Sent in a squirt, got back a micra.

[jackknife]

Soooo, the better half, my wife Karen, broke the file on her squirt while we were in California. So being the good spousal unit I am, I promptly box it up and sent it off while we were still staying at the daughters place in Mission Viejo. Figured with Leathermans prompt service it would be waiting for us when we got back to Texas. It was. Sort of.

We got our mail from the neighbor that had tended our mailbox while we were gone, and there in all the junk mail, bills, and other stuff was a small shipping padded envelope from Leatherman. Karen promptly zipped it open with her Vic Classic and the nice blue Leatherman micra fell out. Not quite what she was expecting. Nor was I.

I understand that they discontinued the squirt, but I expect most companies to keep some old stock on hand to cover warrantee issues. Nope. I guess Leatherman has figured out that all it takes is a change of an old model, discontinue the model, and no 25 year warrantee anymore. A bit of corporate slight of hand.

I was never a fan of Tim Leatherman, the squirt being the sole exception. Now they are gone, and I know that the Leatheman 25 year warrantee don't mean squat, I guess the Victorinox SAK with a mini plier will have to do.

 

[A.L.]

Darn, that’s a bummer!
It would make sense to be able to replace the parts at least but I guess not. Seems so wasteful too.
That’s one thing I like about victorinox: even their pinned knives/tools get repaired if you send them in instead of scrapping them.

 

[Hickory n steel]

That's a shame, and even worse is that the squirt still isn't officially discontinued yet. At least it has yet to make it to the retired models page or be officially announced as discontinued.


I'm still wishing for Victorinox to introduce a mini model to their swisstool lineup, it would be great.
A mini champ or rambler would pair very well with a 4" pair of pliers though.

 

[Guy McVer]

my wife Karen, broke the file on her squirt while we were in California. So being the good spousal unit I am, I promptly box it up and sent it off

Karen promptly zipped it open with her Vic Classic and the nice blue Leatherman micra fell out. Not quite what she was expecting. Nor was I.

Shame about that. Some further reading if you're interested: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/r-i-p-leatherman-squirt.1926318/

The only thing I have to add to what has already been said is that perhaps Leatherman has reallocated some of its manufacturing away from the Squirt PS4 in order to ramp up production of the supposedly upcoming Leatherman Arc? I'm grasping at straws here. At this point I think it's crazy that Leatherman has gone so long without communicating anything regarding the possible discontinuation of the Squirt PS4. It's nuts to me. If they really have discontinued it as has been asserted by people with no apparent inside knowledge, then you have to figure they would've at least updated the website to reflect that instead of just leaving it up as being currently unavailable.

 

[StuntDouble]

That's a shame, and even worse is that the squirt still isn't officially discontinued yet. At least it has yet to make it to the retired models page or be officially announced as discontinued.


I'm still wishing for Victorinox to introduce a mini model to their swisstool lineup, it would be great.
A mini champ or rambler would pair very well with a 4" pair of pliers though.

Going by the answers on the Q&A section of the product page, it has been officially discontinued.

 

[A.L.]

I'm still wishing for Victorinox to introduce a mini model to their swisstool lineup, it would be great.

That's my dream as well. Size it down and only choose the essential tools and slam a pocket clip to it. It would not have to be do it all like the real SwissChamp.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Going by the answers on the Q&A section of the product page, it has been officially discontinued

Well then I guess I can just give up on hoping leatherman is capable of doing good things anymore, they've only done 2 things of interest to me in the past 13 years anyways.

 

[specgrade]

I sent in a Blast and got back a Wave. I sent in a Core and got back a Super Tool 300. I'm overall happy with the results.

 

[sodak]

For a company to do this without being upfront about it is terrible. Once you lose my trust, you're gone forever.

 

[Hickory n steel]

I sent in a Blast and got back a Wave. I sent in a Core and got back a Super Tool 300. I'm overall happy with the results.

I'd be pissed if I sent in a blast and got back a wave, but the ST300 is a pretty comparable replacement for the core I guess.
If I had sent in my fuse and got back a bond I wouldn't be too upset, but I believe a number of rebar components are compatible and would definitely expect it to be repaired.
I suppose you have to send in a note to repair or return as is if you didn't want a sentimental tool tossed.

