Multitools...Which do you carry?

MAK,

I agree with Root that Leathermans have only been on the market since 1983, starting with PST. Maybe you were referring to other multitools? But then again, I believe Tim (Leatherman) was the one who started it all.

My favorite? A tie, between PST II and Wave.


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Reynaert
 
Sog Power Pliers. I had a Gerber, but it broke. Also it always seemed to pinch my hand. I do keep a Leatherman in my car.


Blades
 
It starts out a little imbarrassing
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, but here is my multi-tool history... :

I started out
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with a $5 POS, and I used the crap out of it for everything. I sold it two years later for $2.

I bought a black titanium nitride coated Gerber Multi-Plier for $40. I opened hundreds of times, and used it frequently. It never pinched my hands, but the slip-joint blades threatened the well being of my fingers a multi-tude of times. After three years, I sold it for $20.

Now I have a Leatherman Wave. The blades lock very secure. The handles are comfortably rounded. It has a very nice pair of scizzors. It has four, count em' FOUR, screwdrivers, and a philips head screwdriver to boot. And you just gotta love that saw and diamond file!

What can I say, each of my upgrades were a HUGE improvement, going up about $30 in value each time
smile.gif
.

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I need a bigger bucket.
 
Leatherman Wave.

Stray: send the tool back to Leatherman and they will perform neccessary work to loosen up those tools for you under warranty. This should only take 2 weeks or so. If you are like the rest of us you probably have another multi-tool or knife you can rough it with while they are making your Wave right.

Waldo
 
For some reason a couple of stores in my area each have a box of Wegner camper type models of SAKs, three rows of stuff, for about half price so I've managed to put one in each car and give two of my kids one. Since they were about half the price of an original Leatherman that made for an easy decision about what to keep in the car and such. Although I wouldn't have bought one initially I was given a Victronix Champ, in the pouch with BandAids, pen, etc., and have come to like it a lot. It's a nice tool kit for traveling, having in the pack, etc., and I like to carry it when we travel in the car. A friend on a car camping trip snickered at it initially, like I would have the first time seeing one, but he used the saw to cut the rest of a broken handle from his hatchet so that he could replace it, the small screwdriver to work on the Coleman stove, the magnifying glass to find a splinter and the tweezers to get it out, the file to sharpen his hatchet, the small blade to do some whittling, the small stone to touch up a knife, etc., all on one trip. I'm currently carrying an original Leatherman on a daily basis and like it well enough so far, it's still 'on probation' :^), but for longer trips I'm still more likely to carry the Champ.
 
Lukers I am with you so far.

I like the look of the PowerLock by SOG, and Dexter's endorsement goes a long way.

I bought a LM Micra for my dad.

I like the feel of the SwissTool

The LM SuperTool has the best tools IMO, and the Tool Adapter is great.

I also like the SOG version of the OSS tool, but hate the clip.

The Cross-Cut shows promise.

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Marion David Poff aka Eye, one can msg me at mdpoff@hotmail.com If I fail to check back with this thread and you want some info, email me.

Check out my review of the Kasper AFCK, thougths on the AFCK and interview of Bob Kasper. http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Meadows/1770/kasperafck.html

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Meadows/1770/index.html


 
The best multi-tool is the one you have with you when something happens, not the one that was too large and heavy that you left it home.

I have been saved twice from very serious trouble (once in a car, late at night and very far from civilization, and once in a small boat about 5 miles off the coast) just because I had my home keys with me.

On my keychain, I have a Leatherman Mini-Tool, which is absolutely the ultimate multi-tool, just because it is so small and light that you always have it with you.

To those who don't know it, it is 2/3rds of the size of a Zippo lighter, but it unfolds to full-sized needle-nosed pliers, and that, in times of trouble, is ten times more useful than the SAK I have been carrying for so many years.

Costas
 
Well, I may possibly have saved my life with a Super Tool, altho I'll never know for sure.

Last year a crazed street guy menaced me with a length of chain, all the while demanding to see my "credentials." So I reached under my jacket, which concealed the ST on my belt, and unsnapped the sheath fastener. It made a satisfying pop, he backed off, and I walked.

It wasn't really a bluff, as I intended to use the tool as a striking weapon if TSHTF, altho it seems to me that the laws of physics would have put me at a disadvantage in a chain v. 9 ounces of metal showdawn.

