What to get to replace my Leatherman?

[mljdeckard]

When I deploy soon, my wife insists that I have to get her a Leatherman because she borrows it so often. I said I would do her one better, she could keep it, and I would buy a new one. I've used Leatherman for about 20 years, I wasn't impressed by the first generation of Gerbers that some of my friends had, but I know they corrected most of what I didn't like. (Needle-nose pliers, file, etc.)

What multi-tools should I look at to buy?

 

[janobles14]

man i would have to say get another leatherman! i have the wave and its about all i could ask for

 

[bobelk99]

I have found Gerbers to hold up longer.

That said, check out both of them and then buy what works best in the current offerings.

 

[Ryan Williams]

I would tend to agree about the Gerbers. I still use my Gerber but had to already retire my Leatherman.

 

[Limeyfellow]

There a couple of decent ones. It depends on pretty much what sizes you want to go with, weight limits, what tools do you often use and so on. There really hundreds of different multi tools from a half dozen great companies.

Some of my favourites.

Large ones:

Swiss Tool X. The thing has plenty of tools on it, the most corrosion protection I seen on just about any multitool. I don't like the lanyard hole on it mind you.

Leatherman Charge TTi. I love it. It has plenty of tools and useful abilities but has a screw driver with removable parts and not sure that ideal for service with the risk of loosing bits and the difficulty in replacing them. Lots of different mounting options on it too.

Leatherman Wave. Has most the features of the charge, not as grippy handle, but is much cheaper. Probably their biggest seller.

Leatherman Supertool. They are on the Supertool 300 now. It is a good heavy duty multitool with lots of nice mechanic type stuff that can be useful. Smaller package than say the TTi, but you loose some tools.

SOG Power Assist. Really nice tool. It has assisted opening blades on the outside which is a little overkill mind you, but has really strong pliers and is finely built. Great wire cutters on it.

SOG Powerlock is similar to the Power Assist but cheaper due to the lack of assisted opening and has all the nice features. They really have awesome pliers.

Smaller ones

Swiss Spirit X. Smaller, very nicely contoured and shaped for comfort and fairly light weight. Of course you get less ability, but it hard to beat the price/size/ability if you take it all into account.

Leatherman Juice. Similar size, lots of nice abilities. Well worth a look at.

Leatherman Squirt E4. Really tiny, small and I only use it because I don't drag around wire strippers with me to every repair on the equipment because I am too lazy. It actually a neat little design, though probably not what you are looking for.

Most Gerber ones I dealt with have had problems. The Suspension in particular is a nightmare and I just throw it into my telescope assembly bag. I don't think I would recommend one, though there was a time people liked the 600 series.

That's pretty much all I dealt with apart from some crumby no brands. Really to offer some good advice try and tell us a little what you are wanting on your tool, abilities wise and size wise.

SOG

 

[glistam]

I was a Gerber fan for a long time, but last year I got an SOG instead. Main advantage of Gerber one-handers and SOGs are the pliers are not only OHO, but also can be used to expand something from the inside. Leatherman's can't do that far as I know, because of how they open. Main drawback of the Gerbers are the tools are flat and rather stubby due to the mechanism. For the SOG, only real problem is they can be a little pricey, especially if you buy extra tools the swap out.

 

[zignal_zero]

i had a Gerber, i used my dad's Leatherman, but when i bought my son a Victorinox Spirit X, i knew that's probably the ONLY multi-tool i'll ever use again. the Vic is awesome

 

[Dave Markowitz]

SwissTool with the tool selection of your choice. I have two (lost one for awhile, then found it) and IMHO their quality is head and shoulders better than the Leathermans or Gerbers.

 

[millertyme]

Another Leatherman. I had a Gerber, broke the jaws tightening down a welding lug. I had a Leatherman Supertool back in the day, think my dad swiped it. Got a Leatherman Wave, dad tried to swipe it, caught him trying to lend it to me a couple months after I "lost it". Only reason I knew it was mine - welding spatter had fused to the back of one of the blades.

 

[conw]

LOL! My dad does that too. I think I lost something, ask him if he has a comparable tool/piece of equipment, and he totally innocently lets me "borrow" something that was missing, and hence caused me to ask the favor initially!

 

[Zip7]

Victorinox Swisstool. I have used dozens of different multi tools millions of times, and the Vic Swisstool is the nicest one I have ever used.

If you need to carry it all the time, get the spirit, if not, the bigger swisstool. I have both.

 

[X-Rap]

I thought they issued the black Gerber tool.
If I were buying I would go for the Wave, add on the insert pack that has Torx, Allen in sae and metric, extra screw driver bits.

 

[THE MACHINIST]

the flick from gerber use mine everyday as a plumber/ pipefitter.

 

[dairycreek]

Just one more opinion here! I don't think that there is a better multi tool out there than those built by Leatherman. FWIW!!!

 

[Travmcgrav]

I'd say get a leatherman wave it has the best balance of size and amount of tools, plus you can access the blades from the outside which is a huge plus for me.

 

[Travmcgrav]

I'd say get a leatherman wave it has the best balance of size and amount of tools, plus you can access the blades from the outside which is a huge plus for me.

 

[Dirty Bob]

I guess I'm weird, but I'm thinking of combining a Swiss Army Knife (like the Farmer) with a real pair of needle-nosed pliers. The pliers require a separate sheath, but I like them so much more than any pliers on a multitool.

Regards,
Dirty Bob

 

[mickeydim468]

Swiss tools rock!

This is what I have had for the last 4 or 5 years. Swiss Tool I love it.

The blade holds an edge for a very long time and the serrated edge has never needed to be re-sharpened. The pliers are very strong and have not loosened laterally like my leatherman and gerber multi-tools did.

Another thing I liked about this tool is that when you use the pliers, all of the tools were turned to the inside so that when you are really bearing down on something, the tool did not hurt your hand from squeezing, because the surface is flat and not a bunch of tools you are grabbing at once!

Mike