 

[Guy McVer]

Going by the answers on the Q&A section of the product page, it has been officially discontinued.

Looks confirmed, yeah.

What is wrong with Leatherman? They even can't properly update their website to reflect a discontinued product? How pathetic is that?

Leatherman Team

08/16/23

A: Sadly, the Squirt PS4 has been discontinued.

Leatherman Team

08/16/23

A: Sadly not, this item has been discontinued.

Leatherman Team

04/26/23

A: Sadly, this item has been discontinued.

This is how we find out. No official announcement. No update of the product page. No update of the discontinued product list. Instead it's buried in the Q&A section.

I just lost a ton of respect for Leatherman. Must be a Portland thing.

 

[specgrade]

I'd be pissed if I sent in a blast and got back a wave, but the ST300 is a pretty comparable replacement for the core I guess.
If I had sent in my fuse and got back a bond I wouldn't be too upset, but I believe a number of rebar components are compatible and would definitely expect it to be repaired.
I suppose you have to send in a note to repair or return as is if you didn't want a sentimental tool tossed.

So what makes the Blast better than the Wave?

 

[Hickory n steel]

So what makes the Blast better than the Wave?

I didn't say the blast was better, but the wave is a completely different format than I like and am used to.

I want all of the implements either on the inside or outside when I go looking for the one I need, I haven't memorized their locations because I'm only using the pliers 99% of the time.

 

[specgrade]

I didn't say the blast was better, but the wave is a completely different format than I like and am used to.

I want all of the implements either on the inside or outside when I go looking for the one I need, I haven't memorized their locations because I'm only using the pliers 99% of the time.

Gotcha. Personal preference.

 

[Yo Mama]

I'll try to keep this reply as brief as I can. Leatherman warned me they were not going to send me back my squirt even though all I needed was a new spring for the scissors and a spa for the other tools. I sent it in because it was early screwed production model and their excuse was they couldn't repair pinned models. Regardless, I ended up with a stupid micra that has no comparison to the PS4 squirt.

Right around the same time olight came out with their multi-tool so I tried it out. It's the only similar keychain size quality set of pliers that I believe is available.




Leatherman did it to themselves. I'd love to have bought an american-made product, but olight filled the void.

Pliers on the olight have the gift of being spring loaded.



Here are the scissors compared between the micra, the olight is smaller yes, but extremely well put together and cut great.



The tools of the olight (I especially like how they did the bottle opener can opener on one tool.)



When they came out I bought four of the olight P1 one for me, one for my wife and a few for gifts. They have each been fantastically put together for the price and I will use the heck out of them until Leatherman figures their stuff out.

 

[DapperDon]

So is the new one they sent now covered for 25 years? I know they aren't the same model and that's disappointing.

 

[jeepin]

That's a shame, and even worse is that the squirt still isn't officially discontinued yet. At least it has yet to make it to the retired models page or be officially announced as discontinued.


I'm still wishing for Victorinox to introduce a mini model to their swisstool lineup, it would be great.
A mini champ or rambler would pair very well with a 4" pair of pliers though.

I want Victorinox to make a plier based keychain multitool the same size as the Squirt

 

[jackknife]

I want Victorinox to make a plier based keychain multitool the same size as the Squirt

If this happens by any miracle, I'll buy a dozen! One to use, and the other 11 to stash away because they will probably stop making them after a while.

 

[mnblade]

I expect most companies to keep some old stock on hand to cover warrantee issues. Nope. I guess Leatherman has figured out that all it takes is a change of an old model, discontinue the model, and no 25 year warrantee anymore. A bit of corporate slight of hand.

To be fair, maybe Leatherman did keep some old stock on hand but have run out. Impossible to say.

One way or the other, I'm gonna be sure to baby my Squirt PS4 from here on out!

 

[TimButterfield]

One way or the other, I'm gonna be sure to baby my Squirt PS4 from here on out!

Good idea. My Squirt PS4 has a broken file, but I'm not about to send it in. I already have a micra and don't need another.