In 1998. I got my first Leatherman Wave. It had a slim profile for the pliers, a slim profile for the two knife blades, no pocket clip option, no bit drivers, and internal implements were non-locking. I was over the moon.

I used the everloving heck out of this multitool — it rode in my laptop bag for much of my career as a networking and cybersecurity consultant. There almost nothing I didn’t do with it other than break it — it was an absolute champion for everything I asked it to do. And with a bit of care, I learned to not get hurt because of non-locking implements folding under load.

In 2004, the “new” Wave came out. It had slightly larger pliers jaws and knife blades. It also had a removable pocket clip or removable lanyard loop as an aftermarket option and I used both extensively. Several fixed driver implements were replaced with large (using LM’s proprietary flat bits) and small (eyeglass sized) screwdriver bit holders and bits. Most importantly, all of the implements were locking, a revolution to me. I found a third-party supplier for S30V [*] blades and made my first multitool modification. Later, I sacrificed the head from a Rebar and turned this into a “Rave” to have replaceable cutting blades. I learned to really appreciate the post-2004 Wave/Rave, and it’s probably the multitool that I’ve carried on my person the most over the years.

The 2018 release of the Wave+ seemed perfect to me — the difference being that it came with replaceable cutting blades. This one was also modified with an S30V main knife blade. My well-loved “Rave” was retired and I used it constantly as my main multtool. Until now.

For Christmas I got my Leatherman Arc. My first Arc was returned to Leatherman because the awl implement was not finished. I expected that Leatherman would prefer to repair it, given that I had their custom shop laser-engrave my initials on the handle and my chaosmagnet symbol on the blade. This was a disappointing malfunction of Leatherman’s QC. The Arc I received in exchange has no QC issues.

The two big differences are that the Arc uses Leatherman’s “Free” technology, making every implement one-hand-openable, and that it has a Magnacut main blade. My Wave+ has been sent to the Drawer of Retired Multitools. It’s clean, lubricated and ready for work, but it’s not clear to me that I’ll be carrying it in the future.


[* — I actually don’t know if the aftermarket LM blades I’ve bought are really made from S30V instead of the default 420HC. They seem like they are, but I’m not a metallurgist and I’m relying upon the sellers to have told me the truth.]