There is no way to know how far the confrontation might have gone, or what the consequences to me might have been, so I can only say the Super Tool might have saved my life. And not even the tool itself, but the sheath fastener (!) If it had been a velcro closure, I don't believe the effect would have been the same.

Other than that, the tool has several times got me out of emergency situations, but what was saved in those cases was convenience (not having to wait three hours for a tow truck on a blizzardly day, for example, which happened twice.)

I am well satisfied with my ST and also carry a Micra. The two make a great combination.
 
Hi all, I started with the original Leatherman Tool until the closing philips driver of it cut my thumb to the bone when it closed forcefully when trying to unsrew a bent screw. I sold it and bought a Super Tool, but mine had parts breaking because the material was to brittle. I sold it to and got a Swiss Tool (Victorinox) and have been carying it since a year now. It didn't save my life yet, but it save my day on many occasion. The last one when returning from holiday with a trailer behind the car and the electrical cable for the lights was to long and grinded through on the highway. I cut the cable stripped the 2 x seven wires in it and crimped on 2 x seven connectors in 5 minutes and completed the 900 mile drive in 14.5 hours.
Since 2 months I carry the Micra and I won't ever be without one, I like the Swiss/American marriage. Cheers, Bagheera

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I own a Leatherman PSTll that I rarely use. I also have a Micra on my key chain that I use for just about everything. I trim fingernails, tighten eyeglass screws, etc.
 
I consider myself fortunate enough to own both the Swiss Tool and the Wave. I borrow the Wave back from my wfe when the Swiss Tool is too large for the Social situation. I prefer the Swiss Tool when facing hard use though.
 
Definitely the Leatherman Wave - just wish the blades where made of a higher quality steel like ATS-34.

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Knowledge without understanding is knowledge wasted.
Understanding without knowledge is a rare gift - but not an impossibility.
For the impossible is always possible through faith. - Bathroom graffiti, gas station, Grey, TN, Dec, 1988

AKTI Member #A000831




[This message has been edited by Codeman (edited 18 August 1999).]
 
I have a Gerber multiplier and carry it almost everwhere. Used quite a lot to repair my bike and at work. It has not broken and I have not bothered to replace it. The handles have pinched my hand a few times. Now I am more careful and have not done it in a while.

When time permits I will upgrade to something else. The Kershaw or SOG seem nice.

Will
 
I carry a Gerber Multilock in my backpack, little to heavy for belt carry, but sturdy as anything.

Dark Nemesis

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All the knives in the world go round and round, round and round, round and round...DAMN, one of them took my wallet !!! :)


 
I thought the Powerlock would be the ultimate tool, but finally got to handle one. They did a lot of things right, but the "wings" feature -- which makes the plier handles more comfortable -- we positively a pain in the butt to manipulate while using the tools. I had heard this complaint from another PowerLock owner, but didn't understand the magnitude of the problem until I handled one. I'll have to handle another one and see if the mechanism has grown on me at all.

Otherwise, multitools remain a collection of "almost, but not quite" tools for me. The Swisstool has it right with tools that open while the pliers are closed, easy unlocking, and non-clumping opening feature. But the thing as a whole is a little clunky, and where's the scissors???? Otherwise, it's very close.

The Gerbers are kinda cool, but lack both the non-clumping and outside opening of the Victorinox.

The Wave is also very close, some tools open from the outside and lock, and the tool choices are excellent. But besides the clumping, the screwdrivers don't lock.

You wave owners out there, do you lean on your screwdrivers really hard? If so, how often do your screwdrivers fail on you? Let us know.

The Victorinox non-clumping feature is really nice. The tool clumping is something you just learn to live with, until the first time you use a Victorinox, then you can't stand the clumping anymore.
 
Have a SOG, which is next to useless. Hada Leatherman, kid No. 1 has it. Kid No. 2 has a Bucktool, an OK tool except takes several operations to open. I like the Leatherman Super but it's kind of heavy on the belt. Useful except for poor blade quality -- the edge of mine crumbled while whittling hot dog sticks! A lot of northern Alberta trappers seem to like the Gerber; the pliers is handy for adjusting snare wire, etc.
 
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