Leatherman versus Swiss Army Knife

In My Humble Opinion
1

My trusty pocket knife broke after 20 years. They don’t make it anymore, so I’ve been researching and buying knives and such for the last few months. I’ve become obsessed. My reviews and research have brought up the concept of EDC, or Every Day Carry. EDC are the things you carry with you every day. I’ve revised my carry carry kits, first aid kits, and basically got my act together and overhauled my stuff, so that I’m prepared.

My research has suggested that it’s always a good idea to have a flashlight (key chain led light does the job,) a good quality fast deployable single blade pocket knife (http://www.amazon.com/Benchmade-940-Osborne-Design/dp/B001O0JNBM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1233796236&sr=8-1) (it weighs in at about 3 ounces so very easy to carry) and a multitool on you at all times.

The best multitool for doing hard work is this:

However, like all full size leatherman, it’s a bit of a beast. I have it and I love it, but I keep it in my desk drawer. It’s not really pocketable. A tool is only useful if you have it with you.

So. Leatherman makes a series of tools called the Juice. I have this one:

It’s pocketable and carryable, has good pliers. None of the tools lock, but that’s ok. It’s not for heavy work, it’s for EDC so that I have something on me when I need it.

Then there is also the Swiss Army Knives, or SAK.

For barely slightly smaller than the Juice I have this:

For barely slightly larger I have than the Juice I have this:

The difference between these last two are the pliers. The latter has a set of very small, although reasonably serviceable pliers, the former does not. The pliers are nowhere near as good as those on the Juice. However, the SAK has a lot more going for it in terms of tools. Real Phillips screwdriver, needle, tweezers, toothpick, magnifying glass, better scissors. In fact, the SAK is better all around in terms of tool selection and versatility. The Leatherman tools on the juice are basically equivalent to the quality on the SAK. The SAK has a much wider selection.

So, what it comes down to is the pliers and the design. If pliers are all important, you gotta go with the Leatherman. The butterfly design gives you a much bigger usable grip, and these are basically real pliers with excellent utility. If pliers are not important you go with the SAK for the versatility. But, do you completely dispense with the pliers and use the Champ Plus, and save a little size and weight, or do you go with the regular Champ and get a pair of pliers that have limited usability in a pinch (no pun intended?)

I’m torn. I keep pliers in my cars, and in my desk at home (but not work.) Pliers are pretty damn useful but most of the time if I’m doing something serious I’ll use a socket set or the right sized wrench. You can strip the hell out of things with pliers, so maybe the really small ones on the SAK are all I need.

Now I’ve said that the tools quality is equivalent, but that’s not strictly true. The knives on the Leatherman are better than those on the SAK, but then, if I’m also carrying a dedicated pocket knife, who cares?

Marines like Leatherman, but Magyver uses an SAK.

Yes, I’m obsessing, but which do you think is the better choice and why?

2

What’s wrong with both? I own every Juice model ever made, and love them. They are my “dress” multitools. But I also carry a SAK in my pack, and have both in my truck and desk. But in truth, the one on my belt every weekend is a Gerber.

Aren’t options a bitch sometimes?

3

The Gerber’s nice, but I don’t think it can compare to the Charge TTI. Why I don’t carry both is that weight is always an issue. You can only reasonably have so much shit in your pockets.

The SAK covers every base nicely with a minimum of weight. Except for the whole plier issue. I think if I could figure that out, I’d be golden.
I’ve been carrying the Juice XE6 for about a month. So far I haven’t use the pliers because every time I was doing something that needed pliers or a wrench I was at a place where I was able to use full size pliers or a wrench.

I think I’ll carry the SAK Champ with wrench for a while and see how that goes.

BTW, you really can’t beat the Benchmade for and EDC choice, I’ve also got Bucks, SOGS and a Cold Steel Ti lite, but the 940 kicks ass.

4

Of course it can’t. But I can carry the Gerber all day and not have my pants sag on that side, or look really silly in the coaches lounge at a debate tournament. Because I am at school or with students most of the day, I am precluded from carrying a dedicated knife. A multitool I can get away with. A basic blade, no way.

5

I have a Leatherman Micra on my keychain right now- nice and small but still quite useful. Hubby got it for me- it’s much more handy than the miniature Swiss Army knife on my other set of keys- the SA just has small scissors, one blade, a toothpick and a file. The Leatherman does stuff… :smiley:

6

Ditto. I have both a Micra and a Fenix EO1 on the keyring. Don’t leave the house without them.

7

I have had a Swisstool on me (generally in my front-left coverall pocket) for over 10 years and I would not consider being without it. It has several blades, a full tool-set, everything on it is a "lockblade"and it’s solid stainless steel.

Unclviny

8

I really, really like Victorinox Swiss Army knives for every day carry. They are small enough even to go into dress pants and you can put together furniture or replace a car battery with one (I have done both). They aren’t that expensive especially for the quality and I tend to lose mine and then go straight back to the sporting goods store and try out new models. I find my old ones later so I have several. I think my current model is something like a Tinker and I have never broken a part on one. I have a couple of Leathermans as well and I can’t dispute their quality but they just don’t sit as smooth and nicely in your pocket as well as a SAK.

