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I have had Gerbers, they were the 1st Multipliers I owned. I will admit that I did abuse the hell out of the orginal Multipliers and broke three of them. Gerber was very good on honoring their warranty. I did not like the way the tools would fold in or how my palm would get pinched when bearing down on an item in the jaws.


I have also had Leathermans, I moved on to a Supertool(the first model, not the ST200).I beat the snot out of it and literally wore away the serrations on the serrated blade.I cut a whole mess of banding and hardwire with it until the jaws got loose. I upgraded with one of the first waves I saw. I beat the snot out of that one too.
Wore the jaws out,watched the handles get loose till they would just flop open.I also carried a Micra for the scissors. Later on a whim I picked up a PST II. I eventually picked up a Supertool200
and carried it until about a year ago when I picked up my SwissTool X.

I really do not have too much bad to say about the Leatherman's. When I had problems with my Wave they imeadiately told me to send it back,that there might have been some early production issues.I sent it in then my Supertool after I got my Wave back. Both were fixed in a couple of weeks and returned.

After I broke my Super the 2nd time I did what I felt was the right thing to do considering what I was doing when I broke it and replaced it with a Supertool200. I did not like where they went with the Super. I felt all they needed to do was roll the edges ditch the serrated blade for a pair of scissors and in my mind it would have been perfect. The Wave and my PSTII had scissors, but was not as stout as the Super and not all of the blades locked.

The adapter at least in my opinion was fuctional, but somewhat cumbersome, and tedious to use. I will say it was built like the rest of their tools
I ended up giving mine away to someone.

As I said about a year ago I stopped along with my wife and kids at SMKW in TN. I was going to upgrade my 200 for one of the newly redesigned Leatherman tools. I looked at the displays and the features, in my opinion, my humble opinion there are some features that were not really needed, and some that definetly could have been executed better.

1. Locking system on the handles. It looked to me that they could be broken if alot of pressure repeatedly was placed on them.My friend Nick has a Blast and that is what has happened to his.The locking system on the Original Supertool was fine.
The lock was simple and pretty darn bullet proof.
2.Hi Speed low Drag steels for the Knife Blades and Handles. All that was needed was for Leatherman to maybe do a little bit better job profiling and maybe heat treating the blades that they were already using. why go to a specialty steel and have to raise the price. same with the handles. I have not seen or broken a handle, the jaws have always given out first.
3. The new bit System. I think that the concept was good but I was not too impressed with the following points,one- alot of reach was lost when going to the bit system,two- the bits tended to wobble around some and seemed easy to pull out. Now I understand that I was looking at the display models that were seeing quite a bit of reptitive removal and replacement of bits, however, if I am going to spend extra money for that feature I definetley intend to take full advantage of its capabilities.The odd shape of the bits,even though they save handle space is a downside also. Lose one and you will be waiting awhile to get one sent in from Leatherman. I dont have much to say about the eyeglass driver, I am sure even though it takes up space in the handle it will serve it's purpose well.
4. Price.the price on the new and improved Leathermans definetly went up.to me at least I did not fell that they were worth money.For something ,that now matter how well it is built is going to see,at least in my hands, some downright evil abuse.

I was going to bite the bullet anyway, when the Salesperson asked me if I had seen the new Victorinox line of Multitools. I replied No, one was produced, a few minutes and 54 dollars later I was on my way.

What do I like about it......
1. Scissors, I dont have to carry an additional item to have that feature.
2. Blade is in a usable position when open.When performing a task that is detail oriented an indivdual is not forced to fight around the handle.
3.Tools are accessible when handles are closed,all the tools not just some.
5.Locking system. when the Pliers are bieng utilized there is no pressure bieng put on the latches that could induce breakage. If the spring on the latch breaks you can still unlock and close your tool ala Leatherman until you can get it fixed.
6. Overall construction and materials. At least my tool,I have not seen many other Victorinox Multipliers has an excellent finish. The tools all seem to be shaped and ground right for the tasks they were designed for. The knife blade holds an edge well and is easy to sharpen when need be.What most of us have come to expect from the makers of the "Origninal Swiss Army Knife".
7. I will not comment much on the additional bit system thet Vivtorinox chose to go with I have not gotten one yet ,but I like the idea of using common 1/4 bits and a seperate holder to allow the user to work both tools at once.

And now too be fair to the others....What I dont like and would change.

1. The pliers. Make the needlenose a bit longer,maybe also beef up the cutting area and ditch the 2 notches,I hate to say it go a bit towards the Leatherman on this one. Gerbers new models have a pretty slick set up too, where the cutting edge can be roted out and replaced if need be.I have no experience with how well it works or holds up,but it seems to me that Gerber might be on to something there.
2.Handles. Put a tiny bit of a roll in the handles to make them a bit more comfortable during hard use.

Really that is about it The items I mentioned in the dislikes section on my Swisstool X are minor,at least to me compared to all the things that I like about it. I do tend to be a bit more careful now about what I cut with my Pliers,so I will not damage them, when I have really had to grip hard I have either gutted through it or wrapped a bandana around the handles.

I drive a truck for a living I expect the few tools I carry in the truck with me since I have started running a local run about 8 months ago to perform,especially in an emergency.

I would trust the Leathermans,to come thru when needed. I trust my Swisstool X just as much.I have been a big user of Multipliers since the early 90's when the craze first started. It took many years for Leatherman to get my seal of approval so to speak.

I have had my Swisstool for about a year.I am very pleased with it so far.

There are some things out there that I would trust my life too in a pinch and I feel that there are some items that a person carries should be good enough to be trusted in a pinch.I would trust my life to my older Leathermans and to my Swisstool X if need be. I am not worried about destroying them in the process, tools can be replaced.

I have rambled on way too long I am pretty passionate about Multitools in general.Hope this helps, Go down to your local Retailer and check them out.