Leatherman Charge or Victorinox SwissTool Spirit?

[deepwoodman]

Hey guys,

I was looking into getting a new multitool, which one would you choose? If you have any other suggestions around $100 or less feel free to say them!

Thanks in advance.

 

[bored2deth]

If you want my opinion, I'd go with either a Leatherman Wave or a Leatherman Charge Tti. Wave is more afforadably priced, while the Charge has titanium scales, an S30V blade, as well as a zipper hook. Neither is a bad deal for the price. Leatherman also has a great warranty.

 

[Heywood Floyd]

For primarily urban use and generally in order of available budget …

LM Charge TTi with bit kit and drive extender
Victorinox STS
LM Wave or LM Crunch

For primarily rural use and generally in order of available budget …

Victorinox STS
LM Charge TTi
LM Wave
LM Crunch

Notes:
The Victorinox has best fit, finish and comfort.
Charge TTi and Wave have most flexible tool sets.
The Vic STS has better wood working ability (chisel & awl)
The Crunch is worth a serious look if your locking pliers (free up one hand) and weight is important.
LM's warranty service is excellent. By the same token, I've not had the need to test Victorinox.
All are capable and serious multi-tools.

HTH's & good luck.

 

[powernoodle]

The Spirit fits the most tools in the smallest space, is engineered and manufactured with more precision and tighter tolerances, and would be my choice. I dig my Leathermans, and have pretty much their entire lineup in my arsenal, but in my view the Spirit is way ahead in terms of efficient use of space and design/build quality. But really, they both turn screws and grab bolts, so your subjective impression may make the difference as to what you like the best.

 

[McVeyMac]

The Spirit fits the most tools in the smallest space, is engineered and manufactured with more precision and tighter tolerances, and would be my choice. I dig my Leathermans, and have pretty much their entire lineup in my arsenal, but in my view the Spirit is way ahead in terms of efficient use of space and design/build quality. But really, they both turn screws and grab bolts, so your subjective impression may make the difference as to what you like the best.

I will second your statement about quality. The Victornox line of multi-tools have much better fit, finish, quality and value over the modern Leatherman lineup. I will never own another Leatherman unless Victornox moves their manufacturing to China.

 

[William Cannon]

I have a Spirit, Swisstool and Swisstool X, Charge Ti, several Waves and most all the other Leatherman MT's. Vic can't be beat for fit and finish, but the Charge/Wave tools are much easier to deploy. If I could only have one MT it would be a Charge or Wave.

 

[McVeyMac]

I have a Spirit, Swisstool and Swisstool X, Charge Ti, several Waves and most all the other Leatherman MT's. Vic can't be beat for fit and finish, but the Charge/Wave tools are much easier to deploy. If I could only have one MT it would be a Charge or Wave.

I also have the Charge Ti. There are several things that I actually hate about it. First I opted for the leather sheath. Big mistake. The leather has stretched so much due to the very narrow attachment points on the belt loop that it hangs away from the belt, and feels very heavy. Second, I lost the Phillips bit in the woods when extracting the tool after an ATV carb. adjustment. I only brushed it against a vacume line, and out it came. There is no spare in the bit pack, and no dedicated Phillips screwdriver tool. Third, I hate a tool that feels and looks like low quality, and to me, this describes the Charge. Other than the things that I hate about it, it has been a capable tool. The S30V steel of the Charge is superior to the ST, but I always have 3 other knives on me for cutting purposes. The one hand opening of the Charge is good, but many of the tools are on the inside. I prefer them on the outside. I own two USA made LM MTs that I love and will never part with, but they are lacking with features. As long as Victornox is building MTs to this quality, I will never own another LM. That is unless they move manufacturing back to the USA. I am afraid that this will be the only move on LMs part that would bring me back as a customer.

 

[znapschatz]

I own two USA made LM MTs that I love and will never part with, but they are lacking with features. As long as Victornox is building MTs to this quality, I will never own another LM. That is unless they move manufacturing back to the USA. I am afraid that this will be the only move on LMs part that would bring me back as a customer.

