Recent purchase: Leatherman Charge TTi, have a Wave... comments

C

Climb14er

Joined
Dec 16, 2003
Messages
244
I was ordering a new Spyderco Manix 2 with S90V steel from Knifeworks, great bunch of folks to do business with btw, and decided to order the Charge TTi as well.

Know what...

I'm going to keep the Charge TTi but for the record, I could have done better ordering another Wave and saving some bucks.

The Charge TTi is a fine multi-tool but the workings of this Leatherman seem a bit rougher (and coarser) than the more highly polished (and finished) Wave.

Perhaps I'm missing something here and if I am, maybe someone will illuminate me. ;)

I think the Charge TTi will go into my traveling tool kit along with the assorted and added bits to be used for an emergency use.

For the sailboat and backcountry and mountains, the Wave will be there with me.

Anyone else have similar thoughts?
 
I was at a blade show and LM was there (nice people) and I got to handle most of their line, and I'd have to agree with you, the Wave was just as good, for a way better price.

and yes Rodger at knifeworks rocks!
 
With the TTi you also get more durable steel on the main blade, and a cutting hook on the serrated blade.

I agree that the price difference is probably not worth it in terms of pure 'bang for the buck' value, but then again value is not a high priority for every end user.
 
You are not alone, Climb14er... The F&F on the LM Charges has been subject to many discussions/arguments in forums. I for one believe that the Wave is hands-down better in the F&F department than the Charge. I own both a Charge Ti and Wave, and for me the Wave is the better built of the two. ;)

Sure, they'll tell you that the LM Charge is a tool and not a fine piece of jewelry, but for the price we pay for it, we sure do expect a bit more with the quality. :p
 
josekym said:
You are not alone, Climb14er... The F&F on the LM Charges has been subject to many discussions/arguments in forums. I for one believe that the Wave is hands-down better in the F&F department than the Charge. I own both a Charge Ti and Wave, and for me the Wave is the better built of the two. ;)

Sure, they'll tell you that the LM Charge is a tool and not a fine piece of jewelry, but for the price we pay for it, we sure do expect a bit more with the quality. :p
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I don't have a Wave for comparison, but my Tti seems well made, the only visible fault is the Leatherman logo on the scale covering the PE blade. It seems cut too shallow, causing the lettering to be a bit less distinct. This is odd because the same on the SE side is fine. If both are made the same way they should be identical, I would think. Other than that, fit and finish are just about perfect. How is the Wave better? Please provide details.
 
@znapschatz,

Funny, I have the exact same thing (uneven engraving) on my Charge! It doesn't bother me, however.

My Wave is better because:

1) The diamond file does not rub against the handles
2) The Ti scales on my Charge have noticeable play
3) The Ti came with many scratches and tooling marks right out of the box
4) The Wave cost 40-50% less than a Charge when I got mine

Just my 2 cents. =)
 
Looking back on the purchase of the Charge TTi, the $50.00 difference between the Wave and Charge TTi IMHO is too much of a spread.

Granted, the blade steel of the S30V and extra bits of the Charge TTi is nice, I would think that a person who uses tools and bits everyday, many times each day, and YMMV, might make better use of the Leatherman Charge TTi than the Wave.

Like I mentioned, I'll keep the Charge TTi but in the future, if I need another Leatherman, for my purposes, the Wave will do just fine. ;)
 
I own and use both multi-tools and actually prefer the TTi. That doesn't mean that I don't like the Wave. I just prefer the Charge TTi. Although I'm not wealthy, money wasn't really a big issue since I bought most on eBay for just a little more than the street price of a Wave (much less than the retail price). The S30V on the Charge TTi (or 154CM blade steels for other Charge models) is a perk but I mainly like the feel of the Ti handle covers--it's a much more comfortable grip. I could go either way on the AL and ALX though...

...btw, the fit and finish of my camouflage Charges seems to be a bit better than the others.

This post reminded me an of an old discussion: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=522335.
 
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josekym said:
@znapschatz,

Funny, I have the exact same thing (uneven engraving) on my Charge! It doesn't bother me, however.

My Wave is better because:

1) The diamond file does not rub against the handles
2) The Ti scales on my Charge have noticeable play
3) The Ti came with many scratches and tooling marks right out of the box
4) The Wave cost 40-50% less than a Charge when I got mine

Just my 2 cents. =)
Click to expand...

None of those apply to my Tti, including price. Either I got lucky :) or you got un :( . I must admit, however, that had I not found such a good deal, I would have gone for a Wave instead.
 
