Hey everyone, David
C. Andersen here coming at you from the
KnifeCenter. And today we're taking a look at some of the best multi tools that you can get
your hands on right now. Let's check them out. (KnifeCenter) Before we dive into the actual pics today, I do
have to say right out front, there's honestly almost no such thing as the best multi tool. So
I know I'm kind of contradicting the the point of this video. But honestly, there's some really
good brands out there. And as long as you pick something that has the tools that you want the
tools that you're going to use, honestly, that's the best multi tool for you. But what I'm going
to do today is I'm going to go through a range of kinds of different styles and sizes of the
pliers based multi tools. kind of the thing that you think about when you think of the classic
Leatherman, which is the kind of the original here invented by Tim Leatherman back in the day,
we're going to avoid the things like most Swiss Army knives that are kind of pocket knives with
extra tools, we've got these pliers based tools instead. So we're avoiding the the pocket knife
multi tool lineage a bit here. But what you're gonna find is there's kind of essentially four
big brands, I think that dominate the space. And you'll see all of them here, and the first
segment in the full size multi tool. So I'm actually going to start by showing you the last
multi tool we're going to look at, to kind of demonstrate a point here, this is the Leatherman
rebar, and it shares a form factor that's very similar to the original Leatherman tool, you've
got these two arms that rotate open to reveal that nice pliers head on the inside. And you've
got multiple tools that can be opened from inside the handle. That's kind of the classic
form factor for the multi tool. But kind of the next phase and evolution of the full size multi
tool is rather than having to open up the tool to get to the implements inside, you'll see what
you see here on the Leatherman wave where you actually have implements that can be accessed
from outside the tool. And this may not have been the first do it. I'm not actually quite
sure if it was or not. But it's certainly made the concept famous. And it's easy to see why
these guys are still made in the US, you've got two main blades that are locking as well as one
hand opening from the outside of the blade. You've also got a nail file, or sorry, a
standard tool file and a saw on the outside as well. I open these guys up, and you'll see kind
of a variant on the type of plier head you'll see on most of these tools. And they're a
combination design that combined needlenose capability with kind of the jaws from a regular
stub, nose, or snub nose pair of pliers, you're also going to see some wire cutters here. These
are actually replaceable bits as they wear out, you can swap them out for new ones. And this
particular wave has a crimper built in as well which is quite nice. Inside the tool, you've got
a number of different implements, but I'm going to show you two specifically that are kind of
most well most identified with Leatherman as a brand. And that's their replaceable bit drivers.
You've got a small one here on the side, which works really well for like eyeglasses and small
electronics. And then you've got a standard style of bit here. I say standard, but it
carries a essentially a flattened bit. And there are expansion bits available for these. But the
advantage of that, of course is you're not just limited to the hard tools on the inside that it
comes with, you have the opportunity to drive all kinds of different fasteners. Now one of the
notes on just kind of a nice way to use this standard bit driver, it does lock open here in
the the open position. And you can certainly use it with the tool tool completely folded so you
have a standard twist there with a pretty good amount of leverage actually, but if you want
even more, simply rotate it so you've got a 90 degree bend on the joint here so you can get a
little more leverage. And if you need a little more length, or even a more classic screwdriver
type feel open it up all the way and you've got plenty there to work with. As I mentioned, most
of these full size multi tools are going to come with some kind of belt sheets because these
aren't exactly pocket friendly. This particular wave comes with a nylon with Velcro on the front
with the flap there, you've got a little bit of a separation on the inside you can add some of
the extra bit kits that are available. And you've got built and Molle capability on the
back. I kind of like to think of the wave is kind of the second generation of evolution from
the the classic Leatherman lineup and this knife is or this multi tool is kind of the next step
beyond that. It's the new Leatherman free, which has a pretty cool, cool mechanism and you're not
gonna see anything else like it right now on the market. And you've actually got a sort of
magnetic closure here. As you can see there's not a lot of resistance as I move that around.