Leatherman produces all its multi-tools in the USA, although some components are off-shored, which is common in most US manufacturing these days. What caused you to think otherwise?

 

[McVeyMac]

I thought this because of the aparent loss of quality, and the fact that Made in USA can be found nowhere on any of the modern tools i have handled. If I am wrong, I stand corrected. They used to put USA on their tools. When they stopped, I assumed that either they were no longer made here, or a significant portion of the tools were made offshore, not allowing them to state made in USA. My bad, I guess. Can you explain why they no longer mark their tools as made in the USA? So I made an assumption. You know what they say about that.

 

[znapschatz]

I thought this because of the aparent loss of quality, and the fact that Made in USA can be found nowhere on any of the modern tools i have handled. If I am wrong, I stand corrected. They used to put USA on their tools. When they stopped, I assumed that either they were no longer made here, or a significant portion of the tools were made offshore, not allowing them to state made in USA. My bad, I guess. Can you explain why they no longer mark their tools as made in the USA? So I made an assumption. You know what they say about that.

Leatherman no longer puts USA on their tools because of a California ruling several years ago against the company. Acknowledging realities of manufacturing in the US (some fasteners, for example, are not available from any US company), every state has domestic content laws allowing a certain percentage of foreign made components in products that could still labeled "made in USA." Those laws vary from state to state, but California has the strictest requirements. While Leatherman could make the claim anywhere else, they lost the Cal case and had to pay a substantial fine. Conforming to the California ruling required omitting "USA" from their products, so Leatherman substituted "tool," and rather than making special runs for California, put it on all their output. However, all their multi-tools are still made in USA.

 

[McVeyMac]

Leatherman no longer puts USA on their tools because of a California ruling several years ago against the company. Acknowledging realities of manufacturing in the US (some fasteners, for example, are not available from any US company), every state has domestic content laws allowing a certain percentage of foreign made components in products that could still labeled "made in USA." Those laws vary from state to state, but California has the strictest requirements. While Leatherman could make the claim anywhere else, they lost the Cal case and had to pay a substantial fine. Conforming to the California ruling required omitting "USA" from their products, so Leatherman substituted "tool," and rather than making special runs for California, put it on all their output. However, all their multi-tools are still made in USA.

My bad then. I had no idea. Clearly I stand corrected. This does not change my impressions of the Charge vs. the Spirit. But it significantly changes my willingness to continue to look towards LM for future MT purchases. In fact, I probably need to rethink this completely as I'm not sure where I stand on this issue any more.

I guess one could argue that California is not part of the USA when I compare my American world view with many Californians, but that is very subjective and a topic for a different forum. Thank you for taking the time to clarify this issue for me.

 

[James Y]

Although I don't have a charge, I own and have used a bunch of Leatherman tools over the years, from the original Supertool to the newer Wave. In contrast, I own two Victorinox multi-tools...an original Swisstool, and a Swisstool Spirit S (the one with a second, serrated blade in place of the scissors). The Spirit S has been my EDC MT since I got it some years ago. For my purposes, it's about as perfect a MT as I can get. The tools are the easiest to access due to the bowed-handle design; I like the secection, as well as the pliers design; and it's the perfect size/weight for me. The only thing I didn't like about it was the leather sheath, which wore out only after a year or so. I've been using an old Benchmade bali-song belt sheath for it.

Of course, YMMV. But I don't see myself carrying any other MT's than the Spirit S.

Jim

 

[Yalius]

To me it comes down to a question of what I'm doing with the tool-- am I trying to accomplish something productive as quickly and efficiently as possible? Charge TTi. Am I a hobbyist who's looking to have fun with a tool and don't care how user-friendly it is? Spirit.

 

[McVeyMac]

To me it comes down to a question of what I'm doing with the tool-- am I trying to accomplish something productive as quickly and efficiently as possible? Charge TTi. Am I a hobbyist who's looking to have fun with a tool and don't care how user-friendly it is? Spirit.

