SOG’s Power Grab Multi-Tool, by Pat Cascio

SOG’s Power Grab Multi-Tool is under review today, and it is one of their newest and stoutest multi-tools they have produced to date.

Tools and Inventions

I’m always interested in some of the TV programs that show the top 100 tools or inventions that have made our lives easier. Some of the products featured are inventions that I’ve never heard of or used; some are strange, to say the least. I’m sure today’s generation probably thinks that the cell phone is the best invention ever! I would sure disagree with that. I wish the cell phone had never been invented. Just think of the untold lives that have been lost in car accidents because someone was busy trying to text while driving. Nothing is so important that you have to take your eyes off the road. Pull over to text or talk on your cell phone, but don’t do it while driving. Enough said!

Man’s Oldest Tool

By all accounts, man’s oldest tool is the knife, in some shape or form. I don’t know where we would be without a knife in our lives. Think on that! We use knives every single day in some manner for cutting tasks, and we don’t give it a second thought. The simple screw driver is another tool we use all the time without giving it any thought. Pliers are another tool that is used, and what a grand and oh-so-simple tool a set of pliers are.

The Swiss Army Knife has always been very popular, because of the many different tools it can contain. And, there are probably at least a hundred different models of Swiss Army Knives. There are two official companies that makes genuine Swiss Army Knives, too. Then, we have the many knock-offs of Swiss Army Knives. I haven’t run across one of these cheap imports that is worth a dime, in my humble opinion.

A Good Concept

The concept behind the Swiss Army Knife is quite good if you ask me. They are okay for minor chores and repairs, but they fail when put under any pressure or a load of any sort. I’ve had them come apart in my hand, literally, many times. Still, they are very popular, so long as you remember they have severe limitations.

Multi-Tools

Enter the very popular multi-tool, which is the original brain-child of a fellow Oregonian and is now produced by numerous makers. Again, many are junk and not worth a dime, if you ask me. There are only a couple of makers of multi-tools that I recommend. One of them is SOG Knives www.sogknives.com in Washington state. Over the years, I’ve tested many of their multi-tools and have been more than a little impressed with them.

I received the all-new SOG Power Grab Multi-Tool for testing for our readers, and it might just be the best multi-tool to come out of SOG to date. The Power Grab is a full-sized multi-tool, not some reduced sized version; therefore, it can do things that lesser multi-tools can’t do. The Power Grab has a total of 19 different tools on-board.

SOG Power Grab Multi-Tool Tools

We’ll cover the on-board SOG Power Grab tools quickly. Keep in mind that all the tools lock open, too.

  • Locking knife blades – several
  • ¼” drive
  • Awl
  • Full flat blade
  • Bottle opener
  • Fully serrated blade
  • Large flat screwdriver
  • Needle nose pliers
  • Ruler Small flat screw driver
  • Wire crimper
  • 12-piece hex bit kit
  • 3-sided file
  • Bolt grip channel
  • Can opener
  • Hard wire cutter
  • Medium flat screw driver
  • Phillips screw driver
  • Scissors
  • Straight edge blade
  • Centered Magnetic ¼” hex bit driver

Additionally, many of these tools can do many different tasks. There is also a Nylon carrying case with the hex bit kit, which is really nice. If you add up every single tool, it comes out to many more than 19 different tools you have on board, believe it or not.

Quality Manufacturing and Overview

The Power Grab is manufactured in Taiwan, under the tightest controls, and my sample was absolutely flawless in every respect. Every tool is made out of stainless steel, for care-free carry and use. The closed length of the Power Grab is 4.6 inches, and it weighs 9.9 ounces. The sheath is carried on your belt. I can’t think of a single day that goes by in my life when I don’t reach for a knife of some type for some cutting chores. And, practically every day, FedEx, UPS, or USPS delivers packages to my home, and the boxes require a knife to cut them open.

I try to not use my folding knife in my right front pocket for these cutting tasks; it is reserved, for the most part, for self-defense use or survival use. So, I reach for a multi-tool on my belt, and my Every Day Carry (EDC) has a multi-tool. I’d feel naked without one on my belt, along with a spare handgun magazine. Plus, well…all the other gear I carry each day.

Power Grab Compound Leverage Gear

The Power Grab has the SOG patented compound leverage gear that works with the pliers and wire cutters. Tests have shown that this simple gear set-up doubles the gripping power of the SOG multi-tools that employ it. Think about how many times you’ve used a multi-tool component, such as the pliers, and they slipped off whatever it was your were gripping because you couldn’t get enough pressure on the handle of the tool to hold that nut tight enough to take it off or put it on something. More often than not, I’ve had multi-tools slip off something and end up pinching the meat of my hand. Ouch! That’s no fun!

