Why a Multitool?

I have EDC a knife for a long time, one CRKT money clip style knife clipped to my keychain, and usually another Opinel or Benchmade, or CRKT M16 if going anywhere when not wearing my work clothes.

I have searched the archives under things like multitool and leatherman, but haven't been able to find good reasons to carry Multitools for a survival situation.

The closest I came was to one poster who mentioned he'd rather carry a multitool than a knife because if he was trapped in an elevator - the multitool made more sense. Good thinking for daily carry in an urban environment.

So - other than everyday use, eg people who work with tools everyday, is there much benefit to me getting a Leatherman Juice or similar? I've gone this long without having to search for such tools daily, but am wondering if there really is a survival advantage over what's already in a PSK and good knife.

I would think there is an advantage to a lightweight, EDC shelter such as a cheap emergency blanket or heatsheet (and I have a full BOB in my trunk with tarps etc) that can stay on you. And something that can be used as a pry tool, which I haven't found yet.

Thanks!

Eric

I think of my Leatherman Wave (home) and Kick (work) as necessary parts of my wardrobe. They aren't for just survival, they are for fixing little annoyances like loose screws, stripping wire, removing jammed objects, fixing toys, trimming plants, measuring stuff, opening sample canisters, etc... If I had to run to the tool box each time nothing would ever get done.

-Blast

I have to second Blast on his endorsement of a multitool for EDC. In an urban setting I believe it is an excellent survival tool. Granted, none of the blades are going to replace a good fixed blade knife in a wilderness situation, but they are more than serviceable and the other tools compensate for any shortcomings. You mention that you have gone this long without a multitool, but i can attest that once you start carrying one it's amazing how often you will find yourself using it. The Wave, albeit heavy, has just about everything I need at work, around the house or running errands.

The Wave also includes a ballistic nylon sheath (I know that some come with a leather sheath) that has room for some additional items. For example, in the two elastic side pieces I have a Fisher Space pen and a small single AAA-cell flashlight. There is also a small pocket on the front of the sheath and the back on the inside. I used some electrical tape to strap down some REI stormproof matches and a pre-threaded needle (thread wrapped around) on an old credit card (the card allows the tape to be easily removed and provides a good backing to prevent the matches from breaking) and inserted that into the rear inside pouch. The front pocket (covered by the flap) has the match striker strip. Just a way to stow a little extra gear.

See Doug Ritter's review at http://www.equipped.org/lm_charge-wave.htm
Doug's review mentions stashing the single AAA-cell flashlight

Just pulled out that cut down credit card to admire my handiwork and apparently I also taped four mini zip ties (length cut down) and taped those on there too.

Eric,

I'm a great fan of buying multitools but no so good at using them. I keep a Gerber tool in the car which I have used on occasion but not often. I'd rather use a tool that was purpose built for the job at hand. For instance I have a screwdriver like tool that fits the typical "F" TV connectors. I'd rather walk down 3 flights of stairs and back up to get and use that tool than futz around with the pliers of a multitool. But that's just me. I do keep multitools in my BOB and cars just in case, however I don't I'd carry one everyday on my person.

Countycomm.com carries 2 sizes of small pry bars that might interest you.

Pound-for-pound (or more correctly, ounce-for-ounce), one could argue that a multi-tool provides as much or more bang for the buck as any EDC gear/tool/implement. Admittedly, the usefulness to you depends on your day-to-day environment, but given the wide selection of tool configurations among the manufacturers, I think you'd be hard pressed not to find one that isn't useful to your lifestyle.

You acknowledge their particular suitability to an urban environment. Agree 100%. Consider then, isn't that where most of us spend most of our time ... in an urban environment? Replacement for a good fixed-blade knife while camping, hunting, hiking, or other wilderness activity? Absolutely not. Like any tool designed for multiple tasks, they're not as effective as an arsenal of individual, dedicated tools (that, for obvious reasons, don't lend themselves to compact EDC/PSKs). But they're not meant to compete with dedicated tools.

Given their reasonable cost, light weight, small bulk, I view multi-tools as an efficient bit of redundancy in a kit or on my belt. At <$100 (in most cases), why not?


Not sure what size/weight you have in mind, but the soon-available breacher bar from CountyCom looks interesting for a small bag.

bmo,

Hey newguy, welcome to the fire! My LM Wave came with the leather sheath. It looks nice but it isn't nearly as practical or stuffable as the nylon one.