And the advantage of that is once you open up that that kind of magnetic hold with your
finger, you can actually flip this open and it makes it really easy to get it out of you the
the belt sheath, do what you need to do and then close it as well. Takes a little bit of getting
used to, without having to use both hands, which can be really important if you kind of need to
keep your hands on the thing as you're working on it. This guy is a little bit more expensive
than the way of this particular free p four comes in about 140. Still made in the USA, you do have the outside
accessible tools here as well. And what's nice is this is one where all of the tools are
outside accessible, you can see there's nothing at all there on the inside. So you can get to
all of it. And they all lock with the same mechanism here on the back end rather than a
typical liner lock. The nice thing about these is when you go to close it, keep your fingers
out of the way of the blade edge, something I always definitely appreciate. Now, I'm not going
to go into every tool that every one of these multi tools have, because that would get a
little repetitive and a little Draggy. But you can always check out all the tools that are
available on these models at the links below. Now even though this does come with its own
pocket clip, this is still pretty heavy for pocket carry. But they do still include a
standard sheath, it's nylon in this case, it actually got a snap here rather than Velcro.
It's got a pretty cool look to it as well I think and then just a standard or vertical belt
loop on the back. Alright, next up is the Victorinox Swiss tool spirit plus this
particular one is one of the slightly higher end versions comes in about 135. And here you have
the classic Leatherman style pliers based multi tool from kind of the classic Swiss Army Knife
maker Victorinox. And very nicely put together. Some people really appreciate the fit and finish
of these models very much. And on these you do have just a standard flip open or a standard
fold open. But all the tools here are accessible from the outside and they started doing this
even before Leatherman came out with their options, putting everything on the outside. Even
though you can get to all those tools, they're not really designed to be one hand openers. You
can see it's just a classic style of nail neck opening that you might see on a typical Swiss
Army knife. locking mechanism, however, is outside accessible and lets you keep the fingers
out of the way the blade. Definitely Thumbs up for that. Now one of the things I like about
these, these spirit tools are some of the extra options that are available with them. Here's the
sheath here. It's a nice rugged nylon here, bit of Velcro on the front. But you've got some
extras designed to kind of maximize and expand the capability of the tool itself. For one thing, you can attach here to the
outside of the tool, classic Victorinox corkscrew with the mini screwdriver there on the
on the inside of the coil. So you get that if you you know, one of the fun things about Swiss
Army knives, you've always got that these are really good for helping to untie knots as well,
even if you don't plan on opening a wine bottle with them. You've also got versions that include
some ratcheting tools, as well as just a standard kind of L shaped driver here with
quarter standard quarter inch bit drivers on either end, and some included bits. Now it
doesn't actually incorporate or use the standard bit of the tool at all. But coming into the
sheath, it does form an integrated part of the tool system, which is just also very nice. So
next up, I want to talk about Gerber's original multiplier, which was another step along the
evolution of making the classic original form factor of the Leatherman tool a bit more
accessible or a bit more fast and easy to use. And they actually had a plier head that can be
slid up in and out of the handle. And I don't have the multiplier here in front of me today
because I think the best of this style that Gerber makes is now the Center Drive plus us
made coming in about 125. Whereas the original multipliers had kind of toggles on both sides of
the handles, he had to actuate. But on the center drive, you've only got that toggle on a
single side. So it makes it very easy to push in and slide those plier heads out. And as you can
see, there's even some spring spring tension pushing the handles open. So it's even easier to
use some of the fine control motions you might be using on the front end of those needle nose
since you don't have to actually physically pull the jaws apart when you're ready. But especially
when these are really nice and broken in, you can take it out, slide those jaws forward. See
this one's not very broken in, but very easy to do that very quickly in and out makes the access
very fast. This guy features a combination of tools accessed from the inside as well as from
the outside including a standard locking blade with a typical liner lock here. The other real
defining feature apart from that mechanism or the opening action here is you've got a nice
long bit holder here that is locking as well and you've got just your standard quarter inch bit
and there's even some extras included in the sheath this comes with as well. This particular
one has a leather sheath and I didn't take it out of the plastic yet but you've got a nice
selection of extra bits there again included right in the sheath ready to go. Now the other
real big player in the player Based multi tool segment is SOG. And with this particular model,
this is their power access assist, you get one of their defining features, and that is the
compound leverage on the plier. Heads, you can see as I open this, you've essentially got some
gears around the pivot. And these are actually going to allow you to apply more force than you
could with just a standard pivot joint there. Thanks to that force multiplier. Overall, it's a
cool feature. And just one of those defining kind of brand traits of the SOG, multi tools,
the rest of the tool is also very well thought out, you've got outside accessible tools for
main locking implements, and some more implements in the middle. And what's cool about
these, there are assisted opening, which I'm not quite sure I don't I don't really think or I
can't really think of many others that do this apart from some of the the SOG models out there.