I live on a small homestead in Western Oregon. It’s not very big, just a bit less than four acres, but there are always plenty of chores to keep me busy. Lately, I’ve really fallen behind in keeping the place up to speed, because of my hip replacement surgery. Boy, has that put me behind on a lot of chores that won’t get done before Fall and Winter set in, and I can’t afford to pay anyone to do the work, either.

Working on Many Projects

I try, whenever I see something that needs my attention, go jump on the project, and get it taken care of, while I’m thinking about it. And, I don’t want to have to run into the house to grab a saw, screw driver, or other small tool, or a handful of tools. So, I honestly depend on a multi-tool on my belt, and more often than not, the multi-tool usually gets the job done in short order. However, what about working on a car? Yep, a multi-tool can sure help you out of a jam often.

Over the course of several months, during my recovery and healing, I was able to use the SOG Power Grab Multi-Tool for many projects, many! And, it performed above and beyond my expectations. It saved me a lot of walking back and forth to the tool boxes around the house and storage shed.

What To Look For In Any Multi-Tool

One thing that I always look for in any multi-tool is a sharp knife blade. It is a tip-off, if the knife blade isn’t sharp, that the tool just might be junk. The plain edge blade on the SOG was super-sharp, as was the serrated blade, which is outstanding. And I like that the screw drivers were long enough to get into some tight spaces. The scissors were also outstanding; they really worked and worked extremely well.

Chores With A Friend

I had a good friend drop by to do some chores for me shortly after my surgery, as I was pretty much a “invalid” for a month or longer. During that time, there wasn’t much I could do in the way of chores. I needed my riding lawn mower repaired. Every year, it is something new that needs attention, and it won’t start. I let my friend use the Power Grab Multi-Tool, and was he ever impressed with it. He told me he has several multi-tools but none like the Power Grab and that he usually leaves them at home or in the glove box of his SUV.

He also installed a new back door, which was long over due, for me as well as completed a simple job that turned out to be a big job. Another friend had purchased the door for me, and it wasn’t quite cut to the right size. It was a used door. So, my friend spent more than three hours making the door fit, and he did an outstanding job. He asked me where he could get a SOG Power-Grab of his own. I rewarded him with my sample!

Preppers Have A Good Multi-Tool

I can’t imagine anyone claiming that they are preppers, if they don’t have a good multi-tool of any kind with them at all times. Full-retail on the SOG Power Grab is $134. Yeah, that’s a good chunk of change, but you won’t have to replace this baby. It’ll last a lifetime. Check one out. You’ll be very impressed with the workmanship and quality, and you’ll lay down your hard-earn money in short order, but you’ll have one of the best multi-tools out there. I’m just puzzled that on those shows that feature some of the greatest inventions ever that none of them feature any kind of multi-tool! Hmm?




8 Comments

  1. I have carried a multi-tool for many, many (30+?) years, in both military and civilian life. At the time, there were two primary choices, Gerber and Leatherman. I never did like the Leatherman inside-out handles, they dug into my hand when in use. Therefore, the Gerber. I have two Gerbers, both “sliders” (vs “butterfly”), both early versions. One is a blunt-nosed pliers, with button hex-head screws for the slide mechanism. The other is a “needle” nosed pliers, with flat rivets for the slide mechanism, and no locks for the knives and file.
    Gerber has an excellent lifetime warranty against breakage on their multitools, and I have had several opportunities to put that warranty to the test, due to my abuse and misuse of several of the tools. Gerber does not disappoint. Really, knives and files are NOT meant to be used as heavy pry bars.
    Like you, there is never a day goes by that I don’t pull out my Gerber for SOME use or another. I’d just as soon run out of the house without shoes than run out without my Gerber.

    Thank you.

  2. To say that you “wish the cell phone had never been invented” because of the number of lives lost due to people texting and driving does not even pay the slightest reverence to multitudes that were saved because of timely notification of emergency services during the onset of an acute medical condition of other emergency situation.

    It also sounds a lot like the liberal argument against guns, think of all the lives lost to gangsters with guns. Maybe if they’d never been invented those deaths wouldn’t have happened.

  3. I’ve owned a number of different multi-tools. I really liked the Leatherman Wave. That is until the SOG Power Assist multi-tool came along. I ordered it in black and added the wire stripper attachment. Wow, this is in a league of its own far above the older multi-tools. Yes, the knife is sharp. One of the best features is the gearing that multiplies the power you can apply with the needle nose pliers. It’s a very high-quality tool.

  4. The design of the flip open multitools is inherently weak(during hard use it will bend/fail). The Gerber design is far superior and the tools can be interchanged on some models. Blades and tools do lock on these but not on the flip style.

  5. I have and use several multitools, SOG, Leatherman and Gerber. I have one for EDC, one on my Vest/body armor and another on my hiking gunbelt. You would be surprised how often they get used. Indispensible for sure !!!!!

  6. What happened with this Powergrab tool? I can not find on sogknives.com anymore and somehow there were not a normal review on youtube about it. Is it a dead product now?

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