Okay, it's been a bit over a month now I've been trying out the squirt on my downward spiral into the dark multitool madness. Some of my expectations have been proved true, but some have been wrong.
Like I suspected, my prime complaint about the micra tools being on the inside and harder to get at, has beenremidied by the squirt tools on the outside. It is way easier to access the bottle opener/screw driver, phillips screw driver, scissors. One of the most used tools on the classic that I loved was the sharp little scissors. ON the squirt they are right there to pull out and use. But, like the scissors on the micra, they are good but not quite up to the operating room fineness of the Victorinox scissors. Not much of a gain in the real world of coupon snipping or mustache trimming, but it does have a different feel. But it works well on most things.
I've used the little pliers once, and they did the job quite well. They let my senior citizen fingers get a grip on something that I could not have done without some help. They are almost fine enough that they can be used as the tweezers that the squirt lacks. But do a need for a once a month maximum justify the pliers? I'm not sure. I used them while I was at home, and if I hadn't had them, there was a tool kit in the next room at the bottom of the closet that all sorts of hand tools.
The screw drivers on the squirt are workable, even if they are noticeably shorter than the micra drivers. But they do work, and that's the bottom line. So on most counts, the micra vs squirt is still a personal taste in available tools. Living in a suburban/urban environment, I find I have more need for scissors on a day to day basis than pliers, so I am at this point a little more biased for the micra than the squirt.
After using these tools, I found out another thing, that if you get used to the 'inside' tools of the micra, it becomes a sort of second nature to pull the tool open and get the one you need. So after all my objection to the layout of the micra, I am finding out that in real world use of the tool everyday, it really makes a very very small bit of difference. Maybe the fact that I've had the micra for three months now, and the squirt only one, but as much as the squirt is a very competent edc tool, I have not warmed toit in the same way as I have the micra. Which in itself, surprised me more than anything. I've never been a Leatherman fan, and I'm not sure I'm becoming one, but more in a state of flux.
Three months ago, I took delivery of the micra with a great deal of personal prejudice. Lord knows that Dave and I have had a great deal of disagreement on the micra/classic debate, with lots of "yes it is/no it isn't" type of stuff going on. So I never expected myself to actually like the little Leatherman as much as I have come to. But at three months now, I can say the micra has won me over to the extent that now the squirt has to prove itself 'as good as' the micra. And it's proving to be an uphill battle.
One of the main things I don't like about the squirt is, the tools while shorter, also seem skimpy by comparison. I took a file to the phillips on the squirt to blunt it up a bit to be more useful on the more common phillips screws. I had notice that it was ground so thin the trip for tiny phillips, that it would deform and bend or chip at the tip. Now it's shaped more like the one on the micra, which is better for me for dealing with real world phillips screw which are large than in IT work.
But, and there is that three letter word again, there is one more difference between them, and I may have a hard time expelling it. The micra feels better quality.
I know there has been some controversy on where some of the new Leatherman's are being made. The micra has "Leatherman, U.S.A. on it, while the squirt has "Leatherman tool" on it. The squirt has a feel of being a bit 'cruder' for lack of a better term. Like it's not quite the same level of fit and finish as the micra. The micra has a undefinable feel of being just bit better assembled an finished. This is subjective as all heck I know, but I can feel it better than I can articulate it. Or maybe I'm loosing it and am ready for the rubber knife squad.
But
that word again, on the other hand both are very handy pieces of kit to have in a pocket, and both are good quality tools that will serve the needs of most people who are not avid knife nuts. Point in fact, I had some business recently where I had to go 'downtown' every day for a week. Downtown for me is Washington D.C., one of the most policed and secure cites in the U.S. There's more federal police agencies in that town than than anywhere else I know of. Metro police, DEA, FBI, ATF, NSA, and all the security agencies that handle the individual building security at museums and art galleries. So I will leave my main cutlery home and just take the minimum that will go federal building security. In the past this was my little Vic classic. It goes in the plastic tray with all my other pocket stuff, and it goes right through the security. Most small pocket knives and mini tools will, as something like 2 inch blades are permitted. So this past week, my only cutlery was the squirt. I spent all day every day for a week downtown with the squirt in my pocket, and it did everything I needed. The little chisel ground knife blade opened plastic packages and cardboard boxes, the bottle opener popped open a bottle of Mexican Coca-cola, And the small scissors trimmed a broken nail. I had no complaints, but yet a few times I found myself wanting the micra for some totally inexplicable reason. Personal taste? I don't know.
But here we are, three months in now with the micra, and a bit over a month with the squirt. Both are good tools that work well in a very wide variety of situations. I think in the end, a lot of it is going to come down to personal taste. But even more startling is, over the course of this extended time experiment with Leatherman keychain size tools, I have not been carrying my classic. Equally as startling is, the world has not stopped spinning, the fabric of the space time continuum is intact, and the sun is still rising in the east. I seem to have become lost down some dark rabbit hole where when I slip my hand in my pocket to feel the smooth oval shaped classic, instead my hand falls on a square shaped hunk of metal, and I'm not disturbed by it. Like a new reality to get used to. Is it possible that I could abandon my long beloved classic for a all metal multitool?
I guess time will tell. Darn you Dave!
Anyone seen a ladder around here?
, but the pliers are okay :thumbup:.
Carl, I take more pleasure than I ought to in your new-found appreciation of the Micra. ;-) It's a fantastic little tool. That and a [fill in name of your preferred folding knife], and there's not many jams you can't get out of.