-Blast

Blast,

Thanks for the welcome and I'm glad to be here. I got the Wave as a gift (finally) and I didn't specify leather or nylon so it was dumb luck for me.

-bmo

As someone who wouldn't be caught without my Wave, I have to strongly agree with the posts. I carry mine in a Nite-Ize Pock-its holster. This allows me to also carry a mini-mag, a pen and writing paper and some bandaids. There isn't a day goes by that I don't use it at home, work or campout.

I carry a pocket knife and a Swiss Tech Micro Lite instead of the big, bulky Leatherman-like devices, and I use both tools frequently.

I'm not sure what I'd do with a multi-tool if I were trapped in an elevator. On the other hand, I've never been trapped in an elevator, and I'm infrequently in them, so his sensible choice doesn't seem to work for me. (I don't disagree with his choice for him; it just isn't the right choice for me.)

One of the issues is comfort level - guys who have multi-tools and use them have a comfort level on what their uses are and when they need them. I use my micro lite more for the screw drivers than for the pliers, but I use the pliers occasionally. My pocket knife gets used pretty much every day. Many people never have occasion to use a knife. They use something else when I find the knife useful and convenient.

Multi-tools are a compromise. I don't like using a knife blade in the multi-tool handle. The screw driver blades are all off-center and don't torque well. The pliers are the best of the tools, although the handle may be so uncomfortable I can't grip it as tightly as i can 'real' pliers. It's like a spork - it's not a good spoon, and it's a sucky fork. The issue is whether the compromises make it convenient enough that you have it when you need it and don't have the real tools.

I was the one who mentioned getting stuck in lifts. Not actually a great case study because most modern lifts are designed to prevent self-rescue and are hard to escape from whatever you have. I think a pry-bar is probably most useful there, the bigger the better.

However, in an urban environment it's good to have screwdrivers, wire cutters, diamond files etc. Everything near where I live is man made, usually from metal or glass. For me living off the land doesn't mean setting traps for rabbits, it means raiding neighbour's houses for tinned food. I want a tin opener.

Part of my feeling is that I just don't see much need for a big knife in the city. If you need to build a shelter or cut down trees or split wood, fine, but in the city there are any number of buildings to shelter in. I do use a blade daily, but it's the tiny one on a Leatherman P4, and it mostly cuts plastic, string, opens packages etc. I use scissors about as often.

Pliers I think are fairly general purpose. I mostly use them as tongs to hold things I don't want to touch with my hands. This can include wasps, plants with thorns and camping stoves that are hot, so I see it as an outdoors tool. Sometimes they can be used like tweezers. In an urban environment they are good for holding metal, and for twisting and breaking it.

Everything's a compromise. For me a multitool has more value for weight.

The answer, in my opinion, is simple: real !@#$in’ pliers! Some pocketknives come with pliers, yes, but those things are just too darn small and fragile to do a lot of jobs I’ve wanted to do. Of course, not everyone will find a use for having a good set of pliers on them, but you will really never know until you try it. After carrying a multi-tool for a while, I now use those pliers quite frequently!

Same here, plus scissors. A multi-tool is just a good way to carry pliers and scissors with me in a relatively low-key way. Both items are very useful for survival and daily chores. They are especially good for modifying various items for improvised uses.

You might pose the question to Les Stroud, aka Survivorman, who has stated many times he simply won't be without a multi-tool in the wilds if he has a choice.

Because the name of the game is Improvisation, Improvisation, Improvisation.

In a perfect world one would have a walk in tool shop that one could carry around in one's wallet.

Sadly, this is the real world. A multi-tool is like a Swiss Army Knife. Won't do any job brilliantly, but will do them just well enough. On a decent tool you get a pair of pliers, A few screw drivers. One or more mediocre to fair blades. A file(diamond coated for choice. A pretty good saw plus one or two other bits.

Think of a tool as being a force multiplyer.

Thanks for all the great replies. I am off to take a look at the various models!

You need quite a big multitool to get decent pliers on it, though. I have a Swiss Tool which qualifies, but the Juice range doesn't in my view.

The P4 is also a bit weedy, but just about up to the job of cutting and shaping my jumbo paper-clips, which is my minimal criteria. The Juice S2 makes it easier, and adds a decent pair of scissors. For working near human flesh, eg for cutting someone's shoe off, I'm more comfortable using scissors than a knife.

