Multi-Tool Research

[BirdMobile]

Good to see so much love for the Swisstools!
I forgot to mention... the saws in those things is completely amazing! You could build a rudamentary shelter with one in a pinch!

 

[msnow]

My EDC is a crunch, pretty light weight and can be real asset in a tough spot. I probably have 4 or 5 waves on various tool belts and tool boxes. They are the standard and I just can't have a tool box with out one.

 

[brass89]

I had a leatherman and an sog. The sog was my favorite by far. Not sure if they even offer the model I have anymore, one of my rivets broke and I never got around to fixing it. It's like the one on the right. More tools than the s44, beefier than most leatherman's I've seen and had square nosed pliers which I preferred to the needle nose. The handles left the tool side exposed to the hands (where the slide lock gerber's give your hands the smooth side of the handle) but with the gears giving extra gripping power wasn't really an issue. Looks gimmicky but made a world of difference compared to pliers without the gear. Besides the pliers, the most used was the 3 1/2" half serrated knife. Sog makes some good quality blades.

 

[Youngguns]

Three pages, woo!
I'm still listening guys

 

[Galvonzo]

Youngguns, you asked us some questions about multi tools, but are there any models in particular that you're looking at?

My buddy recently got the Leatherman OHT for his work. He likes it, but he did mention that to him it was a bit of a pain in the rear to carry since it didn't have a pocket clip, forcing him to either have deep in the pockets or on a belt sheath.

Also, I got my Leatherman Sidekick a couple years back on black friday at home depot for 20 bucks. Since that's coming up at the end of the month I'd check out a few ads to see if anyone is going to be having a sale on some.

 

[Steve.S]

Leatherman Sidekick. I use the knife most frequently and the pliers after that.

Last weekend, I used the saw to cut some firewood while on a camping trip. Seems I'd forgotten my regular saw at home...

 

[AWH]

Leatherman Wave -- I have tried many before and since, cheaper and more expensive models, but always go back to the Wave.

It's by far the best of the multi-tools. Don't get me wrong; it's not perfect, none of them are. But, it's shortcomings like; blade steel quality and loosing joints are minor by comparison.

FWIW my original Wave is marked "USA" and I've given many of these away as gifts over the years and at some point (a few years ago, as best I can determine) I noticed that the "USA" marking was removed from the tool, but the price hasn't changed any!?

So I stopped recommending them and started looking for an alternate USA made tool, but the results of my searching concluded in that there is nothing comparable to be found... so my recommendation is the Leatherman Wave, but I sure wish it was still made in the USA.

 

[orca8589]

I have an old Leatherman Supertool, and while not as convenient as the other models with one-hand blade opening, I like it the best.

Leatherman Wave -- I have tried many before and since, cheaper and more expensive models, but always go back to the Wave.

***

...but I sure wish it was still made in the USA.

Most Leatherman tools now are "Assembled in the USA with domestic and imported parts."

This was an explosive issue on another forum I was on in 2007. Leatherman lost a lawsuit brought against them for the fact that they were marking their tools as "Made in USA", when in fact many or most of the components in the tools were made in other countries (pliers heads made in Mexcio, saws in Austria, etc.)

Not too much was known about the issue until after the verdict came down, but when folks found out that Leatherman hadn't been completely honest about COO, they were PO'd. Even though the tools were assembled in Oregon, there wasn't really any way to know when the switch to out-of-country components took place. There was a pretty nasty backlash on the forum I was on - resulting in riots, lynchings, general mayhem, and several bannings for political references. (This was only a year or two after Imperial-Schrade had closed down, so many members were still stinging from that issue.)

~Chris

 

[Youngguns]

Youngguns, you asked us some questions about multi tools, but are there any models in particular that you're looking at?

I actually have a few tools myself (a Squirt, Spirit, and Classic), I'm just interested in seeing what tools others use, and what they get used for. What is "enough tool" for most users. Sorry for the late reply, I needed to catch up on some work and haven't really been on the GJ.