And also, you've got a nice locking mechanism that again, allows you to keep that finger
outside of the blade path very nice. On top of that, we've got a another nice feature when the
tool is closed, here around the pivot, you've actually got a quarter inch bit driver built in
so you can snap a or slap a bit in there, and you've got that other drive point. On top of
that you've got a nylon sheath Velcro on the front, Molle on the back, and two compartments,
as you can see the main tool, and you've got a section with some of those extra bits that we
were talking about. You've also got another quarter inch driver here essentially, that can
actually be used as just a normal quarter inch wrench, or you can put any of those extra bits
in there. And that is actually going to fit on a an implement in the handle, snap it on there.
And then you've got two positions for this, it kind of has a stop in the 90 degree section
here. And that's not going to fold closed. You can however, fold it fully open and use it in
that position and just disengage it with the standard lock, very nice feature that's also
included. Alright, now we're gonna move on to some mid size or pocket sized multi tools,
things that aren't going to be quite as heavy. You could carry these on a build sheet if you
want it to but they're a little bit smaller, a little bit lighter. And more importantly, also
come equipped with pocket clips, allowing you to carry them a bit more easily. And we're going to
start with another Leatherman the Skeletool model, at least start around the the $60 point
and those come with a standard blade steel, which is just a 420 Hc good basic stuff. But
this particular one, the CX comes in about 80 to $80 and comes with a 154 Cm blade steel. So a
nice bump up in edge retention and performance. As you can see it is also outside accessible one
hand opening and locking with the liner lock right there. Now one of the big differences
you'll feel when using especially the blade on this is it's more balanced in the hand, you're
not fighting extra weight from the tool itself, so it's more nimble and easier to use. Now
that's the only real outside accessible tool on the on the skeletool models, you do have a
carabiner here, that also works as a bottle opener. And then when you open it up, you do
have the Leatherman bit driver, and it actually they actually lock in place too. There's a spare
here in the sides, you've got four different driver heads right out of the gate, and fold it
open and you've got your nice plier heads there. Now, like I said, some of these are sheath
karibal. And this one does come with a sheath. It's very similar to the Leatherman free model
only it's black, but very easy to carry this in the pocket, you've got the nicely integrated and
thin pocket clip right here. Next up is the SOG power pint, which I really like it's kind of a
pint sized powerhouse. I guess I figure out why they named it this. But it essentially distills
a lot of what you would expect from that full size multi tool segment into a much more pocket
friendly size. And it's also a very affordable $50. Right now, it weighs about the same as that
skeletool and you've got that nice pocket clip and an even smaller footprint. So it is going to
be nice and easy to pocket carry, you do have that compound leverage involved just like the
full size tools, and you've got that bit driver integral integrated into the closed position as
well. And then all the rest of the tools are outside accessible. You've got scissors, a few
blades going on, and you've got locking capability as well. Then lock on this I will say
is a little bit finicky. You have to kind of open the player jaws a little bit to get to the
lock and push down and close it. So a little bit more going on there. You'll certainly get used
to it though. But for packing just like I said a lot of functionality into some of the smallest
spaces you can. There's definitely a lot here to recommend. This next tool kind of sits in sort
of a middle ground in terms of genre because it's something a little bit different than a lot
of these other pliers based tools. And that's the SOG baton series and here it is in the case.
