Current Leatherman build quality Q

S

sambo.

Joined
Dec 30, 2009
Messages
1,538
greetings all.

I have been carrying my trusty Leatherman Wave with me for over 10 years now and i truly love that little gadget.

i can't fault the build quality on my one, it's awesome and built like a tank.

BUT: seeing as it's been 10 years since i bought mine, i'm wondering how newer models stack up.

has Leatherman maintained their high quality control standards over the last 10 years? are current models as hard wearing as the older ones?

Input from long terms owners and those new to the brand are all appreciated.
 
My skeletool cx is just under 1 year old. It was my first leatherman and I was impressed.
 
I feel as though the older tools were better made, I've spent $$$ on Leatherman, and have switched to the Victorinox Swisstool.

I've been plagued by rust issues on both of my LM products, I EDC my tools in a suburban office environment, the weather in Australia is not overly humid, and I dont go swimming with my tools, I do not sweat profusely, and wipe my tools down after use.

I found that my Carbon steel slipjoints that were riding in the opposite pockets of my LM tool to remain shiny and free of rust, whereas my 'stainless steel' S30V LM Charge TTI blade was specked with red rust, even after wiping it down with Tuffcloth.

My Swisstool is heavier, slightly less smooth, but it doesnt rust.
 
wow. that's a real worry actually.

now, i'm in Australia too, but my Wave has copped a plenty of harsh environments. i lived right by the beach for a couple of years. while my car rusted into junk, the Wave has no rust at all.

hmmm.

oh well, keep 'em coming gang! i'm really interested to hear how current LM's stack up against the "golden oldies" like mine.
 
I have a PST II and a Supertool that I purchased in the mid nineties and a Surge purchased about four years ago. The PST II and Supertool are both sturdier feeling than the Surge and have smoother actions as well. That being said, I still consider the Surge to be of good quality and haven't experienced any failures with it.
 
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Bought a Charge TTi in '08 and have the tool is very solid. I haven't handled any older model Leathermans so I can directly compare them. I started to get some small specs of rust on some of the tools, I rubbed the inside tools and pliers down with some Flitz and haven't had the problem again in over 8 months. So from my experience it's like any other knife - take care of your multitool and it'll take care of you :)
 
I have owned Leatherman tools since about 1985 . I don't think quality today is what it was , that said it is still very good . If you have an issue CS takes care of it . That is fine for buyers in ConUS , and Canada , but could be a PITA for overseas customers .

Chris
 
IMHO, Leatherman has not been the same since the 2004 overhaul. They are still very good tools for the money. Don't get me wrong. However, the PST, Supertool 200, old Wave, and Sideclip in my collection are superior in fit and finish to ever other model. I will say that the Skeletool is actually very well done, but that is such a unique and new design i have nothing to really compare it to.

I come back now and again to Leatherman, but I don't feel that I've gotten as much of my money's worth as I did in the past. I usually stick to SOG and really want to pick up a Vic or two. Heck, I might even try one of Gerber's higher end USA-made tools next go around. I have been VERY impressed with their current minimalist off shore made Artifact and Shard.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
IMHO, Leatherman has not been the same since the 2004 overhaul. They are still very good tools for the money. Don't get me wrong. However, the PST, Supertool 200, old Wave, and Sideclip in my collection are superior in fit and finish to ever other model. I will say that the Skeletool is actually very well done, but that is such a unique and new design i have nothing to really compare it to.

I come back now and again to Leatherman, but I don't feel that I've gotten as much of my money's worth as I did in the past. I usually stick to SOG and really want to pick up a Vic or two. Heck, I might even try one of Gerber's higher end USA-made tools next go around. I have been VERY impressed with their current minimalist off shore made Artifact and Shard.
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Couldn't agree more . I had a couple of Sideclips and an Original Supertool that were just about flawless , haven't seen the like since ! Gerber multi's are still pretty Naff , the Shard shows no vices , I have gifted a few to guys who beat up on stuff pretty bad , all have survived !

