I found a 36-in-1 multitool that absolutely belongs in your kitchen drawer – here’s why

Kelvin Tools 36-in-1 Multitool

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• A strange-looking multitool that looks rather Fisher-Price but is actually very good.
• It has everything from screwdriver bits to a hammer and tape measure!
• Looks bulky, but it is actually rather ergonomic in use!

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I have… wait, let me just have a look around me… countless multitools. They’re something I’ve been buying and using since I got my first fake Swiss Army Knife at about seven or eight years old. Then, influenced by seven seasons of MacGyver in my teens, I graduated to less crappy pocket knives, multitools, and other EDC gear.

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So my love of multitools goes a long way. But when I was given the opportunity to review a new multitool, I was a little hesitant because, well, to me it didn’t look like a multitool.

It looks a bit… Fisher-Price

On the face of it, the Kelvin 36 urban multitool looks a bit… how do I put this… strange. A bit Fisher-Price (yes, they made one). But after being asked a few times to take a look at it, I caved, and I’m glad I did.

I’ve already said this once, but I’m going to say it again. The Kelvin 36 looks a bit odd. It’s rather bulky, there’s a lot of plastic, and what metal there is is shiny, and there’s what looks like — and actually turns out to be — a hammer on one end.

It’s also big. It measures a hefty 5.5 by 2.2 by 1.5 inches and weighs a stout 12 oz. Too big to comfortably carry in a pocket. In fact, it looks too big to hold (and I have hands that take L to XL gloves), but once I started using it, it oddly felt quite ergonomic. I even asked a few other people to try it, with hands ranging from S to XXL, and all agreed that the design worked.

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All in all, it’s rather a strange bit of kit. It even comes supplied in a tin rather than a box, and there’s no belt pouch. And before I started testing this, I could hear my brain saying, “You’re going to hate this,” and, “This is dumb.”

I’m not the target audience

But the more I used the Kelvin 36, the more I realized that I’m not the target audience for this tool. The target audience is people who didn’t grow up on MacGyver and don’t realize that they need a multitool in their lives.

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As the name suggests, 36 tools make up the Kelvin 36.

There’s the usual stuff you expect to see on a multitool, such as a bottle opener, a corkscrew, and an adapter that takes a variety of screwdriver bits. The bit adapter is spring loaded and locks into the 90- and 180-degree positions, and is actually very good.

Then there’s more exotic stuff like a magnet, LED torch, hammer (yes, I know that any tool can be a hammer if you try hard enough, but this has an actual hammer built into one end), a spirit level, and even a 6-foot tape measure.

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That’s a bizarre combination of items, but then it hit me — this isn’t a multitool that you carry around with you, it’s a multitool that goes into a kitchen drawer and is pulled out when you want to assemble some flat-pack furniture or put up a picture.

This is less a multitool and more a very compact toolbox for handling the most basic of DIY tasks. And for the sort of basic things people want to do around the home, it’s great. The hammer is OK for picture hooks but isn’t going to be smashing down any walls, and the tape measure is fine for measuring window frames or spots for furniture, but it’s not up to house building.

It’s still useful

You get my drift? It’s a basic set of tools. As with any multitool, there are loads of compromises, but it’s still a useful bit of kit.

For those who want an even more compact urban multitool, there’s a Kelvin 23 and Kelvin 17, with 23 and 17 tools, respectively.

ZDNET’s buying advice

At $80, the Kelvin 36 isn’t cheap, but neither is putting together a small toolbox. By the time you’ve got a tape measure, a hammer, some screwdrivers, and a box to put them in, you’re a good chunk of the way toward that $80 mark. 

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And a bunch of separate tools isn’t going to be anywhere near as compact as this either, so if you’re pushed for space — like a dorm room, a small apartment, or even a boat or RV — this is the ideal choice.