The swiss are people who they pride in quality. They are also very very organized and disciplined in their work, methodic. Thats rooted in culture. Period. They manufacture victorinox in switzerland, with the highest salaries in the world, and are still able to sell swiss knives at 20chf and make a profit. They have 3% uninployment rate, industry grows faster in % than gdp, and no budget deficit. Ever. Mindblowing. Lived in switzerland for 10 years and know how they think and work. So, to hear you say only victorinox kept the same quality level is not surprising.
This is really interesting to read. Especially seeing as some of these are stereotypes I’ve heard about the Swiss. Good to know, in your lived experience, that some of it is true!
Did you know that victorinox has a company policy that the highest boss can't have more then 10 times as much as the "lowest" employee has? It sounds much 10 times.. But imagine everyone in every company would do that.
Schrade changed a lot more than just no longer making their tools in the USA. Schrade, as a company, is gone because their bank forced them into bankruptcy. They closed down and auctioned off all assets, as a result. During that auction, another company bought the Schrade brand names and now they're putting them on products that look a bit like the old ones. However, those new products are certainly not the same as the old products. The old Schrade company out of NY was a really great knife and tool company. They should have charged more money for their products. If they did, we'd probably still have them around today.
Totally agree, multitools are getting worse, first time my father was in USA, He bought a Leatherman, and in comparison now, you can feel the diference in quality. Great video, regards from Spain.
My first multitool was gerber slip pliers, around 20 years. I do believe the old tools that our grandparents carried were best. I'm 74 I have several things from my grandpa. Still use them. For now only multitool I will use is victorinox.
Insightful video Dom. I can attest that out of all my multi tools, my Victorinox SAK and spirit have been the highest quality and can confirm that out of the 5 Leatherman tools I have, 2 have had issues I dealt with myself. You are 100% correct in that us as consumers need to hold these companies more accountable for QC
An important factor with “made in U.S.A.” verses not made in the USA with Leatherman and Gerber. When the change happened, nothing changed in how these tools were made. They were still made in the same factories by the same people and sourcing material and parts the same way. Nothing about the tools actually changed despite what people say. What changed was an FTC rule about when companies can mark a product as “made in U.S.A.” Too many companies (including Leatherman and Gerber, among a LONG list of others) were making stuff overseas and just adding a nut or bolt, or just some polishing, or whatever, in the U.S. and claiming “made in U.S.A.” The FTC put an end to that and wrote new rules that required all final assembly to be in the U.S., all major processing to be done in the U.S., and the majority of parts/materials to be sourced in the U.S. In other words, it had to be overwhelmingly made in the U.S.A. to be labeled as such. The tools all of these U.S. companies were making suddenly no longer qualified. So the manufacturing stayed the same, they just could no longer stamp them “made in U.S.A.” So it’s kind of funny when people claim that the USA versions are better than the same tool the following year. They are THE SAME in every way except that USA stamp because it was lo longer legal to stamp them "made in U.S.A." due to the rule change - not because of a change in manufacturing.
Not the same people. Local citizens do not want to work in manufacturing anymore, they prefer IT, office, blogging, even welfare etc. So manufacturers forced to hire migrants: Turkish in Germany, Mexicans in USA etc.
@@ollivgvsorry that's a bad simplification. US citizens don't want to work extremely low pay manufacturing jobs or physical farm jobs with low pay where they still require federal assistance. There's countless manufacturing businesses around me that offer a living wage where people are thankful to have jobs there.
@@jaketallorlin223 >simplification - Yep but it provide an overall picture of the social end economic tendencies in US and EU. And salary is NOT a key factor. Food delivery couriers can get few times higher salary but local citizens still prefer office work for half income and all couriers are teenagers or migrants
The Golden age of multitools was from 1996~2006. It's staples: the Wave, Powerlock, MP600 and Swisstool still form the backbone of the multitool space today. The new trinkets are cool, but will not sustain a 25+ year lifespan. Even now, the Chinese still pump out new clones based on a 1998-design. [mic drop]
i have lost lots of respect for leatherman between the quality controll issues, the limited releases from the garage , and the lack of communication while discontinuing so many models. the arc was a step in the right direction, but it was far from innovative. Meanwhile, companies like roxon have changed the multi tool game, seemingly overnight. Gerber and SOG are knife makers they can survive without the multitool business, but multitools are all leatherman has if they can't compete in quality, price, or innovation they wont survive.
Stating that Roxon has changed the multi tool game overnight is a huge stretch, they're only average in quality, and their tools are too small to be taken seriously.
