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The Leatherman Wave is my every day carry. I've owned both the original version and the newer version. Love this tool. I use it several times a day at work and at home. I've tried other multi-tools (SOG, Gerber, and others) and have always gone back to Leatherman. They are the ones all others strive to be.
Still have my juice 2. It’s pretty great really. I did move it into retirement when I saw how much they were bringing on EBAY. But, it’s a great little carry tool. It didn’t do everything, but it did most things and is a great size.
Been carrying a Leatherman since they came out, a WAVE since they came out. Before Leatherman, I carried a 4” crescent and the smallest ChannelLocks (and of course a pocket knife).
I agree that would be very cool, I also wish Leatherman would re-release the LEAP. I gave one to my grandson, and it has really been one of his favorite gifts ever. he uses it several times a week, around the house, as well as when his parents take him on hikes, and over night camping. I have been carrying Leatherman tools since basic training in 1985. and would not want to leave my house with out two if them. if you count the LEAP I gave my grandson, I have everything you have on that table. My PST is actually an original, one of the two I bought in '85, and carried for the 10 years I was in the ARMY. I also do have and wear every day a tread. I did a video on my Leatherman collection a while back, it was one of my more viewed videos.
A green Leap is my EDC. It's my favorite multitool; great balance of size, weight, and functionality. I got each of my four kids a Leap for their 10th birthdays. The blades were installed when they hit around 12 to 13 years old. I picked up an extra one for myself when I saw they were being discontinued and I wanted a spare. The last 3 that I bought (one each for my younger two children and then my spare) off the last place (other than eBay) still selling them: the BSA scout store. All they had left were blue but I didn't care.
Solid video. I actually just got my leatherman bond today. Leatherman will always be king in my opinion. And yeah unfortunately some tools just don’t make the cut or last. Keep making your awesome content and thanks for the solid information.
In the UK, leatehrman is quite common, more so than gerber etc, victorianox is probably the most common for SAK, incidentily a lot of the leathermans are illegal to carry as they have locking blades..unless you have reason, ie fishing, camping, working....
I've never used the bottle opener. Never needed it. We need a customizable build for these tools. The 1st company to offer this is gonna be the winner.
I think people are to harsh and critical at times. Leatherman probably gets hundreds of thousands of request each year. Can I get this, can you make that? It's just not feasible all at once. It takes a lot of time to develop a tool. That's why Leatherman has a wide variety of tools, they try to have something for everyone. Here's a paragraph from one of the letters Mr. Tim Leatherman wrote me concerning tool manufacture time frame." The date stamps in the handles of our tools are the month and year that we stamp the handles in our punch presses(the first step in the process of making the handles). It then takes several weeks before the parts work their way through the rest of the operations to finish the parts and than get assembled into tools with all the other parts needed for a complete tool. So yes, your handles (Super Tool 300) dated 0221 and 0321 were started somewhere between 1 and 59 days apart. Probably closer to 1 than 59". Hope this helps a little.
Great info! You are right many times there are to many "cooks in the kitchen". Or to many experts who aren't employed, LoL. Its easy to be that way though. Thankfully there are hundreds of multi tools, and more being designed each year. Usually there's at least one that comes close to what we like.
