Leatherman Quality

[Adam Savage]

I think I'll pass on that one lol

[KaiTheIronHound]

Love my leatherman tools. Started with a supertool, beat the everloving **** out of it, it lived to tell the tale. Got stolen. Probably by some b*****d from the Nimmo RFS, who seem to steal everything not nailed down on other crews vehicles. Went to a wave after that, utterly bomb proof, and the high tensile rated cutters was great for working with fences. Blade took and held a good edge, all the tools were of high quality. I especially liked the easily accessable knife blades, being Emergency services, nothing worse than fumbling about trying to open a serrated blade to cut a seatbelt (Serrated blades tend to have rounded tips so you dont stab the person you're trying to cut free of the wreck.) That one got stolen too. Need to get a new one sometime... I've seen gerbers die from a fraction of the abuse you can throw at a leatherman. Victorinox dont feel quite right to me, and they dont seem as solid either. Leatherman tools are bombproof, and if something does go wrong, they'll repair or replace with no pissing about or arguments.

@ CrazySaint, you sure you didnt get a knockoff one? I've seen some pretty convincing knockoffs floating around, even bought one once!

[Adam Savage]

I would totally agree with you on the Gerber matter. They have been poorly made for the last ten years or so. They are nowhere near as good as the old ones.

[KaiTheIronHound]

Come to think of it, i still own that knockoff supertool... Pliers are a little wobbly... But she's still survived far more abuse than a mates gerber did... Lasted him 2 weeks on the farm before the cutters were ruined, the pliers were stripped of their teeth, the serrated blade had lost all its teeth, etc etc etc :P

[ian c]

I have a few leatherman multi tools that were given or issued to me and will say that i always have one in my fishing kit, i broke about a cm off the needle nose pliers whilst in Afghan trying to undo something, instead of getting it exchanged (through the CQMS) i hack sawed and filed the broken pliers to leave me with a stumpy plier which is still good, otherwise i would carry my Gerber multi tool that i will have to send off when i find a address to be repaired.

[garethw]

I'm on my forth Leatherman. I had the original Leatherman tool given to me by my ex-boss back in the early 90's.. it went everywhere with me, for over 10 years. It nearly got confiscated from my camera bag at an airport (forgot it was in there), but a friendly steward returned it to me once we took off. It eventually got stolen from my pocket.
I then received a Blast as a present, and had that as an EDC for 5 years, never a problem. I unfortunately snapped the pliers too, probably my fault, but Leatherman replaced it for a new one, no questions asked. It eventually got lost on a fishing trip.. so I bought another. It is still my EDC...(not an issue here in rural France, I don't wear it when I go to town, just in case..)
So I'm a big & long standing Leatherman fan.
cheers
Gareth

PS: I still have to carry a SAK as the Leatherman tools I like don't have the most important tool.. an corkscrew!!! But I guess the Yanks don't drink as much vino as we do in France. (He says staring at an empty glass that needs refilling!)

[Adam Savage]

It's great of Leatherman to replace or repair broken items, but imagine you're in the middle of nowhere, you need the pliers to grasp and pull a steel pin from a locked brake caliper, and "ping"...a replacement isn't much use to you then. I've put my Bahco under enormous pressure, and it just keeps coming back for more. The pivot is still nice and tight even.

I actually had to rescue a member of our group with it once, as he was climbing over a fence, when the lace hook on his boots got caught on the wire. The hook wouldn't open up, as it was too hard, and no matter how hard we pulled on the wire, it wasn't moving either. Out came the multi tool, pried open the hook, and he was able to get up and move again. I know that's not an extreme example, but the leatherman I had would have snapped before bending the hook.

[CanadianMike]

I've been beating (literally, I use it as a light hammer sometimes!) my Leatherman Wave for almost 10 years now, use it almost constantly at work, and it's still the best I've had. Previously I had a Gerber, didn't like it too much, got the Wave and never looked back. If it breaks (not likely, after all I've done to it and with it) or I lose it, I'm buying another Wave.

[Adam Savage]

It definitely seems as though I've been landed with some bad examples then lol

[JEEP]

If I should ever buy another tool than a Leatherman it would be a Victorinox SwissTool Spirit. These are seriously top shelf - though expensive!