recommendations for choosing a knife with a plier

S

spyghost

Joined
Oct 17, 2004
Messages
24
hi,

i am a big fan and user of multitools. i have been a user of a victorinox cybertool for a few years already and it has helped me a lot in my household, outdoor, as well as my work as an IT person that deals with a lot of small electronics.

i now reached the point where i need a tool with a bigger and sturdier plier for larger work (the plier that comes with the cybertool is a small one). i actually want to retain the features of cybertool with interchangeable screwheads (since that's what i need in work). in terms of screw heads, i need star bits (hex heads). also i want to have a scissor and wire cutter (stripper if possible)

i am looking at purchasing the swisstool spirit. when i cam across leatherman, there a lot to choose from. please help me in deciding on things. thanks.
 
The Multi-tools & Multi-purpose Knives forum might be of more assistance. It is a sub forum of General Knife Discussion.
 
I'm sure a mod or admin will move this, don't worry.
As for your question, you have to find the tool that best suits your needs. Leatherman has a wide variation of tools, you can probably find your taste in one of them. Many people consider the Swisstool to be very good also.
 
You might want to consider the Leatherman Charge Ti and Charge XTi - both have large, sturdy pliers, the knife opens easily, locks well and is made of 154CM, and they come with an interchangeable bit driver including:
Phillips and flat tip eyeglass screwdriver
Phillips #1-2 and screwdriver 3/16"
Hex 5/32" and 9/64"
Hex 1/16" and .050
Hex 1/8" and 7/64"
Robertson #2 and #3
Hex 3/32" and 5/64"
Screwdriver 1/8" and Torx #15

The downside is that the bit driver is 'flattened' in that it only takes special flat Leatherman bits.

I have the Ti and I think it's the best Leatherman yet.
 
I love my Victorinox Swiss Tool. It is the only one that has never failed me. I've had other brands including Leatherman, Gerber and Sog and they all broke in one way or another.
The Gerbers broke cutting chain link and heavy wire for a trailer I was putting lights on. The Sog snapped in half one day when using the pliers for holding a nut on one side while using a wrench on the other and the Leathermans held up well in the pliers dept but had blades break on me. The saw snapped in half when cutting a tree limb back and the screwdriver blade broke using it to twist a stubborn screw.

IMO the Swiss Tool is the best one out there for shear toughness and durability. It is also one of the most comfortable I've used for when you are white knuckling it by sqeezing hard on the handles. Only draw back if there is one is that you can't just flip it open with one hand like I could with my Leatherman. But it also has a better blade action and lock up. By action I mean, with the Swiss Tool when you want the serratted edge out you get the serratted edge and not four or five other blades that drag out with it when you pull out the one you want. The pliers are stiff though and require both hands to open. The Leathermans just flipped open nice and easy one handed which I kind of missed but other than this one thing the Swiss Tool is the best of the best for me.
 
first of all, sorry for this misplaced thread. :)

i have several questions about leatherman ti
  • do you really have to open the plier itself just to use the scissor? i find it quite inaccesible to use the scissor in this manner.
  • can the screw bits be bought separately? if its flatenned on one end, i might as well have a hard time looking for replacement in case or additional bits if needed.

as for the swisstool spirit:
  • is the blade serrated? i think i will need both serated and non-serrated.
  • can additional bits be purchased?

for both, is there a difference between the locking mechanisms of leatherman and victorinox swisstool?

has anyone ever tried/tested/seen leatherman core or leatherman surge?
 