I'd love the estimate of how many blades or tools have snapped in the last 15 years of low grade steel and inconsistent heat treatment 🤔 Sadly 90% of leatherman tools don't ACTUALLY get used daily... example this video, where someone has a dozen models and probably opening boxes is "tough everyday use" same goes for most people that look for a need to use their emotional attachment multitool rather than NEED the functionality... I have stopped buying leathermans and currently have a few pounds/hundreds of dollars in broken leathermans, including a surge that snapped a blade within 3 weeks while CUTTING, not prying 😡 Until they offer something better than recycled 420hc potmetal with poorly QC'd heat treatment I'm done with them... My ancient leathermans have worn out plier heads but no broken tools and were put through years of work and hard use, occasionally even abuse, but they never SNAPPED... I now carry Chinese made improved wave style copies and couldn't be happier with those/more disappointed that I can't buy an American equivalent that 100% will have to be mailed in for some broken implement replacement (even a plier jaw!) at any possible moment 😒 Who cares "how great" the warranty is if you can no longer trust the products to last for a minimum period of time?! My advice? go buy two multiforce multitools which have a 1/4" bit driver and a REAL pocket clip, all without being covered in neodymium magnets for collecting every bit of metal dust/shaving within a mile! If you somehow get a bad one and it breaks like a leatherman you have a replacement the same day for less money than a single wave+! (Not to mention buying the stupid afterthought of a pocket clip, and the shipping and handling for the warranty) I wish Victorinox would come out with an improved wave clone now that the patent has expired! They use far better steel, and have better quality control in my experience, I just vastly prefer the Surge/Wave/Charge design/layout... Leatherman spending so many millions on advertising and sending out "review samples" while continually refusing to invest in better blade materials or even better quality 420HC is absolutely infuriating... But the Leatherman "fans" seem to often be the first to argue these points, all while having less time actually using the product than someone that owns a single 20 year old wave 🙄🤦♂️ Anyone else finally fed up with Leatherman following in the footsteps of Gerber, formerly a high quality, affordable knife brand with products that were nearly all produced in Oregon... before focusing on selling CCP made multitools, cheap quality knives, and bear grylls gift sets at Walmart? 😐 It's been over 20 years and the wave still doesn't have a decent pocket clip, but does now have worse quality steel... The Chinese clones addressed these issues on day one and are continuing to improve designs and materials as they get market feedback... This is why Leatherman will finish turning into Gerber... A mix of expensive US made items, decent CCP made items, and a ton of absolute CCP junk with their name stamped on it 🙄
I just wish Leatherman would concentrate on build quality. Their products are great and practical and all that good stuff. ....... And then I pick up a Victorinox and just marvel at its sheer beauty.
Interesting perspective. Sometimes the unique is admired from afar. I thought the leap was an interesting concert but not enough to pull the trigger on one
Leatherman tools are some of the best I own 3 of them I have the Super tool 300 the Juice XE6 and the Free P4 Leatherman is the Vacheron Constantin of multi-tools
As far as innovating things go i have to give it to Leatherman, but quality wise the Swisstools are superior. But the only thing Victorinox changed over 20 years with the big Swisstool is they made the pliers beefier and reversed them, made the file even better and the action of opening and closing is slightly different (better) in comparison to a 1998 Swisstool. I would love a powerpint sized tool from them, but the work very slowly, but then again their multitool had all outside tools from the beginning...
No idea how people feel victorinox has superior quality. I'd say they are dead even I went through 6... yes 6 swisstool spirits before I got one that was ok. Half the teeth didn't line properly, some the cutters had a gap, some the tools had play folded or deployed. Went through 3 Swisstool (bigger one) and same issues. The tolerances are all over the place. No different than leatherman. And the large Swisstools plier head may be "beefier" but it's not in any meaningful way. Also, the plier handles are set so wide trying to grab on to even a 1/4" bolt is basically impossible with 1 hand. I have average sized hands, I wear a large work glove my palm is 3 ³/⁴" across. The pliers are almost useless on the large Swisstool.
@@hvacbudget8600 I wish I could describe how pissed off and frustrated I was. I had heard NOTHING but how amazing the quality was from every gear reviewer under the sun. This was a like 3 or 4 week ordeal of just trying to find one that the damn teeth and cutters even lined up. The ones I own now still have play in the tools but the jaws and cutters line up. And I'm not some neurotic retard who stresses over little things.. its a tool, I'm gonna use it. But I want it to be at least all lined up and tight when I get it, before I start beating on it
@@SuperSteelSteve Victorinox has better built quality, at least for the ones i have in my collection. i really like the spirit X, so much so that i bought a second set of spirit X. Free P4 built quality is pretty close to the swisstool spirit and thats it. Thats one of the reasons why my charge tti, wave and surge (with full set of bits, extender and rotating ratchet) are just "hibernating" and unused. If i need to use a multitool, i always grab my victorinox, the P4 or one of the Gerbers and now, the SOG poweraccess assist. Sometimes, i forgot owning a wave or the charge tti.