Really makes a good package to put Like in a briefcase or a folio, or any kind of EDC bag
that you might not be carrying the tool on your belt. Although I will say it is possible because
they do actually include a decent pocket clip here, it is a bit long. So, you know, not all
pockets will work with this. So this is why I'm lumping it in with kind of the mid size pocket
genre. But take it with a little bit of a grain of salt for sure. This particular one is the cue
for advanced wilderness, the tongue from sod comes in $62. And as you saw, as I was pulling
it out of the case, there, you kind of saw its defining characteristic, and that's the two
halves of these handles pull apart to reveal the plier jaws there, and they are spring loaded as
well. So you get a little bit of that opening action. No compound leverage on this guy,
though, be a little hard to make that kind of fold up like so, I do have a handful of small
tools here on the outside knife blade, a few others, and they do lock with the lock release
here on the back. And then on this end on this particular tool, you do have that nice quarter
inch bit driver as well. And included in that case, which is nice leather, there are some
extras too. Alright, now we're going to get down to the key chain size to tools and in the the
more implemented versions of this genre, there's kind of two that that come to mind as the
natural competition. You've got the Leatherman squirt, and the Gerber dime, and I'll go through
each of these here. The squirt comes in about $40. This is the PS four model, which opens up
to a nice pair of spring loaded pliers. Now there used to be some other options in this
series where you could get like scissors, but we're down to just the pliers now, but it's
still a phenomenal tool. Rest of the tools are all outside openable you've got your blade, your
file, scissors and drivers built in. Again, very nice small footprint doesn't quite have as many
tools as that PowerPint does. But you can definitely see the size difference there is very
notable. This particular knife is put together in the US. So the price is a little bit more
than the Gerber dime over here, which comes in about $20 right now, just like the Leatherman
you open it up to get to the nice pair of pliers spring loaded as well. And then on the outside
accessible tools, you've got mostly the same stuff. But you do
have an interesting kind of package opener here, as well as a nice little bottle opener here on
the end, which is kind of a another similar take to the carabiner style bottle opener on that
skillet tool from before. Obviously, you just don't get the the carabiner on this guy. But as
we all know, every good multi tool needs a bottle opener. So there you go. But either one
of these that you pick, it is a great way to have a lot of extra tools just right there with
your keys, it's not going to take up too much extra space. There is another option from
Leatherman, which is going to give me a good opportunity to segue into the next genre and the
final genre for this video. And that is some travel friendly multi tools. And that is the
style PS model from Leatherman coming in about $35. Right now, this guy definitely takes its
cues from the styling of that skeletool As you can see, but what's nice about this is there's
no knife blade on this. So there's it's much better chance of you being able to take this
with you when you go to travel. Now I'm not going to sit here and say that these are 100%
TSA approved because as with anything, it's always up to kind of whatever gate agent you go
to whether they're gonna let this through or not. So just keep that in mind when you're when
you're purchasing one of these tools for that intended purpose. But this is personally the
tool I always like to make sure I have on me when I do go traveling because there's a good
bit of functionality even without the knife blade. From the outside you can get to a nice
pair of scissors, as well as a fingernail file with a small screwdriver at the tip bottle
opener with the carabiner gate pair of tweezers and that nice set of spring loaded pliers. Now I
did say we were going to stay away from the the pocket knife lineage of multi tools, but when
we're talking about travel friendly multi tools, I do have to bring one of those back into the
fold and that's the Victorinox jetsetter comes in about 19 bucks and it's the same size as the
classic SD but again, no knife blade on this implement. Got your toothpick and tweezers and
classic Swiss Army fashion nice pair of scissors. And then on the opposite side you've
got one of their multi tool singular components you've got a Philips head here at the top small
wire stripper and a can opener as well or sorry bottle opener as well. Now if you're looking for
