I've been carrying a Leatherman Wave daily for a couple of years. For approx. 20 years before that I carried Leatherman PST tools... I believe I wore-out about 4 PST tools. I gave-in and opted for the Wave when the PST tools had become so obsolete that I couldn't source a new one. I was a die-hard fan of the PST. The only thing I didn't like about the PST was the bite of the handles (into my palm and fingers) when using it in pliers mode. Everything else, including the size, weight, and functions of the PST, I really liked... everything I generally needed and nothing I didn't need. I'm generally happy with the Wave, especially the plier mode handles, but:
1) I seldom use the serrated knife blade... and that serrated blade is really mean.
2) I've only used the saw blade a couple of times. Again, that blade is really mean. Actually... it's uber-mean. Best to keep that blade holstered unless you have your A-game fully implemented.
3) I use the file quite a bit, but I don't like it as well as the file on the PST tool.
4) The scissors are basically useless.
5) The flat screwdriver blades are "ok", but not as well sized and shaped as the screwdriver blades on the PST tool.
6) The Phillips (posidrive) bit seems equitable to the one on the PST tool, and it's fairly good.
7) The can opener is ok... equitable to the one on the PST. I generally use it to remove crimped-on bottle tops... but I generally drink canned beverages, so the can opener is generally a waste of space for me (it was on the PST too)... unless I'm in the company of some hoity-folks with good (expensive) taste that offer me a bottled beverage... then the bottle opener is handy... unless of-course I've had too many of their bottled beverages, and I end up puncturing the cap, rater then removing it... resulting in a self-inflicted beverage soaked croch and me sitting there looking like a fool... cause I didn't use the right tool for the job.
8 ) The regular knife blade is fine... equitable to the one on the PST. I wish the straight blades were capable of taking and holding a better edge (like a good pocket knife)... but what can be expected with stainless?
9) I miss not having a leather punch, like on the PST. The leather punch I used to use a lot.
10) I definitely miss not being able to open and access tools on the Wave with one hand (and in the dark) like I could with my PST. In-fact, I find many of the tools on the Wave to be difficult to access, although I'm getting more used to it. I do like the designation bumps on the serrated blade so I can distinguish it from the regular blade without having to open the blade first to determine which one is which. I also like the locking feature on the blades, something the PST didn't have.
11) I use the pliers the most, the regular knife blade second most, the Phillips (posidrive) bit and small & large straight (common) screwdriver bits third most, the file 4th. most commonly, and I'd use a leather punch 5th. commonly if the Wave had one. I use the serrated knife occasionally... I like it for slicing open clear packing tape on boxes, and for cutting open plastic bags with the bags laid on the work bench... the hook of the first serration works well. Basically those tools within the Wave are what I almost exclusively have a use for… the rest of them are just more weight and bulk as far as I’m concerned. For the tools on the Wave that I use, the Wave tool is generally as useful as the PST tools were. I still have my last PST, and I strap it on once in a while for a reality check… and I’m starting to generally like the Wave better. A few times I’ve been caught without a PST or Wave, and I’ve been lost… totally handicap. To give you a general idea of how much a use a multitool: I pull out my Wave (or PST in the past) far more-often than I pull open any of the 59ea. drawers of my Snap-on tool boxes. Not that a wave could take the place of a couple tons of Snap-on tools, but it's amazing to me that a 1/2 lb. tool gets more use than the combined use of 35 more dB-tools.
My Wave is a couple, maybe 3 or 4 years old. I recently purchased a new Wave as a gift, and was disappointed to discover (after buying it) that the newer Wave is changed... and arguably not as good... definitely seethes "cheapened"... at somewhere around a $70 price tag as I recall. Also, it literally took approx. 1 hour for the store management to remove the new Wave from the sales display (so I could take it to the check-out counter and buy it) at the Home Depot where I bought it, because of the store's security measures.
Maybe because I've been packing a Leatherman daily for more than 2 decades, I've been given many other multitools as presents. Some where cheap, some were middle-of-the-road, but most were very expensive as friends where trying to buy me something better than my usually well worn (broke-in nicely IMO) PST tool. All the multitool gifts I've received I really tried to warm-up to, but for what I need a multi-tool for, the Wave has proved to be the only alternative to the PST that strikes my fancy.
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Topic: Leatherman vs Gerber Multi-tool: which do you prefer (Read 11047 times)