Soooo, I thought I'd do an update on an old post from 2015. The year I got a Leatherman squirt.
It was a little touch and go at first, but by the end of one year, I was in danger of being hooked. I never would have predicted that little two and a half ounce lump of tool would become so useful, and I would become so attached to it.
I tried the Leatherman micra, but the inside opening tools were just a turn off to me. But the squirt was just the right set up for my particular mental make up that it took over from both the Victorinox classic and Leatherman micra. As an old fart with arthritis issues, the small pliers have become so handy that I won't leave the house without my squirt.
By year three I was very attached to it. I've been through three of them so far. The very first that was gifted to me on this forum was 'confiscated in 2016 by the better half. You married guys know how that works. She still has it and its in her purse every day. I bought a new one at R.E.I. and had that one until May of 2019, when the scissors spring broke. I sent it back to Leatherman and in a little less than two weeks a new one was in my mailbox. Unbelievable fast service taking consideration the en-route mail time, it must have been a one day turn around at Leatherman. Outstanding factory service.
I've done a few "experiments" and walked out the door on purpose with just the Squirt in my pocket for the days EDC use. The world kept on spinning, the sun still rose in the east, and I survived the day just fine. The chisel ground knife blade opened packages, cut twine, plastic wrappings, and whatever I needed a pocket knife for. But...that three letter word, it had one failing and that was food duty. Not something I need regularly, but once in a while. I could muddle though by turning the sandwich over and slicing through the bottom as far as the little blade would go, then carefully Turing the sandwich back over and cutting though from the top. Worked out okay with a couple cuts. My years of experience with the little Case peanut gave me thinking outside the box for small blades.
I love the way the squirt carries like a peanut in the pocket. Just drop it in, and the compact weight of it puts in right down in the bottom of the pocket. Its always there when I reach down and don't have to grope around for it.
The screw driver is handy for light prying and larger Phillips screws by using the inside corner of it. Bottle opener works once you get used to the idea of it being so small that you take the cap in two bites instead of one. It works, just a bit slower and you have to be carful to hook it under the crimp. I've opened cans of Minwax stain, cans of putty, small paint cans with no problems.
The scissors, while not as precise as the Victorinox scissors I used for so many years, it will in real world use cut stray mustache and beard hairs just fine and trim a broken finger nail. Aside from a design flaw that seems like squirts break scissor springs on a not uncommon basis, I have no complaint on them.
I don't know where the Leatherman micra is, I think that its in the back of some drawer someplace, and I no longer even own a Victorinox classic. The smallest Victories I have is the executive that I got a year and a half ago, and that is a real everyday carry in my jeans watch pocket while the squirt is in my left pants pocket. They make a good team. The executive is my precise cutting tool with two nice thin knife blades, a sort of serrated edge on the orange peeler that actually is handy for some things, and the scissors that is typical Victorinox. But the squirt is my dirty deed tool. The heftier screw driver, pliers, wire cutters that snip right through plastic zip ties, file, and thicker chisel grind knife blade is up to stuff I may not want to use the SAK on. The chisel grind is soooo easy to touch up and when sharp, cuts like the dickens. Breaks down pizza boxes and other cardboard boxes just fine.
I still may not have use for the bigger Leatherman stuff, but I have fallen in love with the squirt. After five years now, I won't be without one. It I lost this one somehow, I'd Rush out to get an other one before sundown.
It was a little touch and go at first, but by the end of one year, I was in danger of being hooked. I never would have predicted that little two and a half ounce lump of tool would become so useful, and I would become so attached to it.
I tried the Leatherman micra, but the inside opening tools were just a turn off to me. But the squirt was just the right set up for my particular mental make up that it took over from both the Victorinox classic and Leatherman micra. As an old fart with arthritis issues, the small pliers have become so handy that I won't leave the house without my squirt.
By year three I was very attached to it. I've been through three of them so far. The very first that was gifted to me on this forum was 'confiscated in 2016 by the better half. You married guys know how that works. She still has it and its in her purse every day. I bought a new one at R.E.I. and had that one until May of 2019, when the scissors spring broke. I sent it back to Leatherman and in a little less than two weeks a new one was in my mailbox. Unbelievable fast service taking consideration the en-route mail time, it must have been a one day turn around at Leatherman. Outstanding factory service.
I've done a few "experiments" and walked out the door on purpose with just the Squirt in my pocket for the days EDC use. The world kept on spinning, the sun still rose in the east, and I survived the day just fine. The chisel ground knife blade opened packages, cut twine, plastic wrappings, and whatever I needed a pocket knife for. But...that three letter word, it had one failing and that was food duty. Not something I need regularly, but once in a while. I could muddle though by turning the sandwich over and slicing through the bottom as far as the little blade would go, then carefully Turing the sandwich back over and cutting though from the top. Worked out okay with a couple cuts. My years of experience with the little Case peanut gave me thinking outside the box for small blades.
I love the way the squirt carries like a peanut in the pocket. Just drop it in, and the compact weight of it puts in right down in the bottom of the pocket. Its always there when I reach down and don't have to grope around for it.
The screw driver is handy for light prying and larger Phillips screws by using the inside corner of it. Bottle opener works once you get used to the idea of it being so small that you take the cap in two bites instead of one. It works, just a bit slower and you have to be carful to hook it under the crimp. I've opened cans of Minwax stain, cans of putty, small paint cans with no problems.
The scissors, while not as precise as the Victorinox scissors I used for so many years, it will in real world use cut stray mustache and beard hairs just fine and trim a broken finger nail. Aside from a design flaw that seems like squirts break scissor springs on a not uncommon basis, I have no complaint on them.
I don't know where the Leatherman micra is, I think that its in the back of some drawer someplace, and I no longer even own a Victorinox classic. The smallest Victories I have is the executive that I got a year and a half ago, and that is a real everyday carry in my jeans watch pocket while the squirt is in my left pants pocket. They make a good team. The executive is my precise cutting tool with two nice thin knife blades, a sort of serrated edge on the orange peeler that actually is handy for some things, and the scissors that is typical Victorinox. But the squirt is my dirty deed tool. The heftier screw driver, pliers, wire cutters that snip right through plastic zip ties, file, and thicker chisel grind knife blade is up to stuff I may not want to use the SAK on. The chisel grind is soooo easy to touch up and when sharp, cuts like the dickens. Breaks down pizza boxes and other cardboard boxes just fine.
I still may not have use for the bigger Leatherman stuff, but I have fallen in love with the squirt. After five years now, I won't be without one. It I lost this one somehow, I'd Rush out to get an other one before sundown.