The MacGyver multitool

Don't laugh, this is serious business. Just last week we were totally there when Richard Dean Anderson had to use a MacGyver multitool to rewire the ignition of the single-prop plane that delivered us all safely out of a Bolivian hostage situation. We're not even kidding, go ask him.

[Dasutin @ Jul 18th 2007 9:10AM]

The only tool you need to do everything with...

[laughallway2bank @ Jul 18th 2007 4:18PM]

AND you can remove a SIM card from an IPHONE with it ;)

[Mickey Jones @ Jul 19th 2007 10:23PM]

...even better, I use it to hold serveral pieces of standard paper together.

[Charlie Calhoun @ Sep 7th 2007 3:35AM]

@Mickey
Yeah, and it's easy to take off that paper stuff, too. None of that staple stuff that makes us bleed :(.

[Daniel @ Jul 18th 2007 9:13AM]

Normally I am very impressed by what Engadget posts on their site. This however does not impress me. Not because it isn't supremely funny, which it is, but because it is very very old. I think this was posted on digg 5 or 6 months ago. I look to Engadget for the latest and greatest, this simply was not. Way off base Engadget.

[Chad @ Jul 18th 2007 9:31AM]

Not everyone looks at the entire webring of geek websites everyday so even if it is a dupe from another website (even an old dupe) it's new to me and I liked it.

[FermitTheKrog @ Jul 18th 2007 9:51AM]

Somebody call the Waaaambulance. Daniel is sad :(

[Rob @ Jul 18th 2007 11:31AM]

Paper clip = MacGyver tool
Daniel = tool

[kree @ Jul 18th 2007 3:39PM]

Daniel is a really old name i heard it when i was about 8 years old it's so uncool, you should really be more up to date.

[SOSdan @ Jul 18th 2007 10:39PM]

Wow, I love you guys. You just made my day.

[ScottKin @ Jul 21st 2007 7:07AM]

Wow - I read that there was this guy in the Bible whose name is just like yours. I guess your name is vastly more irrelevant than an article that you saw on Digg 5 months ago.

Your level of self-importance requires me to please ask you to keep your genetic material out of the gene-pool by not having children. Ever.

[Chris @ Jul 18th 2007 9:14AM]

it is a very nice photoshop job
http://www.neatorama.com/2007/01/22/all-mcgyver-ever-needs

[meunierc @ Jul 21st 2007 10:48AM]

You mean, I can't have one?

[Eric @ Jul 18th 2007 9:17AM]

old picture is ooooolllllllldddddddd

[DC @ Jul 18th 2007 9:18AM]

Unless you're in the 2 major cities of Bolivia, you probably wouldn't want to leave.

[brad @ Jul 18th 2007 9:22AM]

anyone else think that the guy from Man Vs. Wild ( bear Grill or something like that) is the modern day mcgyver?

[Adrian Williams @ Jul 18th 2007 9:37AM]

No he is a drama-king Les Stroud is better

[Xee @ Jul 18th 2007 9:38AM]

Eh. While I give props to him for doing everything he does, he *does* have special forces training and a camera crew that follows him around for moral support. I think Les Stroud from Survivorman would be a better example. While the show differs from Man vs Wild in that Bear tries to get out while Les just stays there and waits for rescue, Les is better example of "regular joe" having to think his way out of a bad situation (he's a frickin' amateur musician). Plus, once he's dropped off it's just him; no camera crew whatsoever.

[StrangeBum @ Jul 18th 2007 10:41AM]

I have to agree with Adrian on that one. While Bear from Man vs. Wild is alright, the show itself is very scripted and setup. Les Stroud is much better. It just feels more genuine and he seems more like an average guy, not an ex British SAS.

But since Man vs. Wild is more scripted than Survivorman, then I suppose he would be more like MacGyver.

[johnzilla @ Jul 18th 2007 11:24AM]

Agree with others...Les Stroud impresses me a lot more then Bear Grylls. "Man vs. Wild" is way scripted. OTOH, they basically just toss Les Stroud and a couple cameras out of a plane/helicopter and leave.

Example: Les Stroud is responsible for his own cameras...he's all alone. Not only does he have to survive, he has to move the cameras around. Bear Grylls has a cameraman...yeah, it may just be one guy, but there's a world of difference being alone vs. being with someone else.

I'm not knocking Bear Grylls personally, just his TV show. The guy has accomplished a lot and obviously has serious skills, I just think his TV show does a poor job of showcasing them and is overly dramatic/staged.

[Rob @ Jul 18th 2007 9:25AM]

MacGyver, I used to watch and enjoy the show when I was a kid. He would make the craziest things out of a paper clip and duct tape. He'd have made you a Hummer using just a paper clip and a roll of duct tape. But, even then I thought "this is BS, it's impossible, he can't do that." It was the same with the A-Team. The funny thing about the A-Team is that no one ever got killed by the storm of bullets and/or explosions. Sure people got their asses kicked all the time. But, no deaths. Not that I was looking forward to seeing dead people either. But, I enjoyed watching the shows though.

