed easily with a file. The phillips only down fall was that the screw you are trying to manipulate must be close to the surface of the object it is attached to. If the screw is in a recessed hole this tool will not reach, but hey it's not a dedicated screwdriver. These two things aside I still really like this thing. It prys like a champ and protects my other more expensive tools from abuse. This alone makes it a worth while purchase, and a good addition to your key chain.