Despite some trivial complaints about its bevy of flathead screwdrivers, the original Wave is still one of the greatest multitools of all time.
(and a pox on ye who say otherwise)
The Wave was my EDC for years, an it still gets an occasional opportunity to get out and about. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to finally lay hands on the elusive 2HO (two hand opening) version of this classic workhorse!
Thanks to some relentless scouring of the countryside on the part of Allan and a lengthy international journey, the object of my desire landed in my lap just last month. Rapture and joy thou art mine!
Here's a pic of it alongside my original 1HO model:
For the most part, the only difference between standard Waves and those sent to Denmark are the knife blades.
Notice both the regular blade and the serrated blade get nail nicks, instead of thumbholes. Hence the need to use two hands to open them.
But along with the obvious knife blade differences, I started noting several other minor differences. Not between 1HO versus 2HO, but between the "old" old Waves, and the "newer" old Waves. My standard model (on the right) is dated 1099, while the one I received from Allan is dated 0602. Significant changes were made in those three years, including:
- Plier heads (USA on the older, TOOL on the newer)
- Hard Wire Notch (plain on the older, tiny indicator triangle on the newer)
- Cutouts for saw and file access (are different between the two)
- Bolsters (rough cast on the older, polished smooth on the newer)
- Plier pivots (drag against the handle channel on the older, drag against a little spring steel tuning fork on the newer)
- Sheaths (both are fabulous compared to current model sheaths, but there are subtle differences in the snap and embossing. See second photo above)
- Date codes (newer original Waves have "A" and "B" designations on the date code)
Are there any other differences I missed?