Unlucky me then... I paid about US$218 for my Charge Ti about 2-3 years ago. I owned other LM tools before the Charge, and their F&F were on the spot. It's probably just me, but paying top dollar for a product dubbed as a "flagship" surely sets my mind to expect top quality in return.

Oh well, everything else charged to experience then, I guess... haha! ;)

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate LM in any way. I just appreciate good craftsmanship in the tools I use. :)
 
$218 is a lot of scratch! Are Victorinox, SOG, and Gerber multi-tools also priced so high in the Philippines?

The fit of the file seems to be a common issue with the Charge Ti, except the camouflage versions. If you push down on the file (away from the scale) when you open or close it, it's not a big problem.

I have an older Leatherman knife with loose plastic scales and it bothered me quite a bit so I appreciate your frustration. Leatherman's warranty department took care of it though. The titanium scales on my examples of the TTi, Ti, and XTi fit without any movement so I wonder if you got a dud. Have you tried tightening the screws or is it a problem with the machining of the scales on your Ti? It may be worthwhile to send it in for repair.
 
josekym said:
Unlucky me then... I paid about US$218 for my Charge Ti about 2-3 years ago.
Click to expand...

:eek:

On the other hand, here it's medical care. Different countries, different economies.

Perhaps Leatherman quality control needs an upgrade. There have been more complaints about their products than some of their competitors. Maybe that has to do with the numbers of units sold. In any manufacturing process, an occasional substandard piece escapes inspection. If Leatherman outsells other multitools by a wide margin, which may be the case, it would stand to reason that more defective samples will turn up. I hope it is possible from your location to return your Charge to the Leatherman warranty department. They will make it right.
 
Charge TTI prices are high but I bought one yesterday on ebay for $98.50 plus $17.50 for shipping to Australia. That's a lot cheaper than I could buy them in Australia. I don't regard that as a high price for hopefully a quality tool.
 
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supratentorial said:
$218 is a lot of scratch! Are Victorinox, SOG, and Gerber multi-tools also priced so high in the Philippines?
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I'd say yes, especially from authorized sellers (probably a supply vs. demand thing). Upto now, LM tools command the highest prices in the market here from what I've seen. For comparison, I bought my SwissTool X Plus a few years ago from the same place at US$135. I guess the SAKs are the more affordable of the bunch over here.

supratentorial said:
The fit of the file seems to be a common issue with the Charge Ti, except the camouflage versions. If you push down on the file (away from the scale) when you open or close it, it's not a big problem.
Click to expand...
That is exactly what I do to prevent the rubbing. Learned by looking at it... ;)

supratentorial said:
I have an older Leatherman knife with loose plastic scales and it bothered me quite a bit so I appreciate your frustration. Leatherman's warranty department took care of it though. The titanium scales on my examples of the TTi, Ti, and XTi fit without any movement so I wonder if you got a dud. Have you tried tightening the screws or is it a problem with the machining of the scales on your Ti? It may be worthwhile to send it in for repair.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sympathizing...

Normally, before I buy anything, I'd like to see several pieces of the same model to compare them and choose the best for me. Unluckily, when I bought my LM Charge, I remember that it was the only one in the store! Hence, even returning it for an exchange was not an option at that time (that, and I really liked the Charge Ti model then).

Yes, I was contemplating on sending it back to LM since I have no tools to fix it myself, but thought otherwise after my first experience with LM warranty here in the PH. I posted this somewhere before, but anyway, my story is that when I sent a pre-2004 Wave for warranty/repair (thru LM Official channels in my country) it took the local distributor for LM almost a year to fix it up! :eek: Mind you, I was constantly folowing-up on the repair status of my tool at the time... I even thought they lost it somehow. The story ends fine, however, and I got a 2004 Wave as replacement after more than 12 months of waiting (yes, I am a very patient man). ;)

Anyhow, I've been using my LM tools a lot at home and I can adjust to their respective quirkiness. At work, I have my STX to rely on. :)
 
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Yikes! One year is an awfully long turn around time for warranty replacement. In the USA, the turn around time for Leatherman (as well as SOG, Victorinox, and Gerber) tends to be around 2 weeks. You deserve a medal for your patience! :)
 
ive owned both the LM wave and a charge ti and tti ( same thing basically) i use my charge every day at work..it is subjected to hot ,dry ,dusty ,sandy , wet, corrosive and abrasive environments...i have had 2 surges also..i found ALL of them to be awesome with no manufacture defects. The charges were stiff to open up at first but they both broke in nicely..the fit anf finnish on the charges were perfect. same with the wave and surges...leatherman rocks.
 
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