greetings and salutations fellow bladeforumites.
I'm a new member here and thought i'd make a contribution and share my experiences with the Leatherman Wave (henceforth reffered to as an LMW) which has been my constant companion for the last 10 years.
I am a professional photographer by trade and the range of weird little scenarios that pop up in my day to day work that can be solved by my simple LMW is staggering.
Seriously, in the 10 years i have owned this tool i have used it at least once a day for something (except for a 2 week period after i left it at a friends place and went stark raving bonkers without it)
- - - -
I initially bought an LMW as a birthday present for a dear friend of mine (in 1999). after playing with it before handing it over, i decided i needed one too, so back to the shop i went and home i came with my own one.
General Impressions:
very, very comfortable grip on the pliers, the rounded handle edges are a lot more comfortable to use than the slim edges of the LM-SuperTool i also looked at.
ridiculously sharp plain and serrated blades (i sliced myself on day one).
scissors are far more durable and the spring is a far superior design to the scissors found on a Swiss Army Knife.
The one-handed action for deploying the main blades with the handles folded up is a far more practical design than the previous models where the blades were contained inside the handles and required the whole tool to be opened up to deploy a blade. also, i can use one hand to de-lock the blade and put it away.
A Look At The Tools:
1. The Pliers: As noted the pliers have a very comfortable grip. the needle noses of the pliers are grooved and offer excellent gripping properties. perhaps not quite up to par with a pair of dedicated pliers, but certainly more than strong enough for most tasks.
The pliers also come with a Wire Cutting blade at the base of the jaws, these simple wire cutters can cleave through tough 7mm fencing wire every bit as easily as my 9" Knipex dedicated cutters.
2. The Straight blade: with an edge length of about 3", this blade has copped an absolute beating over the years and has come through with shining colours. This is my preffered blade on the tool.
An idiot (not me) managed to snap off about 1mm of the point of the blade, a local knife wizard reground the blade for me and it's every bit as good as new.
The blade holds a great edge and a regular touch up with a diamond steel is all that is needed to keep it in tip-top trim. it has had only two proper "full" sharpens in 10 years.
3. The Serrated Blade: I admit i don't use this blade all that much. it will slice through even very thick rope like a machete through cheese and is great for slicing tomatoes while camping.
This blade still has it's factory edge, although next time my i have my blades sharpened, i'll have old'mate do a number here as well.
in all, an awesome blade that completely fills all my serrated edge desires (i'm a straight-edge blade kind of guy).
4. Hacksaw and file: believe it or don't, this blade actually gets a fair bit of use. i've used it to cut through galvanised chain, filed down irritating litttle bits of metal and on one memorable occasion, i had to do a quick resizing of a wedding ring five minutes before Aisle Time.
5. Wood saw blade: Double toothed, it's certainly sharp and will do the job on small items but you won't be chopping down any rivergums with it. Actually, this is the one blade on the whole tool i could happily do without. if you need a saw, carry a proper one.
That said, it has proven useful on a couple of occasions, but by and large it doesn't get deployed.
Ok, that's it for the four main blades and the central pliers. onto the secondary tools:
6. Scissors: awesome. simply awesome little gadgets these scissors. as noted above, the spring design is far superior to the springs found on an SAK. after the main blade, these would be the most used tool on my LMW.
7. Screwdrivers: being an older model, my LMW has four slot-head and one phillips head drivers. while perfectly functional, the downside is the drivers aren't aligned down the long axis of the tool. While this isn't a problem for small, quick jobs, i sure wouldn't want to use these screwdrivers in place of a proper set on a big job.
that said, they have certainly screwed-in and un-screwed plenty of screws in the last decade.
useful in a pinch, but not a proper substitute for a "real" screwdriver.
8. Can Opener: awesome. it's simple, functional and TOUGH.
9. Sheath: the leather pouch that came with the tool originally had a fine and served well until a couple of months ago when my border collie pup decided it was a chew-toy.
Fit and Finish:
My LMW has a few scratches and dents on it from all the abuse over the years, but then again, show me anything that's copped this kind of abuse that isn't a little scratched up.
it's very easy to maintain, just a scrub in some hot soapy water every couple of weeks and the occasional use of a little dry-lube every now and again is all mine has ever needed.
Conclusions:
both the LMWs i bought 10 years ago are still going strong. my friend loves the one i bought her and uses it regularly. my one is my constant companion and i feel rather lost without it.
it's not a replacement for a kitted out toolbox, but it can certainly deliver acceptable performance in a pinch in a wide variety of situations.
i would strongly reccomend an LMW to anyone. the newer model with it's exchangeable screw-driver socket looks very tempting, but suffers the problem of my model: it fails to deliver drive symmetry down the handle axis.
i have an overall dislike for folding knives, for any blade longer than the LMW's, i'd prefer a fixed blade over a folder. but, for an EDC blade with plenty of extras, the LMW is tough enough to take a beating and sharp enough to slice through most obstacles.
quite frankly, i believe the Leatherman Wave to one of the best things to ever come out of the USA. fabulous design, elegent simplicity and utterly functional.