@@billybunter3753that doesn't address the lack of innovation from others. His point is roxon is innovating. Size of the products can change easily and quality isnt too hard to improve and usually does with expirence. Roxon have the correct mindset towards innovation, while leatherman have no mindset towards innovation. And repeatedly prove they arnt in the business of making products for the customers that use things. They're catering to the collectors witch is alot harder to change that a product size Or QC
@@CDXRK I understand what you're saying and I somewhat agree. Funnily enough though, Leatherman, in my opinion, still have the best multi tool on the market, that being the Surge. Second but almost level with the Surge is the Victorinox swiss tool. Not the spirit. So the other companies still have a way to go!
@T-Mo_ That's horrible logic . you would rather see 500 people get the Mr. Crunch over leatherman releasing it as a dedicated tool that everyone who wants one could buy?
I was hoping from the title that the talk was going to be more design-focused, but it was still interesting. I think they've almost certainly gotten worse overall from the perspective of materials (mainly thinking in terms of how things are more disposable or cheaply made.) My favorite multitool that I carry most is the long discontinued Bucklite tool, though. I much prefer it over anything Leatherman currently makes, or what SOG is doing now.
Depends on how you define “improved”. I would make the case that Leatherman in-particular has improved their feature set at the expense of craftsmanship. Compare the OG Supertool and the ARC, for example. The ARC excels in terms of one-handed tool deployment and the Magnacut blade gets lots of attention. However, the complexity of the design and the relative flimsiness of the handles makes me wonder how it will hold up over time. The OG Supertool, on the other hand, is a simpler design that just feels absolutely solid. The OG Supertool is more comfortable to hold when using the internal tools, and it’s debatable which one is more comfortable in plier mode. I have an ARC, but I carry an OG Supertool.
The problem with QC and warranty returns with Leatherman and US brands is : it's all fine and good when you live in the Sates , but if you're an international consumer it's a different story ... I'm not paying an arm and a leg to ship a mutitool back to the manufacturer then have to wait a few month plus maybe custom tax and wanky pain-in-the-@ss shipping just for them to fix it when they should have gotten it right the first time .
Good morning from Greece and thank you very much for your so informative videos. Sending the tool back from overseas is not that easy. It's also expensive if you don't want to risk losing it. Most importantly, the warranty is not going to help if you have a failure at a critical moment. I own several multi tools from various manufacturers, and there's a reason why I took my Victorinox Spirit with me for a humanitarian mission in sub Saharan Africa. Have a great day everyone!
I still have my original Schrade Tough Tool except for the rivets on the small implements tools breaking, I was able to replace them with SS Chicago screws. I used this multitool for 20 years.
Great review, thanks. Like with almost everything else, "worse" rules...(it's thermodynamics). My first multi-tool was the original Leatherman in 1995. Still have it, but don't use it. Use my Surge, Blast, and Rebar most often. (A red Squirt PS4 is my EDC.) Haven't purchased a multitool (a Next in 2018) in years, due mostly to lower quality. (And, I don't buy chinesium.)
@@lucasalves-sq6iz I got 2 Spirt X's, one that has seen a ton of use for more than a decade and a 3 year old one, that has seen liitle action.None has any play nowhere, it's the most solid multitool I know of. I ve also never heard or read, about issues or any "play" on Victorinox multitools. I've bent nails with it's pliers, no play, no rust, it still looks and functions like day one!
I've been using my original Spirit for about 20 years. Aside from a few scratches it still looks and functions like new. Even the original leather case is holding up well. No play in the pliers at all.
Thank you for sharing. In my options almost everything new is less good that old. I think it comes from "cheap to build and made for money" maybe it's because the bosses of most company's are not interested what they build. But I treated in lines only. Old bosses built the company's haven't allowed to print their trademark on something they would be ashamed of. It's the same with "made in Germany" This was trademark for durable good quality stuff once... Now it's often just stamp that on there so we can sell it for good money for us. Only a few good "Made in Germany" is still very good quality
Love the old MADE IN USA 🇺🇸 multitools like those! That is real honest quality right there! Sadly we will never get the same quality in new production today!
Bought some leatherman squirt s4s from chicago knife works this year. I think you had a post on it. Ive been carrying one on my keychain past month. Amazing build quality. Just looked at the date code. I see 702. So i think its from 2002. If true thats crazy that i bought it new from a company in 2024. 😂
I still have the Visa Grip multi tool, that is similar to that Schrade. Then again I also still have my tough tool from back I in the day. Advantage that the vice grip tool had was it came with a moulded leather holster for it. I'll have to send you a picture of it.