@Nitric did you read my whole response? Because the 6 victorinox multitools I've purchased were all janky and had issues. So no, for me they do not have better quality.
You have to respect a company that pays attention to its customer base. I’ve had Leatherman tools for over 30 years. No complaints. I did have send one unit back for a minor repair. The unit is still going. Pay attention to what Leatherman is doing. Not what they are not doing. Leatherman takes care of its products and customer base.
Not much love for the Free P4. It is a good start, but, as I watched your video, it occurred to me that the Free P4 may be retired, due to low sales. There are many things I like about the Free P4, but it is not perfect. I own more multi-tools than I want to admit to, but have yet to find the perfect multi-tool for me. Dunno about anyone else's needs. Other than the Leap, I own at least 1 of every multi-tool in this video. I put each multi-tool through my own set of tests. No tool has passed every test, but the P4 did fairly well. The problem is that it is a premium cost tool with budget implements, literally from the budget multi-tools in their line-up. Basically, the P4 is a proof of concept. My fear is that Leatherman may see low sales on the P4, and decide to abandon all those ideas altogether, rather than refine the tool. People may not buy, due to magnets, cost, budget implements, or poor tool selection, but Leatherman may just see low sales. If Leatherman discontinues the odeas from the P4, we have only ourselves to blame. One thing I do not understand why Leatherman won't fix: the scissors. Leatherman scissors are sub-par. For all other implements, they have a good version somewhere in their line-up, but their scissors all have the same issues.
If the P4 was similar to the surge (scissors, t-shank, double blades) or even wave but with outside accessible smaller tools, it’d be a winner. They really shot themselves in the foot by delivering a “decent enough” product. That’s what the problem is. They make one decent choice but three bad ones immediately after.
I think with the Free P4 it is it's advantages are it's faults. It is not as large as the Surge but also it doesn't have it's toolset either. It might be neat to see a Super Free P5!
The FREE P4 is a good tool, but not worth the $149.95 asking price. There was a thicker model designated the P7 but that was shelved after feedback from the distributors.
For years I have been suggesting that they make an aluminum handle version of some of their tools, because it would reduce the weight. I believe it would be plenty strong for most tasks. I have never heard a peep from them. I suspect they don’t bother because of their 25 year warranty and maybe anything less than steel doesn’t interest them because they don’t want to have to pay out failures via the warranty
I wouldn't hold my breath on that. The handles don't make up a large percentage of a multi-tool's weight. The tools do. So even a massive reduction in handle weight would mean only a minor reduction in overall weight. Look at the titanium handled Charge+. It ain't light.
I'm a HVAC contractor, also a farm and rancher. I'm a hard severe use kinda multitool guy! I own a leatherman Surge, Supertool 300, Wave and my current EDC the Leatherman Free P4. I've tried every major tool brand out there and it's hard to beat Leatherman for toughness and functionality. I don't baby 'em!!
I wouldn't be 100% sure that Leatherman now dominate the multitool market, especially since Victorinox released the MX variants of the Spirit and Swisstool. By all accounts their multitools are better than those of Leatherman, and as an owner of 10 Victorinox knife based multitools I can relate to that. However they only effectively have 6 plier based multitools out, at least here in the UK, compared to Leatherman's 40. Interesting that both companies started off making a specific type of multitool i.e. Victorinox made knife based multitools (SAKs) only until the 1990s and Leatherman didn't start making knife based multitools until the early 2000s (I think). I'd say objectively that Victorinox have excelled in the Leatherman's speciality, whereas the reverse isn't the case. I'd take a Victorinox Farmer X over a Leatherman Free T4 any day of the week. By the way I'm not hating on Leatherman either, I own 3 of their multitools, the Rebar, Bond & Squirt PS4 and overall I'm impressed, although the scissors spring on the Squirt has broken.
