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Best Leatherman-Style Multitool?
An anonymous reader asks: "I'm in the market for a Leatherman style multitool, but some new players have come to the table in the past few years, and I've heard a couple of anecdotes that Leatherman might have been eclipsed. So, I'm asking Slashdot for lots of anecdotes; what are your experiences with your multitool? What's the best one you've seen or used? Have you ever broken one? Do the tools wiggle around after a lot of use? Those are some general questions, but there are two specific ones. First, does the knife blade lock? The quickest way to hurt fingers is using a folding knife when a fixed blade is the right tool, but you can't carry a fixed blade knife into many places. The second question is, how long is the main knife blade? You can't carry a folding knife with tool long of a blade, either (unfortunately). Thanks for any and all help!"
I have the leatherman Pulse. It comes with a locking mechanism that holds a fully extended tool in place. I have had it for a year so far and the tools aren't loose.
I'm a happy pessimist. I expect and prepare for the worst, when it doesn't happen I am pleasantly surprised.
Both the Leatherman Squirt and Juice are great. I would suggest testing the phillips driver on any multitool first as some are different. The Squirt has a flat phillips that actually works, a little strange but it does work. I also keep a Gerber multitool in the back pack. The Gerber is nice and locks closed or open. I don't care for the size but the pliers are a little better because you can spread apart things that the leatherman can't. Overall I would say that with the low prices on most multitools it is worth while to have multiple of them, one in the truck, one in the apparment, etc....
The GPL, for those that truely understand.
The Best version and about half the price is the Victorinox Cybertool 41
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/3653/
Plus it take full size Hex/Torx heads... And good and solidly mad with lifetime warranty.
Or if you want one to beat a users head-in for disturbing your /. reading, try the Victorinox Swiss Champ XLT
http://www.swissknifeshop.co.uk/swisschampxlt.htmI had a Leatherman for several years and somehow lost it. Shortly afterwards I was in a situation where I needed a multitool *now* and the only one I could find on short notice was a Gerber. I like the Gerber better, mainly because the blades are on the inside of the fold, and that makes the grip more comfortable. The saw blade is nothing more than a standard jigsaw blade, thus you can change it out with any jigsaw blade from any hardware store for any purpose you need it for. The knife blade is a nice combination of smooth and serrated for fine cutting or box ripping, and it has all the quality of Gerber's famous line of knives.
I work as a professional theatre technician. My multi-tool is my life, literally, and it gets used and abused on a daily basis.
I've had a Leatherman Wave since they first came out (I was told by the guy at the store that I was the first person to buy one) and have NEVER had a problem with it. It's not super-heavy-duty. You can't use the knife-blade as a chisel. You can't exert > 40 or 50 lbs of torque pressure on the tool. Having said that, if you need a specialized tool, then you need a specialized tool. Don't try and do it with a multi-tool.
The wave get's my vote, hands down.
I was looking at leatherman-type tools last year and came to the conclusion that the SOG PowerLock (S60) is the one to get. Its not quite as ergonomic as the new Leatherman Waves but its insanely tough. All the tools lock and the main pliars have a nifty gear reduction on them that makes hanging onto things much easier. Mine cost about $60 and hasn't left my belt since.
Make sure you know the knife laws for your locality. You might not think of a Leatherman as a weapon, but the local police may disagree--especially around schools and colleges. Here are some useful links:w s.html
http://www.thehighroad.org/library/blades/knifela
http://pweb.netcom.com/~brlevine/sta-law.htm
California-specific laws:
http://www.equalccw.com/knifelaw.html
Always keep in mind that info on the Internet may be wrong or out of date, so take with appropriate seasonings.
Eric
The Leatherman Wave tool is very nice. Specs from the Leatherman web site0 4)/default.asp
b oy_s.htm
http://www.leatherman.com/products/tools/wave-(20
Length: 4 in. / 10 cm closed -- 6.3 in / 16 cm open
Weight: 8.5 ounces / 264 grams
Materials: 100% stainless steel (Optimum grade hardness for each tool/blade)
There are two blades, one serrated and one plain. The blade length isn't described, so I measured my Wave. The length of each blade is approximately 3 inches. The sharpened portion of both blades is 2.5 inches.
I've had mine for a while, so far it had been a wonderful tool. Each tool/blade locks open, making it fairly safe to use. My Wave tool rides in the knife pocket of my Maxpedition Versipack
http://www.maxpedition.com/product/product_vp_fat
This sig kills fascists.
The Gerber came with a nifty screwdriver bit collection, has a nifty one-handed opening action for the pliers, but the steel sucks: It's soft and rusts badly. I consider it an "urban survival tool", because it's good for typical city situations.
The Leatherman is much better steel, is a bit more awkward, but you're less likely to pinch your skin when the pliers slip. This is your rural puppy. Water won't bother it so much.
