@@JakeHabermansRU-vid. You can see in the ad the arc that they used in the ad is missing a screw so I guess they didn’t catch that and they’re still using it as their display model in their ad
you have a great point: Multitools are tough tools, their lives should be spent around doing tough jobs, not sitting in the pocket for flashy lifestyle. If Tim was really involved in the design and testing like he used to be in the early days, this would never get past his own QC. Sadly, the current Leatherman design team has fallen to the EDC flashy demands and missed a huge core value: multitools should be tough for every work, by real people.
Great vid! I think it would be really helpful in your future multitool reviews to show this test. Along with a stranded wire cut test(some cheap multitools fail at this), test the saw, scissors, etc. Your scissors tests are the best.
I want to take this opportunity to thank you, thanks to you I bought the Daicamping dl 30 multitool and I received it today. Amazing beast of a tool I am very pleased thank you!
While in the military, I was issued a gerber multitool, after cutting three wires, the entire mechanism failed, the plier had sprung and would no longer retract as designed...I switched to Leatherman and haven't had any issues since.
Also just wanna say how much I appreciate the work you put into actually representing consumers. That's highly underrated just like Leatherman's stock replaceable cutters! Except their cutters deserve it right now! Hats off to you.
After seeing your videos; I reached out to Leatherman through their website. I asked them for a fix, but I'm waiting for a response. I did reference your videos but did not share any links. I own many of the Leatherman products some old and some fairly new. I have not run into any problems yet.
I didn’t feel this was a rant, as a lot of potential buyers are concerned about this right now. This coming up on the ARC is pretty big. Hopefully, my faith that they’ll get this straightened out isn’t misplaced. The S2 always comes through. I use mine pretty much everyday. While the pliers are smaller than on full-sized tool, they are better than any on similarly sized tools. It’s about the size of many swiss army knives and i can throw it in my pocket, while i carry my other usual workday gear.
I find it interesting that these cutters came out over a year ago, I checked my brother's P2 and my new surge (I have a series 1 from 06) and they both have the new style. Why did no one in the EDC community notice until the ARC release?
Yep if you can live without the locking blade...or like me in the UK you can't EDC locking blades anyway so the Rev and most Leathermans aren't an option anyway. The tools themselves are the same as those on the Rebar - I own one of those too - except for the pliers head. These 2 and the Supertool and of course the knifeless Rebar are the only LMs with fully profiled Phillips SDs which I like. The replaceable wire cutters on my Rebar surpassed my expectations cutting through galvanised steel tentpegs. I haven't tried the wire cutter on my Bond yet as they are not replaceable but I reckon they would be pretty good.
I don't blame them for making a mistake. As a design engineer, I've made seemingly inconsequential changes that have come back with problems. The issue is that it reached the customer without them knowing. If you could buy 'flawed' cutters at a discount in order for them to move stock, I'm sure people would still buy them. But being ignorant of the change and or hiding it from customers isn't ok.
@@For891 This wouldn't be considered a bad batch rather than a deviation. Any deviation should have a sign-off/agreement with both parties. At least for me, all batches come in with a serial code to track them. They should undergo a batch inspection in which you'd inspect say 1% at random. If it was a new supplier you'd jump this back up to 50-100% etc. And then as part of the standard build process there should be random inspection of the final assembly which should include relevant tests. This is like the bare minimum. Even with this there can be gaps but it shows a problem with their process in my opinion.
Its funny that you mentioned people cutting fencing , I keep a few pet pigs so I cut 12 1/2 ga and 14ga galvanized steel wire for fencing and grounds , a few times a month using the bibury tungsten cutters with no issue. Some guy on one of the multitool forums was telling people that was wrong and that the tools cant handle that. That made me chuckle considering im planning on doing the same thing the arc , if Leatherman fixes this if not ill send it back thats an important capability of the tool imo . Thanks for the vid.
Worst spanking i had as a little kid was taking my leatherman out after getting it for my 6th bd and cutting through the chain link fencing to get to the abandoned barn on the other side.