I got a mini on a lanyard with a little tiny maglite. However I never figured why the main tool in that is scissors. Much less useful than pliers. I got a classic leatherman and the pliers are not stiff at all. And it survives falling off your belt into the toilet. Just wash it off.
NGL The victorinox card multi-tool I never stop carrying since its purchase, and my leatherman micra never leaves my travel gear. (No TSA, I don’t fly with it(duh))
China is going to ruin Leatherman in the next years. GOAT tool is already made from them. They will just pick up the parts and make extremely good products and just win this race (too, since they are winning the knife race in the last 10 years, under 250$ I’d always buy Chinese over American. Their quality is absurd and not overpaid for the brand like US)
@@mr.crumbles2557 How is 25years best in the game, when Victorinox is actual lifetime? Lol they cover any damage you do/get with no problem whatsoever. Leatherman WAS lifetime, but it’d bankrupt them nowadays since the quality was reduced so much, that’s why they had to go for a 1/4 warranty.
Leatherman has a good warranty but it’s not a lifetime warranty it’s a 25 year limited warranty. If they think you abused the tool they will repair but change you for it that’s the limited warranty. Out of all multitools SOG’s is no question warranty they replaced it or repair it I don’t know what their length is. Gerber’s is a 30 year warranty which they mostly just replace the multitool unless you tell them that it means something to you. I have never been turned down on warranty claim with Gerber sometimes they do not want the broken one back. If they don’t carry it anymore they replace it with the tool that replaced it. They also do the same with with sheaths you email them and get the replacement in about a week.
Some tools sell well to niche markets when they first come out, but then that market segment gets saturated and sales drop off. And, if they are following the market they realize that as market for a new tool in the same market niche, now needs some different tools. For example my original Leatherman was great for the late 80s. It had enough tools to get me home in an emergency, and not so many as to weigh me down. But, think on screwdrivers: A Phillips No2 and a 5/16 flat blade did 90% of what I might need. But today I need Torx, and an Electrical Combintion driver would sure be handy. And if they made a tool with a needle nose, a wire stripper, and ecx/eye tips, they would sell like hotcakes for a bit, and then the market for them would saturate.
I thought the Leap was a neat product and was going to purchase a couple for my children. Unfortunately I didn’t know they made them until they didn’t anymore. Seems like their advertising doesn’t reach me for many of their products and big box stores only carry a small portion of leatherman’s catalog.
That is a problem. A lot of multi tools I only find from intense researching. I wish there were dedicated multi tool stores, brick and mortar and online.
I love my Surge but the quality control on it was Crap, because of this I have not bought a single Leatherman product in years, now its Spyderco knives I can not stop buying.
After buying and getting the Juice I will say I was kinda disappointed with it. Like the Rev excited about getting it but disappointed with it. Put the Rev up for sale quickly. The Juice I guess I will see if grows on me. Surge & Signal I will say that I do like them just you add things them as you need it.
So 3 million times after cutting that piece of wire and nothing going wrong we decided to put replacement wire cutters on our pliers,? Because they just wouldn't wear out
It sounds like you had a conversation with Leatherman, or maybe a written communication, but either way it answers questions we all had, but already kind of arrived at the answer. 👍🏻 That’s just business… if it doesn’t sell or perform as expected, move on. 🤷🏻♂️
I owned several leatherman (didn't buy any) and I really don't like the quality of the steel and have would never buy any of their products! I stick with Victorinox and Gerber! Imho leatherman just suck!
Not sure how credible that argument is if true victorinox a much bigger global manufacturer should have plenty quality control problems. Don't see them therefore Leatherman doesn't have that excuse
leatherman is hands down the worst most over priced completely against what there customers want and they just discontinue things with no for warning of any kind they are a total joke never give them any money