I'm not big on multi-tools, but I like the Leatherman Charge TTi. S30V steel for the main knife blade, diamond coated file. IMO a fairly comfortable handle -- YMMV.

$.02

Multitools have variety of uses in the field that even excelent knife can't duplicate.

Saw: cutting wood without risking of breaking your knife

Pliers: if rope for tighting not available maybe there is some wire that can be used, also lifitng hot things of the fire, field repairs, tweezers

Scisors: personal hygene, medical work

Can opener: does better job than the knife in a safer manner

File: fine tunning traps, guns

Screwedrivers: small hole punchers, field repairs to striping down something

Nice big knife is a life saver but multi tool can sort of match its capabilities yet exceed them with extra tools. Plus if your blade breaks you are out of luck. If blade breaks on multitool there is always a second one to fall back on.

So true.

It gives you options.

I wouldn't be without a multitool. Every survival situation I can imagine myself in is a mix, spanning both man-made and natural materials; being stranded in pure wilderness is an anomaly. The ability to fix, build, and improvise is priceless--and that includes the day-to-day stuff of living.

If I'm doing heavy work, I'll add a stout folder, an axe, a 10" vise-grip, a chainsaw, etc. etc. Then, the multitool fills in the gaps.

The Leatherman Wave II is the one I always come back to. It's strong, comfortable, and very versatile. I use the pliers constantly, the blades on occasion, and the other tools on an irregular basis. When I need to go "urban" I clip on the excellent pocket clip and forgo the belt sheath. But I would feel undressed without this "package" of possibilities close at hand.

I have a Swisstool Spirit myself. For me Leathermans are a bit too heavy and on the bulky side, and Gerber multitools, even with normal use, break on me (I've gone through two and I'm never buying their multitool line again). So a Swisstool was the obvious choice for me, at least.

A good multitool is a great companion piece for any folding knife you EDC. While we're talking about being unequipped here, I feel the need to get a hold of a good fixed blade. I've got one but it's a cheapo Wal-Mart model...

Survival situations vary and not all occur in the bush.

Not all situations where a Multitool would be useful are life or death, but I find I get into a lot of situations without my toolbox on hand.

When I go hiking in relatively populated areas, no one looks twice at the Charge Ti, but I've gotten more than a few looks with my other knives strapped to my hip.

When I go further out on hikes or camping my other knives come out, but they're not folders. Even so, I have my Multitool with me and have used it.

While I've taken courses on primitive tool making, and can utilize stone, wood, bone and so on to make a lot of the things I might need in a survival situation. Sometimes I can make the job easier with my Multitool.

I'd rather make a fine point on a bone hook with my Charge Ti's file than sand the bone down on a rock, but that would only be necessary if I lost the hooks in my PSK.

Even though I can break antlers for use in knapping by using an angled edge on a stone to create a place for a controlled break, or use fire to weaken a breaking point for that matter, my Multitool's saw is faster and cleaner. In regards to knapping, I once used the small phillips head tip firmly placed in my Charge Ti to knap a point on an small arrow. Granted I'd prefer the controlled leverage of an Ishi stick, but in a pinch it worked.

If I need to cut rope, straps, or even cordage I make, the serrated blade comes in handy.

I trimmed a hangnail while on the trail with the scissors.

I don't know either. I have a SOG multiplier in my BOB, and I EDC a Crosscut on my keychain. I've used it, maybe, three times. I usually have a pocket knife outside of work, and even then, maybe use it once every other day (for stuff that really doesn't need a knife, like the mail). At work, I don't carry anything besides my pen, wallet, keys, phone, stethoscope.

Obviously I'm still here.

I don't have a multitool and would never carry it everyday anyway, it's too bulky, it's still expensive and if you loose it you loose everything.

For opening cans, I have a (1 dollar?) p51 military can opener. It's tiny and light, costs nothing, and makes a cleaner cut. You can hang it on your keychain or put it in your wallet.

For scissors, I have tiny folding scissors I got from a cheap AMK Pocket Medic on my keychain.

For tweezers, I have good quality Sliver Gripper tweezers (about 7 dollars)

And I carry a one handed opening Spyderco Delica (plain edge) everyday. I don't feel it the way I carry it (as on Doug's picture) and it's very light.

