R.I.P Leatherman Squirt

H

Halador

Joined
Jul 6, 2013
Messages
144
So it's just recently been announced that Leatherman has discontinued the Squirt line of multitools. I've given several as gifts and whatnot but don't currently carry one myself.

I know most people around here are partial to SAKs for EDC but considering there isn't really a good replacement for the Squirt in terms of quality and functionality in it's size range (other than maybe the Style), is it worth snapping one up at retail before they are sold out everywhere, or should I be content with other options if I decide to get something like it later on?

I'd love to hear anyone's suggestions on "the next best thing" as I'm sure many people will be asking themselves a similar question. Maybe we could make this thread into a repository of alternatives.
 
IMHO if you are speaking of the standard pliers based Squirt there are other options in the same size by Gerber, SOG, and "no name".
If you are speaking of the wire stripper based Squirt E4 and Es4, I don't see any other options on the big river site.
If you need the pliers based, personally I would not worry about it. If you need the wire stripper model, you might want to consider getting one, if a regular wire stripper isn't handy to carry.

Of course the Squirt will no doubt be available used for decades at a local pawnshop, and online at eBay, Etsy, Craigs List, the market here, auction (estate and otherwise) sites, and sites that sell used knives and tools.
 
I was thinking of the typical pliers based model primarily. I know SOG has a few decent ones like the PowerPint, but those are closer to Juice sized and not something you could throw on your keys. I know the Dime has always been the main competitor to the Squirt but like with some of the no-name type tools, I've always heard that the quality is pretty hit or miss. It's too bad that Victorinox doesn't jump into this size range with a mini swiss tool.
 
Halador said:
So it's just recently been announced that Leatherman has discontinued the Squirt line of multitools.
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I've been hearing a lot about this, but I was unable to find an official confirmation. There's just a bunch of 2nd or 3rd hand claims without any proof.

Leatherman's website doesn't list the PS4 in the retired section. There are other Squirt models on the retired page, but the PS4 isn't one of them. The PS4's own page simply says that it is "currently unavailable".

I have nothing else to say, so here is a totally normal picture of a Squirt:
scissors.jpg
 
Guy McVer said:
I've been hearing a lot about this, but I was unable to find an official confirmation. There's just a bunch of 2nd or 3rd hand claims without any proof.

Leatherman's website doesn't list the PS4 in the retired section. There are other Squirt models on the retired page, but the PS4 isn't one of them. The PS4's own page simply says that it is "currently unavailable".

I have nothing else to say, so here is a totally normal picture of a Squirt:
scissors.jpg
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Interesting mod.👍
Art thou a (fishing) fly tier or a taylor? Or perhaps you repair/unclog looms or printing presses?😇
 
Guy McVer said:
I've been hearing a lot about this, but I was unable to find an official confirmation. There's just a bunch of 2nd or 3rd hand claims without any proof.

Leatherman's website doesn't list the PS4 in the retired section. There are other Squirt models on the retired page, but the PS4 isn't one of them. The PS4's own page simply says that it is "currently unavailable".

I have nothing else to say, so here is a totally normal picture of a Squirt:
scissors.jpg
Click to expand...
Totally normal! So you understand why I was concerned about losing such a useful tool!
 
I was rather shocked about the news but like mentioned above there seems to be no official statement of the squirt being discontinued.
 
There’s still the Style PS. It has the same pliers and scissors as the Squirt, plus tweezers and a flat/Phillips driver with greater reach. It doesn’t have a blade, but it makes a good companion to a pocket knife.
 
Something else I'd like to point out is that Leatherman has been plagued by shortages leading to prolonged gaps in its product lines over the last few years. The three examples that stick out the most would be the extended unavailability of the Crunch, the shortage of Leatherman's proprietary flat bits for several months, and the recent uncertain backorder situation with Leatherman's ratcheting bit driver extender. In the case of the Crunch, it was assumed and widely believed that it had been discontinued, which turned out not to be true at all. The price of the Crunch skyrocketed on the secondary market during that time. The bits and the ratchet have also seen similar price jumps on the secondary market due to prolonged unavailability through normal retail.

Unless and until we see something official and verifiable from Leatherman, I would not go around saying that the Squirt is retired. We may just be seeing another shortage situation. Such a shortage might also affect warranty claims.
 
afishhunter said:
IMHO if you are speaking of the standard pliers based Squirt there are other options in the same size by Gerber, SOG, and "no name".
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no there actually aren't other options, because the closest competitor is the Gerber dime which is junk, the generic no-name little tools that have been offered by Berkley for example are even worse quality, and as far as I know sog doesn't offer anything as small as the squirt.

The discontinuation of the squirt will leave a hole in the market, used examples will be available but that's not the same as being able to just buy one new.
Prices will become a bit unreasonable for any examples in decent condition and even worse for any NOS or mint examples.

