I am new to this forum and I'm not trying to start any trouble but I would like to freely disagree with the reviewer’s negative appraisal of the Gerber 800 Legend multitool as compared to the Leatherman wave review. I hope I don’t get kicked off this forum for this but I don’t intend this to be mean spirited. Please don’t kick me off. Just delete the post if you think it is too negative.

If you are a Leatherman-o-phile you may not agree with this but I am just trying to point out the positives a little. This review is a few years old but it is still posted so I wanted to comment on it. (Disclaimer: I do own a Legend but have spent a lot of time with a Wave in my hand)

***Almost every flaw mentioned with the Legend exists to one degree or another in the Wave also. My specific objections were:

1-The light treatment of the fact that only the blades lock on the Wave while everything locks on the Legend.

2- The Wave (and Leatherman in general) was used as the ‘standard’ by which the Legend was judged meaning that any differences between the two such as thicker tipped pliers, etc, had to either add nothing to the legend or be sub-par compared to the Wave. Differences make a difference, and sometimes the devil is in the differences as well as the details. Ford invented the car, but there was a time there when Toyota and Honda made them better.

3- The reviewer pointed out that the Legend is larger and heavier than the Wave but only weighs 11% more. 223g verses 250g. Definitely a negative if you want something to go in your pocket but a plus if you want a beefy tool. Part of the extra weight is that each tool on the Legend is significantly thicker and beefier than the Wave. A point the reviewer neglected to point out. True that it is a little bulky for a pocket tool but it isn’t a pocket tool. Because of it’s size and construction, it is kind of in it’s own class.

4-It’s true that the Phillips head driver is tricky to get out with your thumb nail. Try some of the tools on the Wave and you will have the same difficulty--they are buried deep in the tool and just as taxing on the thumb nail. The thin fingered will not find this a problem since the pinky slips in to grab the Phillips head. The file comes out nicely just by grabbing it by the side if you loosen the axles slightly.

5- I used the Fiskar scissors to cut through 3/16” rawhide and had no problems with the scissors jamming.

6- The beauty of the replaceable Tungsten carbide cutters isn’t that they can cut so much better than the Wave. Gerber never makes that claim, and so what if the Wave can cut through the same materials? I get the feeling the reviewer thought that they needed to prove the Wave was still equal here. The point is that you get three cutting surfaces, and more if you buy more. The Wave has one cutting surface and zero after it’s damaged or dull.

While I realize this was merely a multi-tool review and not a life raft review – fair is still fair. Every Wave owner I show the Legend to loves it and considers the Legend it’s equal or better. It may not live up to all the hype put out by Gerber but I believe it is still an alternative to seriously consider. Notice how I didn’t make a big deal about the replaceable jig saw blade or how I had no problem finding inserts at Home Depot. Neither did the reviewer, at least a big deal about how cool it is.

I too agree that the cordura belt holder is cheesy. A flaw with every Gerber tool. That’s why I made my own leather belt holder with a flashlight holder and a place for spare jig blades and how I got to test the scissors while I did. If someone has a website they will post a picture of it on so it can be placed in a post I will be happy to email it to them. If not, no biggy!

$65 to $69 at Walmart.

D. Allison