Rusty MUT

[Grant Lamontagne]

As most of you will remember I posted images of the wing man with rust all over it. Since then I've been carrying a variety of other tools, most often the CRKT Tool.  I have occasionally carried the MUT despite not being a huge fan of it, since the MOLLE sheath means I don't have to undo my belt to put it on or take it off.

Well, to be honest, it hasn't seen that much use overall, so imagine my surprise when I pulled it out two days ago and found it rusting!

I am refraining from making any comments beyond saying that I am somewhat unamused.

Def

Sent from my Motorola Atrix digital multitool.

[dks]

   you know that is just rust that leaked on to the MUT from some SAK.....



 

My MUT looks new.. (never used it...  )

[AHB]

It's not LMs fault.. It's the fact you actually use their tools that makes them rust Def..

[Grant Lamontagne]

It's not LMs fault.. It's the fact you actually use their tools that makes them rust Def..

I think I may rectify that problem.

I'll get some photos later to prove it but the CRKT Tool has had no issues and its been exposed to a lot more than the MUT.

Def

Sent from a digital multitool

[derekmac]

You really should know better than to use your Leatherman's in conditions that don't favour their survival chances.  From now on, only use them in a climate/humidity controlled atmosphere. 

[enki_ck]

[Syph007]

Leathermans rust.  All mine have except the TTi.  It didnt make me sell them all and never use them though, I still like them, but they'll never be ones I carry again.  I do wish they were made of better steel but what can you do. 

The last incident that killed them as users for me was using a wave during a small bathroom reno.  I used the saw and only the saw of the tool to cut some drywall.  Then I left it in the corner with my other tools for a few days until I had time to finish the job.  It wasn't wet, but this was in the basement, so probably damper than topside... anyways, every single tool on it had rust after 2 days.  I cleaned it up and sold it.

The juice S2 I carried for almost a year seemed to survive the rust.. but when I took it apart to mod it I found rust on the leaf springs at the contact point with the frame.

There was some jungle expedition show on last year where they took multitools with them and I remember one guy commented that only the swisstool survived unrusted, the leathermans rusted solid.  Now in a jungle of 100% humidity, a leatherman really has no chance unless your sheath is a plastic container filled with oil.  

Like I said, I still like leathermans, and lots of folks have no rust issues, but I absolutely do and its killed them as users for me, even though I'll probably still keep buying them anyway.   But there is a reason that LM no longer accepts a warranty return do to rust... cuz they rust!

[Taxi Dad]

looks to me like 'someone' has been hitting it against something ? what do you expect ! 

[Dunc]

Grant can you carry a Swisstool or Spirit for a couple of weeks , just out of interest.

[Grant Lamontagne]

looks to me like 'someone' has been hitting it against something ? what do you expect ! 

Actually I never use it as a hammer as I'm a bit paranoid about missing and driving whatever I'm trying to hit into my hand.

Grant can you carry a Swisstool or Spirit for a couple of weeks , just out of interest.

I have carried SwissTools and Spirits frequently over the years with no ill effects.

Def

Sent from a digital multitool

[AimlessWanderer]

  Not the place for a Leatherman by the sounds of it.

Good to hear the CRKT has stood up to active duty though So what's next on the list mate?

[baja820]

Man that is weird! I've got a few leatherman tools.


I've never once had a speck of rust and I live in Oregon!

I'm considering doing an experiment to see what I have to do to make one form some rust. Like put it in a salt water bath for a week or something.

[Syph007]

I'm considering doing an experiment to see what I have to do to make one form some rust. Like put it in a salt water bath for a week or something.

If you want to see rust grab a wingman get it wet and leave it wet and you'll see rust.  Not submerged in water, but put away wet.  Iron oxide needs oxygen to form after all.  Little droplets of water will do it nicely.  And if you have a damp basement that will help Also if youve already oiled the tool liberally, you'd have to degrease it with dish soap to make sure that oil stuff doesnt ruin the rust experiment.

I still remember this diagram from science class!  Salty water or mineral rich water should speed the process as its a better electrolyte.

[Grant Lamontagne]

The city I live in is a peninsula.  The province that city is in is a larger peninsula.  I can see the ocean from my house- it's only a few hundred yards away, and I work in shipping, which means I spend a lot of time at the dockyards, within a few feet of the water, exposed to the salt spray, rain and temperature changes.  I live in a fairly harsh environment, but even so, tools from other brands don't have these issues.

My Raker Ring Tool is the most exposed of all and has held up fine, my CRKT Tool has held up without issues, a SwissTool and Spirit have absolutely no marks whatsoever... and yet here is the second Leatherman in just over six months to start rusting.

You can read all about the Wingman issue here:

http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,37952.0.html

At the time it was suggested that a discount tool like the Wingman might be made of lesser steel, but the MUT is supposed to be a premium tool.  This thing was really only carried maybe a dozen times in the last month, and was protected (relatively) inside a sheath.

