How much do you actualy use you multi-tool?

Shaman said:
Gerber had a website up for a while where you could pick the options.
You could pick the plier type, the case coloring, and they had about 20 tool sets. If I remember right it was 8 for one side and 12 for the other. You could then order the mag lite combo as well.

So you started and built it online and the website would piece it together for you and show you exactly what it would look like. You would commit the multi-tool and pay online and Gerber would build it to your specs and ship it out to you.

Sort of like all the car websites now. Start with the model and add all the options. Get it from the factory exactly like you want it. I just looked it up on the gerber website and this is what it says.



I guess in a way it makes it kind of rare. Still wish it was needle nose.
Click to expand...

Dang - that would sure be nice to have a BYO multi-tool seller now. I worked for a commercial moving company for two years, and we all talked about our "dream tool", and what we'd have on it. EVERYBODY had specific needs that couldn't be met with just one tool only back then. Back then (mid 1990's) there weren't nearly as many options as there are now.

I've heard that SAK had a site where you could make (read: specify) your own, but it was only a "tell us what you need and we'll tell you which one to buy" sort of thing. I have modified every larger SAK I own, usually filing down the screwdrivers to fit my rifles, and a notch in the scissors to make them true wire strippers (not my idea, but a friend who's an electrician).

I know what you mean about the needle-nose; that's the only reason I still get out my old Schrade USA tool anymore. it was "laminated" together, so the pliers point is narrow. The needle-nose on that one will actually hold #2 or #3 nuts so you can tighten the screw into them. That tool has worked for me even when a friend's SAK pliers were too big, and in one case a small nut driver couldn't do it either. So even though it's a multi-tool, I still have a box full of other tools as well.

thx - cpr
 
I've carried the Wave as long as it's been out. Mostly use it for cutting boxes open, pliers for getting out box staples and small nails.Pliers are good for leverage to give extra torwque on an allen wrench. The uses are far to many to list.I used to carry the gerber just like the one a few posts up and I liked that, but the blade being on the inside, the handle gets in the way of a good cut.
I have 2 Waves (old style), one as a backup if I have to send one in for warranty.First time I ever replaced it under warranty was because the handles were loose from the pliers. It flipped open like a balisong.I didn't mind that much but it was an early one so it clacked in the sheath when I walked. second time I messed up the phillips by using it to turn the torque clutch on a pnumatic screwdriver. The steel on the clutch was harder than the bit.Replaced no problems.The third time I replaced it ,I had the blade open and dropped it, and the little punched out blade stop broke. again replaced no questions asked. When I had the last one replaced I asked them for the old style without the driver locks and they accomodated.The only difference with that one is the two bolsters that hold all the drivers and scissors are smooth instead of textured. Not sure why they made that change.
Sometimes I don't wear it(harldy ever), and those are usually the times I really need it.
 
navihawk -

Thanks for the info on Leatherman (warranty service, etc.) I'm probably going to get a CHARGE TTi as my next tool. I've got a number of MT's, mostly key-chain size, and sooner or later I'll run into a need for something larger and not have it with me.

It's amazing to me how the schools here in California will suspend a kid and send him home for having a little SAK on his backpack zipper tab, yet everyone has been so grateful when I could take my little (or larger) MT and fix something on the spot rather than wait for weeks for the district maintenance department to come by and do it. I've fixed loose furniture, microphones, doorknobs, door locks, drilled holes, etc., and that's just a start. As you said, the uses are far too many to list.

thx - cpr
 
You know you've used your multi tool a lot when you break it from cutting tomato vines. Plum wore out. I work with computers too, but I'm not on it during all my waking hours to not do something else, so I've used all the implements on the LM Core. The awl is a very useful tool when you want to make a hole in almost anything including cardboard, paneling, cans, and siding. The saw is probably the thing I use the least. Wore out my file. Broke the tip off the small screwdriver. Used the can opener for many things other than cans, such as punching through several things, making spit cans for others out of soda cans. All the different wire cutters were used on my core several times. The blades are used for everything from picking my toe nails to cutting steak, obviously cleaned after each use. The file is very good for finger nails, and the awl is good for hang nails and cuticles. But the most used part are the pliers, everything from picking ticks off my dog, picking splinters, nose hairs, staples, finishing nails, cracking lobster and crab legs and nuts, peeling off callus, to turning or holding nuts or bolts.
 
orca8589 said:
navihawk -

Thanks for the info on Leatherman (warranty service, etc.) I'm probably going to get a CHARGE TTi as my next tool. I've got a number of MT's, mostly key-chain size, and sooner or later I'll run into a need for something larger and not have it with me.

It's amazing to me how the schools here in California will suspend a kid and send him home for having a little SAK on his backpack zipper tab, yet everyone has been so grateful when I could take my little (or larger) MT and fix something on the spot rather than wait for weeks for the district maintenance department to come by and do it. I've fixed loose furniture, microphones, doorknobs, door locks, drilled holes, etc., and that's just a start. As you said, the uses are far too many to list.

thx - cpr
Click to expand...