It is funny that you should mention the pliers. Yesterday, at work, I didn’t realize what I was doing and stuck a fancy pen into my left ear. When I pulled it out, the spring and the broad plastic tip were missing and it was quite uncomfortable. I didn’t want to sit 5 hours in the emergency room so I had two coworkers look into my left ear canal and they saw nothing. I remembered the small pliers on my SAK and tried to talk someone into doing surgery on my ear and everyone refused because they didn’t want to rupture my ear drum. I had to take matters into my own hands. I had the spring out within 2 minutes and the large plastic tip out about 10 minutes later. There was no damage. Thank god for those SAK pliers.

9

Obviously, the needs of someone living in the woods for 6 months are different than the needs of someone living in town, but FWIW I hiked for 2000 miles carrying a Leatherman Micra and was never at a loss. If I was doing it again, I might think about a bigger main blade. But a Leatherman is slightly lighter than a SAK of equivalent size, and slightly easier to keep clean IMO.

10

How about a leatherman, a swiss army knife, a machete, a skinner, and a camp knife. That’s what you want, really

11

And Les Stroud, who will build me a village with them, then rustle up some fire to cook dinner…

:smiley:

12

nah, just have a shirka and a bushman follow you around everywhere :wink:

ETA: Er, to make this post have a point… I carry a swiss army knife, always have, thought about changing to leatherman specifically for the pliers, but, well, haven’t found enough of a point (only time I’ve ever needed pliers when I was out and about was after I got hit by a car on my bike and I had to fix some dealy on the chain, which was entirely encased. instead I called my work and told them I’d be late, and borrowed some pliers when I got there) to spend the money on a new multitool (I don’t call them “knives” because I live in Japan and you can’t carry a knife here, but no one’s bothered me about my SAK yet)

13

I’ve had a Victorinox Explorer for quite a while, and wouldn’t be without it. I use it every day, often multiple times, and find it hard to understand how anyone gets through life without one.

I carried a Leatherman tool for a while, principally due to the theoretical appeal of having pliers. But I found I rarely used them, and the tool seemed a bit too large and heavy. So it now sits in a drawer, while my SAK goes out every day.

14

[QUOTE=Shagnasty;10786130
It is funny that you should mention the pliers. Yesterday, at work, I didn’t realize what I was doing and stuck a fancy pen into my left ear. When I pulled it out, the spring and the broad plastic tip were missing and it was quite uncomfortable. I didn’t want to sit 5 hours in the emergency room so I had two coworkers look into my left ear canal and they saw nothing. I remembered the small pliers on my SAK and tried to talk someone into doing surgery on my ear and everyone refused because they didn’t want to rupture my ear drum. I had to take matters into my own hands. I had the spring out within 2 minutes and the large plastic tip out about 10 minutes later. There was no damage. Thank god for those SAK pliers.[/QUOTE]

No offence intended, and I really mean it*, but most of this post, the “how I got a pen stuck in my ear” part, kind of undermines your authority as someone from whom we ought to solicit advice.

I’m very minimalist with respect to what I’ll carry: thin wallet, damn pager, keyring with leatherman micra.

*In that I once set my testicles on fire while working in a laboratory, so, like, I’m not saying I wouldn’t have done the exact same thing, and in fact, I’m somewhat surprised that I haven’t, but rather that it is an atypical anecdote to offer up to support a choice of multi-tool.

15

Accidentally or on purpose?

16

Accidentally. I can start a MPSIMS thread if you’d like.

17

Quoth silenus:

Or all three, for that matter. My everyday carry includes a Wenger SAK in my right pants pocket, a generic Leatherman-type generic utility tool in a belt holster on the left, and a utility pen (tweezers, Xacto blades, jeweler’s screwdrivers, etc.) in my breast pocket. I find that I use something or other on one of them every day or so, and seldom does a week go by that I don’t find some use for each of them that neither of the other two could do as well. I take pride in the fact that whenever anyone asks “Hey, does anyone have a…”, I can answer “yes”, without waiting for them to finish their sentence :).

Incidentally, Shagnasty, one of the tools on my pen is called an “ear pick”. I’ve always been afraid to find out what it’s for… But I think you might have just solved that mystery for me.

18

I went through the same decision making process. Here is what I wound up getting. Leatherman Squirt P-4

Pliers are quite strong and functional for small jobs.

This multi-tool is smaller than the larger Leatherman’s and more precisely built. Victorinox Swiss Spirit

19

Here’s the [thread=505174]whole sordid tale[/thread]

Oh, and I have a squirt, not a micra. sorry

20

Does anyone have any experience with the Swiss Army Cybertool 41? I’m looking for a travel tool, and this seemed to be a lighter and more ergonomic alternative to the Leatherman.