Leatherman Charge ALX Review

[AJ]

Here is the start of the unofficial Leatherman Charge ALX review.

Products official website:
Leatherman Charge ALX

Purchased from: I got lucky and did not have to purchase this one. This is the leatherman that was given away here at Multitool.org


Price Paid: Did I tell you I got this free?  ;D


Beginning date of field testing: July 21, 2007

First thoughts: Very nice feel in my hands. It reminds me of the Leatherman Charge TI that I EDC for over a year.

Type of review: This will be a on going review that will include daily use and field testing. I will post some comparison photos, actions photos and a few others I have in mind. Maybe even some video...

Please post any questions you may have about the Leatherman Charge ALX.

Lets start out with a few photos.







You can view the original photos Here if you would like to look at the larger sizes.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Congratulations again, and glad to see you are enjoying it so far!

Def

[supratentorial]

Really nice photos!    I look forward to reading the rest of the review.

[AJ]

I wonder how the black on the handles will hold up over time.
It sure looks nice now and I have a lot of black items it looks really good with.

[AJ]

Have not done much with it this weekend other then take photos of it.
Will put it to some use this week for sure.

Here it is with the pocket clip on.
I think this is how I will carry it this week at work.

[J-sews]

Those pictures of yours are the best multitool photos I've ever seen Dakota. Very nice!

I wonder how the black on the handles will hold up over time......

The hard black anodizing seems to resist scratching quite well. Mind you, I have not intentionally tried to scratch mine, but there are no accidental or normal carry scratches on mine yet.

That being said, the black aluminum has a cast finish on it, not polished. The texture seems to show marks on it easily, even from dragging my fingernail across it. (Not surface scratches, just light-colored lines) The lines rub off okay. Not a problem, just somewhat unusual.

[AJ]

That's good to hear about the black handles.
Thanks for the comments on the photos. The first set I took that morning while I was out hiking around the national wildlife refuge with my camera and new tool.

I found the skull off the trail and thought it would make the photo more a little more interesting, lol..

The last one was just taken in my back yard.

[dadanagast]

great photos, especially the first one..
...video review can be fantastic.. i imagine many people out there want to see how do they look in hands..

[AJ]

great photos, especially the first one..

Thanks,

One thing I don't like on the Charge is how the rivets stick out from the face of the handles.
They tend to catch on the inside of the sheath when I pull it out.

I never had the problem with my Ti and I would guess it's because the heads are rounded so there is nothing to catch.

Make me miss my Ti more and more.

[dadanagast]

the rivets are awkward really..
i personally think the ALX model isn't offering enough.. yes, the cutting hook is a good future but it's not really hard to implement with a serrated blade.. this is just a marketing technique.. but the AL version adds scissors and i believe scissors is the most useful future in a multi-tool..
..i have a leatherman TTI and i'm very happy with it.. it has the scissors and the cutting hook.. leatherman TTI isn't so expensive either.. (i guess it's only $20 more than AL or ALX.. but it has wonderful titanium handle.. and the rivets are not sticking out like that.. ;D)

[Grant Lamontagne]

it has wonderful titanium handle

Many folks extol the virtues of the titanium handle, and while I myself am a big fan of titanium, I still don't see the point of it.

One, it is stronger, but I've never managed to crush a multi with my bare hands, so does the extra strength matter?  Probably not.  Two, it's lighter, but then considering that the titanium is just a set of handle slabs and not a significant portion of the handle then how much weight difference can it really account for?  My guess is, about the weight of another bit.

Admittedly the following picture may be a little skewed since I don't have an ACTUAL Charge ALX, just my custom one, but the scales should be pretty close since they were reverse engineered from the originals then machined by the same machines (or better!) that Leatherman uses.

These models are virtually identical except the BLUE one is aluminum and the GREY one is titanium.  The grey one is an XTi, so they have identical tool configurations.

So, about the only thing the titanium does here is have a little extra texture, which could just as easily be done with aluminum or steel (or rubber, or wood, or plastic or granite etc etc etc) scales.  Why titanium?  Easy- it's cooler.  Much cooler.  And it costs more, so you can charge customers more, and they'll buy more because it's way cooler!

Def

[Raukodur]

More scratch resistant?

The way I look at it, I would love a tool all made out of ti. But that is not going to happen (unfortunately even with the skeletool). Some SOG tools have TiNi coating, which is only a coating, but makes the tools very scratch resistant, and yes, makes them look cool, and sound cool. The Leatherman Ti series doesnt have the TiNi coating, but the most prominent part of the multitool, the handles (admittedly not totally, but large actual slabs) are ti.

Therefore I do believe there is a benefit in the titanium used in leatherman ti multitools, and an added bonus is that it sounds, looks, and feels cool  ;D That being said, if there were two identical tools with the only difference being ti handles on one, and even steel ones on the other, I would not pay more than 10 pounds more for the ti version. I believe LM did a clever thing by making the tti different from the AL tools by more than just swapping aluminium for titanium.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I believe LM did a clever thing by making the tti different from the AL tools by more than just swapping aluminium for titanium.

I'm not certain I can agree with you there.  The titanium scales won't protect that fancy camo paint job on your TTi!

Besides, scratches on a tool are proof that you are a real user and not a girly man!

Def

[dadanagast]

i'm not sure whether i would or would not pay more than 10 pounds to get ti version.. the fact is T6 aluminum handle is very good too, but having said that titanium is looking much cooler..
anyway, after seeing the cabela's sec3d version, my tti looks somehow ugly to me now.. ;D

[Raukodur]

I believe LM did a clever thing by making the tti different from the AL tools by more than just swapping aluminium for titanium.

I'm not certain I can agree with you there.  The titanium scales won't protect that fancy camo paint job on your TTi!

Besides, scratches on a tool are proof that you are a real user and not a girly man!

Def

Hehe, Def you have either used the wrong line of my post in your quote, or you have misunderstood the line you have quoted. I was saying that it is good the TTI is different from the AL and ALX in more ways than just having titanium handles instead of having aluminium ones, since I do not believe too many people would pay very much more than 10 dollars / 10 pounds etc. for the difference in handle material if everything else (i.e. tool configuration, blade steel) was the same.

About how scratch resistant Ti is, am I wrong in thinking this is a benefit of Ti or is it no different from aluminium / steel? I would have thought, with all that was said in the TiNi coated SOG tool thread about how scratch resistant they were, that Ti handles would have been pretty scratch (and greater damage) resistant.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I don't know how scratch resistant it is.  I have heard that it isn't which is why you don't see it on many tactical knives anymore.

But that might just be the fancy colored anodizing that scratches.

Def

[getpower]

How's the Charge doing dude?

Doesent look like the review was continued.

[AJ]

How's the Charge doing dude?

Doesent look like the review was continued.

If I ever get it back I will let you know.
Got to watch who you give your tools too.. lol..