As for the saw, believe me there's not much that can be cut with such a small length. To be really effective a saw should be ideally half an arm span long. The shortest useful saw is the pruning saw but you can do what it's capable of doing with a sheath knife. It's just quicker with it. The sheath knife is a survival tool while the pruning saw is a crafting tool.

If I had to carry pliers, I would buy a special sheath that you can get in fishing stores and get normal affordable real needle nose pliers from the hardware store.

But again, YMMV!

Personally, I do not like the extra weight usually but I can really see some uses. I can see using the scissors to cut moleskin or bandages, the saw for cutting small sticks for a fire or notching sticks for traps. I can see the knife blades for any cutting they are big enough to handle. The file can be used for a variety of things, the pliers are great for twisting that extra locking loop into a snare, if the need ever comes along.
Mainly they are just handy for the extra tools. A loose cross country ski binging, getting into that screwed in battery compartment.
I will say, I prefer a real knife with a sturdy fixed blade as a survival tool. The Leatherman is a secondary tool with many more options but to me, not a substitute for a good knife. I usually take both along.

I don't see a multi-tool vs knife as an either or situation. I use both. I have a Leatherman Wave (leather sheath) and I wear it whenever I am not at work. I have some other brand in my briefcase that I take to work. I also have a RSK that I wear at work and at home. The RSK is for all of my knife cutting tasks and the wave is for everything else. Once you get used to having it on your belt, I find that I really miss it when I leave it off for some reason. Just the other day I needed to use the pliers to get a grip on the little bulb in my minimag light to replace it.

How is that any different than losing your knife? You also have about $50 worth of gear listed and one can find a pretty decent multi-tool in that price range and you still are missing some sort of pliers, screwdrivers and a file. While potentially not necessary for survival, they sure make life considerably easier.

For me, the “bulk” of a multi-tool is easily offset by the fact I have 11-13 tools easily accessible.







While you aren't going to saw logs with it, I do find the MT saw useful for cutting 1" dia saplings for frame poles and the like.

While not the perfect tool for every job, its much simpler to carry a single piece of equipment Vs 13.

Well, part of me smells troll tracks in this post, but I'll play along.

I EDC an LM Supertool and Micra, but I consider myself rural despite being a professional geek. Any of our Vermont members will tell you, we have rural and we have small parts of the Burlington area that you can drive through in less than an hour on the surface roads. Assuming you don't have to stop for moose to make up their minds.

Some every day, and not so every day, usages my various multis have had over the years, by part:

Pliers
-Picking up things that are hot/sharp/generally nasty
-pulling porcupine quills (OUCH!) and large thorns, plucking feathers
-tightening wire
-improving your grip on wet/oily paracord or vines when tieing knots
-improving your grip on small and wet/oily metal or plastic bits
-cracking certain small nuts and seeds
-crimping various metal and plastic items
-cutting wire
-breaking zip ties and similiar closure items
-twisting various kinds of bolts (and if you don't think that is a survival situation, you've never had a battery cable wiggle loose in the middle of the night at 10 below on a back back road)

File
-smoothing metal edges to protect you or gear
-sharpening machete (you could sharpen other blades with it, too)
-filings from a mag bar or some other source of magnesium or aluminum for starting a fire
-putting a point on something hard
-striker for strike anywhere matches when most stuff is wet

Saw
-Shaping wood or rigid plastic (includes shelter building)
-spine for striking on ferro rod
-spine for scaling fish
-spine for other light scraping duties
-tip has a notch- use it for removing hooks from fish, certain VERY find scraping

Knife blades
-back up, not the main reason I carry the thing. But you always have a back up- redundancy is life, that is why you have two lungs

Screwdrivers
-if it can screw together, it will unscrew if you give it time
-largest, for prying open freshwater mussels and the like
-smallest, sharp enough to use as awl or gouge

Can opener
-the obvious reason
-gutting blade (not the best, but it works for fish)
-scraping on small wood (trap triggers and the like)

Scissors
-they're scissors
-cutting, stripping light wire

Ruler scribed on the outside of the handle
-What do you normally do with a ruler?
-I can't think of a single non-urban use, honestly

Yes, you can fake a lot of this with a knife blade- you can scrape, pry, tighten screws, and try to cut through a 3" tree limb. But that edge is a valuable survival tool, I'd rather not dull or chip it (or break it) when I may need to be able to count on it before I can sharpen it. As a result, I carry a tool that does more than just cut, along with at least one that only cuts (aka, a knife). And I've never found the weight to be an issue, not for what I'm getting. I own good single blade folders that weigh as much and don't have as many tricks up their sleeve.

