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Leatherman Squirt PS4 VS Victorinox classic SD
- Thread starter _Wraith
- Start date
- Joined
- May 9, 2015
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- 74
For keychain carry I prefer the Victorinox because it's lighter weight and I find that I use the toothpick and nail file a lot. I also carry a squirt or micra in my back pocket though because they're so lightweight and small but very capable I find the most used items are pliers(or scissors) and flat head screwdriver.
I really like having the tweezers and toothpick on the Classic but I've gone with the PS4 as my go to key chain tool. It offers the knife, scissors and file like the Classic, and the pliers jaws are precise enough to be used as tweezers for most applications. Then it ads a cap lifter, flat and Philips drivers and wire cutters. I'm a SAK man, but I'm getting more utility at a moderate gain in weight.
Sums up my opinion too.
Actually the Classic and PS4 is a little unfair comaprison. The Tinker/Manager and the PS4 is closer in utility but the PS4 still wins.
I have a Midnite Manager paired with a P4 and that combination is unbeatable for keychain utility.
This sums it up for me also.
I used to be a huge classic fan, and to a degree still am. The squirt and micra are way more robust and offer increased real world utility over the Vic classic. But the weight factor means they do not fit on a keyring as well. The Vic classic is better as a keychain tool, while a Leatherman squirt or micra is best just dropped in a pocket. With squirt in a pocket, there is no real need of a classic on a keyring. But the classic goes in a sock drawer real good!
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2005
- Messages
- 2,792
No comparison, really. The Classic is much smaller and has fewer implements than its larger counterparts. Even though it performs above its class, the Classic has definite limitations. That said, with ingenuity (or desperation) it can perform. I have recently read of a man whose fixed blade knife failed on him and he had to process a deer with his Classic. It got'r done, but I'll bet it was no fun. The Classic is best on a keychain for light work, like trimming threads or nose hair.
As regulars of this forum know, I have anger issues.
My family has learned to not overload the top shelf in the pantry with junk because when I reach for a packet of ramen and get hit with an avalanche of opened spaghetti boxes, plastic spoons and an assortment of mismatched Tupperware, I go into a blind rage. Using a tool attached to a key ring and trying to turn a screw or cut open a package with keys flopping around has the same effect on me.
Whenever my wife finds me kicking lawn furniture across the yard, she gives me that look and says flatly, "Dave, we've discussed this before. Key rings are for keys. Pocket are for tools. Take the tool off of your key ring and get control of yourself."
The way I see it, you could get the Micra, PS4 and Classic and just for kicks a Gerber Dime for less than one visit to a marriage counselor. That seems like a good deal to me.
I was talking to Chuck Norris the other day and he was telling me that Christie Brinkley gave him a Micra 10 years ago to tighten the screws on his Total Gym and he said that the Micra was the only tool that could trim his beard hair without breaking.
In all seriousness...
If you're dead set on key ring, get the Classic. It's the only one light enough.
If you can make the shift to pocket carry (give a month or two), give the Micra and PS4 a try. IMO, they both pack more functionality. For EDC, I prefer the Micra. A) the scissors handle zip ties, flashing and Chuck Norris's beard hair, B) you can open it up full length when using the pen knife or screw driver blade and C) you can open it up 90 degree for use as a quasi-T-handle screw driver. But, I should not I carry a full sized MT in my pack so I don't need pliers on my person. For backpacking, I carry the PS4 for the pliers.
My family has learned to not overload the top shelf in the pantry with junk because when I reach for a packet of ramen and get hit with an avalanche of opened spaghetti boxes, plastic spoons and an assortment of mismatched Tupperware, I go into a blind rage. Using a tool attached to a key ring and trying to turn a screw or cut open a package with keys flopping around has the same effect on me.
Whenever my wife finds me kicking lawn furniture across the yard, she gives me that look and says flatly, "Dave, we've discussed this before. Key rings are for keys. Pocket are for tools. Take the tool off of your key ring and get control of yourself."
The way I see it, you could get the Micra, PS4 and Classic and just for kicks a Gerber Dime for less than one visit to a marriage counselor. That seems like a good deal to me.
I was talking to Chuck Norris the other day and he was telling me that Christie Brinkley gave him a Micra 10 years ago to tighten the screws on his Total Gym and he said that the Micra was the only tool that could trim his beard hair without breaking.
In all seriousness...
If you're dead set on key ring, get the Classic. It's the only one light enough.
If you can make the shift to pocket carry (give a month or two), give the Micra and PS4 a try. IMO, they both pack more functionality. For EDC, I prefer the Micra. A) the scissors handle zip ties, flashing and Chuck Norris's beard hair, B) you can open it up full length when using the pen knife or screw driver blade and C) you can open it up 90 degree for use as a quasi-T-handle screw driver. But, I should not I carry a full sized MT in my pack so I don't need pliers on my person. For backpacking, I carry the PS4 for the pliers.
From the two you mentioned - Classic SD. It's slimmer + lighter.
If you aren't using the tweezers and toothpick that much, consider Classic Alox model.
That one is the best keychain carry because it's even slimmer and the alox scales are tougher than both cellidor (on SD) and Leatherman's alu handles. With alox won't have to worry about it wearing off or being damaged by the keys / loose change / whatever you have in the same pocket.
Hope this helps.
If you aren't using the tweezers and toothpick that much, consider Classic Alox model.
That one is the best keychain carry because it's even slimmer and the alox scales are tougher than both cellidor (on SD) and Leatherman's alu handles. With alox won't have to worry about it wearing off or being damaged by the keys / loose change / whatever you have in the same pocket.
Hope this helps.
In the end, that's what it comes down to. To keyring or not to keying.
The Vic classic's I've gifted to people, (non knife or tool people) have been so accepted because of the tiny size and ability to go unnoticed on the keyring. They will get the job done in most cases, if the job is not too rugged, and for most people it isn't. Opening mail, trimming a broken fingernail, unscrewing or tightening a screw using the SD tip, or the tweezers to pul a splinter from a finger or sticker from between a dogs paws. Light duty stuff. And really, that is all most peole will need.
But, and that little word is always popping up, if things get a little rough, the squirt or micra can offer a more rugged package that can be used harder in a small emergency. In the better part of a year since I've been experimenting with the micra and squirt, I admit that Ihave used each of the tools at one time or another. I don't like that the bottle opener on the squirt needs 4 or 5 bites at a cold brewski, but it IS a small tool. But the little pliers has been handy on a few occasions. On the micra, I've fond that while there is no blade lock, I can fold up the tool with the glad tout, and the handle acts like a balisong, keeps the blade from folding over if gripped firmly. How this is really needed, I haven't figured out yet. Just one of those dubious advantages. Also on the micra, the eyeglass screw driver can act like an awl.
I do like the squirt knife blade being so easy to access. And I still have scissors with the squirt pliers.
But the squirt and micra both need to be carried in a pocket. Just too much for a keyring.
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2013
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- 3,544
The other possibility is the Vic Mini-Champ, in either red cellulose covers or alox....either one will weigh less than a PS/ES4. The only drawback is you don't have pliers, if that is a concern.