Leatherman New Wave Multitool

Comments about Leatherman New Wave Multitool:

For over half a century, I've always had a Boy Scout knife or a Swiss Army Knife or a multi-tool in my pocket. (Until 9/11 security.) This is the fifth pocket-knife-and-pliers combo I've owned, since the original Leatherman decades ago. I get new ones because they keep getting so much better! For example, it seems they have finally learned how to make knife-edge grade stainless steel that really holds an edge, and stainless steel springs.

Leatherman makes the longest blades, just under the three inch legal limit. (The length that counts for us is the length of the sharpened edge.) Other brands such as Gerber and Swiss Army are frequently as short as 1-3/4" or shorter.

Imagine, you're on a day hike, but you decided to take a short cut home that, unfortunately, turned out to be a disaster. You are far from home, your clothing got soaked, cold night is coming on, you're exhausted, and you need to build a fire quickly to overcome hypothermia -- and fortunately you're nowhere near a fire-hazard zone.

Twigs burn up too fast. You find a nice, dry stick 1 to 2 inches in diameter, too thick to break. Imagine trying to cut it into fire-sized pieces with a 1-3/4" saw. Give me a longer blade any day. The Leatherman 3" blades are the longest you can get in a "pocket" knife.

The knife blade shape is nice and tapered, too, non-symmetrical for easy edge identification, with a graceful, useful curve, and a fine-pointed tip as needed to remove the smallest splinter or thorn. And I like being able to flick it out with the thumb. And the serrated blade has a longer serration than on the huge K-bar type knives.

The workmanship and precision engineering are impressive.

The rounded handles and sharp stainless blades are an outstanding improvement from the old Leatherman, and are as good as or better than the competition.

These tools give the mistaken impression that they are heavy, but really they are simply dense. They are actually light weight and small for all the functionality they provide. Compare it to the weight and size of a tool box. They are specifically designed for weight efficiency: every little part is strong enough to do the job, each as multi-purpose as possible, with absolutely minimum size, a common handle, and a common integral container, all to cut weight. You can't get much better with current materials.

This all-stainless-steel Wave is less than 1% heavier than the pricier Leatherman Charge Aluminum-handled tool, and less than 4% heavier than the premium-priced Charge Titanium-handled tool. We're talking small fractions of an ounce here. (These tools all have comparable blade and tool selections, except for some small add-ons in the titanium tool.)

Cans without self-openers are getting hard to find nowadays. But if necessary, you can always open one using brute force with the blade from your main knife, if you don't mind dulling your blade, making a mess, and perhaps cutting yourself. The Leatherman makes the best pocket-knife can opener I've ever seen. (It may be patented.) For sure, it takes many strokes with short cuts compared to a kitchen type can opener, only 3 to 6 mm with each stroke (measured with some tool I happened to have handy at the time -- the Leatherman). But it is easy to use correctly, and with an exception or two, it leaves a smooth, tight, safe edge inside the can. Nice job, Leatherman.

It's actually easy to clean this tool. Simply open out all the tools (as in the photo), and pop it into the dishwasher. Lacking a large electric plumbing appliance in your backpack, simply hose it out. Or vigorously rinse it in the lake. You can boil it to sterilize it. (Don't overheat above the boiling point of water, or you may ruin the temper of the metal.) Or put it into your bear-proof container with dishwater and drive around on some bumpy road for half a day (as another REI reviewer suggested), and then rinse. Then just shake out the water if you want. Afterward, a couple drops of light oil on the pivots wouldn't hurt. Don't over-oil, though. Too much oil makes pocket lint and dust stick.

Don't worry about rust. The tool actually is Stainless Steel as they say, just like your spoons and forks. (Except they say the bearings are bronze. This would probably be porous bronze saturated with oil. This oil may have to be replenished with a drop or two after such thorough cleaning.)

A spring on the pliers would be nice, but it is a luxury item to me. I am used to using many kinds of pliers without a spring. It would, however, allow a finer touch when used as a tweezers.

Look at the tip of the pliers. It is as fine or finer than many tweezers. One improvement I would like to see is a slight chamfer on the back corner of each tip, say about 15 to 25 degrees. This would decrease the area of contact of the tip, and make it very practical for use as a fine tweezers. Used together with the sharp pointed knife blade, it would be excellent to remove the tiniest splinter or thorn.

You can make this chamfer yourself by carefully using a diamond file, or an ordinary machinist's file, or fine carbide sandpaper on a hard surface. Grind this very carefully; we're talking about removing a very small amount of material. Only a few strokes are needed.

Before you start, look through the tightly closed jaws to the light. You will see a very slight gap between the jaws except at the very tip, where there is a tiny bump that gives the tip its microscopic grip. If you file the tip down too far, you lose the effectiveness of this bump. All you need is to remove most of the end-face of the back corner of each tip. A small flat remaining on the end is fine. Gently try it on your finger skin and you can see how it can be effective removing a splinter.

The handles grip as close together as practical (to allow intervening fingers), good for smaller hands.

When measuring greater than 4", make sure the plier jaws are fully closed, for accuracy.