Right now , for my money the Vic. Spirit is about the best quality for the buck out there . ( as long as you can live without one handed opening )

Chris
 
sambo. said:
has Leatherman maintained their high quality control standards over the last 10 years? are current models as hard wearing as the older ones?

Input from long terms owners and those new to the brand are all appreciated.
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I think they're significantly better than they were previously. Current models look to be much more finely finished and better constructed than those in the past. Some of the new designs and materials appear to have been chosen more for a ease of production standpoint but overall I think the new designs are an excellent evolution.

Now, it's very easy to get the feeling that the quality has dropped by reading posts here and elsewhere but the fact remains that most posters do no have a wide experience with a lot of individual tools from the time frames they're talking about. They've seen or owned a few but never really taken a close look at the construction and design of a wide sample and are essentially seeing the past with rose-tinted glasses in a lot of cases. Couple this with the fact that you're just not going to see any meaningful amount of reviews on a NIB pre-2004 tools since they're generally hard to find and not of interest to most posters.

From my own experience in owning several dozen pre- and post-2004 models I think the current line-up is generally better finished and constructed of stronger designs.

Obvious grind marks, uneven finish levels and other production indicatiors were usually present on the pre-2004 tools. These have all but been eliminated on the current production pieces. Current tools are finished much more consistently and generally do not show any production marks, they are also much more "squared up" than previously. Couple this with the newer, more durable designs, integration of higher end materials and a larger line-up and I will opine that the line-up of 2010 is leaps and bounds above what was available pre-2004.

To sum it up, there are a lot of factors stacked in favor of a perception of pre-2004 tools being a lot "better" than the current offerings but I will argue that there are merely perceptions and generally, do not line up with the reality.
 
sambo. said:
wow. that's a real worry actually.

now, i'm in Australia too, but my Wave has copped a plenty of harsh environments. i lived right by the beach for a couple of years. while my car rusted into junk, the Wave has no rust at all.
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Ive heard that about LM tools, whilst some experience Rust, others do not... I wanted to carry the Charge this morning, sure enough got it out of the drawer at home (I'd put it away after applying a layer of oil on it, and there it was - Large rust patch on the S30V blade :grumpy:. I also found discolourations on the plier jaws.

5 Minutes with 0000 grade steel wool, and it was gone ...at least for today.
 
Use my Charge all the time on the farm, nary a spot of rust to be seen. Very handy, F&F is a bit slack, mine was one of the first to have a 154CM blade and it missed a couple of swipes with the grinder on the spine, its not a performance issue and I convex the blade anyway.

LM IMHO are very hard to beat.
 
I still have to disagree about the post 2004 designs.

I have owned well over 20 LM tools from 1998 to present. I still continue to buy their products because they offer a good quality tool that I can generally pick up at any big box store without having to pay shipping.

However, prior to 2004 I never had at any time "sticking" jaws where the side of the pliers would become wedged between the tool sets. Not. One.

Since 2004, I have had one tool that DID NOT have this sticking issue. That is the Skeletool. My Surge, my wave, my fuse, my Core, and even a friend's ST300 all jam up to some degree (some barely noticeably other frustratingly so). Is this a deal breaker? No I can work around it. However, it IS an issue that I think needs to be brought up. Maybe prior to 2004 I just got REALLY lucky and got a dozen really well made tools. Maybe after 2004 I just got a bum draw of tools made at 4:30 Friday afternoon. What I do know is that after the switch up in 2004 I became frustrated enough with the QC of LM tools that I actually bought other brands of tools as well. Something I never did before then.

Leatherman now bead blasts a good chunk of their tool's when it comes to finish. I know this is a cost saving thing. It makes sense to save a buck to not polish rather than raise your pricing. Obviously, most folks do not care about this. Gerber has been offering bead blasted tools pretty much forever. However, IMHO, the bead blasting lends itself to easier rusting and is a step backwards in quality. SOG gets this right, IMHO. They high polish their plier heads and tool bodies but leave the internal tools less finished. This makes sense as the internals of SOG tools are replaceable by design.

