The Ultimate Leatherman?

numbski asks: "I have long been a fan of the Leatherman tool and its act-a-likes. I have never bought one, however. I keep looking for just the right one with the tools that I would actually use on a daily basis. Sure, the pliers, knives, phillips and standard screwdrivers are nice, but there's always been a few things lacking. A t-10 and t-15 torx (security torx preferred) for the Compaq systems that torment me, or how about a USB2 Flash Drive? Hex wrenches, or a socket tool that fits machine screws (in case the phillips has been stripped out)? What would you put on a Leatherman? Even better, seen anything that matches what I'm looking for?"

Comments

presto change-o!

[TheSHAD0W]

Rather than having one "ultimate leatherman" as big and clunky as that humongous swiss army knife they make, what about a customizable one? Make it a little easier to take apart (I've had to do it, to switch out broken blades; it's annoying and it'd be a lot easier if the heads were hex or square) and then offer optional replacements and sets of replacements. That'd let people build ones that suit the jobs they need them for.

Get a Micra

[Deathlizard]

I've had a Leatherman Micra on my keychain for almost 5 years now. It's the best thing I have on this keychain next to the keys.

Get one of those and one of those quick release dual keyrings, remove the one ring and attach the Micra (or a Juice if you want pliers. Wish they had pliers that small when I bought mine) in its place to quick detach the tool from the ring, and it's all you'll ever need for most computers, even the compaq onen since those Compaq nuts have slots to accept a flathead screwdriver (outside of the security ones.)

Right now, I got a Micra and a Mag-Lite Solitare flashlight on my keyring. The only thing I wish would happen is that Maglite would make an LED Flashlight that took AAAA size to be even smaller, other than that It's the most portable all purpose toolkit you can use.

Re:Get a Micra

[PurpleFloyd]

Not too hard - they're on sale almost anywhere if you know where to look: inside a 9 volt battery. Most name-brand alkaline 9V batteries consist of 6 AAAA cells in series; there are a few off-brands which aren't in that configuration, but IIRC Energizer and Duracell both use the 6xAAAA configuration. It's a fairly simple matter of levering the outer case of a 9 volt battery open and simply popping the AAAAs out.

One caveat: they can be a bit shorter than "true" AAAA cells. This site details the trials and tribulations of finding a decent set of AAAAs in a review of a penlight using the same; it contains some nice pictures of opening a 9 volt battery case, too.