Outdoor Tools from Gerber: Splice and Option 50
When a trip outdoors turns into a fight for survival… well, you’re probably doing it the wrong way. We are relieved, if a bit disappointed, to say that we didn’t need to fight off any bears, wolves, or chupacabras during our recent adventures testing some neat gear. What we did need, and were happy to have at hand, were some easy-to-use tools that worked well.
Gerber (not the baby food company) makes a wide variety of flashlights, knives, and other tools for camping and hiking. We’ve been testing the Splice minitool, which sounds a little cooler than it is- geeks among you will be disappointed to find that the tool lacking any method for actually splicing cables. No crimper either.
Those failings in nomenclature aside, the Splice does work quite well, and is quite small. Sharp scissors and two decent knives (for sawing and slicing) make up for the lack of Phillips screwdriver or corkscrew. It’s light, durable, pretty easy to grip, and comes in either green or black. And at only $22, it won’t put much of a strain on a wallet.
We’ve also been testing the Option 50, a powerful 55-lumen flashlight. It comes with a sheath, and is made from pretty lightweight anodized aluminum, but seems plenty sturdy. Drops made it flicker a bit, but did no real damage. The coolest part of the Option 50 is the Omnivore system- and no, it won’t process vegetables or leftover cooking oil. Instead, it can use either AA, AAA, or even CR 123 batteries- the latter apparently used in something called a ‘film camera’, whatever that is.
$52.50, or spend a bit more for the brighter version Option 60 that also requires more batteries (and is thus heavier). Battery life will vary depending on the type of battery chosen, something that is unnecessarily and annoyingly hidden on the package, but expect between 4-10 hours.
