It Happened. The Harbor Freight Wave Clone...

Guy McVer said:
Arguing about a knockoff clone that costs 1/3rd as much as the original is kind of missing the point.
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so what is the point of this tool ?

Wait till you see it on the HF website, it will say " Compares to leatherman " and list the waves price.
The specific point is basically to say buy our knockoff product because it's similar to the original but much cheaper which somehow makes it just as good.
 
Hickory n steel said:
so what is the point of this tool ?

Wait till you see it on the HF website, it will say " Compares to leatherman " and list the waves price.
The specific point is basically to say buy our knockoff product because it's similar to the original but much cheaper which somehow makes it just as good.
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If I ask you to compare an orange to a tangerine, am I implying that they are the same? No, it's the opposite. I'm implying that there are differences, hence the need for a comparison. If they were identical, then a comparison would be meaningless.

Some people like oranges but hate tangerines. Some people like tangerines but aren't really all that partial to oranges.

Some people like BOTH, but each for different or overlapping reasons.

Some people want a top quality multitool with a 25 year warranty. Some people are just fine with having a lower budget alternative.

Some people even want BOTH. They want the higher quality version, but they also want a few cheaper spares to throw in their vehicles or take on trips when accidentally losing the multitool is a possibility.
 
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Guy McVer said:
If I ask you to compare an orange to a tangerine, am I implying that they are the same? No, it's the opposite. I'm implying that there are differences, hence the need for a comparison. If they were identical, then a comparison would be meaningless.

Some people like oranges but hate tangerines. Some people like tangerines but aren't really all that partial to oranges.

Some people like BOTH, but each for different or overlapping reasons.

Some people want a top quality multitool with a 25 year warranty. Some people are just fine with having a lower budget alternative.

Some people even want BOTH. They want the higher quality version, but they also want a few cheaper spares to throw in their vehicles or take on trips when accidentally losing the multitool is a possibility.
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But we're not talking leatherman vs any random Chinese multitool or 2 different naturally occurring citrus fruits, we're talking about the original leatherman wave vs the knockoff.
All they gotta do is not make a tool that is clearly copying/ ripping off the leatherman wave which they directly compare it too, and the discussion would be over.
If somebody want's a $40 multitool they can just buy a Gerber suspension or something, if they specifically want a leatherman wave style multitool they should get a leatherman wave and not a Chinese knockoff.
The bottom line is that there is no real place for knockoffs, people can buy the original if they need and can afford it or just get a completely different less expensive alternatives.
 
I made an unpleasant discovery. The Leatherman ratchet driver doesn't fit all the way into the bit driver of the Gordon Wave clone. It will stop about halfway in because it's slightly too fat. It'll stay in there and won't fall out, but it doesn't fit all the way down.

I think Leatherman made the base of their ratchet driver slightly bigger than the bits in order to minimize wobble. Unfortunately, the bit driver on the Gordon Wave clone seems slightly smaller than the one on the Wave, so the combination of these two factors means the ratchet doesn't want to fit all the way in. 🤷‍♂️

The Leatherman bits still fit inside the Gordon's bit driver just fine though. 👍

edit: Never mind! Leatherman's ratchet actually fits. It seems like it gets stuck, but you just have to force it a little bit and it will snap down into place. I'm an idiot. It fits, but it's just a little tight. So if it seems like it gets stuck halfway, give it an extra push and it should fit all the way down.


Hickory n steel said:
If somebody want's a $40 multitool they can just buy a Gerber suspension or something, if they specifically want a leatherman wave style multitool they should get a leatherman wave and not a Chinese knockoff.
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Hickory n steel said:
The bottom line is that there is no real place for knockoffs, people can buy the original if they need and can afford it or just get a completely different less expensive alternatives.
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My response to this is exactly what 'The Dude' character in The Big Lebowski says:

"Yeah, well, you know, that's just like uhhh... your opinion, man."

Your opinion is your opinion and you're entitled to it. Everybody has opinions and they're all entitled to have them as well.

The reality is that the patents on the Wave are expired, and so anybody can make and sell as many clones of the Wave as they want to, and anybody can buy them, and there's nothing you can do about it. So if you think that they shouldn't make clones and that people shouldn't buy them... well that's just an opinion and it changes nothing.
 
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I've had bad luck with anything harbor freight sells. works okay at first, seems not too bad
and once ya get to using regularly.....breaks, fails, falls apart, dies pretty quickly. I don't expect anything less of this kinda failure in this clone.

there is no magic path to same quality and just cheaper. something always has to give beside just labor costs.......

