Leatherman Core or Swisstools

S

Sterling#14

Joined
Sep 7, 2006
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I Bought a Gerber Diesel thinking at the time that Gerber had finally improved there tools such as beefier knives,pliers,saw killer scissors etc. and due to the fact that two nearby Super Walmart's had sold out of them Bad Bad :mad: mistake. The tools were tightened so tight you can't get them out unless you use another tool to pry them out. I have tried all sorts of oil also attempted to loosen tools and after 3-4 Months the only thing I can use is the pliers after prying them out, a few other things can be pryed out with the supplied bit kit. The knife blade still had sharp burred edges from a poor quality crapsmens work. I have owned a few Gerbers in the past that had much better quality. Also Toolzall Electricians version tools clumped but quality was o.k. I work at a International Airport and I need to rely on a Multitool for various Emergency responses that can't let me down. I am now considering Real Multitools that actually work like a tool such as Leatherman Core Sweet but no scissors but almost willing to sacrifice for the rest that looks like it may work, I am also considering the Swisstools but which one is better? The new RS (With scissors) or the new Spirit is there a difference in the size of the tools etc. I don't have a place to compare the two and the Victorinox Website isn't much help. Any opinions or help on the subject would be greatly appreciated.:thumbup:
 
If your looking for the biggest scissors of any multi-tool try the Leatherman SURGE, it's the big brother of the widely-sold LM-Wave. Outside-opening blades and a seperate diamond-coated file to sharpen the blades is a major plus in my book. :D

Oh, and welcome to the forums. :thumbup:

Anyway, just my 2 cents worth.
 
The Core is the full sized multitool I would go with: the Core has a very good selection of tools including excellent screw drivers. The only down side is that the Core has no scissors or one hand opening knife blades.


The SwissTool is very nice also, and was my favorite before the arrival of the Core. The SwissTool has generally very good tools (including a unique wood chisel) and the tools are all accessible from the outside without unfolding the handles. The SwissTool’s downsides are the smallish plier head and the slippery screwdrivers (especially the Phillips).


The Sugre’s advantages are its large scissors, diamond coated file, and one hand opening knife blades (great if you don’t carry a one hand opening knife!). The disadvantages are that the screw driver bits are very stubby, either the saw or file must be carried separately in a pouch in the sheath (although this opens the possibility of using the blade exchanger for an assortment of blades if you can find them) and I had trouble with the scissors not locking unless they are opened first. The Surge is also heavier than the other full sized multis.



The PowerLock’s biggest advantage, its compound leverage pliers, in many ways, is its greatest disadvantage as well. The compound leverage is wonderful for crimping, wire cutting and for preventing slipping when using the pliers, but can dig into your hand painfully when using the tools inside the handles and as illustrated in JOOLIESEWS photo in the plumber's perspective thread, the compound leverage means that the handles open wider and may be too wide to get a good grip on with one hand.

Other downsides of the PowerLock are tool clumping and the wings that need to be opened before the tools in the handles can be accessed (the wings can be removed but then you are left wit unrolled handle edges digging into your hands when you use the pliers). IMHO the SOG’s tools in the handles are generally not quite as good as those used by Leatherman and Victorinox – particularly the PowerLock’s flimsy scissors!



BTW, here’s an old review I did comparing the SwissTool to the PowerLock and the now discontinued Super Tool 200:


http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=275546




- Frank
 
Thanks again Frank, for that great review.
(Hmmmm, almost three years ago. Aren't you about due for another one?)

Welcome Sterling#14!
 
I’m probably overdue for another review….I was thinking about posting another round for the Core, Surge and Gerber Diesel.




- Frank
 
If you carry a Core and a Micra, you'd have scissors. That's what I did when I carried a LM Supertool. Seriously though, both the Core and the Swisstools are good tools. My current EDC is a Swisstool X, the Core's waiting for it's turn. The Spirit is a smaller tool with small scissors,which you may like or not, it was a little too small for me but YMMV. The Core is quite large, and the older Swisstools are in between in size. The needle nose pleirs on the LM tools are "pointier" than the pliers on the Swisstools.
 
Go with the Surge and you won't be dispapointed IMH.The one hand opening of the blade along with the good size scissors and exchange a blade/file makes it the winner I would think for what you are needing and looking for.
Welcome to Bladeforums!

Kap
 
I have been going through somewhat the same predicament, leatherman or victorinox? I have to say that while i like the leatherman wave's one hand access to the four blades, everything else goes down hill from there for me. While the swisstool (and spirit) does not have the one hand access to the blades, it has everything else i could ever need. Each person has there own opinions as to what they find useful and useless in a multitool, i think the victorinox has the better tool. I posted a thread about looking for custom blades to exhange on my wave, but unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anything outthere.

There is another thread on here about the need to carry two multitools, and it makes some sense. So, if you can afford to, why not wear both a leatherman and a swisstool and see which you prefer for yourself. It's great to get opinions from others, but ultimately it boils down to what you prefer.
 
Hi dlafferty. As a Leatherman and Wave owner, let me give you my experience with the tools. With the one-handed opening, this only works on two blades-the serrated and straight blade. You have to use your right hand to open these blades. If you want to open the saw and file (or scissors for surge) blades one-handed, you would have to use your left hand. So what it really is is that one-handed opening only works for only two of the blades. If you find yourself using the clip point blade or serrated blade a lot, then the one-handed would be good for you. If not, then it would be better off going for the Vic as they are much cheaper than the Leatherman's.

The other main difference with the Spirit and Swisstool are the screwdrivers. Whereas the vic has around 3 flat screwdriver and one phillips, the Wave/Surge/Charge come with this bit adapter where you have to carry about 2 to 4 bits to equal the number and kind of bits that are attached to the Vic tools. I suppose if you want the option of more bits to use with your tool then go with the new Leatherman's (the Charge Xti has 2 bit holder as well). But if you're happy with a small, medium, and large flathead and a phillips then go for the Vic's. Bear in mind though that the selection of bits for the Leathermans are just some commonly used torx, hex, sqaure, pozi, flat, and phillips. Quite a lot, though not complete. The torx and hex bit, for example, are not security. If you want to learn more about the array of screw out there then go to these webpages. The other problem is that they are proprietary bits. If you need other bits, for example spanner and clutch bits, Leatherman doesn't sell those. In fact, these are the only bits that can be bought with the Leatherman proprietary drivers. If you want to use the more common and wide selection of 1/4 hex bits then you would have to buy the tool adapter from Leatherman, as the bit holder cannot accept standard 1/4 hex bits.

A thing to keep in mind about the bit holders for the new Leathermans is that they are stubby. Usually, screws are fastened in deep holes, and the stubby bit holders of the Leathermans couldn't access these holes. I guess the same is true for the Victorinox's. The small screwdriver, for example, is on the head of the bottle/can opener. Just the same some of the vic screwdrivers wouldn't be able to access small holes where these screws are screwed.

My thoughts about the screwdrivers on multitools is that they generally fall short. I think you're better off having dedicated 1/4 hex bits with hex driver (like the one that comes with the Swisstool CS plus), an equivalent can be easily bought cheaply in any good hardware store.

I generally carry my multitool now for the blades, and in this regard the Surge really works for me. Almost all tools can only have four large blades at a time. It's a toss up between a straight-edge knife, serrated knife, metal saw/file, wood saw, scissors, remgrit saw and diamond file with crosscut file. So it's a combination of 4 out of 7 blades that you can carry at any one time. With the Surge, I can have four of those blade attached to the tool and the three others in my pocket ready to use with the tool, thanks to the blade exchanger.

Hope this helps.
 
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