From the reviews and chatter I've seen on other forums, the consensus seemed to be that Leatherman makes some bulletproof multi-tools while the Gerber's have cheap metal and weak rivets and don't last nearly as long. The pliers strip out, the blades stop locking up, the rivets get weakened, everything gets loose, and blades break off.

I think the caveat there though is that the people who seem to be trashing Gerber are the ones who use their multi-tools everyday and really put them through some hard dailiy use. If you only use your multi-tool once in blue moon then the price savings might make Gerber the better buy for you.