Alright, so I received that Hoffman Richter HR-100 13-in-1 Multitool about 5 days ago and these are my short term impressions of it. After several months I'll come back and list my long term impressions, but at least I've had a chance to use it a tiny bit rather than just opening it and doing an '
Unboxing Video' the way some people on YouTube do.
I threw in a few other multi-tools that I have for comparison sake. From left there's an original Leatherman multi-tool, a Leatherman Wave (middle) and then the Hoffman Richter HR-100 13-in-1 multi-tool (right). I also threw in a cheap gas station type (red) multi-tool that I received on an EMS day (I actually have two of these cheapo type multi-tools that I received on two different EMS days, I don't know where the other one went).
The cheapo, red EMS day multi-tool is on the far right in this pic.
At any rate the first thing I thought when I opened the box on the Hoffman Richter (HR) multi-tool was that it seemed a bit big. For some reason the advertisement pictures made me think that it was smaller...nope. It's somewhat large. At any rate I've been using it for the last 5 days and I've had the opportunity to use it for tasks that I actually needed to do and for contrived tasks that I just made up for the purpose of testing this multi-tool.
The next thought that I had was that the metal used in the Hoffman Richter wasn't quite as good as the Leathermans that I'm usually using, but that it wasn't as bad as the cheapo gas station variety. Somewhere in the middle. To me the metal used on the HR is about like what you'd see used in the construction of the Gerber multi-tools.
For the most part whenever I use a multi-tool the main tool that I use on there are the pliers, followed by the screwdriver, then the file, then the knife and then every great once in awhile the can opener. The other tools I've actually never used. I mean ever. Even with some of the tasks I've listed I'm not using them much at all. For instance with the can opener tool on all the multi-tools that I've ever owned in 44 years and change of life I've only ever used them less than 5 times where it was for real and I actually wanted that can opened, where I didn't have a real can opener and it wasn't a made up test just to see how well it worked. It's just not something that I typically use a multi-tool for.
The number one task that I'm using a multi-tool for is where I'm using the pliers and I'm using them to twist the the portable oxygen tank on/off. They're supposed to provide a key for this, but like many other items those keys typically grow legs and walk off so that the crew who snagged it will have it there when they need it. Because the pliers are getting used more than anything else having the grip/handles not be sheet metal thin where it bites into the hand is kind of important, at least to me.
Here's how they stack up to each other in terms of their handle edge thickness.
The handles on the Leatherman Wave and the Hoffman Richter are both comfortable when using the pliers. They're also the widest and the 2nd widest with the edges folded over, so that helps a great deal when cranking on something and using a great deal of pressure. The thin edge of the handle doesn't bite into the fingers or Palm of the hand.
As far as the actual pliers go I actually like the pliers better on the HR than I do the other 3. They're spring loaded (the other 3 are not) and the middle section of the pliers is opened up a bit for when trying to twist nuts on/off and the wire cutter blades are also replaceable while the others are not. On the others if you jack up the wire cutter blades you're SOL. That's it. Maybe Leatherman might replace that whole handle section or maybe replace the whole thing on warranty, but there's nothing that they can do to replace the wire cutter blade. On the HR if the wire cutter blade snaps off its replaceable.
Wire cutters on both the HR and the Leatherman Wave.
The third thought that I had was that the knife on the Hoffman Richter sucked. Both because the knife isn't on the outside edge, so there's this huge gap between the edge of the multi-tool and the cutting edge of the knife and because the actual knife sucks.
The user could just keep the tool open and slice that way, but when closed you're basically unable to use the base section of the blade.
A multi-tool knife isn't exactly the first knife I grab when cutting cheese to make a sandwich, but my point is more about the thought that went into the design and the available cutting surface of the knife.
Although there's a lock on the HR for all the tools (which looks exactly like the lock on the Leatherman Wave), on the HR knife it wobbles. It's the only one on the tool to do so. It's not anywhere near as sharp as either Leatherman (which are both pretty friggin sharp) and I don't like the blade shape. After I took the pics I tried sharpening it on a stone and while a bit sharper its ability to take and hold an edge isn't that great.
I tried most of the other tools (two of the screwdrivers and the can opener on a can of tuna for tuna fish sandwiches for lunch) and they all worked well. The best thing about this multi-tool is the fairly comfortable handle.
To sum this tool up it was an impulse purchase and I bought it with the intention of just using it at work, mostly turning O2 tanks on and off. If it gets lost or broken then it's not a big deal. The lackluster knife isn't really that big of a deal since I always carry an actual knife on me anyway, but it would be nice if the knife provided was a little bit better. While it'll work for what I bought it for (O2 tanks) I can't say that I'm too excited about this because of the tools included besides the pliers. Then again I don't hate the thing either. It's just there. Meh. It's just a bit too large in comparison with other multi-tools. I definitely won't carry it on my belt the way I do with the Leathermans. It I had taken the time to look around I would have run across the Gerber Suspension ($23.49) and gotten that instead of buying this (on sale) for $18.95.
This multi-tool got a split key chain ring and a Carabiner put on it and I put it on the outside of my work bag. So it the end it did end up saving me some weight on my belt and I will use it at work, it'll just be in a different way then I thought. For the multi-tools in its price range I'd likely skip this one and get either a Gerber Suspension ($23.49) or a Leatherman Squirt Ps4 ($26.63).