STR said:
...
IMO the Swiss Tool is the best one out there for shear toughness and durability. It is also one of the most comfortable I've used for when you are white knuckling it by sqeezing hard on the handles. Only draw back if there is one is that you can't just flip it open with one hand like I could with my Leatherman. But it also has a better blade action and lock up. By action I mean, with the Swiss Tool when you want the serratted edge out you get the serratted edge and not four or five other blades that drag out with it when you pull out the one you want. The pliers are stiff though and require both hands to open. The Leathermans just flipped open nice and easy one handed which I kind of missed but other than this one thing the Swiss Tool is the best of the best for me.
Click to expand...

i think what you were talking about is the swiss tool, not the swiss tool sprit. anyway, you got several good points posted and it well appreciated. based on one customer review that i saw, the swiss tool spirit addresses this "tough" to open issue by making it a bit easier to open. to quote his statement:
...
The first impression is that it fits better in the hand, but it feels less solid. I mean, the other tool produced a strong sound while closing and required force to open. It still felt new after three years of heavy use.
However, with the SwissTool one could break his nails trying to open the sheets appling force with a wrong angle. The new tool is much more confortable in that respect.
...
Click to expand...
 
I have no experience with the Swisstool, so I can't comment on how it compares, but I can say that the Ti and XTi are very different from the Original or Supertool Leatherman, and a generation ahead of the Wave. I haven't tried a Core or Surge, so no comment on those either.

Some of the old leatherman stereotypes no longer apply - from what I've read they've inserted bronze washers between the inner tools so that they come out individually (whatever they've done, it works, no more pulling out all the tools at the same time) and all the tools lock in the full out position, the blades with a 'linerlock' and the inside tools with a lockback sort of mechanism.

The new straight edge blade, a 154CM Clip point, is IMO a huge upgrade from the generic stainless steel of the other Leatherman tools, and an advantage over the other multitools. The Ti seems much more solidly built than other multitools I've used - IMO the handles are larger and give a better grip.

In response to your questions - the Scissors do require you to open the plier handles to access them. The bits are all stored in the back of the leatherman pouch, and I don't know if you can buy them separately, I haven't lost any yet :)
 
Leatherman Charge Ti from New Graham Knives.... Best price, Great service. Got mine about a week ago, couldn't be happier.
 
I've EDC'd a Leatherman Wave for about 6 years now, having 'discovered the original around '91. I got the newer model a few months ago. I tried the Charge Xti, but wasn't overly impressed so I sold it and went back to the Wave. I like the Juice line as well, smaller, lighter, but not 'one-handed' like their big brothers. I keep a Juice Pro in my truck, recently used it to pull a nail out of one of my tires so I could plug the hole and pump it back up. The Swiss tools seem to have a good reputation, but since I'm completely satisfied with the Wave, I haven't tried one out.
 
I wouldn't buy a leatherman, only because the head of the company endorsed John Kerry.
 
ThreadMoving.jpg
 
in terms of the one handed technology thing, its not actually a requirement for me, but rather a nice to have. the basic requirements that i need are heavy duty pliers (needle nose if possible), interchageable screwbits (flat head, allen, torx, philips), scissors, and a heavy duty blade.

with reagard to my previous inquiry, i saw that the there is a separate set of bits availble for wave and xti, but not for ti. is there a difference between xti and ti bits?
 
If you want pliers with a knife blade and really want a worker, you may want to check the Core out from Leatherman. I have one on the way and will do a review as soon as I can on it.
 
I am not crazy about the pliers on the swisstool. I do like how the implements open from the outside. The knife blade sits flush with the bottom of the handle when opened.
 
Spyghost, the Bit Kit is for Charge Ti, XTi, and for the New Wave. Also, afaik, they fit on the Tool Adapter and Bit Driver.
Take a look on www.leatherman.com, all is well explained there ;) .
 
If you wait awhile for the Leatherman Surge to come out, it has the robust pliers, one-handed blades, an easily accessible scissors on the outside of the tool, and interchangebale driver bits. It seems a bit large and heavy though, if that's a concern.