I might have an explanation for you! So, I was cranking on a hex bolt with Leatherman charge g10. It wasn't super smart, but it actually pushed down one of the wire cutters just enough to catch the pivot at the base of the plier mouth. This made the pliers super stiff, and I used a flathead to push the cutter back up and it was fine. We're talking a small distance like in the mm range. Anyway, my theory is that Leatherman was aware of this and rounded off that bottom corner piece of the cutter, so it doesn't catch there like mine did. Great video btw, I hope you'll get to the bottom of this!
Honestly since owning my new Arc I've had zero issues with my cutters,I've not cut coat hanger with it yet,I don't really have any metal one laying around the house,but I plan on trying an seeing if it passes my tests,also will be ordering new cutters just to be sure,if it works well then I just a pair for backup.
It would be interesting to know what Leatherman was thinking when they changed the design and if the gap has any sense. Especially because the cable stripper is on the awl. My P4 is from this year and has the gap also at the wire cutter. Thanks for your videos and I am curious about news.
Awesome video! One of my hangers was too thick to cut & the rest were "standard" thickness which was 1.9 mm or .074 in thick. roughly 13 awg. Anyway my Bibury Pliers Pro chops the steel hanger 1.9 mm stuff up, but takes a little effort. The replaceable cutters have a wedge on one side and a little notch on the other to capture wire. Nice tool, $50-$60, includes bit kit and the T shank adapter. My Skeletool can't cut it with my normal everyday hand strength. My 30+ year old Klein linesman's pliers chop it up effortlessly, but you're getting a lot more lever action from the 6" long handles. Also it uses an anvil style cutter where the blades meet, where my other tools are a scissors jaw where the blades pass each other. Maybe the scissors jaw that leatherman uses is better for stranded copper wire...dunno. I know I'd be pissed if I was out nowhere trying to fix fence and my cutters broke.
I have a Rebar which I really love that has the same cutters. Didn't know they would fail like that. I was considering upgrading to a Wave or an Arc.... but not until this business is settled
I used to love my Wave 2nd gen up until I finally bought a Spirit X. Recently I wanted to replace a plier head in my Wave to a Wave+ version just as I did replace a cheesy 420hc blade with an S30V, but after watching this video and fiddling with my Wave once again I have to admit that Spirit is just better for me. It does what I need and it won’t rust. And there is zero breaking in or adjusting I had to do - it just works. All of this is really sad, because I do respect Leatherman as an ingenious company that started it all. I just wish they’d keep caring more about the tools they produce. Just as they did long ago.
My Knifeless Rebar has the same cutters but mine never broke. I had to cut thick wire yet, but I do have to cut thick wire every so often. I got mine February this year. I hope they fix this issue. 😢
One of the reasons I personally preferred the seperate cutters is they should be easier to heat treat to higher hardness, appears it can go the wrong way. I guess still better than jacking up the heat treat and replacing the whole plier head.
Thanks for making this video! The wire cutters aren’t a deal breaker for me personally as I carry a multi tool for the pliers, drivers and scissors but I get why this is definitely a big deal for most people and this getting past QC at Leatherman.
Yeah!!! I was thinking the same... I looked EVERYWHERE... Nada. That was an incredible well made tool for any price and it was cheap. I do know that Blackfire is a subsidiary of Klein and Klein has other multis, not as good.
With my fuse or Bond I've never felt the need for replaceable cutters and I've abused the hell out if my Fuse, I used my Fuse like I stole it ( because I kind of did ) and never had an issue with anything except the scissors.
Right after watching this, my wife was putting together a Halloween costume, that needed wire support. I used my Juice S2 to cut and shape coat hanger wire to use. Perfect!
In what are made the wire cutters on the Arc? It says "premium steel" which usually means "bullshit" and if I recall correctly it was some 420Hc on other models (Wave/Surge) but isn't that kind of an abberation to use some low-end steel instead of carbide tungstene for wire cutters?
My biggest fear is that they say this design was on purpose and we have to learn how to use it properly aka not just mindlessly put wire in their and squeeze.
I like how you mentioned that sure the hard cutters will work if you are careful and slot the wire directly into the notch., but like you said, no one does that! Open pliers, push wire to bottom, cut. Also can be an issue for any multitool with replaceable cutters, even old ones. Because if the cutters on my Wave happen to break after using them for so long, ordering a new set would make the tool worse.