Now, I cannot fault LM in their warranty department. Nothing but good things are said about their follow up. Perhaps if I send off my jamming tools they will fix them. However, I am both a user and collector of Multi-Tools. If I buy something that has little hiccups that doesn't suit my needs, I simply put it in the drawer with the others.

Bottom line, in my opinion, LM still makes very good and innovative tools. However, either their fit and finish are not up to the same exacting standards or their QC has slipped a bit. They still get the lion's share of my MT business, but they don't get ALL of it anymore.
 
I've had a few Leatherman MT's since the mid-90's and found them to have good quality and fit & finish. But my latest LM, a Wave, was terrible. The lock bars for the blades/saw/file were either barely catching or went all the way to the other side to where the blade had play in it. One lock bar wore in and is good, one is good but the 2 others go all the way to the side and the file and saw wiggles. Add to that the stiff opening of the pliers/handles with that gritty feeling when opening as well as the secondary tools and I was quite disappointed in the quality of my Wave. I still used it though and didn't detract too much from its capabilities. But I just wish it were built to a higher level of fit & finish. I wish it was like my Victoinox SwissTool and Spirit with its high level of quality.
 
Seems like LM goes thru waves (no pun intended) with their QA/QC.

My first purchase years ago was a Wave and a Micra. They are really good fit and finish.

I bought a few newer Juice models and a few Squirts - and the QA/QC is different for each one.

I then bought a Surge a few years ago - seems ok.

Recently (within last 6 months) I bought a LM Charge AL. I asked the guy working behind the counter at the store I bought it at to pull all of the ones he had. One out of the three seemed to be good fit and finish - and its the one I bought. One was tough to open (take the various tools out) and one had the blade rubbing hard against the liner.

I am very happy with the one I bought. I will say that the grind on the 154CM blade is less than desirable - it's a little sloppy - but I can live with it. It does not affect the cutting ability of the blade or the structural integrity.

Seems like buying blind off internet may be risky - maybe worth paying a little more as long as you can inspect the model before buying.

I find the same holds true when buying Buck knives - I need to see several of the same model so I can pick the better of the bunch.
 
i don't have any older lm stuff. my dad has carried one for as long as i can remember and it still functions fine. as for me. being a cav scout on strykers. i have been through literally at least 25 multitools, 4 of them being lm's the others being gerbers and sogs. i am really hard on these knives but thats part of the job. you dont always have the right tool around. but lm's seem to be in the middle. gerber being the bottom and sog's being the best. i dont know, i might get another lm since i broke my sog trying to clear a round of the face of my mk 19, the bolt was jammed halfway back i popped the rond out and the bolt slammed shut and sheered the pliar tips clean off.
 
I had 2 original PST's (1996 and 1999 ish) and carried and used them all over the world.. I beat 'em an used 'em for everything.. I snapped the main blades on both of them and last week, Leatherman replaced both of them with NOS PST's, no questions asked.. I had a Surge and thought it was the best though out multi-tool, I've ever used.. The ability to use jig saw blades, an actual PE and SE blade, it was great.. The fit and finish on both of them were great.. It was what I would expect from an American made tool.. My dad had a couple of Sheffield knock offs and let me tell you, they were junk..
 
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I bought the super tool 300 and the quality is great,no problems i have carried it everyday and it is probably just a little bit nicer than my supertool 200.I have, I dont know how many leatherman tools from the first usa model pst,pst2,original wave,tti,surge,pulse and on and on.I was not crazy with the core kick,fuse and others with the plastic handles but quality has always been very good for the price,in my opinion.when the leatherman mut comes out in sept,i will be in the front of the line.
 
I have the old style and given what i have on hand they will last me the rest of my life. With that said I have Charge TTI and I find I'm not crazy for the way the friction mechanism is designed on the pliers, the little post that sticks out in the middle of the inside handle, and the locks. IMO they got too gadgety. I think the simpler design is better. The older ones plier tension on the handles is similar to the backspring on a knife.


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awesome input guys. the responses to my question have been great. thank you so much for your input and please keep those opinions coming!


navihawk said:
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hehee, that's the exact model I have.

except my box is long gone and my wave is a little more beat-up than that one.
 
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