UST Multi-Tools, Lanterns and Ferro Rods

What UST makes, and what this site lists

The brand writes its name in lowercase, ust, after the initials of the company that started it. American Outdoor Brands, which owns it, describes ust in its 2021 annual report as camping and survival products. The same report lists LED lights, all-weather fire starting kits, outdoor cutting tools, first aid kits, survival kits and camping products among the brand's gear.

On this site, the UST grid holds one product type: small multi-tools. They come in four lines:

• Tool-a-Long: stainless tools that ride on a carabiner, with animal names on some models
• Venture Tool: pocket-sized stainless tools with a name, like the Yeti
• KeyGear Critter: one-piece keychain tools named for animals
• Survival Card Tool: a flat tool the size of a card, with a knife edge and saw per its listing

The grid filters by type and changes as listings come and go. I'll write about the lines and what separates them, not about how many of each are listed this week.

Most specs in the grid came from Amazon listings, and those listings say very little. Mostly the steel and the form. So this page leans on the shapes and the carry, which you can judge from a picture, and on the rules that apply to any small tool.

UST lanterns and ferro rods on this site

Two of the most searched UST products are lanterns and ferro rods. The annual report confirms the brand makes lights and fire starting kits, but this site's grid doesn't list a UST lantern or a UST ferro rod right now. So I won't describe models I can't show you specs for.

What you can use instead:

• For lanterns: the camping lantern page, the battery-operated lantern page and the rechargeable lantern page compare light output, runtime and power across brands
• For fire starting: the ferro rod page and the fire starter page cover rods, strikers and tinder

A ferro rod throws hot sparks. Strike it over a cleared spot, away from dry leaves, and check local fire restrictions before you light anything.

UST multi-tool lineup notes

Tool-a-Long: a tool that's also a clip

The Tool-a-Long tools ride on a carabiner, so they clip to a belt loop, a pack strap or a zipper pull. The listings in the grid name stainless steel. Model names like the Antelope follow the line's animal theme; the listing photos show how each one is cut.

The appeal is simple. A tool clipped to the outside of your pack is a tool you can reach without unpacking. That matters on a stand, where every zipper you open is noise.

One caution, plain: the listings don't rate the clip for load. Use it to hold the tool, not to hold anything that matters. A gear hook on a tree stand, a bow hanger or a pack hoist wants its own rated hardware, and your harness tether never goes on a clip like this.

Venture Tool: a pocket tool with a little more to it

The Venture Tool Yeti's listing calls it pocket-sized and stainless. It's made to ride in a pocket or a kit rather than hang off a key ring. If you want something to live in the truck's glove box or the bottom of a day pack, this is the shape.

The listing doesn't give a length or a tool list in the grid, so compare the photos and read the listing's own tool list before you buy. Small tools differ mostly in which functions they keep and which they drop.

KeyGear Critter: one-piece keychain tools

The Critters, Cat and Mutt among them, are listed as one-piece keychain tools. One-piece means no hinges, no folding parts, nothing to open: the tool is a single shaped plate of metal with its functions cut into the edges.

That's the whole appeal for a key ring. No pivot to gum up, no spring to wear. It also means each function is small, because they all share an outline about the size of a key.

My grandson liked the Mutt from its photo because "it looks like the neighbor's beagle." That's as good a selection rule as any for a key-ring tool, once you've checked it does the jobs you need.

Survival Card Tool: flat enough for a wallet

The Survival Card Tool's listing marks it with a knife and a saw. A card tool is made to ride flat in a wallet or a kit pouch, and to come out when nothing better is around.

Here's the thing about a card with an edge on it: it's still an edge. Keep it in a sleeve or a slot, not loose against your cards. And the knife on it changes where you can carry it, which brings us to airports.

How UST tools compare with full-size multi-tools

When UST has only a few products listed, the grid fills in with alternatives from other brands. Right now those are mostly full-size pliers tools: the Leatherman Rebar and Wingman, the Gerber Truss and others. Their listings name folding pliers and wire cutters, and on most of them a knife, a saw and scissors.