The Toolzall is designed for electrical work. Damn, but it's nice. Excellent steel, all the blades lock, superb wirestrippers, rock solid. It's all I carry for electrical work.
Then there's knives with USB drives in them and computer case drivers, and so on, but I've never tried them. Really, you just have to figure out what you're after and look for that. Just pay attention to the steel: good steel doesn't bend like plastic.
...tells me if I'm in range of a wireless network, tells me if there is activity on an ethernet network, provides 1GB of storage via USB, tells me if a serial port is working, functions as a logic probe and multimeter and provides a 3V and 5V power supply (not high current, just enough to provide input to a logic gate) and fits in my pocket. If there's room it'd be nice if it were a wireless gateway and serial over bluteooth dongle. In other words, I want a Leatherman for the early part of the 21st century, not some medieval hacking and slashing tool.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
No matter what multitool you decide on, I'd reccomend also getting a Leatherman Micra tool. It's a mini-leatherman, works as a keychain. I'm the kind of person who hates having unneccesary crap in their pockets, but the Micra is useful enough that it's more than worth the 1 x 6.5 x 2 cm it takes up in my pocket. I have one of those handy keychain seperators, for times I need the micra for more than a few seconds, to get my bulk of my keys off. The lot of it collapses into a nice ball that takes up little space in my pocket, alongside my wallet. It has the majority of tools I need as a desktop maint/support guy at a library. The only time I have to go back to my desk to get my full toolkit is when I need my 8" long phillips bit to get somewhere annoying. Unlike my Swiss Army Knife (closest current model seems to be the Herc), the scizzors is still fully springy, even after sitting in my pocket for 3 years (4 now?) and getting a fair bit of use. You'd be surprised how often you need to clip a coupon out of a flier found at the grocery store, left in a cart, or need a pseudo-phillips screwdriver. I really love this lil guy.
Beyond that... I prefer a regular, original Leatherman. If I were to buy a new tool today, I may consider one of the other Leathermans, perhaps one geared toward tech stuff, be it a Leatherman or otherwise, but I'm in no need to replace this one.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
Before buying anything in this arena, you really owe it to yourself to spend some time perusing Doug Ritter's Equipped to Survive site. Honest, objective reviews of all the hardware. I'm not affiliated with him in any way.
Gerber, Victorinox, Leatherman, SOG - whatever floats your boat for the multi-tool.
However, if your primary concern is one that has a locking knife blade just get a knife to compliment the package. I find knives on pocket tools clumsy and of dubious quality/utility. I don't like fumbling around with my Victorinox when I just want to quick cut something, so I carry a CRKT M16-14M. I've had a few CRKT knives in my posession and have found that they take a nice edge, keep that edge, are ambidexterous, and of fairly good quality for what you're paying.
A good folder with a thumb-stud for easy opening and a locking blade means that you're knife can be out and ready in just a couple seconds, vs however long it takes you to unfold a Leatherman. You can deploy, use, unlock, and clip them back onto your belt with a single hand and that's handy if you ask me. Comes in handy at work, and makes it easier and cleaner to open packages, snipping a cable tie, or stirring my tea.
While not of concern in your post, this also makes them a last-ditch self defense weapon. Not a very good one... but if you don't have a gun on ya, it's better than nothing!
Personally I wish somebody made a multi-tool that didn't waste space with knives in them.
Oh, and don't discount the idea of a neck knife! That would be a knife you hang around your neck with a sheath, the handle pointing toward your abodomen. Depending on your attire they can be very comfortable to wear and nobody knows its there... less stuff hanging off your belt too. However, I've found producing a fixed blade knife from under your shirt at a moment's notice tends to freak people out. Some also come with a sheath that could alternatively be mounted to your belt for extra flexibility (ie: You're out in the woods, you can keep your every day knife with you but in a bit more accessible manner).
Most importantly, if you're using it for a knife most of the time, a real knife is more comfortable than a multi-tool -- which means better control overall.
I'd recomment Knife Country USA if you want to buy online. No special reason, but the prices are competitive and the owner knows the subject matter if you have any questions about this or that. Also, a very friendly guy. I found his booth at the local gun show and use him for my online purchases.
Me, I don't know what all the fuss is about. I just carry a standard cheap-ass pocket knife, got it for two dollars at a dollar store. It's got scissors, a saw blade, a very useful hole punch, and a whole lot of things I rarely need. Once in a while, I break the blade, usually doing something I shouldn't have been doing with a knife blade, and I go buy another one for two dollars. I have it as a keychain, along with a triple A powered flashlight.
Plyers, you ask? I carry a pair of actual plyers in my car instead of the crappy things in a multitool.
If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
Oddly, out of all the tools on my fiance's leatherman, I find him whipping it out to measure things the most often.
Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
No... no, it's just too easy. I'll just let this one go.