So, I guess my counter question is this:
Why not a multitool (or SAK and a small pair of pliers) for EDC and survival?

From another perspective, most people don't carry knives any more and never seem to have any serious handicap. Why do you carry a knife? I don't need to know the answer, I just want you to think it through, and apply your answer to the question of "why a multitool".

I agree with ALL of your comments, Ironraven

Why a Multitool? To increase my chances of using a first aid kit?

I have a Gerber multitool. I've already accidentally cut myself with the blade. I've heard of other people getting pinched while using the pliers.

It all depends upon what you want to get the most out of the multitool.

BTW I'm a smart person. But I have done some stupid things. Hence a ready available first aid kit.

If you really want to find the right tool for you, I suggest you visit a website out there that helps folks like you with this very same problem. Check out Multitool.org They have lots of reviews, in depth info on lots of subjects and a forums like ETS where they converse on these multitools. They have on several occasion hooked someone up with a tool that was right for them, check them out and see if you like what they have to offer.

I use mine (several) for fixing things -- they have uses a knife doesn't; screwdrivers, pliers, etc.

tro

The gear you listed adds up to more weight and bulk than a good Leatherman tool. My Leatherman is always on my belt, is less bulky than what you listed above and has more tools. When you include the Delica and real quality pliers, the cost is roughly the same as many of the full sized Leatherman models available at Wal-Mart and Target. You are fooling yourself with a false economy. And what good are your tools if they are not always with you? You don't get to plan your next emergency.



Some of the most useful cuts of wood in a survival situation (poles for shelter, poles for an improvised litter, poles for a fish trap, etc etc) are less than 1" in diameter and it's a lot easier to make those 1" cuts with the saw on my Leatherman than chopping away with a large knife. I know, I've done both multiple times. Plus the Leatherman saw is infinitely better for fine work like trap triggers and other improvised parts. Remember that the saw works great on materials other than wood like plastic and bone.

Sometimes, you don't know what you don't know.

As an aside, for anyone who's interested:

The new Leatherman Skeletools just showed up on their website (www.leatherman.com).

I must have one. Or both. Curse my multitool addiction! :-)

Eric,

I think you would find that a multi-tool is going to be far more useful than any regular fixed blade or folding knife, whether for everyday use as many of us attest to, or for survival purposes.

The reason is simple, there are a variety of tool implements on a multi-tool that a knife simply won't suitably substitute for. Just to name a few very real and likely survival uses: Wire-cutting, wood sawing, opening cans and bottles, screwdriving, crimping, prying, nut and bolt tightening, nutcracking, potholding, etc. It also has at least one decent knife blade on it for cutting, so in that sense it can emulate to some degree what your other more dedicated use knives do as well.

I've seen whole elk field dressed with a Leatherman tool, about as quick as I could do it with my old buck hunter. In fact, the notion that it can be used for everyday tasks ought to legitimize it's value as a survival tool I would think.

Keep your other knives with you if you can. I've used my Leatherman Wave regularly in remote wilderness settings and in downtown Manhattan.

I agree completely! I'm also glad that you posted the list of multi-tool uses so I can convince my wife that I need another one.

I don't understand this "either/or" mentality with the knife vs. multitool (I also smell trolls lurking). It seems to me that someone who wants to be prepared for a variety of situations would respect the redundancy that having both knife and multitool provides. Even some of the higher-end Leatherman tools have better quality knife blades than the cheap folders one would find at Wally-World or Target.

One other reason for the multi-tool. I teach at a high school where the administration would absolutely panic if they saw me packing a fixed blade. I carry a Leatherman Squirt S4 with a photon II attached to the key ring. Most faculty ignore it or comment on how useful the tools are. I keep my Charge Ti locked in my briefcase for heavier use.

If one doesn't wish to EDC both knife and multitool, at least consider tossing a decent multitool in the BOB.

DavidBinGA,

Hey, welcome to the fire new guy! Thanks for the interesting link, I hadn't seen that site before.

-Blast

Hey, that's cool. I didn't know that.

