deathshead said:
I broke-down and decided that I "needed" a multi-tool. Spending $200 a pop on quality knives, I knew that the best multi-tool ain't even coming close to that price. So, when it comes to a multi-tool for me... money is no object.
I've seen a Charge Ti for $65 on ebay and was tempted to buy it. Is that a good deal? Decided to do the research and get comments first.
So if I want the best multi-tool ever, which should I buy? Is the Charge Ti the best? Or is it like other knives where there is no best and that it depends what your intentions are?
First, do you consider the original swiss army knife a multi-tool? Some people do, and some people consider only the designs more akin to the classic Leatherman, with full-size pliers, multi-tools.
It depends on what your intentions are. It also depends on limitations. For example not everyone, including me, would EDC a Leatherman Surge, which weighs more than 3/4 of a pound (tool alone!). Also blade length can be a legal / policy limitation just like it is for knives. Also, whether or not you carry a dedicated knife will affect the decision, because you may not require the absolute best multi-tool knife blade if you're already carrying a knife you prefer. It certainly isn't an easy decision.
But that doesn't prevent one from forming an opinion as to what might be the best for most situations.
Here's my opinion. I've owned a cheap Leatherman clone, a LM Wave (older model), a LM Squirt P4, a LM Squirt EL, 2 LM Charge XTis, a LM Micra, a LM Juice Pro, a Swiss Army Cybertool 34 Lite, a SAK Cybertool 41, and a SwissMemory.
While I thought the Cybertools were very well made, and very nice, I've decided that the Leatherman design is, for my purposes, better. It's all about the pliers. They give the tool a much more tool-like feeling. While the Cybertools had pliers, they were small things and not nearly as strong. I sold both of my Cybertools on eBay.
I admit to being somewhat of a Leatherman whore, but this is because their products have worked so well for me. Still you should take what I have to say with a grain of salt for this reason. I have not used any of the Victorinox Swisstool models yet, or anything from SOG. I have seen a Gerber model, but didn't like the flick-out desgin of the pliers (on that particular model). I am considering buying a Swisstool Spirit, mainly to check it out; I've been interested for awhile.
Of all of my LMs, the Charge is easily the most well-made, and that's saying quite a bit, as the quality of LMs products in general is outstanding. The fit, finish, durability, precision, and everything else still impresses me even after owning my first one for over a year. It feels like it was made for someone who must have the very best. The worst part of shopping for a Charge, though, is the annoyance of the two different models. It's all been said already... LM could've easily made only one model that included the best of both designs. I suppose that one could combine the two by sacrificing one, but I think few would want to sac a Charge for parts, even at the $65 price you've found.
It's a tough call, but I'd say the XTi is the better overall choice. If you look at the specs, in my opinion the only thing significant the XTi is missing is the scissors. Now especially for a sophisticated knife user, I don't think this is a huge loss... just use the knife instead, even if it doesn't work as well for some tasks. I can't think of any immediate, critical job scissors could do that a knife couldn't. Multi-tools are synonomous with improvisation anyway. Some say the missing surface of the pliers occupied by the crmiper on the XTi is a significant disadvantage; I have yet to have that problem.
With that being said, you have to look at what the XTi has that the Ti doesn't. The Ti has a dedicated 1/4" slotted screwdriver, but the XTi has a 1/4" slotted screwdriver on one of the two double-ended bits. Many think that the second bit driver is superfluous. I think that depends on how you are carrying. If you're not carrying it in the pouch and not carrying bits external to the tool, the second bit driver adds a lot of versatility. Plus, having another phillips driver fills in gaps that the combo #1/#2 driver on the Ti leaves. I have yet to use the cutting hook, but I appreciate that it's there. The crimper is not suitable for electrical terminals, so it hasn't been useful for me. You can crimp electrical terminals using the handles. See Doug Ritter's review on equipped.com. For me, the extra implements aren't extremely useful, but they are appreciated. The bottom line is that I believe that the XTi can handle more jobs than the Ti.
