Gerber Dime Review: A Budget Keychain Multi-tool That Still Makes Sense

Introduction

Small keychain multi-tools are easy to overlook, but the Gerber Dime has held its ground for years, and at around $24 it is one of the more affordable options still worth a close look. With prices for the Leatherman Style PS and Leatherman Squirt climbing noticeably, especially on Amazon, the Dime deserves a re-examination: is it still worth it, and is it remotely comparable to the Leatherman competition?

Who This Product Is for

The Dime is for people who want a genuinely small, pocketable multi-tool for light tasks: pulling out staples, snipping thread, opening packages, popping bottle caps, and the occasional tight Philips screw. If you need serious plier strength or precision cutting, you will want something further up the range. If you simply want a competent, cheap tool that lives on your keyring, the Dime fits that brief well. It is also a sensible “loaner” tool, since losing it stings far less than losing a pricier alternative.

First Impressions and Build

The black finish version is often the cheapest of the colour options, which helps, though black coatings on small tools tend to wear off over time. The plier head is compact, closer to a glorified super tweezer than a workhorse, and the jaws are on the thin side. Still, the teeth design is arguably better than what you find on the Leatherman Style PS: a crimped section, fine teeth, and an open-tooth area, plus a non-marring flat end that is genuinely handy for delicate pulls. Be gentle with it; these small pliers can break if overworked.

The Dime weighs 67 grams, about 2 and a quarter ounces. The Style PS is lighter at just over an ounce and a half, thinner, and bladeless, so it travels more easily and into more places.

How the Scissors Performed

The scissors are the Dime’s most important test, and they are a mixed story. There is very little play in the pivot and the action feels firm, but the blades flex noticeably under pressure. In a straight score test it handled thread and fabric cleanly, which matters, but it struggled once material required more force, and a precision cutting test was out of reach. The Leatherman Squirt and Style PS scissors are stiffer and cut more cleanly down toward the tip, so they remain a step up.

One caveat with this style of small scissors generally: the spring is a known weak point if heat treatment is poor, and it can snap under hard use.

Things to Consider Before Buying

Several details separate the Dime from the pack, for better and worse:

• The outside-accessible implements are a real strength. The flathead has decent detent strength, strong enough that you will not worry about it collapsing mid-use, and it is noticeably stronger than the detent found on some comparable small tools.
• The crosscut file is the weakest implement. It is thin, hard to reach without opening the tool fully, and functions mostly as a glorified nail file. Doubled as a Phillips driver, it is better than nothing but not ideal.
• The sheepsfoot-style blade is a point of contention. Small slip-joint blades on the outside of the frame have nothing stopping them from folding onto your fingers, so some users would happily skip it.
• The standout is the package opener. It is genuinely useful, lets you be aggressive when pulling, and doubles nicely for peeling fruit. Many would argue every tool in this size class should trade the blade for a package opener.

There is also a tweezer, which works about as well as the tweezers on a classic Swiss Army knife, and the pliers can double as rough tweezers in a pinch. The bottle opener is substantial and outside-accessible, and it works with almost no effort. It is worth remembering that a bottle opener is a convenience rather than a real tool, and there is no faster way to look awkward at a gathering than slowly unfolding a multi-tool to crack a beer.

Buying Advice

At around $24, the Dime undercuts the Leatherman Squirt and Style PS by a significant margin, with the Squirt sitting around $35 and the Style PS higher still on Amazon. The Leatherman options are genuinely better tools: stiffer scissors, thinner and lighter packages, and no blade to worry about. But for most people, the Dime covers the everyday basics just fine, and its plier teeth design is arguably the best of the group. If you are strict on budget, or you want a tool you will not mourn if it disappears, the Dime is a very defensible choice. Smaller Gerber offerings like the Splice and the Vice do not appear to add much over it, since the Dime already covers their functionality in one package, package opener included.

Conclusion

The Gerber Dime is not the best small multi-tool, but it is the one that makes the most financial sense right now. Its pliers, outside-accessible drivers, bottle opener, and excellent package opener cover the keyring essentials, while the flexy scissors and underwhelming file remind you what the extra money for a Leatherman buys. For budget-conscious everyday carry, it remains easy to recommend.