Good durable-useful multitool between 30-50$ ?

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Cruzer23

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Feb 7, 2010
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So the guys at the knife forum told me I should get a good multi for my 6 months south america to go along with the Buck 119 I ordered.

The Buck stripped me of cash, but seeing so many cool tools I feel like a kid in a toy store, hehe.

Anyway I am looking at the Leatherman Wave, it has everything I need.
A belt clip would be cool to have on it too, and no flimsy springs on the pliers... Or anything that is prone to snap off

If you guys have anything better to suggest than a brand new Wave, I am all ears ! Anything solid at the 30-40$ area ? SOG perhaps ?

Thank you and have a great evening !
 
Leatherman Wave (has an attachable pocket clip you can get for ~$8), Victorinox Swisstool / Spirit, SOG Powerlock. All should be within or near your price range and are highly thought of amongst this bunch. Can't go wrong with any of them, just gotta decide which one caters to your needs and likes more :)
 
In my experience, the Wave is an excellent multi-tool but it retails for around $75. One can probably be found used for less.

I think most any LM would be a good tool. Gerber has a lot of Chinese made MTs so not sure of their quality.

I have no experience with SOG.
 
The only thing I might have against the Wave is the possibility of loosing the screwdriver bit, could be tricky to replace. A LM Blast or a Vic Spirit might be the way to go IMO. Enjoy the trip. :)
 
Take a moment and check out my site, I have around 200 kinds of multi-tools and I can set you up with a coupon code and save you 30%. with the discount we can move you up to a better tool and still pay what your comfortable with.

email or PM me for the coupon code.
 
For the prices you have stated, I would suggest the Leatherman Blast. Its a good tool for EDC. I have it and the Wave and I have to admit that I love the Blast the most due to weight and the longer phillips head screw driver. Or you could go with the Victorinox Swiss champ, but then again thats not in the price range you say.
 
If you can find a Wave for $30-$50 then that's the one I would recommend. If not then the Blasts are great tools. I carry one in my hunting pack. Fewer features but lighter and no losable parts (except the sheath :p). -DT
 
When it comes to recommendations, I rarely try to bump someone up in price at all.

But here you can buy a Victorinox SwissTool X brand new for just about $60.00 shipped.

I have two of them and can tell you they are super quality with a very well thought-out tool set. I definitely give it my highest recommendation at the price point.
 
If you're going to be in South America, you are probably going to run into a lot of damp conditions. Personally, I wouldn't go with anything bead blasted in finish because you will probably develop some rust without frequent maintenance. My pick for a cost effective, durable, lightweight, and highly rust resistant tool would be the Victorinox Spirit.

Great tool:) about the only thing you give up to the Wave is the one hand opening blades. If you want to go heavier it's tough to beat a SOG powerlock or ST 300 by Leatherman. If you wanna go really light and compact check out the standard Skeletool if you want bit selection that IMHO is more secure than what is found on the larger LM tools.

I'm not a seasoned traveler to exotic locations. However, anytime I go anywhere for any length of time I pack simple tools. For me, tools that have any amount of small pieces and parts are a no-go. Changeable bits do me no good if I lose the bit I need or the spring pops out that holds the bit in. The long discontinued LM Sideclip has been a frequent companion over the last several months that has handled everything I need. My next choices would be a Spirit, Kick, Fuse, or the chunky ST 300.

Enjoy your trip. Oh, and the 119 is a fantastic classic fixed blade. You did good:D:thumbup:
 
Great recommendations, I just noticed the Wave is usually around 80 dollars, so I'll check for sales or go for the Spirit so it seems.

I'll let you know soon if I find one of the recommended tools on sale !

edit: The nice dude from a few posts above (TKAZ) has the Blast and Fuze for really nice prices so I might check these out... Looking hot.
 
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Sog Powerlock for $49.00 at my local Lowe's. If I could only have ONE multi, that would be it.
 
Why would you want more than 1 multi tool if it's not a collection or anything like that ?
All the good big ones have the same tools almost :)

I hope that Blast is durable, I can get it for a good price.
SOG POWERLOCK - will look into it, looks good.

This is a great informative message board, thanks
 
Cruzer23 said:
Why would you want more than 1 multi tool if it's not a collection or anything like that ?
All the good big ones have the same tools almost :)

I hope that Blast is durable, I can get it for a good price.
SOG POWERLOCK - will look into it, looks good.

This is a great informative message board, thanks
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MT's are addicting and soon enough after one you'll start to make up reasons of why you need this tool over that one. I've got scored of them, all have been used at one time or another, and all are loved;)
 
For the price range you're looking at, I would suggest the Leatherman Blast. Very capable tool, light weight, no pieces to loose, and can be had for under $40 (check evil bay). If you can handle the weight, a Super Tool 300 woule be my choice. It can be had for a little more than your budget and is a super capable tool with nice long tools. I don't have any experiace with the Vic Spirit, but I've heard nothing but good things about it and it can be had for 50-60 $ if you look around. Just be sure you get the version (there's 3) that you want. Some guys have an issue with the "butter knife" blade included on 2 of the versions.
 
Gerbers make some decent stuff for the money. Plenty of tools, the sheaths usually suck though. The leatherman blast is right at the price range. The leatherman wave is a little small though. I would get a leatherman supertool 300. That has all the tools of a wave plus it's a little bigger and cheaper than a wave. No one hand opening, but it's a big piece of steel and I'm sure it will outlast a wave. Maybe you have small hands like me though, either way I think you'll be happy.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
If you're going to be in South America, you are probably going to run into a lot of damp conditions. Personally, I wouldn't go with anything bead blasted in finish because you will probably develop some rust without frequent maintenance. My pick for a cost effective, durable, lightweight, and highly rust resistant tool would be the Victorinox Spirit.
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Very good call here. :thumbup:
 
vic spirit ,,excellent multi tool ,,about 70 bucks
gerber 400 ,, lightweight about 40 bucks
leatherman blast ,,very good mt ,,about 40 bucks

have all 3 and my favorite are in this order
vic spirit
leatherman blast
gerber 400
 
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