1 Year Rust Review: Leatherman Kick

[Spoonrobot]

This kind of came about unintentionally. Although I swap out tools for general EDC carry on a day-to-day basis I have carried my modded Kick at work almost exclusively for an entire year. Being that I work in a fairly wet environment this turned into a very nice review of the corrosion resistance of the tool.

I began EDCing the tool on 5/20/07 after modding the basic Kick chassis with Blast implements. The tool was carried and used 4 days a week and was exposed to lots of water, oil and solvents. The basic use routine was; carry the tool until needed, use the tool and then dunk it in soapy water spray off, towel dry and carry until needed again. At the end of the shift I would run it through the dishmachine. Pivots of the tool were oiled with 10W-40 motor oil on a weekly basis.

A few days ago I broke the tool down into parts, scrubbed it in soapy water to remove any grime/oil and gave it a thorough check for rust. I had fully expected the plastic liners to trap a lot of moisture and become a breeding ground for rust, I also expected the rougher finish to be more prone to surface rust but was surprised on both counts.

Handles and pliers. Corrosion? Yes, but significantly less than expected.


The pliers have a few surface spots of rust but that is all. If I heavily oil the pivot to bleed it out the oil comes out grey and free of rust.


The most corrosion seen was on the handles, under the liners on the plier pivot side. Interestingly enough this corrosion did not spread to the washers or the pivot pins.


There was also a small amount of surface rust inside the handles and on the edge of one handle under the liner.


Implements Part 1; Small amount of surface rust on the scissors under the spring assembly.


Implements Part 2; Surface rust on the coarse side of the file and one side of the can opener. Several spots of rust on both sides of the philips driver.


Overall I am very impressed with the corrosion resistance of the tool. It's not crazy awesome or 100% rust proof but I do feel it is acceptable. Over the course of a year I have used this thing for all manner of tasks, from trimming branches to opening bottles of wine and really feel maintenance was lax at best. I would oil on a weekly basis but I would usually only dry the outside of the tool and leave the inner implements wet due to being so busy at work.



What say you guys?

[Leatherman123]

That's pretty impressive.. Now, if you want to take the rust off, make a concoction of baking POWDER and white wine vinegar. You can dip a Q-tip into the concoction and put it where the rust is.. Takes it right off!

[Spoonrobot]

Thanks for the tip, that will be wicked handy for my knives. They tend to rust pretty quickly if used at work.

I'm planning on leaving the rust alone, I washed the tool and cleaned it out but did not specifically target the rust. I'm curious to see how bad it gets over time. 

[Leatherman123]

Oh, I see  So, once you use the concoction on your knives just post how it worked out!

[prime77]

Really interesting stuff Spoonrobot. The only problem I have had with my new model LMs rusting is in the space on the phillips driver just like yours in this pic.

Maybe it collects moisture and gunk.

[Spoonrobot]

That area was one of the few expected areas for rust that actually rusted. To be fair some of the corrosion is from red wine that was in the area for a few days before I remembered to rinse it out. I think it's a worth while trade though over the old form. I find the new philips to be much stouter and easier to access than the old one.

[Poncho65]

Great review as always your very in depth.  Great to know that they hold up well in wet environment.  Also LM123 thanks for the baking powder, vinegar tip

[J-sews]

I'm pleasantly surprised to see no rust on the file blade. Some of the old PST's and SuperTools I've seen have rust in the file teeth. Something about the harder grade of steel they use for the file? Anyhow, it doesn't appear to be an issue on the Kick.

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Great review and picture's mate, considering the enviroment it works in, it's really not as bad as I'd off expected

[WhichDawg]

Very nice review and show, ty. I have had similar results on my Kick and any problem area's cleaned up easily.
You take care of your tools so any/most corrosion problems will be few and far in between.

[Smitty44]

Thanks for the review & pic's,and I still like the way you mod'd the Kick!!!

[AJ]

Awesome review and photos!

Why do I have the urge to dismantle my tools now.

[scrappy]

nice review, the concotion sounds like a good idea.

[Spoonrobot]

 

I have some theories about the lack of rust on the outside handles. I was fully expecting to see a lot of surface rust but I think that because it was washed and cleaned so much most of the corrosive sweat and chemicals that tend to build up on tools as they are carried and used was removed before it could interact with the metal.

Please report back. The loose clip is one of those things that hasn't ever affected me functionally but it is annoying to interact with. Things on multis should be pleasantly tight, not wibbly/wobbly.

[scrappy]

I have some theories about the lack of rust on the outside handles. I was fully expecting to see a lot of surface rust but I think that because it was washed and cleaned so much most of the corrosive sweat and chemicals that tend to build up on tools as they are carried and used was removed before it could interact with the metal.

Please report back. The loose clip is one of those things that hasn't ever affected me functionally but it is annoying to interact with. Things on multis should be pleasantly tight, not wibbly/wobbly.


this has always bothered me.