I'm sold for life.I have a brand new old style wave still in the box on reserves in case this one gets lost,stolen or broken.
 
Gerber Legend 800. Always on my belt. Today I used it for;
Cutting cord on my weed wacker.
Holding hot bits to remove them from my drill press.
Cutting tape on boxes.
Tightening a phillips head screw on a brush saw.
My son is a first year medical resident in anestesiology and his attending physician always carries a SAK in case he has to do a quick repair on the machines. I gave him a Leatherman Wave to carry in the OR.
 
I used to work for a computer animation company and we did a couple of trade shows. I used the Leatherman Wave(original) on a daily basis and was never disappointed. Later in life, I would use a LM Squirt P4 for my everyday needs; that thing is a life saver. Recently, I've added a Vic Super Tinker Plus to the mix for my work EDC. I still get a lot of use out of my LM Wave, but I just got a Vic Spirit and that may become my new weekend EDC.

-Papacat.
 
SAK multi tool-i carry this most weekends around the house IF i anticipate repairs -door hinges, sprinklers, adjustments, pond pump and hoses-bikes
very handy, saves me runing to the basement or to the garage. it has most tools i need in my pocket, and they are stout- i really like the locking feature on the tools, more than my wave, which is also a great tool too-lets face it though-these are large and relatively hefty-its plus as well as minus

hiking and climbing-my ranger or swiss champ (on ly for its pliers to lift hot plates and pots from the stove/fire ) what i love is theres so much in the palm of your hand

(-i seem to never need mechanical applications in the mountains)

(-my car has a tool kit (and an old style super tool in the trunk as well as a rescue tool in my center console)

the interesting thing about a 'normal' SAK is NOT the obvious applications the tools seem to be designed for-but rather its amazing what oddball things you can do in a pinch-scraping of filing something that doesnt quite fit, smoothing something, notching something, enlarging a hole in a belt or even an aluminum pack frame, making a groove or channel, etc

i have an old gerber with the sliding pliers-i use it for my bikes-i like its ease of getting to the pliers and i like the blades-using the its tools, everything else is likely to pinch me and isnt convenient
 
Depends where i am working. Recently I have been working in Georgia, So the Leatherman Wave is my choice for its pliers, and phillips screw driver. The pliers are mostly used for the daily pulling of cactus spines out of my legs. I tend to use the SAK Hiker at sites where I don't have to use the pliers, because fewer people ask to borrow it, and I like the screwdriver better.
 
I use my Wave almost daily for what ever needs to be done. I'm the go-to guy at work. Today I used the pliers to pull a nail out of my tire, plugged it and trimmed off the sticky plug with the blade. Aired up and drove home..Love the tool..
 
the wire cutters on the Wave are a POS; way too soft. mine deformed the first time i tried to cut thin fencing wire and then would bind making it difficult to open the pliers. so i filed off the deformed edge of wire cutter, now pliers work fine but cutters don't meet so won't cut anything. roland
 
stevedenver said:
(-my car has a tool kit (and an old style super tool in the trunk as well as a rescue tool in my center console)
Click to expand...

Steve,

Consider putting the ST into your console, as well, because it might pay off to have a tool readily at hand in the passenger compartment.

Although I carry tools in the trunk of my car, of all 3 times in the last ten years a roadside fix was needed, they were inaccessible because of a frozen lock, or inconvenient to retrieve under a pile of luggage during a drenching rain. A Leatherman Super Tool was up to the job each time.

Also with it in a Nite-Ize pouch are a flashlight and a small adjustable wrench. All of these have been used at one time or another.
 
Engineer/computer jock. I fish, ice fish, hunt (mainly deer), and putter in the garage.

Multitool of choice Leatherman Juice S2. Spends everyday in my right front jeans pocket.

Tools:
Needlenose Pliers
Straight Knife
Wire Cutters
Hard-Wire Cutters
Extra-Small Screwdriver
Small Screwdriver
Med/Lrg Screwdriver
Phillips Screwdriver
Lanyard Attachment
Can/Bottle Opener
Scissors

I use the pliers and screw drivers often. The small screwdriver is especially handy for eyglass repairs. The flat tips work great for small prying (I am a finger nail biter) such as battery doors.

The blade was my only EDC blade until I recently purchased a Kershaw Vapor. Before the Vapor the blade was exercised on pretty much a daily basis. The scissors seldom get used as they are rather small and the knife blade is razor sharp and can handle most jobs.

The can/bottle opener has never been used. I have a P-38 on my keychain and it works better for opening cans.

The tools have been used for several years to open toy packages and clip wires on birthdays and Christmas.

Overall, for me, it is close to the perfect urban, office, multitool.
 
idontknow312 said:
Not bad. Just wondering why the blade so small (not length wise but width wise)?
Click to expand...

I don't have a Musgrat.I like the way they look, and my pocket carry is only for light work anyways. The Wave is my scraper/puller/box cutter/strapping cutter. I use the wave alot for torquing down on allen wrenches to loosen socket head cap screws that are in precarious locations.
People say they don't like the flex in the Wave. I think it's built in.They are pretty much indistructable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top