First off let me say that this will be more than a review, think of it as “ramblings of a multitool enthusiast”. I have been a fan of the multitool scene ever since I was introduced to it around 2001. I had known about Swiss Army Knives, which virtually everyone carried, and of Tim Leatherman’s brand of tools that also were on the market. I never was a pocket knife person and never did carry one, let alone a tool of any kind, I just didn’t see why anyone would ever need one….and then I was hooked. A couple of the guys at work had pocket knives and I was not drawn in to own one myself but I did fancy the ingenuity and simplicity of them. On my birthday (Dec 12^th) in 2000, the guys at work pitched in and bought me my first mulitool. Their choice was a Gerber Multi-Lite, since I seemed to be a person that might not like just having a knife; they figured they could give me something with a little more utility. Ever since I received that gift I have been hooked on knives and tools alike, my quest went from there to find the perfect multitool. Course problem being was; the market was quite saturated with so many tools that it makes ones head hurt trying to decide. With other brands adding to the above mentioned, like Bear MGC, Kershaw, Buck, SwissTech, etc. you really had to do your homework before you made your purchase.

The Fuse is the middle child in a family of three tools Leatherman brought out in 2004. It is more capable than the less expensive Kick , but thinner and lighter than the Blast. All three tools bear a strong resemblance to each other, and all share the same improved stronger elliptical plier head. (Along with the Leatherman Charge and New Wave .)

I have just received a Paul Chen Multi Tasker, first impression= it could have been made by Gerber, very much like a shiny Recoil. Then when you start using it you find the shears can not be flicked out like a Gerber because they are locked in both the open and closed position. To use you have to press the buttons and let it slide open/closed. The shears are 1/8" thick and cut what cable I had laying around very well also paper card plastic sheet a seat belt and some canvas.

Once in a while a design comes along that seems innovative, and many of those that do come along just miss the mark due to one problem or another. The Leatherman SideClip is an innovative design but was discontinued some time ago. In my mind, this simply screamed “bad design” to me. I decided to pick one up after some members on the forum raved about how good it was. I figured, at the very least it was worth adding one to my collection. Once again, I was happy to be proven wrong.