I go back and forth between a Swisstool Spirit and an old-style Wave, and have a few small gripes about each of these. I think I'd like to try the Surge myself.
 
here is a just a personal evaluation of vic swisstool plus and lm charge ti based on the pictures alone as well as other writeups and reviews.

plier handle (openned):
swisstool plus - (positive) the handles have a good ergonomic design
charge ti - (fair) the handles are straight, but it can be manageable

plier handle (closed):
swisstool plus - (fair) given that they have an ergo design, its normal for it to be bent which is a negative in terms of ergonomics on the blade when in use. it "may" be manageable.
charge ti - (positive) flat which is good when using blades. its also a space saver as well.

plier tip:
swisstool plus - (negative) it claims to have a needle nose tip, but its still not the "needle nose" i expected
charge ti - (positive) i would certainly prefer having a needle nose tip that i would expect to have

blade:
swisstool plus - (negative) i don't find a combo blade very useful for my requirements. in fact i would rather have one straight edge w/o a serated one, or a separate serrated and straight edge, but definitely not a combo or a serrated alone
charge ti - (positive) it has a seprate serrated and straight edge. one hand openning is just a nice to have feature for me, so it doesn't matter at all.

scissor:
swisstool plus - (negative) its quite hard to sharpen since the scissors cannot he "fully openned wide" just like the sak
charge ti - (negative) although sharpening it is a breeze, i found it quite unsafe for openning specially for "thumb pushers" like me. also, they are rather inaccesible since they are found in the inside of the plier handle

screwdriver accessibility:
swisstool plus - (positive) although its a separate component, the positive remark that i gave is based on the fact that it can reach relatively tight spaces
charge ti - (negative) i think the screw driver set is tough to use or rather useless in tight spots

screwdriver bit availability:
swisstool plus - (negative) as of this moment, i haven't found tool bits for vic sold in pieces or sets as far as my locality is concerned
charge ti - (positive) there are bit sets that can be readily bought.

mini screwdriver:
swisstool plus - (positive) its good to have this precision tool separated from the whole tool itself since its easier to handle this small tool for small assemblies
charge ti - (negative) its attached to the bit holder that comes with the tool. i find it awkward to work with small assemblies using big tools

cork screw:
swisstool plus - (fair) i still find a cork screw which is a attached to the tool better than having it seprated from its handle
charge ti - (negative) no cork screw (its really useful when openning bottles)

if i would give 1 for positive and -1 for negative and 0 for fair, this would be the result:
handle: draw
plier tip: charge ti
blade + scissor: charge ti
screwdrivers: swisstool plus
cork screw: swisstool

so far, a mixture of both tools would really give me the 100% go to buy, but then again, i am split into two tools. its really hard to decide on things specially given this preliminary personal evaluation.

give this result, the solution that i see is to buy a charge ti, and the screwdriver/bit set that is sold separately from vic; however, i will loose the functionality of a cork screw and the mini screwdriver. what a tough decision.

again, these are just based on what i have read and seen on the pictures and other reviews as well as what i want in a multitool. i haven't visited my local store yet for an actual hand comparison of both. please correct any of my statements if there are any which you think are wrong. i would really appreciate it. :)
 
Have you looked at the Juice line from Leatherman ?
Most of 'em have a corkscrew, and all the things you want.

Also, look around more, don't focus on two or three tools yet. There is also Gerber (which I don't like, those tools look cheap to me).

Edit: and the Charge does have a mini screwdriver. You're acting like it isn't there, although you never even tried it.
 
Zwaplat said:
Have you looked at the Juice line from Leatherman ?
Most of 'em have a corkscrew, and all the things you want.

Also, look around more, don't focus on two or three tools yet. There is also Gerber (which I don't like, those tools look cheap to me).

Edit: and the Charge does have a mini screwdriver. You're acting like it isn't there, although you never even tried it.
Click to expand...

Yes, the Charge has a mini driver, but I have yet to find something small enough for it to fit properly. It's much too tiny even for my eyeglasses. I can't imagine what field use this feature can be. Any screw that small would be better dealt with by the dedicated tools of skilled technicians, but being not a computer guy or a micro mechanic, I don't really know how these things go down. In my world, however, there aren't too many things the bit is designed for that need screwed. I'd rather have an awl.
 
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