rust problem on new leatherman charge Ti

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leony

Joined
Sep 22, 2003
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I used my new leatherman charge Ti for the first time last week. I used it to clean a saltwater fish that I caught because I didn't have any other knife at the time. I rinsed it thoroughly with freshwater after use. A day later I still found rust all over the place! Is this typical of Leatherman tools? I normally use a Victorix (sp?) multitool, it did start to rust after a couple year, but not after first use and especially after I rinsed it!! Very disappointed.
 
Returned the RUSTman tool to my local store. Never again. They need to improve on their steel quality and workmanship (the blade was poorly sharpened too) before putting out all those fancy titanium stuff. My $20 Walmart multitool lasted longer.
 
leony said:
Returned the RUSTman tool to my local store. Never again. They need to improve on their steel quality and workmanship (the blade was poorly sharpened too) before putting out all those fancy titanium stuff. My $20 Walmart multitool lasted longer.
Click to expand...

Wow. Well, your experience was yours, so I have no comment about that. However, during 9+ years with several Leathermen (PST, Super Tool, ST200, Micra, Juice CS4, Squirt P4) I have had zero problems with rust on any of them. Usual maintenance, unless they have been exposed to harsh environments or get covered with nasty mung, is a squirt of WD 40 and wipedown once every 6 months or less. Although it does get muggy in the summer, I do live in a dry midwest climate, which helps some.

Also, the out of box blade sharpness on all were pretty good. My ST200 plain edge blade was sharp enough when new to cut hair waving it across my arm without touching skin, better than my extremely sharp Delica. They all hold an edge reasonably well for the steel type and touch up nicely by Sharpmaker. Either I got lucky or you got un.

Sorry you had such a bad experience. I wonder if the Charge is, for some reason, especially rust prone. Maybe it has something to do with galvanic action between steel and titanium. :confused:

Just a guess.
 
Also, keep in mind that generally, harder steel means more carbon which in turn means higher rust potential. Higher quality steel does not mean more stainlessness, sometimes the opposite is true. Although, they could improve the finish of their tools which would help in the rust department.
 
I've had minor rust issues with two of my leatherman models. But I was leaving them to air dry after rinsing them. it would probably be a good idea to wipe off the water that you can before letting it sit. That's what I'm going to do from now on.
 
I wonder if Leatherman would consider making tools/blades out of H1 steel? Spyderco makes a Salt 1 out of this stuff for about the same price as the regular delica and it has no carbon, they replaced it with nitrogen, so no rust especially with salt water hence the name.
 
leony said:
Returned the RUSTman tool to my local store. Never again. They need to improve on their steel quality and workmanship (the blade was poorly sharpened too) before putting out all those fancy titanium stuff. My $20 Walmart multitool lasted longer.
Click to expand...

The fact is that ALL steel can and will rust if not looked after. Like JoHnYKwSt said, harder steel means a higher carbon content which means your tool will require some maintainance to prevent rust, particularly if there are any bead blasted parts. That probably explains why your $20 Walmart tool lasted longer. Cheap steel. Let me ask you this. Did you ever oil or wipe the tool down with some type of rust inhibitor? If so, how often? Just rinsing it with fresh water won't prevent rust! There are all kinds of stuff you can use to help keep rust at bay: Rem-Oil, Tuf-Cloth, Militec-1, Break Free, 3 in 1 oil, or WD-40. Maintainance is simply common sense when you use multi-tools. I live in the hot muggy South and have been using Leatherman tools for a number of years and I have never had an issue with rust.
 
Hi All,

If you leave any amount of salt on steel and add water, you'll have an electrolyte(and can expect corrosion, eg rust). Get rid of the water - WD-40 aka W(ater)D(isplacing) Formula 40.

Joe:)
 
I have owned quite a few Leatherman tools, over the years, and have had many rust problems. I don't know if it's the steel or the finish on the tools, but they do rust rather easily. I suspect it is the quality of the finish. My Gerber tools have also had rust issues.

I've had my Victorinox Swisstool Spirit for a year and a half, and subjected it to the same duties as my past Leathermans, and have found no rust whatsoever.
 
It all comes down to proper maintenance folks. It's easy to neglect a tool, but take care of it and it'll take care of you.

From the Leatherman site:

http://www.leatherman.com/products/tool-maintenance/default.asp

Rust and Corrosion
All Leatherman products are manufactured from 100% high-grade stainless steel. (Exception: Screw bits for the tool adapter are made of tool steel.) But stainless steel is not rust proof; it is corrosion resistant. Depending on the mix of metal alloys, stainless steels may be highly corrosion resistant and relatively soft (like kitchen flatware), or they may be somewhat corrosion resistant and quite hard. Our products are fabricated from the latter type, so your tool components are strong and the knives retain a sharp cutting edge. Consequently, corrosion can occur in the absence of proper maintenance. Your Leatherman product should be cleaned, dried and re-oiled periodically to inhibit rust and corrosion. This is especially true if you use it in a damp or marine environment. After cleaning, re-oil pivoting areas with a light machine or penetrating type oil (such as WD-40). Buff stained surfaces with a polishing cloth or non-metallic abrasive (e.g., Scotchbrite pad or soft bristle brush).
 
I think the issue here is that the Leatherman tools, and the Charge in particular, appear to need excessive care in order for them not to start to rust. When in the field such care may not always be possible.
 
Because I spend alot of time on and around the sea I've got rid of all my Leathermans and now use only Victorinox ( and a Spyderco Atlantic Salt ) . The Leathermans just wouldnt cut it in a harsh enviroment , I spent more time cleaning them then I did useing them :rolleyes:
Also to many gimmicky bits and springs to fall off and loose in the sand in the dark :eek: Maybe in a Hundred years Leatherman may catch up Victorinox , dont forget they have only been going since the 80's ( unlike Victorinox )

Dunc
 
I got a bit of rust on my Leatherman xe6 after a heavy storm. Hoping my new application of Tuf-Glide will prevent that from growing.
 
would begin to pickup rust easily. The charge though I realized was for light duty use only for me. The pliers would bend very easily on me and now are not aligned correctly. But anyways for the Surge I took it completely apart, and bought 2000 grit sandpaper and smoothed out all the blades and body parts until I had a shiny smooth surface on all the pieces. Put a little oil on it and no more rust problems. Like today and yesterday its been used on irragation repairs all day and thrown in a wet bucket. Just got home a little while ago cleaned it off in the sink wiped it dry and no rust. Before I would have had to put it on the buffer wheel to take off the rust.
 
I bought a Charge from REI many months ago. I was quite pleased with it until when rust started appearing after a week or so of use. This was just from the handling of the tool- it hadn't been exposed to any water. Since REI has a great returns policy, I took it back and they let me exchange it for another Charge without any problems. Then after about a week the same thing happened. I tried using Tuff-Glide which didn't seem to have any effect. Break Free CLP worked better but didn't stop the rust from appearing in other places all over the tool. I got frustrated and opted for a Surge instead. So far I haven't had any rust problems with it, which makes me think that I either managed to get two bad tools in a row(not likely given other peoples' experiences) or that the particular steel used in the Charge is prone to rusting easily. It's a bummer since I really like the Charge's configuration and materials. Maybe the new "improved" version (http://www.equipped.org/blog/?p=21) slated to debut in 2007 will be more rust-proof.
 
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