-Blast, learning something without the need for penicillin

You can tune this to your own arm length by measuring the distance from your eye to the multi-tool or other measuring object in your hand and doing a bit of simple trigonometry to determine the precise angle. After that more simple trig can be used to determine the distance to objects of known size (height or width). This is good stuff.

The real problem, then, is using the 8 or so inches of the multitool to measure out the 25, 50, or 100 feet reliably

I've ordered the Leatherman Wave for carry in jacket pocket. That multitool.org site was great in helping me choose. To those two or three who consider my posting one of a troll, I had to look up what a troll is but I don't think getting feedback on whether I should add one is trolling... and if it is, I am now a better equipped troll

Eric

In an emergency, often the most important thing to do is to fix what is broken, and that is where a multitool excels.

And that may be all that is needed to turn an emergency into an inconvenience and prevent the emergency from becoming a survival situation.

The one time I left out of the house without my Leatherman Supertool, I got trapped in the bathroom at Albertson's at almost 11:00 pm.

Making a feminine hygene run for my honey-bunny and before leaving the house I looked at my leatherman and thought "nah, I'm just going to the store".

Never again will I buy tampons without my multitool!!!

Some jack-leg pulled the screws out of the door knob on the men's room so that when I pulled the door closed, the knob came off and I was trapped.

I tried yelling help through the hole where the knob used to be but to no avail. The night stocking grunts had their ipods or something else stuck in their ears and I was on my own. (I wonder if Les could make a Survivorman episode out of that?)

Fortunately, I had my Delica stuck in my waistband and used it to jimmy the door open (not what I had in mind when I bought it but what the heck).

I told my wife to bury me with my Leatherman when the time comes and she quickly told me she was not about to stick a perfectly good multitool in the ground.

BTW: not only do I carry my multitool EVERYWHERE, but I also have added feminine hygene goodies to the hurricanne box, car BOB, etc so I won't have to make anymore midnight runs to the store.

I suspect that the troll thing came to pass because your question has been asked here more than once. But if you did not spend hours (days) reading back issues, or do a certain amount of searching, you would not know that. Enjoy your Wave, I do mine (and it is my third Leatherman).

ps. I prefer to have my Wave attached to my belt, if yours is in a jacket pocket, and you are not wearing the jacket when you need it, you are SOL...

"...simple trigonometry..."

An oxymoron, right???

I acknowledge a multitool has its merits, but I still wouldn't carry it everyday. Maybe if I was a firefighter or working in maintenance or something like that, but not all the time. Most of the items I listed I do carry everyday. The folding scissors and Sliver Grippers are on my keychain along with a Fox-40 whistle and Photon II. The p51 is in my wallet and the Spyderco Delica is on my waistband and doesn't show.

As for using the multitool saw in the woods, say in a winter setting the cold would catch you. Say you're wearing a parka, you have to remove your mitts, grab it from the sheath (unless you carry it on your neck) open the tiny saw in the bitter cold, be careful not to drop it in deep snow and so on, it's out of the question.

Bah- I have size 12.5 feet, 12 give or take an eigth. I also know my hands and feet for measurements like a Russian infantryman knows his spade. If I don't need to be closer than a quarter inch, my shoes come off. :P

It was part of the tone of the post, I couldn't tell if you were looking for advice or to bicker. If I had thought it really was trolling (better than 60% chance), I wouldn't have bothered to add.

Nothing wrong with carrying the "equivalent tools" to a multitool every day. In fact, that's what the multitool evolved from -- trying to cram the essence of that functionality into a single package.

You can certainly get the same functionality in stronger tools, for less money, but with more bulk.

In my younger days, I rarely carried a multitool with me on my solo backpacking trips. I could assemble equivalent "capabilities" and save several ounces. And in situations where you carry everything on your back (and are responsible for others' welfare too), those few ounces are better spent on backup clothing etc.

The thing about a good multitool is that I have it within reach at all times. There are more powerful tools in my car in the parking lot, in my shop, etc. etc. Every "kit" I have has better tools. But if I'm on the 30th floor of some office tower, they might as well be on Mars.

Something that just occured to me (sorry I'm posting so much in this).

I may have mentioned it before, buy my girlfriend recieved a Leatherman PST as a gift before she left to Africa on a 2-year Peace Corps stint. Used it A LOT. It still looks pretty good, despite a bit of rust spotting on the blade. But apparently the entire village used it and loved it.

