Biggest and smallest multitools

Ludwig

Ludwig

Joined
Feb 25, 2007
Messages
1,877
The Swisstool I bought two years ago was one of the best purchases I ever made. It goes with me wherever I go, and I love that feeling of being prepared.

I also recently picked up a Leatherman Mini Tool in a trade. I like how compact it is, but the tools are definitely lacking.

Seeing the Swisstool and Mini Tool next to each other, it got me thinking about the range of multitool sizes.

I've heard about the Surge, and as far as I know, it's the biggest multitool around. I'm ready to pull the trigger on it. I know it's big and heavy, but are there any other reasons I should reconsider? Is there a Victorinox equivalent of the Surge now? I've heard some complaints about Leatherman QC, but from what I've seen, they still put out a solid product. Any information or first hand experience supporting or discouraging the purchase would be appreciated.

On the other end of the spectrum, what's a smaller multitool (similar to size of the Mini Tool) with a healthy set of tools? I'm looking for max utility in the smallest package.

Thanks in advance for the help guys.
 
Ludwig said:
The Swisstool I bought two years ago was one of the best purchases I ever made. It goes with me wherever I go, and I love that feeling of being prepared.

I also recently picked up a Leatherman Mini Tool in a trade. I like how compact it is, but the tools are definitely lacking.

Seeing the Swisstool and Mini Tool next to each other, it got me thinking about the range of multitool sizes.

I've heard about the Surge, and as far as I know, it's the biggest multitool around. I'm ready to pull the trigger on it. I know it's big and heavy, but are there any other reasons I should reconsider? Is there a Victorinox equivalent of the Surge now? I've heard some complaints about Leatherman QC, but from what I've seen, they still put out a solid product. Any information or first hand experience supporting or discouraging the purchase would be appreciated.

On the other end of the spectrum, what's a smaller multitool (similar to size of the Mini Tool) with a healthy set of tools? I'm looking for max utility in the smallest package.

Thanks in advance for the help guys.
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Vic makes great products. I love their SAKs, but prefer Leatherman for pliers-based multitools. However, I believe there would be no advantage to the Surge over Swisstool in regard to size. Both are capable enough for heavy duty, and the Swisstool weighs less. OTOH, if you are looking for an excuse to buy a Surge anyway, one-handed opening can be a real convenience. Also, the exchangeable diamond file and bit holders are worthwhile features.

Among smaller tools, the Leatherman Juice line deserves consideration; not perfect, but the only multitools in that size category providing pliers useable for anything other than tiny fixes. For smaller than Juice, a scissors based multitool makes more sense, IMHO. The best choices among those are an S4 or Micra, both of which offer more robust scissors than their SAK counterparts.

I have seen complaints about Leatherman QC, but experienced little of it myself. Over 13 years and 8 (or 10?) samples, only one had to go back for a warranty repair. It was returned less than two weeks later in perfect condition. Great customer service.
 
For a really small but good quality one, see if you can locate a SOG Crossgrip. It's the same as the Crosscut but with pliers instead of scissors.
 
Thanks a lot for the info guys. The link to the multitool forum was exactly what I was looking for. I was expecting the Surge to be significantly larger than the Swisstool, but from the looks of it, I wouldn't be benefiting much from the Surge in terms of ruggedness or utility. My Swisstool has been reliable and tough, so I think I'm going to save the money and pick up the Becker BK-2 I've been wishing for.

In regards to the smaller multitools though, I'll have to do some more research. Swisstool Spirits aren't the smallest, but Victorinox has got me won over at the moment. I'll definitely look into the SOG tools as well.

Any more comments would be greatly appreciated.
 
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