As I said above...



Def

[Taxi Dad]

i have read some comments about wingman rust but not had a problem so far  almost two weeks ago i ran mine under a kitchen tap (i had an egg in my pocket, for reasons nobody needs to kno ! and it got broken all over the wingman  ) i let it dry overnight and put it back in my coat . no rust  (yet)

[Lynn LeFey]

i had an egg in my pocket, for reasons nobody needs to kno !

At the risk of digression, I disagree. I believe when you make a statement about carrying a (presumably) raw egg in your pocket, it begs explanation. We're waiting.

As for the matter at hand... That's a bummer. Makes me fairly happy that my BOB has a Spirit X in it, though.

[enki_ck]

i had an egg in my pocket, for reasons nobody needs to kno !

At the risk of digression, I disagree. I believe when you make a statement about carrying a (presumably) raw egg in your pocket, it begs explanation. We're waiting.
...

+1

Smurf the digression, interested parties want to know.

[Landrew]

Water, salts, salt water, very corrosive. About the worst I've seen is ammonium nitrate dust.  I've seen it eat the chrome off a bumper overnight.

[Outback in Idaho]

Must be that the newer steel formula in Leatherman tools is allergic to your climate conditions. Know that their older steel was far better than this newer stuff they have been using.

The formula of the steel reacts different in various climates. Here in Idaho, no where near sea water, have only had rust spots on tools that have rarely been used & oiled.  Shelf items of many years or decades have a few rust spots when I go over them every so often. These are stored in a more dry climate, 30% humidity.

I carry multitools in leather sheaths. Despite what other have claimed, I have never had a tool rust in a leather sheath, but have seen rust spots in nylon sheaths. Maybe due to spider pee or something? I dunno.

Of my users they don't get time to rust. Am always cleaning them. Perhaps being a larger man my body heat dissipates any accumulation of moisture. If that is the case, you should eat more, build some muscle, and burn more calories you skinny type person. <in a Monty Python accent>   

[Outback in Idaho]

i have read some comments about wingman rust but not had a problem so far  almost two weeks ago i ran mine under a kitchen tap (i had an egg in my pocket, for reasons nobody needs to kno ! and it got broken all over the wingman  ) i let it dry overnight and put it back in my coat . no rust  (yet)

/mourns at your 'chicken pocket pie' idea

[tattoosteve99]

I haven't seen any rust on my XTi, although its been cerakoted black. But this makes me wonder. If the Swiss tool doesn't rust, I may have to rethink my position on LM quality. Guess I'll have to buy that road tour and a black spirt to find out

[Taxi Dad]

i had an egg in my pocket, for reasons nobody needs to kno !

At the risk of digression, I disagree. I believe when you make a statement about carrying a (presumably) raw egg in your pocket, it begs explanation. We're waiting.
...

+1

Smurf the digression, interested parties want to know.

what a nosey lot you are ! 
I don't want to get far off Grants topic and it's probably NOT as exciting as you think, so lets put this to bed. My days of 'Egging' the neighbours houses are well and truly over BTW.
being something of a 'soft touch' i have taken pitty on an 'urban fox' (yes some folks think they are just vermin) I walk my dog late at night , just before bed time, and have noticed this one beast had an injured front leg. I think it's been shoot , probably with an air rifle which wouldn't be powerful enough to 'kill' the poor thing. now 'I' don't want to get into the hunting debate, nor the one about foxes. we do have a 'fox problem' in this area ! it's not unusual to see half a dozen or MORE on my short walk  i'm not sure how to cure the problem, but wounding them and letting them suffer is not the answer !
the RSPCA and so called 'wildlife rescue' people are NOT interested BTW.
hopefully i can gain the animals trust enough to catch it if it doesn't improve in the meantime. if not i figure at least it hasn't got to forage for as much food and may rest up a bit aiding its recovery.
YES I KNOW I'M STUPID ! (i'm beyond help) 

* the Egg and some other 'scraps' were in my pocket so people didn't see me feeding the 'vermin' ,i don't want to get into rows with neighbours about me encouraging them, or people thinking I'm poisoning them. there is a lot of strong views about them that is why suspect someone has been shooting.

 p.s. Yes i HAVE learned my leason about putting raw eggs in my pocket 
sadly i did think it wasn't so smart as i loaded up, and then again while bending down to clear up after the dog !!! no good deed goes unpunished (specially when you're an idiot)

[Outback in Idaho]

i had an egg in my pocket, for reasons nobody needs to kno !

At the risk of digression, I disagree. I believe when you make a statement about carrying a (presumably) raw egg in your pocket, it begs explanation. We're waiting.
...

