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How useful a review of a discontinued Leatherman pocket multitool might be? Well it depends. The Leatherman Juice Pro has very subtle differences from the Juice's line flagship, the Xe6. Essentially it just adds two hidden small tools, a pair of tweezers and a small curved blade with mini serrations, known as a foil cutter. Thus, a potential buyer of the Xe6 might find this review helpful.
In a field of so many great keychain-size tools offered, why would you stop to give the Leatherman Style PS a second glance? The answer can be summed up in three letters: TSA. This bladeless offering is a great travel option. And don’t get me wrong, it’s not a half-baked compromise tool either.
I’ve recently started getting a lot more specific about my tools and what I want them to do. My latest search has been for an outdoors focussed tool, something to reach for when things go awry whilst out hiking or camping. The first to arrive was the Bear Grylls Survival Pack which comprises a slightly modified Gerber Strata in a brand new sheath design, complete with flashlight and fire steel. Although this tool was reviewed elsewhere on the forum previously by a better photographer than me, I thought I’d share my own perspective on this rather interesting ensemble.
Leatherman has never backed down from a challenge, and the Style is a fairly obvious attempt at recreating the infamous Victorinox Classic. The Classic is the most successful Swiss Army Knife in the history of Swiss Army Knives- so how does the Style stack up?
Husky is the store brand available at Home Depot. While they have seasonal offerings, the 14-in-1 multitool is currently in stock year round. It comes with a reasonable quality nylon sheath with a belt loop. As of this writing, the cost on this tool is about $10 US.
When one thinks of multifunction tools one tends to think of folding plier devices and when one thinks of multifunction knives one tends to conjure up the typical Swiss Army type knife. The Select Fire from Kershaw actually manages to take features from both without losing it’s tactical knife-y-ness as well. On the surface it’s a one handed opening, partially serrated liner lock with a partially serrated blade, injection molded handle scales and a pocket clip. Not only that, the pocket clip can quickly and easily be swapped to the opposite scale for left handed users and the large, ambidextrous thumbstud won’t be leaving Southpaws out in the cold either.
I received a little prompt to do a review of the Mini Bear Jaws recently, and it only seemed natural to compare it to the tool which most people would pick up and carry instead ... a Leatherman Squirt. I have taken a real shine to the Mini Bear Jaws, and though they don’t make much of an appearance in the world of multi-tools these days, they are a nice little item to have around.
This Christmas I was gifted a black Gerber Strap Cutter Crucial combo from Beerplumber. He prefaced the tool being Gerber and I, being more of a Leatherman guy, was cautious but was not going to look a literal gift-tool in the plier teeth.
With all tools new and shiny, I would be optimistic about the form, looks, function and carrying potential. In this review I am going to attempt to address them all.
This is a tiny, tiny little one piece tool that nonetheless manages to pack a ton of functionality in.
Before I get any further in the review though, let's just get this out of the way - yes, it looks to be "inspired" by the Atwood Fixer. Same size and same basic functionality, but different materials, size, blade shape and tool loadout. Whether or not this bothers you is entirely up to you. There are enough changes (including some rather clever engineering ideas) that I think this tool really does stand up on it's own merits and shouldn't just be dismissed as "just another Chinese copy".
Plier based multitool fans should probably look away now- Gerber’s Fit multitool will probably not appeal to you at all. It is however likely to appeal to the masses of folks at big box type stores because of it’s functionality, reasonable cost and stylish aesthetics. Available in blue or orange it catches your attention the way few multitools have in the past. But, here at Multitool.org, pretty is as pretty does, so let’s get down to the nuts and bolts of this one.
Usually Dave Bowen handles the one piece keychain type tools as he’s the expert, but in this case I thought I’d take a stab at it . Why the Shark appeals to me, I don’t really know, but I do like the simplicity of it . While it may not have a lot of functions, what it does do, it seems to do quite well.
When it comes to keychain tools, there are two distinct camps- the ones that try to pack as many features into a small package as possible, and the ones that put only a few, more effective features in. The thought behind both concepts is sound- by giving more features, it's more likely you will have what you need when you need it.By going with less features, you can minimize manufacturing costs and make certain that the tool will perform it's functions more effectively.
Here I'm going to look at one of Leatherman's latest keyring tool options. This is their third scissors based tool having been preceded by the Micra and the Squirt S4. The S4 has now been retired but the Mirca is still alive and kicking. The styling is very much taken from the Skeletool, Freestyle and MUT and is certainly eye catching and very modern looking.
I know this is a little tool that’s had plenty said about it already but I thought I might just throw my two pence in as well.
What kind of people would write collect and review multitools? Quite simple really- we are designers and do-ers, outdoors types and indoor types, mechanics, doctors, problem solvers and problem makers. As such, we have, as a world spanning community, put every type, size and version of multitool, multifunction knife, pocket knife and all related products to every test we could manage in as many places and environments as there are.