A good thing about some of the big names stumbling and/or having patents expire means that enterprising people looking back to the past can use those ideas and improve/iterate upon them. We wouldn't have these "young upstarts," making accessible/affordable clones or interesting innovators like Roxon, Nextool, GOAT and the like. Even the specialised trade/use case (Nextorch for first responders, Havalon's hunting, Swisstech's electrician's monstrosity, and even DRFriedels body care tools) markets are thriving! We're certainly well past the golden age, but there's definite portents of a potential silver age of possibilities. 😊
This video got me thinking if only Victornox made a knife with a pliers. I like the knife footprint over the multitool. I decided to check and there was the Champ. The plers is nowhere near as robust as my Wave or MUT but I have never used a multitool pliers on anything substantial anyway. I use regular tools for those sorts of things. Victornox can maintain its quality level because it is a premium brand with high customer loyalty. The other three companies have to compete with low price clones and short of jobbing out their products to the same OEMs and slapping their label on it they end up cutting quality to cut costs and stay competitive. It is easy to say that costs more money in the long run but you cannot sell product for two or three times the price of tools that appear to be just as good.
I have a 30 year old Leatherman PST that I carry on my belt, every single day. I got it from a pawn shop a few years ago for $20. It does everything I need.
I always thought people with these things on their belts were kooks until I got one myself maybe 25+years ago and feel naked without it! Bought another maybe 6 years ago to carry when out riding my dirt bike because I didn’t want to risk losing the original, it’s nice with the bit holder and locking feature but still prefer the older one. Quality on both seem equal. Was gifted a surge, nice but huge and too heavy and prefer the OG wave.
I really like the Leatherman Charge +. The Victorinox Swiss Tool is also amazing. There is no excuse for any of the tools you mention having crappy QC.
I agree! And the Swisstool (not the spirit) is right next to it! I'm not worried about weight, I just want a multi tool that can actually handle a few jobs. No they won't compete with "real" tools, but I consider them decent "get me home" tools. 👍
I can't agree really. Maybe thats because of Price And service polici outside of US, but for me Its same utility value Like good Chinese multi-Tool (except Chinese usually Have much better scisors, which Is important to me So Its even better maybe) but Like 4 times more expensive.
I actually just got 2 of these in a TSA bid on ebay! I got the same original usa tuff tool and a new version. The difference between the two versions are night and day.
2 I have in my collection are kind of similar. The Leatherman Crunch is a multitool with a locking pliers. And a SOG Paratool. That has a fold in pliers. Both are about 20 years old.
So I recently bought a lot of spare shrade blades that I think ppl bought from the liquidation auction back in 2004/5. The guy had 19 blades displayed in his ad, all sorts of different ones I liked, but needed a particular two in the pic that I was using to replace on an uncle Henry slipjoint muskrat with a gut hook. So it was very specific, in my buying of this particular lot. Well I finally get it, and there’s like 25 blades, I’m all excited, they’re all shrade USA, probably half and half stainless and 1095. But I notice the 2 blades I need aren’t there, and there’s a bunch of “blades” I don’t even recognize. Turns out, they are the tool set of this exact multi tool you are showing! So the great news is, they’re out they if you want to MOD or replace something. This seller told me flat out he had thousands of shrade USA blades and he has bad vision and was sorry for the mixup. He didn’t offer a refund, only saying if I wanted to buy another lot, he would personally make sure the 2 blades I need are with it. So I really need these blades, so I agreed even tho I kinda feel like he should just send me the 2 I need, it’s literally $15 for the 19 blade lot, so to me, it’s totally worth it. I think it was a starting bid of $15, but no one was bidding or had it on their watch list. He sent me another lot, with the 2 I needed, plus a bunch of shrade 50T, the big lockback drop point blades, must’ve been 6 of those and they are in the 1095. Everything was heat treated but unsharpened, from what I’ve read online. I could possibly post the sellers eBay store if someone was interested, I’d have to go back in my history but I’m sure it’s there. Anyways, I got excited seeing this, as I’ve always wondered what those blades were actually used on. Thanks for sharing Edit: I was referring to the first tool you opened, the super tool. Sorry for any confusion
I got a Surge that couldn’t even cut through the thinnest solid wire. Maybe 1/32 of an inch thick. My Chinese knock off clone cut it like butter. Everything else on the surge is great but their cutters are just shit at this point. Maybe it’s the heat treat
16:30 "they are not costing the consumers money"?!?!?! What in the heaven's name are you talking about? (c) Everything is paid by consumers, even before some issues occured, its already included into the price, so it is opposite "it doesn't cost Leatherman anything".