I'm a new member here and thought i'd make a contribution and share my experiences with the Leatherman Wave (henceforth reffered to as an LMW) which has been my constant companion for the last 10 years.
I am a professional photographer by trade and the range of weird little scenarios that pop up in my day to day work that can be solved by my simple LMW is staggering.
Seriously, in the 10 years i have owned this tool i have used it at least once a day for something (except for a 2 week period after i left it at a friends place and went stark raving bonkers without it)
- - - -
I initially bought an LMW as a birthday present for a dear friend of mine (in 1999). after playing with it before handing it over, i decided i needed one too, so back to the shop i went and home i came with my own one.
General Impressions:
very, very comfortable grip on the pliers, the rounded handle edges are a lot more comfortable to use than the slim edges of the LM-SuperTool i also looked at.
ridiculously sharp plain and serrated blades (i sliced myself on day one).
scissors are far more durable and the spring is a far superior design to the scissors found on a Swiss Army Knife.
The one-handed action for deploying the main blades with the handles folded up is a far more practical design than the previous models where the blades were contained inside the handles and required the whole tool to be opened up to deploy a blade. also, i can use one hand to de-lock the blade and put it away.
A Look At The Tools:
1. The Pliers: As noted the pliers have a very comfortable grip. the needle noses of the pliers are grooved and offer excellent gripping properties. perhaps not quite up to par with a pair of dedicated pliers, but certainly more than strong enough for most tasks.
The pliers also come with a Wire Cutting blade at the base of the jaws, these simple wire cutters can cleave through tough 7mm fencing wire every bit as easily as my 9" Knipex dedicated cutters.
2. The Straight blade: with an edge length of about 3", this blade has copped an absolute beating over the years and has come through with shining colours. This is my preffered blade on the tool.
An idiot (not me) managed to snap off about 1mm of the point of the blade, a local knife wizard reground the blade for me and it's every bit as good as new.
The blade holds a great edge and a regular touch up with a diamond steel is all that is needed to keep it in tip-top trim. it has had only two proper "full" sharpens in 10 years.
3. The Serrated Blade: I admit i don't use this blade all that much. it will slice through even very thick rope like a machete through cheese and is great for slicing tomatoes while camping.
This blade still has it's factory edge, although next time my i have my blades sharpened, i'll have old'mate do a number here as well.
in all, an awesome blade that completely fills all my serrated edge desires (i'm a straight-edge blade kind of guy).
4. Hacksaw and file: believe it or don't, this blade actually gets a fair bit of use. i've used it to cut through galvanised chain, filed down irritating litttle bits of metal and on one memorable occasion, i had to do a quick resizing of a wedding ring five minutes before Aisle Time.
5. Wood saw blade: Double toothed, it's certainly sharp and will do the job on small items but you won't be chopping down any rivergums with it. Actually, this is the one blade on the whole tool i could happily do without. if you need a saw, carry a proper one.
That said, it has proven useful on a couple of occasions, but by and large it doesn't get deployed.
Ok, that's it for the four main blades and the central pliers. onto the secondary tools:
6. Scissors: awesome. simply awesome little gadgets these scissors. as noted above, the spring design is far superior to the springs found on an SAK. after the main blade, these would be the most used tool on my LMW.
7. Screwdrivers: being an older model, my LMW has four slot-head and one phillips head drivers. while perfectly functional, the downside is the drivers aren't aligned down the long axis of the tool. While this isn't a problem for small, quick jobs, i sure wouldn't want to use these screwdrivers in place of a proper set on a big job.
that said, they have certainly screwed-in and un-screwed plenty of screws in the last decade.
useful in a pinch, but not a proper substitute for a "real" screwdriver.
8. Can Opener: awesome. it's simple, functional and TOUGH.
9. Sheath: the leather pouch that came with the tool originally had a fine and served well until a couple of months ago when my border collie pup decided it was a chew-toy.
Fit and Finish:
My LMW has a few scratches and dents on it from all the abuse over the years, but then again, show me anything that's copped this kind of abuse that isn't a little scratched up.
it's very easy to maintain, just a scrub in some hot soapy water every couple of weeks and the occasional use of a little dry-lube every now and again is all mine has ever needed.
Conclusions:
both the LMWs i bought 10 years ago are still going strong. my friend loves the one i bought her and uses it regularly. my one is my constant companion and i feel rather lost without it.
it's not a replacement for a kitted out toolbox, but it can certainly deliver acceptable performance in a pinch in a wide variety of situations.
i would strongly reccomend an LMW to anyone. the newer model with it's exchangeable screw-driver socket looks very tempting, but suffers the problem of my model: it fails to deliver drive symmetry down the handle axis.
i have an overall dislike for folding knives, for any blade longer than the LMW's, i'd prefer a fixed blade over a folder. but, for an EDC blade with plenty of extras, the LMW is tough enough to take a beating and sharp enough to slice through most obstacles.
quite frankly, i believe the Leatherman Wave to one of the best things to ever come out of the USA. fabulous design, elegent simplicity and utterly functional.
I recently got a Wave to replace a Gerber MP600 and I really like it. It's good to read your review and know that I can expect many years of good service.
.