Just got a wave plus around a month ago and mine has the rounded cutters that form a gap beneath the cutters but my Surge I've had for 2 years and my rebar from 4 years ago both have overlapping flatter edges without the gap. Not sure what Leatherman is thinking but they need to bring back the old flatter cutters unless their goal is for consumers to constantly buy new cutters so they have a constant influx of cash flow. Not cool Leatherman!
Again, thanks for bringing this to the masses, hopefully Leatherman will do something. Maybe they already have, they just need to get ahead of it. Great content. thanks again.
I have broken a plier jaw on too many SwissTools to think they are quality. Junk. To be fair, I was not cutting wire, at the time. Usually twisting wire, or turning a nut/bollt. Regardless, I was not extering a lot of force. Victorinox warrantied the tool, then again, and again, and again... Over 5 years of warranty repairs and replacements on Victorinox junk. I'm glad you mznaged to carry your Victorinix for 25 or whatever years. Have you ever used it? Vicgorinox makes fragile stuff meant for working on dollhouses, maybe, or keeping in a drawer.
@@maxlvledc Yep. No cheater bar. Victorinox had me send them pics, then the tools. Acgually, maybe pics was only the first time. At least once, thry replaced the tool, because I sent one in with scissors, but got one back without, then had to wait for the scissors version to be back in stock. I'm fairly sure I'm not the only one on this, because Victorinox was looking into this. They ended up changing the design of the plier head. I'm not a muscle-bound brute, either. I understand why you're doubting me. Heck, people doubted the cutters breaking on your Arc. If it makes you feel bettee, I have had the jaw break on lots of diagonal cutters and a pair of flush cutters. It seemed to have to do with placement of the item to be cut. So, I changed brands of tool.
I have happened to come across some hardened wires to cut when I had just purchased PST and once with Surge with replaceable cutters. I had pressed really hard on them and those hardened wires made dents in the wire cutters.But on Surge it was not the hard wire cutter but the soft wire cutter that I stupidly used.
Im happy with the cutting of the Surge. I cut 2 or 3 mm screws (pins from pedals) and 3 mm cable strand, part of a larger crane cable strand. Im also very happy with the cutter of the Squirt Ps4. Im not satisfied at all with the very lame cutter of the Gerber Dime. The only good tool on Dime is the cap opener. Edit: the pliers and cutter of the SOG PowerPint is also bad, not in terms of capabilities but in terms of usage, it pinch my skin. Very incomfortable tool with that closing from behind system!
@@maxlvledc thanks for the info. Ill try to use the Knipex Cobolt S when possible instead of the Surge. Or maybe the cutter behind the pliers of the Surge, i never tried it on screws or anything really hard.
Never understood why consumers were so happy about replaceable cutters. They are weak and weaken the plier head. I have a few side cutters, none of which are replaceable, from a range of brands and have yet to have one break. For Leatherman, what was once a Leatherman-paid warranty issue is now a consumer-paid maintenance issue. Still, people seem to love it?
I have a Surge Titanium and shattered first set with fencing wire and second set have defined indentations from cutting 0.9mm welding wire which is pathetic. I'm currently using a Olight multi which is only $20 it's been cutting welding wire for the last 12months.
If you decide to do it, try not inserting the wire all the way to the end of the cutter, then at least you’ll have an idea if the problem lies in the heat treat or the radiused corner design. 👍🏻
This is something that has plagued the Center Drive for years now and I still hear it all the time. The cutters are trash, garbage material etc. The cutters were never meant to cut anything denser than concertina wire. Most soldiers are typically cutting zip ties, C-wire, Det-cord and nylon. Then people say “well then it’s no good for tradesmen” and I dare to say it was never made for tradesmen or shop workers in the first place. Unless regular tools come with coyote tan molle compliant sheaths? I’m pretty sure it was made for servicemen not tradesmen.
I really hope Leatherman gets sent rhese videos and are made aware of the issue , and rhen do the right thing by acknowledging the problem , going back to the old design and send everyone a pair of new cutters . Just hoping they'll make it easy to claim them on their website or something ...