One irony: The diamond file is most useful for sharpening knife blades, but it can't be used on the blades on this knife, unless you buy two. It could be if it were detachable.

If there were a half-round edge on the flat diamond file it could also sharpen serrated blades, or remove the edge in a chipped drinking glass or mug.

Warning: There are serious, sharp pinch points at the confluence of the pliers handles. They will get your thumb every time if you are not careful. It happens right at the point where it is natural to place your thumb to get the right grip. I would not let a child or newby use this tool without thoroughly training them about this first.

It happens at the back edge of the outer blades, near the pivot. Some but not all of the blades have a small chamfer on their back edges to counter this, but this existing chamfer does not extend far enough towards the pivot where it's needed most. This chamfer should be slightly deeper, and should absolutely be on the outer edge of all the exposed blades. You can file them yourself (use another Leatherman diamond file, or an ordinary fine machinist's file, or a carbide or diamond hobby grinder, or even a stationary disk sander if you're good and gentle at it). The sharp back edges of the blades are useful to scrape, as to scrape filings from your magnesium fire starter without ruining your knife edges or to scrape your flint, so extend the chamfer only down the blade as far as necessary to avoid the pinching.

Leatherman, this is a safety issue.

All said and done, it looks as if this Wave has become my newest close-companion tool kit, well worth the price. I'm an electrician with over a dozen boxes full of tools, and in just the couple of weeks I've owned the Wave, it has become my most-used tool. I hope I can remember to not have it in my carry-on baggage (when I'm not driving my favorite camper), or to not take it into a courthouse or some such place.

Comments about Leatherman New Wave Multitool:

I've seen other people curse the scissors on their pocket knives because they are flimsy and don't work. The scissors on the Wave are very effective. They'd be useful to have when I was trying to open the packaging.

Comments about Leatherman New Wave Multitool:

I use this product for camping hiking, and work. It is a great tool with plenty of different tools within it. I have dropped it plenty of times on rocks and pavement and it still is not damaged other than scratches. I never hike or work without it.

Comments about Leatherman New Wave Multitool:

I have used my leatherman wave to hunt, fish, hike, small projects, etc. The tool that i have used the most is the wood saw, which cuts through most limbs/wood 2"+ in diameter. The knife blades came razor sharp and after one years use still don't need to sharpen them. In the future i will have two, one for my truck and one for my backpack.

Comments about Leatherman New Wave Multitool:

I had this tool the whole time in Iraq and it was a God send when it came to opening up MRE's. I also found many other uses for such as; weapons maintenance, vehicle maintenance, and cleaning my weapons. The only problem I had was that after a year and a half of use my buddy borrowed it and lost it so I had to get a new one.

Comments about Leatherman New Wave Multitool:

Useful when camping but also @ home. I have used it on a number of small home projects. Some of the smaller tools are tedious to get to, especially the bottle opener. My wife also makes fun of me for wearing it on my belt. I think she is worried that other women will see it and realize that I am an Alpha. I have a pop-up camper that requires random minor maintenance, so far this year I have been able to handle everything with this tool!

Comments about Leatherman New Wave Multitool:

This is a great tool. Too many multi-tools now have useless attachments that are only there for the company to gloat. There is not a single wasted attachment on this tool. It is not overloaded so it is relatively light and sturdy. Everything on it comes in handy.

I use this tool for Search and Rescue, camping, hiking, backpacking, automotive, around the house, absolutely everything. Great piece of equipment.

Comments about Leatherman New Wave Multitool:

Great multi-tool but not the best knife when you need get your hands on a knife really fast. I carry this multi-tool along whenever I am hiking or hunting but I also carry a Ka-Bar on my belt as well.

Comments about Leatherman New Wave Multitool:

I have used mine for several years and carry it everywhere I go. It is a little bulky if free in your pocket but get the pocket clip and you'll forget it's there. Blades are sharp and having them on the outside is extremely useful as you don't need to open the pliers.

Don't be skeptical, I am constantly surprised at how frequently I use this for everyday tasks. I lost one a few years ago and replaced it almost immediately. I would buy another should anything happen to this one.

Comments about Leatherman New Wave Multitool:

Got mine courtesy of the USAF, and the number of times I used it on an average day was rather surprising. As an electronics technician working in the field you often find yourself at a disadvantage tool-wise, and then you remember you've got MacGyver's [*] best friend on your belt, problem solved. It really should be pointed out that one has to be mindful of the fact that the Leatherman is highly electrically conductive, what with it being metal and all, so all due precautions should not be overlooked simply because this tool is so super sweet...The scissors are sharp and strong, but be beware the folded metal recoil strip as it can and will fail. The blades are stupid sharp, and hold an edge well. The serration on the pliers is also strong and can shred a bolt if you're not careful. Also, because of the design and nature of this tool, be very wary of your hand slipping forward on the handle when using the blades should your hand get, or be, wet. Hunters already know about this.Like an idiot though, I left mine in my car, in LA, and it was gone. Now I have to buy one (owing to the fact I am a civilian again) because it is so dead useful.