I’m looking to get a multitool to throw in with our festival gear (festivals usually equal three to five days of car-camping with a somewhat elaborate set up and a mobile cart with a totem, sunshade, etc.). We don’t need it to do everything, but since I’ve never had one am not sure which tools are more important than others. Pliers, sure. A saw? No. Nor nail file, shitty scissors (though good scissors yes), or fish scaler. Again, we’re going to be in relative comfort, but quick repairs (for us or a neighbour) are always a possibility.
Years ago ‘Leatherman’ was the only answer. Now that there’s choice, I figure Dopers with experience would have some advice.
Leatherman and Gerber seem to run around the same quality with the difference being in their approach to design. Leatherman has traditionally has been a knife with other tools, while Gerber was seen as a tool that happened to have a knife. With the amount of different models both companies offer these days it’s probably best to do a little internet research and then go try a few.
My only advice is to never cheap out on an off brand. They are very poor quality.
I’ve had both and prefer the Leatherman series. The Gerber I had, and it’s been a few years, didn’t have a comfortable grip for either the knife nor the other tools. I don’t recall which model I had though.
Leatherman has quite a few models with varying toolsets so you need to do your research on their website and then shop the online world. You probably won’t need the crimper for blasting caps!
I carry the Gerber Multiplier. The main distinguishing feature that I value on this tool is the ability to deploy the pliers one-handed with a simple flick of the wrist. Comes in quite handy.
Other way around. You flick your wrist and the pliers slide out and lock into place. You push the release to slide them back into the tool. I have a Gerber and really like it. On drawback is that you have to deploy the pliers to get to the other tools you might use more often like the bottle opener.
I own multiple examples of both brands. It’s a toss-up. Get a Leatherman Wave or a Gerber Multi-plier. Same-same as to functionality, just go with whichever one pushes your buttons.
I have a Gerber Multitool Sport for when I need pliers. I carry it in my bag most of the time, only putting it on my belt when there’s a very high likelyhood of needing it often.
But I always have my Victorinox Super Tinker in my pocket, unless I’m going into someplace that won’t allow it, such as an airport. It doesn’t have pliers, but does just about everything I need most every day. The knives are easier to use than those on the Gerber and the screwdrivers serve for most purposes.
I have several Leatherman tools, a Surge, a Wave, and I believe a Core. One live in my truck, one in my shooting bag, and one in a drawer in the kitchen.
You want me to tell you about my multi-tool? Well, it’s falling apart, pliers don’t work no more, and the “knife” is less useful at cutting stuff than a butter knife. Can’t tell you what brand it is so you can avoid buying it either, as the brand name was on a part of it that fell off.
Same here. I had one of the early model Multi-pliers. It had the blunt pliers, not the more needle nose type. I prefer the Wave now. With the Wave, I can deploy the knife blades without opening the thing up. And I like having those scissors.
And you can deploy the knifes one handed. This is useful when standing at the top of a ladder, as I’ve found a couple of times.
My only complaint with the Wave is that it’s a little stiff and I’m finding it hard to get the smaller tools out with just my fingernail and have to use something else(coin, key) to flick them out. It may be just a lubrication issue.
I had an off-brand one where I could deploy the pliers one-handed with a butterfly-knife-like motion. It was kinda neat as a parlor trick, but I’ve never found it to be a practical feature. I’ve since replaced it with a Leatherman Wave, with joints stiff enough that I can’t butterfly it, but much better overall quality, and a slightly better selection of tools.
I like that the Leatherman has the knife blades (and saw and file) open on the outside of the handle instead of the inside. Not only does it mean you can deploy those without opening the pliers, but it also makes for a more comfortable grip on the pliers when you’re using those.
Another vote for the Wave for general use, though I wish it had either another knife (Preferably a gut hook knife) instead of the saw. Mine came with two ‘bit cards’ which when used with the removable bit adapter allow me to screw or unscrew nearly every fastener [phillips, flat, square, hex, torq] known to man (Except security screws, but I bet you can get a bit for that). The holster also holds a small flashlight and the driver extension. It also has an eyeglass (or precision) screwdriver in flat and phillips, so I can repair glasses, which has come in handy more than once.
My previous Leatherman was a Pulse, which was great, except that it didn’t have as many driver bit options, nor did it have the external, single hand opening blades.
My latest multi-tool is a Leatherman Skeletool which sucks.
It’s a pair of pliers, knife, useless flat bit-type screwdriver, and uh, a bottle opener? One side of the multi-tool doesn’t actually have any functionality aside from being half of the pliers.
Doesn’t really weigh any less that a fully kitted-out multi-tool either, which I believe was the point of the thing (in addition to low price).
It was a gift, and I use it as a down and dirty work tool that I don’t worry about abusing.
You didn’t say what your budget is but for a bike event we got a hundred of these. Yes, it has that damn saw. But the rest is really cool and a lot of us are still packing and using them almost 4 years later.
No budget, really. I’m not looking to overspend on a gold-plated gizmo with tools I don’t need, but I’m assuming I’ll be paying between $50 and $150 if the need/right tool is there. Given that this is as a backup tool to take festival camping, we can wait for sales, too.
My identified needs are a knife (didn’t think so at first), pliers, something to easily nip through zip ties and the like, and I really like the flat/phillips screwdriver possibility. So far most of everything else is gravy.
Except maybe the scissors. I have a pair on my Swiss army knife and they’re good in a pinch and can cut soem basic things (paper, string), but don’t compare to a good pair of compact scissors. Is that going to be similar with a multitool? I know they won’t be exactly like a ‘real’ pair of scissors, but are they generally robust?
