It looks like a regular utility knife. You know, the kind with blades you can snap off and replace in a pinch. And yes, you can use it the same way you use your favorite X-Acto knife. Except, the Gerber Prybrid Utility is a versatile multi-tool that can do so much more.
Designed to do so much more than cutting and slicing, the tool combines a full-sized utility blade with a variety of integrated functions, allowing you to find multiple uses for it, whether you’re fixing stuff at home, toiling in a job site, or slumming it at camp to get away from the craziness in the city. Even better, it does all that while coming in a size comparable to standard utility knives, making it a potentially better option for folks who prefer the convenience of disposable blades to your standard pocket folder.
The Gerber Prybrid Utility measures 4.25 x 1.3 inches (length x width), so this is pretty large for a utility knife, ensuring you will have enough leverage for any kind of cutting job traditional utility blades can handle. It uses standard box cutter blades, by the way, so you can buy a pack from your local shop and have all the cutting edge you’ll need for the immediate future (just remember to keep them on hand at all times), along with a slide mechanism that makes it easy to deploy the blade when needed and retract it as soon as you’re done. Replacing blades is easy, too, requiring you to simply disengage the slide-lock mechanism before sliding the blade out completely and swapping in a fresh unit.
It has grooved and textured G10 scales on either side to ensure a secure grip during handling, both of which are fastened using multiple screws to ensure durability in any situation. While the size makes it compact enough to fit in most pockets, it also comes with a hole for hanging on a carabiner and hooking onto your pack.
Aside from the utility blade, the Gerber Prybrid Utility also comes with pry bar on the opposite end, so you get a hard and solid edge for opening paint cans and splitting apart various stuff. That pry bar comes with a nail puller in the middle, too, in case you encounter tasks that require a little more finesse during prying, while the two separate edges of the pry bar can double as individual flathead drivers (one large and one small). A notch at the bottom side of the handle allows you to insert a paracord or any similarly-sized rope, so you can cut a variety of cords without having to slide out the blade, while a small protrusion on the opposite end gives you access to a bottle opener for popping a cold one open at the end of a tiring day.
The Gerber Prybrid Utility is available now. If it’s a little too big to your liking, they also offer a smaller, sub-4-inch version called the Prybrid X.