travel friendliness, but you want something a bit more substantial than the key chain size
guys, I've got two more here at the end. The first is the SOG Sync series of specifically the
sync traveler models. This is the sink two traveler which comes in at about 60 bucks, and
it's fairly substantial. There's a bit of weight here going on and it's actually designed to be
used A couple different ways. For one, you can actually use this as a belt buckle, which if you
have to take your belt off going through security anyway, that's a real easy way to get
that multi tool out in the open. So it's very easy for them to take a look at it if they need
to. And it also comes with a nice wide clip here on the back. So you can put it on a certain
types of pack straps if you're if they have the right kind of strap edge on them as already, or
carry it in your pocket. Although this particular one is the heavier model with some
few extra layers of tools. And what's cool, especially if you have it as the belt buckle or
strapped to another strap somewhere strapped to your pack is you don't have to take it all off
to get to the toy, you just push the button right here, the whole unit comes right off of
the base, then you take that unit, fold it out, and you've got your pliers there. Now it's not
quite the same style of needlenose heads that you see on some of these other tools. But you've
still got that nice full size set to put to use. Also on the underside of that pliers head you've
got another section A tool here which can either be used for certain types of crimping or
gripping as well, as far as the other tools do not have to open the the pliers to get to them.
Just a few standard implements. Again, no knife blade going on here, you've got a pair of
scissors, a few others, and all of these guys lock open from the back as well. Now a quick
note about these locks is they're a little bit a little bit less intuitive than you might think.
So let me fold one out here. When it's open in the locked position, the way you actually unlock
it is you have to move one of the other implements out in order to close them. And I
know what you're thinking because I did it too. What if you open all of the implements? Well,
the leading edge or the on one side, one of these implements is more of a right is more of
like on a slip joint. So as you push that down, it'll unlock the rest.
So you can actually put your tool away. And last but not least we come to that Leatherman rebar.
Now there are standard versions of this that come with a knife blade. But Leatherman still
does make a knifeless version, and this one comes in about $70. And it shares kind of that
classic opening style of the original Leatherman tool. But one of the key things they did here
that you didn't see on some of those originals, at least some of the edges on the plier handle
here are rolled over so that if you really are gripping down on this, it's not as uncomfortable
as some of those early models. It's not going to match the comfort of the newer stuff like the
Wave or the free however, but here is a lot of capability without a knife blade. I will say
though you do have a standard size saw on here. So this is one I'd be personally just speaking
as David C Andersen, not as any kind of knife representative, I might be a little leery about
taking this through security myself. But to have an option like this is nice. And it's certainly
going to come in useful other places to where you may not need necessarily another knife
blade. And certain job sites is ill advised as it may seem, are also going to prohibit some of
that sort of thing. So really nice option here and comes with a more classic style of leather
sheath. nice simple to the point without a lot of extra bulk. Well, that's all I've got time to
show you today. As always full details and everything will be at our website there are
there will be links below. And if you're wondering about kind of the tool complements of
some of these do go to those links. Like I said, if I were to go through every tool and every one
of these would be a really bogged down video and I really didn't want to get into that. Just
wanted to give you an overview of some of the really good options across the range of
different sizes and styles. So make sure to let me know your favorites down in the comments. And
to get your hands on one click the links in the description to take you over to KnifeCenter comm
make sure you click the knife rewards link in our top right corner. But essentially if you're
signed up, you're going to get free money to spend on your next knife if you put your money
down on one of these knives or multi tools today. I'm David C. Andersen from the
KnifeCenter signing off, see you next time.
