I have been carrying Leatherman tools since the PST. When the super tool came out I carried than. Then the new wave. I found the new wave to be the best tool since you can open the knives one handed and you can use the pocket clip and not have to have a belt sheath. After following this forum and a few others I went on eBay replaced the pliers with the rebar pliers, the knife with the S30v blade and the serrated blade with the gut hook blade. Now I think I have the perfect Leatherman tool. I ended up making 2 stainless and 2 black tools like this. When the free P4 came out I purchased one directly from Leatherman. When I received it the finger holes in the knife were very sharp. I contacted Leatherman and they switched out my P4. Interestingly when I purchased the P4 initially it did not have a clip on it, but when they sent me the replacement it did. I don't like the P4 since it does not have the interchangeable bits and does not have the eyeglass screw driver. I do carry it from time to time.
My first multi-tool was a Gerber back in the late 90's. Not sure of the model. Recently I started carrying a Gerber Dime and also got a Leatherman Skeletool CX, The leatherman has the tools I need and is much easier to carry than the bulkier Gerber.
Started with Leatherman Wave and now own them all, including MUT, OHT, PST, Crunch and all their variants (G10 scales etc.) Add well as all Victorinox models (Swisstool, Spirit, etc.). I can't bring myself to own any Gerber multitools. Apart from the Strongarm their knives don't speak to me either. Right or wrong - I perceive their budget quality as inferior...
Used to carry a Leatherman Wave. Unfortunately, since working from home, I don't edc much these days.
My first multi tool was a Leatherman PST 2. Number two was a swisstool that corrected everything that was wrong with the PST 2 ,but heavier, Number three was a Leatherman wave, bought in the morning, taken back to the store in the afternoon. Number last was swisstool swiss spirit. Number last v2.0 was same but in black
If I had to choose one for functionality, it would definitely be the Squirt. The SAK has more charm, though . As far as choosing when they both have the same tool, I find the Leatherman generally more useful. Below details why. First, when it comes to function there’s not a much overlap between the two as you may think. The Squirt has a small but functional metal/wood file (the SAK only a fingernail file). The Squirt has a functional small pair of pliers and wire cutters (the SAK doesn’t). The both have screwdrivers, but The Squirt has medium size screwdrivers which work on average size screws (the SAK has basically Jewelers screwdrivers that are quite a bit smaller than the Squirt), and not as useful for things other than maybe opening a battery cover on electronics. Both have scissors and in this case I do like the scissors on the SAK better, because they cut better. Both have blades, and they are about equal in use. The SAK has a couple of extra cutting tools including an orange peeler/package opener) which I like. The SAK has some personal grooming tools that I don’t use. Also the SAK has has a little ruler that is engraved so lightly that I can only see it if I angle it in the right light. I tend to need and use the Squirt tools more. I like the Victorinox warranty better than Leatherman. Leatherman advertises their 25yr warranty, but if you have to use it you’ll find out it is a repair/refurb warranty, not a replacement warranty (which is alright, but kinda like reading the small print so to speak). Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I bought and still have the original Leatherman from the 80s. I had to drive to Miami to get it as no stores in my county had one for sale. Since then I've purchased about 5 or 6 other multi-tools. Buck, Sog, a Leatherman Crunch, a mini Leatherman, and a Micra. My most recent is a Victorinox Swiss tool X.
I started with Leathermans then went to a Victorinox Swisstool, then I also got a Victorinox Spirit so I switch between it and the Swisstool. The only way that will change is if the Swisstool or Spirit get updated.
In my case they haven't been. I carry and use a Victorinox Swisstool Spirit X every day in my old, beat up custom Skinth. Never changed. My only complaint is I still haven't got around to making something to pad the bottom of the Skinth (like a booster seat on a kid) so I don't have to dig into the pouch to get the multitool. Most of the time I'm using it to dig mail out of rollers or strapping material out of same.
You could probably find something like a thick rigid foam pad that you could cut to fit. Maybe at Home Depot/Lowe’s or a hobby store like Michael’s.
mash4077 has a great suggestion there. I would add the foam interlocking floor tiles like at harbor freight as an option. Easy to cut and sand to fit 1 tile is like 16x16. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
In a way, my perspective on multitools has changed. Way back in prehistoric times, I carried a SAK Camper. For some reason, I thought that was insufficient and decided to carry a LM PST every day. Over the years I accumulated several multitools. Within the last several months, I realized that I have no need to carry such a heavy and cumbersome devise and went back to carrying either a simple pocketknife or a SAK Super Tinker. I still have several multitools and they still serve me very well either in the car, backpack or tool box.
I think that it really depends on what you may want to fix/which type of field you work in,....the 'heavy and cumbersome devise' is the only one that's capable in my case most of the time shall we say.
Agreed! If there were a full size MT with real Diagonal Cutters and Wire Strippers and the Gerber CD Driver arm I would be done trying to find the best tool for me. I realize we each have our own needs and for mine no tiny bite sized tool can really get the job done that I need. That is not to say that I dont like the tiny Bite Sized tools though and they really augment my full size choices pretty often for sure. So I started off with the Gerber Pinchy as they just had the best Pliers for me and everything else was about the same as the others I think. I tried but kept breaking Leatherman Tools with my Bionic Death Grip and while they did keep replacing them I still kept breaking them so that did not go far with me either. I tried the SOG,Buck and Paladin tools all of which I liked but not more than a Swisstool either. I love the Swiss Tools but way too heavy to start off with but the Spirit X was my EDC for Years and I thought it could never be dethroned until the Gerber Centerdrive was released. Game over for me! For what its worth I cant remember the last time I thought of using a Knife on any MT and I only use Scissors for Velcro and 3M VHB Tape but they need to be tough for those too. I use the Driver,Pliers and Cutters mainly and EDC Side Cutters to cut wire and ties.
