One of the simple toys I really enjoyed as a kid was Barrel of Monkeys, where you had to pick up one monkey using another monkey until you’d linked all the mischievous-looking little guys together. It was both fun and frustrating, back when there weren’t so many screens competing for our attention.
Taking inspiration from that nostalgic childhood toy, the Cheeky Monkey Carabiner Multi-Tool is a monkey-shaped gadget that packs in all the functional tools you might need, whether you’re heading out camping, hitting a trail, or just running your everyday commute. In one tiny tool, you get 13 functions, plus a built-in conversation starter, since this little guy is guaranteed to grab people’s attention.
Designer: Lucky Jack Gear
There are, of course, plenty of keychain multi-tools on the market, but most of them are generic, Swiss Army knife style metal slabs. The Cheeky Monkey stands out because of its unique shape, turning a plain utility object into something with real personality. But the Double-S design isn’t just about looking cute. Having two integrated hooks built into the monkey’s silhouette means you get a more stable attachment point and a free hang point, compared to the single hook you’d find on a standard carabiner.
Again, this isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s a genuinely multi-functional tool that includes wrenches, hex keys, screwdrivers, a ruler, and a line cutter, all packed into one monkey-shaped piece of steel. Each curve and cutout does double duty, working as both structure and tool edge at the same time. It also requires zero extra effort to carry, since it’s designed to live wherever your keys already live: your keyring, your belt loop, your backpack strap, you name it. It may not fit neatly in your pocket (unless you’ve got an especially roomy one) because of its shape, but it’s still easy enough to clip on and forget about until you need it.
That “forget about it until you need it” part is really the whole point. Lucky Jack Gear built the Cheeky Monkey around a simple truth: the tool you actually have on you beats the toolbox sitting in your garage every single time. Most of us already own a screwdriver, a wrench, or a bottle opener somewhere in a drawer. The problem isn’t that we don’t have tools. It’s that we never have them on hand when we actually need them. A wobbly hinge, a knot that won’t budge, a package that needs opening, a screw that’s worked itself loose: these little annoyances always seem to show up exactly when we’re nowhere near our toolbox. The Cheeky Monkey solves that mismatch by living on your keys instead of in a drawer, so it’s already there the moment you need it.
Made from solid steel, it’s built to handle real use, not just sit around looking cute. It’s meant to be clipped onto a backpack for a weekend camping trip, hooked onto a belt loop for yard work, or tossed onto a keyring for daily errands, and it should hold up to all of it. Reviewers so far have backed that up, with the product carrying a perfect five-star rating, and Lucky Jack Gear’s broader catalog boasting more than 2,000 five-star reviews.
At $20, it’s an easy impulse buy, but it’s also an easy gift. It hits that sweet spot of being useful enough for the outdoorsy person on your list and playful enough for someone who just likes fun, quirky gadgets. Stocking stuffers, White Elephant swaps, birthday add-ons, or a “just because” present for the person who’s impossible to shop for, the Cheeky Monkey checks a lot of boxes without costing much.
At the end of the day, the appeal of the Cheeky Monkey Carabiner Multi-Tool comes down to something pretty simple: it turns a piece of childhood nostalgia into a genuinely useful, always-on-hand tool. It doesn’t ask you to change your habits or remember to pack anything extra. It just clips onto whatever you’re already carrying and quietly waits for its moment to shine, whether that’s tightening a loose screw, snipping a stray thread, or cracking open a well-earned drink at the end of a long hike. For $20, that’s a pretty good trade for something that might just become the most-used item on your keyring.
The post The $20 Monkey That Secretly Carries 13 Tools on Your Keyring first appeared on Yanko Design.