I've learned my lesson on harbor freight bargains more than a dozen times. yeah I'm a slow learner....I'll admit that, but I did eventually learn.....

also I love tangerines...grew up eating dancys, but about impossible to find here anymore....I also like oranges. grew up eating juice oranges like valencias and hamlins.......
 
jbmonkey said:
I've had bad luck with anything harbor freight sells. works okay at first, seems not too bad
and once ya get to using regularly.....breaks, fails, falls apart, dies pretty quickly. I don't expect anything less of this kinda failure in this clone.

there is no magic path to same quality and just cheaper. something always has to give beside just labor costs.......

I've learned my lesson on harbor freight bargains more than a dozen times. yeah I'm a slow learner....I'll admit that, but I did eventually learn.....

also I love tangerines...grew up eating dancys, but about impossible to find here anymore....I also like oranges. grew up eating juice oranges like valencias and hamlins.......
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Skepticism is good. Especially if you've been burned a few times. There's nothing wrong with waiting to see what other people's experiences are like. Definitely don't buy one if you're worried about it falling apart on you.

I've been putting mine through the gauntlet and it seems to be holding up just fine so far. I got the pliers fully broken in. It didn't take very long because they were already pretty smooth out of the box. They just needed a little work to loosen them up an extra bit. I also got both knife blades broken in so that they open one-handed easily. They were a bit hard to open with my thumb at first.

One thing I'm worried about is the locking mechanism for plier arms getting worn out, so that the plier arms fold up too easily instead of staying fully open. Time will tell if that happens. I don't know exactly why I'm worried about that. I just feel like it might happen. Another thing that worries me is the pocket clip getting worn out from being put on and off too many times. I just feel like maybe the lock bar will wear out the groove in the pocket clip over time.

The phillips side of the micro eyeglass screwdriver bit is total garbage, so that's a definite negative. It's junk. And you can't use the micro eyeglasses bit from the Leatherman kit either, because it's too big to fit inside the micro bit driver on the Gordon multitool. So if that's a feature you need, definitely don't buy the Gordon. You'll be disappointed.
 
jbmonkey said:
I've had bad luck with anything harbor freight sells. works okay at first, seems not too bad
and once ya get to using regularly.....breaks, fails, falls apart, dies pretty quickly. I don't expect anything less of this kinda failure in this clone.

there is no magic path to same quality and just cheaper. something always has to give beside just labor costs.......

I've learned my lesson on harbor freight bargains more than a dozen times. yeah I'm a slow learner....I'll admit that, but I did eventually learn.....

also I love tangerines...grew up eating dancys, but about impossible to find here anymore....I also like oranges. grew up eating juice oranges like valencias and hamlins.......
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It's the kind of place where you really really gotta know exactly what you're buying and what you want / need out of it, If you do your research you can shop smartly if you just have to shop at HF for some reason.
They're starting to sprinkle in some American made rebrands this past year, but are still a far cry from reolacing Craftsman if that's the goal.


They will be telling people to buy their multitool for $40 because it " Compares to leatherman wave at $120 ", the business model is offering an affordable product while turning people away from the company's they're ripping off by creating a misleading sense of sticker shock.
They can't just knockoff a product they also gotta turn around and tell the customer what they knocked off and it's price.

I don't know that their specific offering will make much difference in the damage all the other Wave clones that are currently popular online have already done, but it sure isn't helping the problem.
 
Hickory n steel said:
It's the kind of place where you really really gotta know exactly what you're buying and what you want / need out of it, If you do your research you can shop smartly if you just have to shop at HF for some reason.
They're starting to sprinkle in some American made rebrands this past year, but are still a far cry from reolacing Craftsman if that's the goal.


They will be telling people to buy their multitool for $40 because it " Compares to leatherman wave at $120 ", the business model is offering an affordable product while turning people away from the company's they're ripping off by creating a misleading sense of sticker shock.
They can't just knockoff a product they also gotta turn around and tell the customer what they knocked off and it's price.

I don't know that their specific offering will make much difference in the damage all the other Wave clones that are currently popular online have already done, but it sure isn't helping the problem.
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I can't even walk in there as that bad cheap chinese plastic smell is overpowering. there are other places here where I am that sell better products and still below tool box store prices. best thing I got from hf was a brass old school twist to shape the stream hose nozzle. still got it and use it but it started leaking when twisted to off position after a few months.....but don't care and use it for watering my sugar cane.
 