I've read some other postings where people had ordered the replacement cutters and they were the rounded edge like those on the Arc. we can only hope LM pulls the bad stock and either changes back to their old supplier and figures their shit out pretty quick.
The arc wire cutter compared with other previous LMs really something wrong. With plier jaw fully closed, the cutter blade actually didn't reach other side. Instead it it just stop half way. I have LM rebar to compare.
I wonder if you can find third party replacement cutters that don't have the notch. have you checked if the knockoffs can have theirs swapped? Also, have you checked that your ARC ones were tight? If they're loose at all (even if held in with thread lock) they're going to flex in ways that might make them crack. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't get fully screwed in, my signal came with some loose ones, but no threadlocker so I assumed it was REI's and not Leatherman's fault in my case.
Great video! Thank you for taking the time and doing all the testing! I agree with you 100 percent. Leatherman has been asleep for the last several years and very lazy from top to bottom. Their not running their business properly from engineering, production, to sales & marketing! For example…. Why doesn’t Leatherman have the ratchet in stock? I can’t even remember the last time the ratchet was in stock. What are new products being shipped and not tested / QCed? It’s sad to see Leatherman continue to fall flat on their faces.
Try using the rebar cutter blades on the arc and redoing the cut test with the arc. If it survives then I guess that batch of cutter blades that shipped with the arc were no good.
This is super insightful. I daily carry a Free P2 and I always wondered why it sucked at cutting wire - and why I had to line it up just perfectly above the bottom of the jaws like you showed. Turns out I’ve got the same design. I guess I can buy new cutters? What’s the best route to go here?
You should have compared it with an older rebar with older replaceable cutters to make a perfect comparison. Or used that ST300 with the older replaceable cutters. It would be made a better picture for your point. But great video
Is there any point to edc a heavy $300 multitool that fails when it is finally needed? $300 will buy you a bucket full of tools that you can work to death. 🤔 Stash the bucket in your vehicle and the walk of inconvenience will be compensated by the bucket providing a seat while doing repairs. The convenience factor also seems to be overridden by the cost factor. I think I just convinced myself if not anybody else. 💡
Hey, Max, what do you think about the idea of looking into the available powerbanks that use a removable battery (eg [but by NO MEANS limited to] 18650): Stand alone units, as well as flashlight/powerbank combos. This would make for a great video, owing particularly to your always insightful comparisons and recommendations. Thanks, CS. PS--Would it be preferable to send enquiries of this nature to your email instead?
Yeah.... my experience with the GOAT differs massively from yours. Just this second tried same on coathanger in UK (maybe different steel, maybe I'm puny) & no way I could cut it single handed. Didn't bother trying with 2. '94 PST breezed through it, as did Mossy Oak (£18 delivered) & even LM Skeletool-bit surprised about that. I don't even bring out Rebar & Swiss Tool to compare any more, the (definitely not) GOAT doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath, but out of interest tried Rebar & no issue whatsoever, new design cutters, just aligned properly as per Ink&Iron IMO GOAT is most over-hyped piece of junk I can remember in a while, & it's not just the wire cutters.
I can say from experience that my Rebars replaceable cutters literally crumbled on the first use like they weren't even heat treated... got it last year. Id be interested to see if a set of replacement cutters wouldnt be any better. Wonder if they dont just give us shit cutters on new tools just so we'll go out and give Leatherman yet even /more/ money just to have a 'complete' multitool.
I have a wave plus that is about a year old and it has the same cutters as the arc I just got. Is there a way to buy the old cutter replacements? Leatherman website seems to only have one cutter replacement blade for all the models.
What a shame😢. I’ve always thought my surge cutters beat my center drive and my spirit X hands down. I was looking forward to the arc… now it’s not worth the price
I could not cut the same hanger type with my GOAT cutters... Easy work for Victorinox, SOG, and the Gerber Dual drive. Also I am going to assume it is easy work for the Leatherman Signal (which I will test shortly). But the GOAT, and I tried! No go. Just curious if anyone else had a similar experience.
Nice video. Here in Sweden the Arc is 350$ so it feels absurd to have this problem. Do you know if MUT EOD cutters fit the arc? Havent tested them out that much yet but i really think GOAT tools came up with a good solution for how to maximize usage on the cutters with their rotating kind.
