Anyone carry a Surge or Mut edc pocket carry?

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d.weglarz13

Joined
Jun 4, 2008
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Hey guys. I am curious. I carry a Charge tti every day now in my pocket or on the belt, and wondering how much more heft it would be going up to lets say a Surge or even a MUT?
How many of you guys carry the bigger tool EVERY DAY ON YOUR PERSON? A lot of guys love the wave, so Im guessing a lot of guys like the smaller of the sizes but figured I would ask you guys for your opinions.

And, feel free to throw out ideas about this:

I ask, because I am currently looking at options of what to buy, in order to put together my ideal MT for my needs. And, im trying to decide between a few things.

Surge size(with st300 head)
Charge size(rebar head)
Mut size

then, as tools:
best knife blade possible
saw
gut hook
some type of larger scissors
carbon scraper or punch/awl, haven't decided yet
upgraded bit driver possibly, but definitely bit driver
Saw
File, not so sure i really don't use it that much...

And, I DON"T need:
can opener
carabiners
hammer/strap cutter on the MUT

So again, trying to get my list of things that will work with each other. I don't want to have a MT that doesn't close all the way after modding. and, to start i guess im still trying to figure the best overall size MT for edc.....Again, ONLY pocket carry or belt carry. I won't be putting this in a bag or car, so I am wondering about size/weight comparisons for that.

Thanks for any help guys, hopefully you guys can tell me what might work or not work with my mod. I am pretty excited now that I found out you can swap parts from different LM models...

dave
 
I would find the MUT or Surge too big for pocket carry, but that's just me. That's a big chunk on your belt, much less in the pocket, but some guys do EDC the big ones. Going from the Charge tii to the MUT or Surge implicates another 0.5" - 1.0" in length, and an additional 3 - 4 ounces. That doesn't sound like much, but (to me) it sure does when you are humping it around in your pocket all day. The Surge is 50% heavier than the Charge tii.

Consider also carrying a ST300, which is only about 1.5 ounces heavier than the Charge, and add a Micra for the scissors. The largest I will carry is a Rebar plus something with scissors, or a Swisstool Spirit.

Your desire for a gut hook will really limit you, unless you go the mod route. Rock on.
 
Pocket carry of a Surge is impossible, to me. Sheath carry, though, works fine. I carry a Surge in a sheath whenever I'll be out in the field (network and fiber optic install), and a Charge TTi when I'm in the office. The Surge is just easier to handle one-handed or when lying on my back or in a crawlspace, etc. The weight isn't really all that bad, and the shears on the Surge are better than anything else I know of on a multitool.
 
Yea, Im kinda leaning more towards the 4 inch models like the wave and charge I guess. I imagine it is probably a larger difference than I realize just sitting here thinking about it. I think I might try to incorporate a scissors from a Mut if i can fit it somehow. We'll see.
Tell me, between the handle frames and pivots on the Charge vs. the Handle frames and pivots on the Wave/Surge/Mut,
which design would you say to be better and why? I thought maybe the charge handles, but the big Surge and Mut use the other design. So, any idea? thanks so far!

dave

edit: I will most likely be buying a skinth for the belt too, but really trying to get an idea of weight differences. thanks
 
I find my Wave too much for front pocket carry. I think you're well into the zone where an ounce here or there no longer matters.

Two carry options... I run a seam up the bottom 1/2 of my rear pocket, a tip from camping guru Cliff Jacobsen's books. I carry my cell phone there normally. Comfortable enough for sitting and keeps the phone off my belt. In weekends when working around the house, I swap the phone for my MT. I wouldn't do this every day though as I'm pretty sure it would wear out the pocket.

If I needed to carry a large MT daily I would get a horizontal carry holster for it and carry it on the left front for a right handed cross draw. That's how I carry cell when needed and how I prefer to carry large folders. Bounces less and doesn't interfere with car seats.
 
I have been using an older Super Tool 200 for a long time now and just got a new Surge. While I was ok with pocket carry on the 200, I don't really like the surge in my pocket. All the rough edges just seem to rub my leg raw through the pocket, but I have no problem what so ever putting the surge on my belt.
 
Is the surge even too big for a belt sheath? Again, in your opinions...

Thanks a lot guys, I am loving MTs now and would hate to not have it with me when i need it. Just trying to figure the best size before i buy one of each size LM and try out for myself....which i can't afford...
 
Leatherman anything (almost) is my multi-tool of choice. There have been a pretty fair number in and out of my possession over the years, all of them reliable, tough and capable, but I must admit they are not very hand friendly. This is not good in a hand tool. My wife, who is sensitive to these things, dislikes Leatherman tools intensely, won't even touch one (except for a Squirt S4 that she likes for the scissors.) She is a SAK person, thinks there are too many sharp edges on Leathermen. On occasion she has asked what in the world I see in them, and my only answer, even as I now look at the fading blood blister on my palm from an adventure cutting hard wire, is that overall, the pluses outweigh the minuses. It is also possible that because my first pliers based multi-tool was a Leatherman, I got imprinted, like a baby duck, and am just looking at this issue with a bias (but how would I know?)
That said, among the Leathermen of my acquaintance, I didn't get along well with the Surge. After 9 years of carrying a Super Tool, later a Charge TTi almost daily, I figured a few extra ounces would be trivial, especially belt carried. It wasn't. At first, it seemed only a slight increase in bulk compared to my usual, but after a couple of weeks I realized that I was noticing the weight pretty often. Well, as any back-packer could tell you, ounces count(ces.) I wouldn't have believed it, but soon I started to find reasons to carry something smaller, etc., eventually facing up and selling off the Surge to someone with a greater tolerance for stuff on his belt. As my spiritual guide Detective Harry Callahan once observed, "A man's gotta know his limitations." :)
 
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Well put, thanks for that in depth explanation of your experiences with LMs. Now that you mention it, man I hate how these things destroy my fingers and palm whenever it happens to get caught...
But, i think i will in fact be staying with the charge size then. I just see the Surge pliers and cutters to be so capable....but again, don't even know if I would ever need that much power and if so, Im sure i wouldn't be so silly as to not have a dedicated cutter on me if cutting more than the occasional wire or other odds and ends.
I am very tempted to try the Spirit X, but like you, I seem to be drawn to the LMs for the "overbuilt" feel that they do have....
 
I made a pocket sheath to carry a ST300, 1 AA flashlight, and a folder (Rat 1, Vantage large, Buck 110). It makes pocket carry possible, and while not my favorite carry method, when I'm in places where I can't have the above openly on my belt I can still have what I need.
Bob
 
Well I plan on ordering a skinth for belt carry. I was thinking the surge because of the larger capabilities over the charge, and being able to put more power behind the cutters is a big plus for me. But, thanks to you guys, i THINK im just gonna mod my charge for now, since I don't mind carrying in at all really. Thanks again, im still undecided.
 
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