For me it's good for small stuff like safety glasses, disposable gloves, or the odd drill bits. The prices there are often better than wally world for that stuff.

I picked up some tinted safety glasses there recently for 2 bucks. I use them as regular sunglasses. The disposable gloves went on sale for 50% off twice in recent memory. I picked up multiple boxes as I often use them for dirty tasks, cleaning, and working on my bikes so I don't get grease on my hands.

They also sometimes have stuff that home depot, lowes, and ace hardware don't have. And sometimes they have stuff that is for one half or one third of the price compared to anywhere else, and when the quality isn't a crucial factor then it's a no-brainer. For example they had an anti-hitch rattle clamp for 12 bucks when everywhere else it was anywhere from 25-35 bucks. It's a simple steel U-bolt style clamp, so the quality isn't really a huge concern. I bought it and it works great. No more rattle. Job done. Money saved.
 
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Harbor freight is all about discerning what your purpose for the tool is and what your buying. For instance, at work I use mostly harbor freight wrenches, sockets, allen wrenches, etc. They work fine and snap on would do no better. But you wouldn't ever catch me diagnosing a piece of equipment with a HF multi meter. I use only Fluke meters, dewalt power tools, etc. Gotta know where you can save money and be fine and where it ain't worth risking. I also use HFs big stationary belt sander at home and it's been fantastic. I also sold a Miller Mig welder and bought HFs Titanium multi process welder, it blows the doors off that Miller. Weighs 1/3 what the Miller did and welds better. I will say the gun is lighter duty physical components though, but it's held up great for 5 years now.

It's not the same store it was 10 years ago.

Good to hear about the multitool. It's not leatherman but could definitely fit a role such as a spare tossed in the wife's car or I could see dad's buying a young son one knowing he might loose a 120 leatherman, or just money is tight. Thanks for being the guinea pig on this!
 
Heads up, guys.

This guy posted a video of his Gordon Wave clone that was broken in the package:


This is only 1 case, but based on this I would recommend opening the package in the parking lot before you leave. That way you can examine it and if it's broken you can just go back in the store for an exchange or a refund.
 
I can’t believe anyone would actually pay $40 plus dollars for this turd when you can pick up an actual Leatherman Wave for the same price or slightly more at a pawn shop.
 
Guy McVer said:
The tip of the can opener is slightly rounded. That's disappointing, but most of you probably don't even use the can openers on multitools to actually open cans. I do use them for that, so I'm a little upset. I have not tested it yet though. It may still work just fine.
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I just tested the can opener on a can of chili. It works very well and it is easy to use.
 
It started. Nextool is releasing their own Leatherman style flat double-sided bit kit. The bits are compatible with Leatherman's own flat bit driver.

The bits in the kit are:

1/8" 3/32" flat

3/16" 5/32" flat

1/4" 7/32" flat

5/32" 9/16" hex

2mm 15mm hex

t15 t10 torx

t8 t6 torx

pz1 pz2 pozidrive

no. 2 no. 1 philips

no. 3 no. 0 philips

I have no idea what the quality is like.

We will probably start seeing more of these cloned bit sets as time goes on.
 
Work crews who need something like this will buy the clone because to their untrained eye, they don't know the difference between the wave and this and don't know why they'd pay 100, when they can pay 40$ and save 60.
But people here know, wave has seen a major cult following, been featured on shows like Alone, and has made been taken all over the world,
whereas Gordon ...
 
Major failure!


Please watch the entire video. ⚠️

From the comments section:

"That's too bad. I'm a huge Leatherman fan. I'm not one for the many "Wave" clones out there but this was the one I really liked. Its currently sold out at the two nearest stores about 30- 35 miles away in my area. I wonder how the other people's experience is going with the Harbor Freight Gordon 20-1."

Uploader response:

"This tool may have permanently sold me on the (actual) Wave+. Other than the qc issue, I loved how it functioned and just how downright useful it was. Even broken, I’m still running it over my Swiss army knife. I also wonder if I simply got a lemon or if that spells disaster for the Gordon and its reputation."



Now, to be fair, I've seen plenty of examples of Leatherman pliers failing and breaking. But seeing something like this, it looks bad to me. I'm not an expert on this kind of thing by any stretch, so I will leave judgement to others who may know more about it and who will hopefully be able to provide some helpful insight and perspective.
 
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