Roxon Flex Companion Review | A Brilliant Modular Multitool

Roxon Flex Companion

The Flex Companion is Roxon's modular EDC multitool. Instead of a fixed set of tools you're stuck with, you get a frame with five slots and a growing catalogue of implements you swap in and out to build the tool around whatever you actually need. I've had mine for a couple of months now and it's seen a lot of use in that time, so here's where I've landed on it.

This is a very nicely made tool, and I enjoy using it a lot. It still hasn't replaced the Victorinox in my EDC bag, and there's a single specific reason for that which I'll come to. Everything up to that point is very, very good.

Build and finish

Pick it up and the quality is immediate. There's a reassuring weight to it, the finish is lovely, and the machining is some of the best I've seen at this end of the market. On a tool where implements sit side by side and pass each other as they open and close, tight tolerances are the difference between a satisfying action and a constant low-level annoyance. Here, nothing snags, nothing catches, and nothing rubs where it shouldn't. Everything that should move does so smoothly, and everything that shouldn't stays exactly where it is, with no play anywhere in the tool. Plus, the pliers bite exactly where they should, and the grind on the blade is excellent, shaving sharp out of the box.

The scissors

The scissors deserve their own mention, because they go toe to toe with the Victorinox pair I normally hold up as the benchmark for SAK scissors. They're bigger and a fair bit chunkier than the Victorinox, which turns out to matter once you're actually leaning on them.

A few weeks back I was in the middle of some DIY upstairs and needed to cut a rough template out of some tough cardboard. It needed doing there and then without breaking position, so rather than trudge downstairs for proper scissors I pulled out my Victorinox, and they struggled. The thin handles were digging into my thumb and I was having to press far harder than felt comfortable to get through the material. Then I remembered I had the Roxon on me too, so I gave it a go instead. The difference was immediate. More cutting power, more to hold onto, and far more comfortable to push through the same job. That extra size and purchase makes them much nicer to use when the material fights back.

The slot system and the pliers

This is where the modular idea gets interesting, and where you start making choices. You've got five slots to fill, but not every implement costs one slot. Some are single-slot, some take two, so kitting the tool out becomes a balancing act between how many jobs an implement covers and how much of your limited real estate it eats.

The Mini Pliers are the best example. They're an excellent implement, easily one of my favourites in the system, with a locking mechanism I really like. But they take up two of your five slots on their own. So the moment you commit to pliers, you're down to three slots for everything else, and you start weighing up what earns a place. More than once I found myself wishing for just one more slot so I didn't have to drop a tool I wanted to keep.

The flip side is that the modularity turns that constraint into something useful. Because swapping implements is quick, you can set the tool up ahead of time for a specific job or trip. If you know you'll want the saw and file for something, drop them in and pull something else out. It's a different way of thinking about a multitool, and once it clicks it's good fun.

My loadout, and the blade

In an ideal world my five slots would be the pliers taking two, the sheepsfoot blade it comes with, a file, and the scissors. That's a properly useful everyday spread. The problem is the blade.

The Companion's blade locks, and there's no non-locking option. In the UK, a locking blade isn't something you can carry day to day without a good specific reason, which rules it out for general carry for me no matter how good the blade itself is. So in practice I pull the sheepsfoot out and slot an awl in its place, which handles punching holes and general pokey jobs without putting me on the wrong side of the law.

That swap is the whole reason this hasn't taken over from the Victorinox in my actual EDC. I want a proper usable blade in my multitool, and the Victorinox gives me that in a slip-joint I can legally carry. If Roxon offered a slip-joint blade for the Flex system, this tool would be right in the mix, and might well win. As it stands, for a UK carrier, that locking blade is a real limitation rather than a selling point. To be clear, that's a UK law issue rather than a fault with the tool, but if you carry in the UK it directly affects what this can be for you.

The lock and modular mode

The locking is excellent. Tools snap open and hold firm with real confidence. Switching the whole tool into "modular mode" to swap implements is clever too, though the mechanism has one quirk worth knowing. Unlocking and entering modular mode are the same motion in the same direction: you push to unlock, then push a little further to drop into modular mode. If you're a bit heavy handed you can overshoot and end up in modular mode when all you wanted was to unlock a tool. I'd much rather the modular switch worked in the opposite direction to the unlock, so the two couldn't be confused. None of it is a dealbreaker, it's just something you learn to be gentle with.

Size and carry

Size-wise it's spot on. It sits comfortably in the pocket without being a brick, and the pocket clip is excellent, easily among the better clips I've used. It's the kind of thing you clip on in the morning and forget about until you need it.

A few small touches round it off nicely. The tweezers and toothpick tucked into the frame are more useful than you'd expect, and there's an extra bit driver built into the heel of the tool that's a lovely bit of thinking. None of these are headline features, but they're the sort of considered details that show the tool was designed by people who actually carry this stuff.

The cons

Nothing here is a disaster, but a few things are worth flagging after a couple of months.

Getting the implements out can be stiff, and doing it one handed is a real struggle. I can manage, but anyone with reduced hand strength or mobility issues would find it a real struggle, and that's worth knowing before you buy.

I also had one odd moment. I knocked the tool off my desk onto a laminate floor, and despite it being in the locked position at the time, a couple of the implements popped out and scattered across the floor. I can't explain why that happened while it was locked, and it hasn't happened since, but it's worth mentioning honestly.

And then there's the unlock and modular mode motion I mentioned, which takes a bit of care until it becomes second nature.

Verdict

The Flex Companion is a brilliantly made, clever tool that I've loved having on me. The build quality, the machining, the scissors, the pliers, the modular slot system, the small considered touches, all of it is excellent, and it's rare I enjoy using a piece of kit this much.

For me it lands at an 8 out of 10. The thing holding it back from a higher score has nothing to do with quality and everything to do with that locking blade. As a UK carrier I need a blade I can actually use every day, and until there's a slip-joint option for the Flex system, the Victorinox keeps its place in my bag. If you're somewhere a locking blade is fine to carry, or you don't need a blade in your multitool at all, bump that score up in your head, because for you this could be near perfect. It's that good everywhere else.