100%. Unless they're getting subsidized, which is not unheard of for large corporations with "Made in the USA" tags. But other than that exception, which we don't even know if it applies in this case or not - if Leatherman decides to upgrade their AC it costs the customers money, if they get a lot of returns it costs the customers money.
I have the needle nosed tough grip. Its close to terrible. The needle nose flexes sideways, the tool set is soft metal, the knife blade is single bevel and serrated combo. Had they done a quality tool set on a normal vice grip frame instead of the needle nose, they might have had a winner. As it stands- 3/10.
Yeah, discontinuing popular models and price hike made LM less popular. I guess i was lucky with the quality issues so far (outside the arc cutters) but that doesnt make me feel great, especially knowing that theyre out there... good video /food for thoughts for sure. You havent voiced it Dom, but it sounds like if them gerber (and alike) stayed in US the quality would be better.
27 дней назад
The quality floor has risen. The 20 to 50 bucks multi tools from your hardware store have become much better in quality. It's pretty much a meme in my circles that American products start out great and lose quality over time until nobody buys it. i really hope Leatherman and the others can turn around.
I have a SOG, ... one of the first SOG multitools, and it is sharp on the knife, but the scissors are poorly sharpened. They look sharpened, but they can't cut very good at all. I am thinking of sharpening them myself.
You mentioned Irwin in describing the second tool. Please check. I believe that tool was created before Irwin purchased the Vise-Grip brand. If correct, it is not an Irwin tool.
I accidentally have 3 of the US Made tough tool. There's just something really interesting about their design. I missed my chance to get the Craftsman slip-joint version. I am REALLY hoping someone makes a clone of the Kershaw A100, I have one and it is a beauty.
That locking solution is quite clever, too bad Leatherman tools do not have that. Some of the modern multitools have became gimmicky and bad quality. And there's barely any real new innovations in them.
If you think about bike or car companies, the Accountants inevitably want the product made cheaper. There's no margin in building reliable products that last a lifetime or warranty repairs etc. They'd rather sell you something "new" even if new isn't better. It's now all about marketing, not manufacturing quality. Gerber and SOG blade quality no longer matches the price. Chinese manufacturers have improved their own brands. Leatherman's price point is now just ridiculous. I'll use my Biburys until they break, but so far, they're lasting just fine despite regular use.
Out of curiosity, where did you see that the gerber dualforce has forged plates? I've seen them mention the layered construction, but I haven't seen anything about the plates being forged.
the Tough Tool will BITE you! the blade can lift up and...😳 it's nice but has its issues Craftsman had laminated pliers I got a couple, 2xchannel lock & a vise grip all are the self adjusting kind I miss USA Schrade, decent quality & cost
There has been such a buzz lately about Roxon, but are they any different? Sure they are breaking new ground with design, but the tools I have bought feel cheap because they are. I got two to try out, but have no plans to get anything more.
@@maxlvledc 100%. They are up front about that, and pricing is right. It's consumers choice. I don't mind the ones I bought as a result, because I don't feel like I was deceived.
yes, I would say those three have much lower QC than I would prefer. I've had 2 break on me and the Truss...well the truss is just a very very mediocre design. Any Wave/Surge clone will give you a lot more for the money.
@@maxlvledc maybe the ones I own are better and my Leatherman are worse because my Rev tools are all sub par, accept the pliers. The individual Gerber tools are better. Also I don't use the knife on a multi ever and I believe you do.
Now it's china who is taking over. Most classic and big multitool companies doesn't innovate much. Only small companies does actually innovate, even if the quality isn't the best. Also in terms of layouts and tool sets there too little variety there
Well, I got more Swiss tool x malfunctioning than arc... I bought 2 per kind, arc where perfect and instead I had to change 3 times one of the Swiss tool x... But I agree stuff smells.... Gerber i just don't buy, and leatherman, i had problems with overtightened stuff with other models than the ARC... And no tool has the same tolerances (same model speaking)... Liner lock first
Gerber - migrated production. SOG - migrated production. Leatherman - partially use migrants and partially migrated production. Victorinox - not migrate production and Switzerland has very strict migration legislation
I personally do care where they are made. I'd much rather support my fellow countrymen then fund China's potential invasion of Taiwan. If I can't buy American, EU, Japan, Taiwan are all viable options.
