Why Multi-Tools

Joined
Aug 31, 2019
Messages
61
can you fine gentlemen please educate me on why a thick hunk of metal with predetermined by somebody else functioning is better than carrying an assortment of mini tools of a variety specifically catered to my personal needs, spead evenly around my pockets or attire/kit?
 
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Fine.

They don't suck just because they aren't for you. Expand your vocabulary. Especially not if you find a Leatherman with tools that suit your needs, and yes, they have a wide variety.
Having all of them in one place is also very nice, whether it's in a pouch on your belt,clipped in your pocket, or just loose in a big pocket.

And that's pretty much all the energy I have for you.
 
can you fine gentlemen please educate me on why a thick hunk of metal with predetermined by somebody else functioning is better than carrying an assortment of mini tools of a variety specifically catered to my personal needs, spead evenly around my pockets or attire/kit?
I'll answer. Basically, it is just easier and more convenient to throw a multi-tool in my bag. I buy the multi-tool based on which specific tools I am most likely to use so it really is catered to my specific needs. Plus, I know the various tools on my Leatherman will be of consistent quality. Hence, I don't need to research the quality of each individual tool.
 
I'll answer. Basically, it is just easier and more convenient to throw a multi-tool in my bag. I buy the multi-tool based on which specific tools I am most likely to use so it really is catered to my specific needs. Plus, I know the various tools on my Leatherman will be of consistent quality. Hence, I don't need to research the quality of each individual tool.
so its more of a bag tool not a pocket carry for you...i keep one in my truck console but when i bought it really wanted to carry on person but couldnt get comfortable and really never used it daily even when carried. this theme recurred over several multitool purchases, the most recent being a gerber suspension nxt.
now im over it but was curious if anybody had different take on it.
 
so its more of a bag tool not a pocket carry for you...i keep one in my truck console but when i bought it really wanted to carry on person but couldnt get comfortable and really never used it daily even when carried. this theme recurred over several multitool purchases, the most recent being a gerber suspension nxt.
now im over it but was curious if anybody had different take on it.
Yes, its for my bag. I have never carried on person. I think it would be too large and cumbersome for that.
 
I've carried a Leatherman Wave in a pouch on my belt every day since the 1980s. I use it about fifty times a day and I can't even estimate how many hundreds of miles of walking it has saved me or how much back strain it has prevented by replacing a ten pound tool pouch of individual tools.

Such convenience is not for everyone.
 
I've carried a Leatherman Wave in a pouch on my belt every day since the 1980s. I use it about fifty times a day and I can't even estimate how many hundreds of miles of walking it has saved me or how much back strain it has prevented by replacing a ten pound tool pouch of individual tools.

Such convenience is not for everyone.
Great post! I like multi-tools (pliers based), but I only keep them in my field bag and not on my person. They are useful, but are not a replacement for a tool box full of regular tools. Get with the program F flashcan556 . You won't know until you use them for a while whether or not they are for you. You also need to work on your word choice and sentence structure.
 
While my current Leatherman is a Fuse (discontinued model) that I bough for $10 at a flea market, I have carried one Leatherman or another since the Mid-90s. Mostly an original Leatherman or a PST-II, but occasionally a "Micra" (I own three of them but can't locate any at this exact moment), but any Leatherman tool fits into the category of "better than nothing but bare fingers"!

I'll also admit to intermittent carrying a Kershaw 8720 "Shuffle" Knife that is also a bit holder screwdriver, and a Kershaw "Payload" which is a better, though somewhat longer bit screwdriver. and there is a Snap-On SSDMR4B Ratcheting screwdriver/ bit holder that "Lives" in my black Carhartt Hoodie/Jacket with a pair of 10" channel lock pliers, there is also an 8mm Combination wrench that "Lives" on my Key Ring, but it won't get lonely there as there is also a Kershaw 8810 one piece multi-tool and a 1025CU "Cinder" on there with it. You adapt your "carry" to what you find yourself working on and your carry adapts over time.

As an example I cannot immediately recall the last time I used it, but in my daiiy carry is both a Zippo lighter (I don't smoke, and never have) and a magnesium fire starting block with a Ferro-Cerium spark strip.
It is almost ritual to refill the lighter and check the "flint" in it and verify there is a spare "flint" and wick
stored inside it every Sunday afternoon as part of my weekly knife sharpening ritual (I will often be just checking work done during the week to "touch up" any edges that have been used, but all folders are "DE-linted" and oiled as well...