I find it hard to believe leatherman would discontinue the squirt without a comparable replacement set to fill the hole in their lineup, but anything is possible.
I'm waiting for an official confirmation from leatherman.
 
hsherzfeld said:
There’s still the Style PS. It has the same pliers and scissors as the Squirt, plus tweezers and a flat/Phillips driver with greater reach. It doesn’t have a blade, but it makes a good companion to a pocket knife.
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But the style is larger with that built in carabiner, it doesn't have the larger flat blade driver, no standard file that many people love, and the tweezers aren't really necessary because the pliers are perfectly precise enough to fill that role.
I also find the style ugly as sin, but I may be the only one.
In general I would say the style is a significant downgrade and can't really compete with the squirt.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I find it hard to believe leatherman would discontinue the squirt without a comparable replacement set to fill the hole in their lineup, but anything is possible.
I'm waiting for an official confirmation from leatherman.
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They seem to be eradicating the small/medium sized parts of their lineup, with the exception of the Skeletool.
The Micra and Squirt were impossible to find for a while, then came back at a higher price.
The Skeletool has less tools than the Juice and that's been gone for a while, until they found some spare parts and assembled a few to sell.

I do wonder if they are just giving up that size range to cheap competitors.
 
Ourorboros said:
They seem to be eradicating the small/medium sized parts of their lineup, with the exception of the Skeletool.
The Micra and Squirt were impossible to find for a while, then came back at a higher price.
The Skeletool has less tools than the Juice and that's been gone for a while, until they found some spare parts and assembled a few to sell.

I do wonder if they are just giving up that size range to cheap competitors.
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I think thats exactly what they are doing.

Why bother to make any small low priced tool when you can sell only high end tools for 100 dollars and up? Tim has made the choice to abandon the lower end market for the larger profit margins and the hell with the others. This decision makes me as angry at Leatheman as his choice to contribute to the anti gun crowd.
 
jackknife said:
Why bother to make any small low priced tool when you can sell only high end tools for 100 dollars and up? Tim has made the choice to abandon the lower end market for the larger profit margins and the hell with the others.
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That makes no sense. They're leaving money on the table by not selling the Squirt right now. If you were correct about their intentions, then it would make more sense for them to increase the quality of the Squirt and sell it at a higher price point.

I think it is far more likely that this is just the result of another shortage. Leatherman has had several of them in the last few years only to have the affected products return later. This may be no different.
 
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Guy McVer said:
That makes no sense. They're leaving money on the table by not selling the Squirt right now. If you were correct about their intentions, then it would make more sense for them to increase the quality of the Squirt and sell it at a higher price point.

I think it is far more likely that this is just the result of another shortage. Leatherman has had several of them in the last few years only to have the affected products return later. This may be no different.
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I agree. There was a rumor last year that the Crunch was being/had been discontinued, which set off a minor panic…only for the rumor to turn out false.

In my opinion, it’s not discontinued until it shows up in the Retired section on the Leatherman website.
 
jackknife said:
I think thats exactly what they are doing.

Why bother to make any small low priced tool when you can sell only high end tools for 100 dollars and up? Tim has made the choice to abandon the lower end market for the larger profit margins and the hell with the others. This decision makes me as angry at Leatheman as his choice to contribute to the anti gun crowd.
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They were somehow smart enough to introduce the bond a couple years ago, but yeah it seems like their forgetting about the average Joe while still not exactly catering to the multitool enthusiasts either.
Who is their main market now ?
Anybody they can stir up with social media hype over a new tool that's different but not actually better ?

The people who's opinions are actually noticed seem to be chasing / craving things that are different for the sake of being different instead of the tried and true that's the utmost in practicality.
 
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hsherzfeld said:
I agree. There was a rumor last year that the Crunch was being/had been discontinued, which set off a minor panic…only for the rumor to turn out false.

In my opinion, it’s not discontinued until it shows up in the Retired section on the Leatherman website.
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That's my suspicion as well.

There are reports of dealers / importers from overseas saying it's not going to return and people are taking that as proof, but those dealers could very well be wrong.
 
Hickory n steel said:
There are reports of dealers / importers from overseas saying it's not going to return and people are taking that as proof, but those dealers could very well be wrong.
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There have been identical claims made in the past which turned out to be false.

I suspect f🤬kery. Think about it. You're an ebay seller and you have a bunch of TSA confiscated Leatherman Squirts. The Squirt goes out of stock everywhere. It's happened in the past with the Squirt and other Leatherman products. So you jump on reddit and maybe a few other sites and you make posts saying things like "oh yeah I spoke with a dealer in X country and they said it's discontinued." Now all of your used Leatherman Squirts are worth more money... at least until Leatherman eventually has more stock available again.

This is something that happened a few times already. The only question is whether the people saying "X product is discontinued" were doing so for profit. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to think that it could happen that way. You have to wonder how all those now proven false claims had materialized in the past. They didn't just magically appear from nowhere. Someone had to be lying about it at some point.

It's one thing to say "I think it's discontinued", or "I'm pretty sure it's discontinued", or even "I'm positive it's discontinued", or just "It's discontinued", but it's another thing entirely to claim that "the dealer told me it was discontinued", or "I got an email reply from someone at Leatherman who told me it was retired." Somebody is clearly lying if that's the case, and we've seen claims like that before which turned out to be bull🤬it.
 
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