+1

Smurf the digression, interested parties want to know.

what a nosey lot you are ! 
I don't want to get far off Grants topic and it's probably NOT as exciting as you think, so lets put this to bed. My days of 'Egging' the neighbours houses are well and truly over BTW.
being something of a 'soft touch' i have taken pitty on an 'urban fox' (yes some folks think they are just vermin) I walk my dog late at night , just before bed time, and have noticed this one beast had an injured front leg. I think it's been shoot , probably with an air rifle which wouldn't be powerful enough to 'kill' the poor thing. now 'I' don't want to get into the hunting debate, nor the one about foxes. we do have a 'fox problem' in this area ! it's not unusual to see half a dozen or MORE on my short walk  i'm not sure how to cure the problem, but wounding them and letting them suffer is not the answer !
the RSPCA and so called 'wildlife rescue' people are NOT interested BTW.
hopefully i can gain the animals trust enough to catch it if it doesn't improve in the meantime. if not i figure at least it hasn't got to forage for as much food and may rest up a bit aiding its recovery.
YES I KNOW I'M STUPID ! (i'm beyond help) 

* the Egg and some other 'scraps' were in my pocket so people didn't see me feeding the 'vermin' ,i don't want to get into rows with neighbours about me encouraging them, or people thinking I'm poisoning them. there is a lot of strong views about them that is why suspect someone has been shooting.

 p.s. Yes i HAVE learned my leason about putting raw eggs in my pocket 
sadly i did think it wasn't so smart as i loaded up, and then again while bending down to clear up after the dog !!! no good deed goes unpunished (specially when you're an idiot)

No worries mate. Good to know there are others that care about another living being, regardless what others think. Haven't seen a fox for 20+ years. Haven't seen nor heard a frog for that matter past a pet shop, or since I was in my 20's. Anyhow, good on you for that. You ol' softy you.   

[redbaron]

I'm considering doing an experiment to see what I have to do to make one form some rust. Like put it in a salt water bath for a week or something.

If you want to see rust grab a wingman get it wet and leave it wet and you'll see rust.  Not submerged in water, but put away wet.  Iron oxide needs oxygen to form after all.  Little droplets of water will do it nicely.  And if you have a damp basement that will help Also if youve already oiled the tool liberally, you'd have to degrease it with dish soap to make sure that oil stuff doesnt ruin the rust experiment.

I still remember this diagram from science class!  Salty water or mineral rich water should speed the process as its a better electrolyte.

(Image removed from quote.)

I left my wingman outside overnight after losing it twice and it never rusted.

[Mercury]

That is crap.  The MUT is a very expensive tool that is marketed for extreme use in extreme conditions and they aren't supposed to rust in the damn sheath.  it is kind of irritating that leatherman is making "Premium" tools that are little more than one nice piece of steel surrounded by normal steel.  Reminds me of a chair I bought one time.  It had a tag on it that said "genuine leather", and it was.  But only the tag.  The chair was pleather.  Some cheap plastic leather knockoff.

I'm starting to lean more and more away from leatherman because of issues like this.  My wave hasn't let me down but its black oxide. 

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using crapatalk two point oh.

[Syph007]

I'm considering doing an experiment to see what I have to do to make one form some rust. Like put it in a salt water bath for a week or something.

If you want to see rust grab a wingman get it wet and leave it wet and you'll see rust.  Not submerged in water, but put away wet.  Iron oxide needs oxygen to form after all.  Little droplets of water will do it nicely.  And if you have a damp basement that will help Also if youve already oiled the tool liberally, you'd have to degrease it with dish soap to make sure that oil stuff doesnt ruin the rust experiment.

I still remember this diagram from science class!  Salty water or mineral rich water should speed the process as its a better electrolyte.

(Image removed from quote.)

I left my wingman outside overnight after losing it twice and it never rusted.

I could just be cursed.   I have some old juice parts that I just wet down and left on my work bench.  Lets see if they rust or survive in a few days.

[Stormdrane]

Rust... Ouch 
The little bit of rust on my Leatherman Juice and Squirt bugs me when I see it, but being where I can't get at it(behind the clear plastic bits), I just pretend it isn't really there and avoid eye contact, lol... 

[chris777]

To be Honest I haven't been impresses with LM build quality Fit and Finish since my first wave.
I also Had no idea until this thread that rust is not covered under warranty.

Not sure if its a materials issue, or Lack of QC, or what but I had wanted a MUT, not so sure now.

[DaveK]

I don't have a MUT - what is the coating they're using, is it BO or some kind of anodise?

[BIG-TARGET]

As much as we all have this desire for our multitools tobe rust free and pretty forever as a trophy wife.  But even a trophy wife needs a bit of maintainance.  A fine stone, 3-in-1 or WD-40, a bit of fine steel wool, and a rag.  And your multitool/loveslave will make you happy in no time