For me, the purpose of a multi tool is to accomplish the task at hand without having to go to the tool chest in order to retrieve the proper tool in order to do so. I always have it with me. Whether Leatherman or Swisstool, the tools on either have limited application compared to their tool chest counterpart. Whether carrying the Leatherman or the Swistool, I have had to walk to the tool chest and retrieve the proper tool for the task at hand because the multi tool failed to be adequate. I cannot say that the Charge Tti saved any leather on my soles compared to the Swisstool. The only tool on the Leatherman that I find to be modestly better than Swisstool is the Phillips head screwdriver. It will slip less then the polished Swisstool counterpart when removing a stubborn screw. But as I stated above regarding the Charge, if the Phillips bit is lost while extracting the tool, then you are left with no Phillips screw driver. I would be much more satisfied with the Charge design if they also had a Phillips screwdriver as a dedicated tool, in addition to the very flexible interchangeable bits. I find your argument that the Charge is better suited for the tradesman, and the Spirit being better suited for the hobbyist to be flawed. All multi tools fall short of their tool chest counterpart, and the Charge falls just as short as the Spirit. The interchangeable bit selection of the Charge is far greater than what is provided on the Spirit plus, especially if you purchase the additial bits (which I had to do due to the lost Phillips bit). I guess that this could save some trips to the tool chest, but with my luck, the bit I needed would be the one I did not have in the one plastic bit holder that I was carrying.

 

[Yalius]

For me, the purpose of a multi tool is to accomplish the task at hand without having to go to the tool chest in order to retrieve the proper tool in order to do so..

With my work, it's usually because I don't find out what exact tool I need until I'm on my knees or on my back in a crawlspace or an attic, and suddenly discover I need a serrated knife, or saw, or pliers to remove some staples, or some strange combination of prybar plus screwdriver to get a Cat5 installation through a maze of old pipes and ductwork. I can't pull out a tool, hold it up to the light, browse through the implements, pick what I need and use two hands to pull it out, then use two hands to put it away again. With my Charge or Surge, I can one-hand just about all the implements, by feel. Can't do that with a Swisstool / Spirit, and if I'm holding cable in place with one hand or trying to wedge a piece of paneling into place so I can work underneath it, well, one hand is all I have to spare.

 

[McVeyMac]

With my work, it's usually because I don't find out what exact tool I need until I'm on my knees or on my back in a crawlspace or an attic, and suddenly discover I need a serrated knife, or saw, or pliers...

I do have to give the nod to the Charge for the two blades that allow for one hand opening. If in your work you often find yourself on your back in limited light, and the tool that you require is the plain knife or the serrated blade then hands down the Charge is the better tool. If you require any other tool than one of those two, then the Charge has no advantage. I rarely use the knife blade on any of my MTs as I always have one or more knives on me that are better suited for any cutting tasks that I might come across. So if I am on my back in limited light, and I have to cut something, then I am not going to reach for the MT. If you do not carry any other knife with you other than your MT, then I agree that the Charge is the better tool due to the accessibility of the two one handed open knife blades. If I require any other tool on the MT, I see no advantage for the Charge. Both the file and the saw require two hands to open on the Charge, and the two knife blades, the file and the saw are the only tools accessible from the outside. On the Spirit, all tools are accessible from the outside. I never have to file my nails when on my back in limited light, but I might have to saw something. I see no advantage for the Charge, and if I have to remove a screw, or require any other tool, the Spirit wins due to accesibility. But, if I do not carry a knife and rely on my MT for cutting chores, then I would recommend the Charge due to the one handed open capacity of those two tools.

 

[Yalius]

I've found that every tool except the can opener is one-handable, and even that can be done one-handed by holding the Charge against my leg. Both the file and the saw are openable that way, holding the Charge in my thumb and middle finger and using my index finger to catch the saw or file and flick down. Left-handed it's even easier. All the internal tools are one-handed if you hold one handle, flick downward to open the handles, then reach in with the side of your thumbnail. The Surge makes it even easier, with the wider handles easier to grip with fingers while my thumb pulls out the tool I need. Scissors or saw especially.