That's a different class of tool. A full-size pliers tool is a small toolbox: it grips, cuts wire and saws a branch. A UST keychain or card tool is a backup: it opens a bottle, turns a screw and pries a lid. The multi-tool page covers both classes, and the Leatherman brand page and Gerber brand page cover two of the big pliers lineups.

Rule of thumb: if you'll grip something, buy pliers. If you'll mostly open, pry and turn, a small tool may be all the pocket wants.

How to choose within the UST lineup

Decide on the blade first

This is my one opinion on this page: if the tool lives on your key ring and you ever fly, pick one with no blade. TSA's rules make the reason checkable. Multi-tools with knives of any length are prohibited in carry-on bags. Multi-tools without blades are allowed in carry-on and checked bags, though the final call rests with the officer at the checkpoint. A key ring goes everywhere your keys go, including the airport.

So the Survival Card, with its listed knife edge, belongs in a kit or a checked bag. A bladeless keychain tool rides with the keys. Read each listing's tool list to see which is which; the grid marks a knife only where the listing names one.

Knife carry rules vary by state too. Check your state's rules before you carry any blade.

Then decide how it rides

The four lines sort by carry, plain and simple:

• Key ring: KeyGear Critter
• Carabiner on a pack or belt loop: Tool-a-Long
• Pocket, glove box or day pack: Venture Tool
• Wallet or flat kit pouch: Survival Card Tool

Pick the place first, then the line. A tool that fights the way you carry gets left on the kitchen counter.

Then read the function list

The grid shows little beyond steel and form, so the listing's own list of functions decides it. Bottle opener, screwdriver tips, hex sizes, a ruler, a can opener: every small tool keeps some and drops others. Make a list of the three jobs you actually do and match it. Ignore the rest. Nobody needs a ruler on a deer stand.

Then check the steel

The Tool-a-Long and Venture Tool listings in the grid name stainless steel. Stainless resists rust with less care, but AKTI notes that water and some chemicals can still harm it, and that salt water is especially hard on it. A tool on a key ring sees rain, snow and the inside of a wet coat pocket.

Where a small tool earns its place at camp

Deer camp is full of small jobs that don't deserve a trip to the toolbox. A loose screw on a blind chair. A stuck lid on a jar of peanut butter. A bottle cap at the end of a long day. A zipper pull that needs a little persuasion. A small tool in your pocket handles those before you've decided whether to get up.

Where it doesn't belong is anything that needs grip or leverage. Small tools have short handles, and a short handle on a stubborn bolt is how knuckles meet bark. When the job needs force, walk to the truck and get the real tool. The walk is shorter than the first-aid kit conversation.

I kept a flat little tool in my shop apron for thirty years of teaching. It never fixed a lathe. It did open about four thousand paint cans.

Care that applies to the whole lineup

Small tools need the same care as big ones, just less of it. AKTI's maintenance guidance applies:

• Pick out dirt with a toothpick, which won't scratch the metal
• Wipe on a light coat of oil with a soft cotton cloth to keep water off
• Oil any folding part if the tool gets heavy use
• Store it dry, not in a damp basement or a garage drawer

Cut away from your body with any edge, small or not. AKTI calls that the first rule of knife safety. A card edge slips the same as a big blade does.

After a wet hunt, take the keys out of your coat. Dry the ring and the tool on it with the rest of your gear. It takes about as long as reading this sentence twice.

UST facts

Here's what I could verify from the owner's own documents:

• Owner: American Outdoor Brands, which lists ust in its Adventurer brand lane
• Acquisition: the assets of the original UST company were acquired in fiscal 2017, per the 2021 annual report, which describes it as a provider of survival and camping equipment
• Operations: moved to American Outdoor Brands' Columbia, Missouri facility in fiscal 2019, per the same report
• Product range: camping and survival products, including LED lights and all-weather fire starting kits

Warranty terms and where each tool is made aren't stated in those documents, so they're left out.

A small tool earns its place by being there when the big one isn't. Put it where your hand already goes.