Some of us are (as a friend once phrased it) "unimaginably methodical"... Like always, ALWAYS washing out my coffee cup with boiling water...(if this accomplishes nothing else it "pre-heats" the cup BEFORE the Coffee goes in)

Or listening to the weather report to decide if I should lock the hubs on my truck BEFORE getting in.
(usually while checking the oil level, coolant level and topping off the washer fluid!)

There is no replacement for being METHODICAL & CONSISTANT.
 
I work apartment maintenance, and it saves a lot of time during the course of the day. having to run back and forth to the golf cart. Wish I'd found out about leatherman 30 years before when I was doing commercial refrigeration.... Oh well.
 
A multitool is smaller package than separate tools. Not better, smaller. That means you are far more likely to have it to hand and actually use it. Oh and even if you can't find one with the correct tool compliment for your own personal needs and there are hundreds of variations, you are free to mod one. I've done that with both Leatherman and Victorinox.

explorermod_7.jpg


sakmod_4.jpg


chargemod.jpg
 
As a mechanic and operator I have tool boxes on my work truck or engine room cabinets with most of the hand tools I could need and usually it’s close by wherever I am but a Leatherman S2 or Wave to carry in pocket has saved me a lot of steps back and forth and they have tools I can use frequently. They aren’t the end all for a tool need but they do cover many of the daily tasks that I have. Also when I’m out camping, hunting or fishing they are really handy. A few times I’ve left them at home and then was when I realized just how much I use them.
 
I'm a mechanic. I work on pinsetters at bowling centers. I carry a leatherman wave+ at all times. I use it daily and usually multiple times a day. It's nice having it when I need to tighten a bolt or nut, and don't want to walk 300 feet to my tool shop. They're great for convenience, and keep me from having to climb out of a machine to go get tools from the shop.
 
I have tried and used bother Gerber and Leatherman Multi tools and I still find I would rather grab a pair of appropriate sized pliers when needed, a real screw driver, file etc. I do keep and old original leatherman in may back pack, just in case, but honestly I've only used it a very few times. I do however find the basic SAK (Spartan, Climber, Hiker) very useful on a daily basis.
 
Im a contractor that does mostly sales but needs some tools at some times. Generally, every tool I need to do a job fits in a small toolbox on the floorboard of my truck.

That said, a leatherman tool is worth its weight in gold for 90% of what I need to do. Turn a screw, pry up a valve, snip a wire. Why walk all the way back to the truck or lug a 20lb toolbox down to the job when I KNOW a leatherman will do the work?

I carry a Rebar on my person everyday. Truth be told, if you made me pick one cutting implement to carry, I would pick a simple Leatherman over my nicest folder. Its not designed to be the best, its designed to bridge the gap between being totally unprepared and having the right tool for the job. I have made due with nothing more than a leatherman more times than I can remember. I've never been in a situation where I NEEDED a super steel that can make 400 cardboard cuts before losing razor sharpness, but I have been broken down on the side of the road with an old jeep with a busted tail pipe dragging the ground when I was coming home from college. An extra coat hanger in my laundry basket, snipped down using my pliers and bent around the pipe to the frame held it up on the underside. Backing the license plate screws with my driver gave me a point to wrap around another piece of hanger to hold the end of the exhaust up.

Stuff like that is what the leatherman is made for. It turns a hopeless situation into one where you at least have a fighting chance if you have a little imagination and raw material.
 
A multitool is smaller package than separate tools. Not better, smaller. That means you are far more likely to have it to hand and actually use it. Oh and even if you can't find one with the correct tool compliment for your own personal needs and there are hundreds of variations, you are free to mod one. I've done that with both Leatherman and Victorinox.

explorermod_7.jpg


sakmod_4.jpg


chargemod.jpg
Nice mods. I like the Leatherman with Vic scissors.
 
As much as I love knives, I'd probably choose a multi tool if I had to pick one or the other as my only knife/tool. They're just too handy. Everytime I leave my house without my Leatherman, I regret it.

I just got back from a three day camping trip. My multitool was used numerous times everyday. Opened soup cans (we forgot to bring a can opener), used the pliers to removes painful burrs from clothing and shoe laces, used the pliers to grab hot items off of the fire, used the saw and knife to make impromtu clothes pins to hang wet clothing, etc. I even hastily made this fire grate:

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It's also nice to have a pair of pliers while fishing for hook removal.

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I've also done numerous small home repairs with my multitool and never had to run out to my shop to get tools.

When I worked in road maintenance and grounds maintenance, my multitool was indespensable. I now work in an office and don't use it nearly as often, however it still comes in handy in an office setting. Additionally, it's just nice knowing I'm a bit more prepared.


All this to say, multitools are a compromise in many ways, but I find them extremely useful. Your milage may vary...
 
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