Now talking about far fetched shows, how about Manimal? I think that was the name. The one that the guy would turn into any animal. I can play along and say that he can turn into a panther or any other animal with similar size/weight to a human being. But, then he'd turn into an eagle and just fly away. WTF??? What happens to the rest of skin and body mass. I was about 8-9 years old and wondered how dumb that was. But, the show was entertaining.

[Corey @ Jul 18th 2007 9:45AM]

animorphs?

[Rob @ Jul 18th 2007 10:02AM]

No, it was Manimal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manimal

[Rob @ Jul 18th 2007 10:04AM]

Corey, I think it was Manimal.
I had to double check.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manimal

[Mark @ Jul 18th 2007 11:05AM]

Actually the things MacGyver made did have some scientific backing. Don Herbert was a consultant for the show.

[Reader @ Jul 18th 2007 2:14PM]

err you do notice you're watching TV right?

[geezer @ Jul 18th 2007 9:26AM]

reminds me of that Simpson Episode where Salma & Petty take MacGyver hostage :D

[geezer @ Jul 18th 2007 9:27AM]

I meant Patty ;-)

[geezer @ Jul 18th 2007 9:29AM]

and Selma

*lool* what's wrong with me today....?

[walkathon @ Jul 18th 2007 6:48PM]

The "Don Herbert as MacGyver consultant" mention is interesting and would be cool if true, but I'm pretty sure it's just popular culture mythology and hearsay. Ahhh, good ol' Internet. If someone can provide a reference, however, I'm all ears.

[fistpittingnork @ Jul 18th 2007 9:32AM]

Slow news day, huh?

[CJ @ Jul 18th 2007 9:33AM]

This is the essentual tool. it is even needed to get the sim card out of an iPhone.

[Preston @ Jul 18th 2007 10:08AM]

Finally somebody has explained what this has to do with the iPhone!

[Sma @ Jul 18th 2007 11:50AM]

and a cd out of a cdrom/dvd drive the refuses to open :)

[L. Cyphre @ Jul 18th 2007 9:33AM]

Older then teh Intertubes.

[Xee @ Jul 18th 2007 9:39AM]

That doesn't even make sense.

[Grey Acumen @ Jul 18th 2007 10:15AM]

They should have a few other pieces to the set. Like a rubber band, a single 4 inch strip of tape, a single stick of chewing gum, 1 match, and a maybe a small piece of string.

[Chris ][ @ Jul 18th 2007 10:22AM]

Whenever I’m accosted by my arch nemesis Balding Corporate Jerk, I use my paperclip to explode the bike rack behind him.

[NHAnimator @ Jul 18th 2007 10:23AM]

Combine this with a rubber band and a bar of soap and you are ready to take on Al-Qaeda.

[zeeman @ Jul 18th 2007 10:34AM]

Or just Rosie O'Donnell

[Evan @ Jul 18th 2007 10:31AM]

Hahaha, Ryan=Baked

[Alejandro @ Jul 18th 2007 10:40AM]

Photoshop: http://www.toyarchive.com/MacGyverBrazilFigureMOC1.html

[PJK @ Jul 18th 2007 10:44AM]

I'm seriously disappointed. I've been looking at getting the Leatherman Charge tti and I thought you were going to show me some amazing new versatile multitool. Instead I get some hackneyed photoshop. You've broken my heart Engadget, I hope you're proud of yourself.

[Andrew @ Sep 7th 2007 4:33AM]

SOG EOD Powerlock. Beats leatherman.

As far as the MacGyver tool? I can't tell you howmany different uses for it I have personally found, Most of them inspired by his greatness whilst watching him as a child.

[r080 @ Jul 18th 2007 11:00AM]

I honestly thought I had seen this first on engadget.

[Joe Smith @ Jul 18th 2007 11:06AM]

It's a fake people, and not a very good one. I do photo retouching and when I pulled this into photoshop I cranked up the levels on it and found that the English typeface in the lower right hand corner did not pixelate like the rest of the image. There are also red fill spots in the contained negative space of those letters. The bubble packaging is identical to the action figure released in Brasil and it common sense dictates that they did not release an English version. The paperclip was also shot under different light.

[Juan @ Jul 18th 2007 11:35AM]

If you have to bring it into Photoshop to tell it's a fake, then it's good enough.

[Ian @ Jul 18th 2007 12:11PM]

Holy Crap Joe Smith, are you ever smart! I for one would never ever figured out that it was a JOKE. thaks for sharing your profound expertise in determining photo fakes with the rest of the world.

Whadda Maroon!

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 18th 2007 12:42PM]

Oh man and I just ordered a case of these for my office. -DOH!

Nothing like when someone doesn't get it and then tries to explain it.

[fistpittingnork @ Jul 18th 2007 2:07PM]

Surely just looking at the paper clip is enough to tell it's PS'd to be a joke.

That is if common sense doesn't slap you in the face right from the start. Paperclip = multipurpose survival tool? Undo your top button, relax a bit and have some fun, hmmm?