Anyway... she still sends packages to her village. If any of you have old/retired multi-tools and want to donate them, I'll make sure they get sent in her next care package (my contributions last time were soccer balls, a pump, and some Photon lights). PM me if you're interested.

Sorry for the "ad" type of tone with this, it's supposed to be an endorsement for teh usefulness of a multitool in certain situations!

For some good stories about the usefulness of a mutitool, check out the "Tool Tales" section under the "Leatherman World" heading on Leatherman's website...

There are some interesting applications of their fine tools in there...which I imagine similar brands could serve, as well. I own a few Leatherman and Gerber multi-tools, and I have to say I prefer Leatherman above the Gerbers, though I have no ties to either company.

Harley

Eric,

I apologize. Sometimes we get folks who enter the forum just to create controversy with seemingly divisive questions. I made an assumption, and it clearly made me an a**.

Welcome to the forum!

- Brian

Where do you carry the quality fullsized pliers? Do they show?



Say there's terrain in the world somewhat different than Canada in winter. I know, such an idea is ridiculous, but just sayin'...

LOL!

-Blast, watching the thermometer climb above 90F

I've read Cody Lundin's book "The art of keeping your ass alive" and it seems he too finds a multitool rather silly. Cody is a survival instructor in the Arizona desert. He does carry one just for the wire cutter since Arizona is full of rusty barbed-wire fencing.

I find myself grabbing my multitool at least once a day, probably more. And, yes I a carry a dedicated folder also, for the normal cutting jobs.

Seems enough reason for me to carry it.

I have:
A Swiss Tool. Rescue Version. Big, solid, beautiful construction.

A Leatherman Wave. 154cm steel blades. Takes and keeps a reasonable edge.

A Leatherman Juice XE6. Small, none locking blades. Think Swiss Champ with pliers attached.

They are have their good points and their weaknesses. I prefer to carry the Swiss Tool on my pack. The Leatherman on my belt and the Juice in any situation in which having a locking blade on me is a very, very bad idea. As in get you arrested.


Interestingly, Victorinox classify their locking blade knives like the Rucksack as tools rather than knives. The blades and saw's on them are excellent.
If I was back wooding in Canada a Granfors Bruks Laplander saw would be in my pocket. With a decent fixed blade knife suitable for very cold conditions. Suitable means Fallkniven F1, A1 etc or one of the Scandinavian Puukko's.
Plus a serious firelighting kit.

I guess he carries one because he too was seduced by the false safety that a silly multitool provides. He gave it a try and found himself only using it about three times in nine years. He probably just forgot about it and never bothered upgrading it with a dedicated wire cutter. Note that he carries it on his fanny pack along with his extra flashlight so it's not permanently on his body as an essential piece of gear.

As for small multi-tools not having decent pliers, check out the new Leatherman Squirt E4. One of the smallest in the Leatherman line and the pliers while small are of a design that works in a small size -- electrical pliers: wire strippers, cutters and a needlenose tip. That will work in a small format and the Squirt is small enough to go in my Mission Wallet.

Lundin also calls a Mora S-1 a "full tang" knife, which it is not. What does that mean? He has his opinions, as we all do, but they are only opinions...

A multi-tool is just the next incarnation of the venerable Swiss army knife. It's not perfect, but it can be used to improvise in many situations when it's simply not possible to carry a tool box on your person (especially one that so easily slips in a pocket). Instead of having to carry a separate locking blade, screwdrivers, file, saw, can opener, bottle opener, wire cutters, pliers, ect; you have everything in one easy to carry package.

For me, I normally carry a Benchmade 707, but that often gets switched out with a Leatherman Charge when I feel like I'll need it. I also have a Leatherman in my truck and in my backpack. They've come in so handy over the years it's an indispensable part of my gear. Snowmobiling, camping, boating, hiking, working, school.....every environment I've been in it has proved useful at one point or another. Same with my little surefire flashlight. That's why I always keep both nearby.

No, he is just plain wrong. Believing 2+2=5 is not an opinion, it is an error. Full tang? It is or it is not.


Pliers/wire cutter is the only tool a multitool has on a SAK. Because of the "inline geometry" of a SAK, it is much easier for me to use.

I rarely carry a multi-tool, but have many stashed here and there.