This being my first Atwood review, I would like to talk about Atwoods in general and why they are not only popular but a good tool to buddy up your other multitools. Peter Atwood as a custom knife/tool maker has made many different items, but his true passion is for small pocket tools. With his artistic eye he creates tools that are both functional and in the eyes of his collectors they are works of art. Getting into Atwood tools can be somewhat difficult, the first problem is acquiring one after you get over the initial sticker shock. Atwood tools can start at $40 and work their way up to the hundreds, they can be bought directly from Peter in a process called “lotteries” where you put your name into a hat so to speak and names are drawn randomly or you can go to one of the various knife forums on the internet and see if any are for sale.

With pry tools and pocket gadgets being all the rage these days, most folks look to the big guy Peter Atwood. There is however someone else who is very close in quality and can make the tool you want with a quick turn around time. Peter use to make tools on a as needed basis but he got so overwhelmed that he ended up doing runs of particular tools instead. Folks now had to wait till he would make another run of something, if in fact he ever did decide to make that model again. This is not the case with a fellow named Joshua Rice at JDR Knife and Tool. Joshua produces various kinds of both knives and tools and makes them to order out of his shop in Fischer, Texas.

When you think of pocket and key chain tools the first name that comes to your mind is Peter Atwood. There is such a following for these miniature works of art that they become incredibly hard to find and sometimes you pay more than you would if you get them directly from Peter. I knew there had to be some folks out there besides Peter and I went on my quest to find other pocket tool manufacturers. What hit me were there a quite a few folks who either make tools full time or dabble in them a little as a side project. Most of them are folks who no longer make them and getting your hands on one is next to impossible. But alas there is hope; I came upon a gentleman named Ray Kirk who runs rakerknives.com. Ray is a custom knife maker who makes fixed blades as well as some folders; his new found love though is for a tool he called the Raker Ring Tool.

The FROG tool by Gatco/Timberline is another interesting tool that defines and represents a whole section of the market. Like the Frosch tools, the FROG is a single piece of steel, cut and carved in such a way as to have multiple features, and let me tell you, it would be hard to add any more features to this one!