What do "ratings" of MT's mean?

[lovenhim]

Hello everyone.  I have been looking on Youtube and found reviews of MT's from this guy Nutnfancy.  He uses this reference system where he rates MT's by weight from ultralight to heavyduty.  I think he is talking about weight alone of the MT.  Now my question is this, he calls the Leatherman charge (which I am thinking of buying as my first ever MT) a medium tool.  Now, does that mean it is not as strong or built as well and say a "high end" Leatherman?  My goal in my first multi tool is have something that will last for years like a Zippo lighter.  I am saving up to get the best tool I can for my first purchase.  Thanks for the help. 

[Sean]

The Leatherman Charge is a high end multi from the company.  I think he's probably referring to
it's weight.  You can't go wrong if you have your sights on a Charge!  It's a pretty versatile and
user friendly tool.   A heavier duty tool would be their Surge but then
your into more carry weight as well. Welcome btw to the forum.

[Mr. Whippy]

The Leatherman heavyweights would be Surge, Core, and SuperTool 300

Charges/Waves are not as big/beefy size-wise.

FWIW, working on vehicles I find the Surge too big.  I can't get it into a lot of nooks and crannies.  I use my Charge ALX as my goto workhorse.  It's no slouch (same holds for the Wave, btw)

[Grant Lamontagne]

There are no set classifications on multitools- for the most part, it's something we have come up with here as a way of differentiating tools from various manufacturers.  The classes we use are based mostly on size, with the bigger tools (SwissTool series, SuperTool Series, Core, PowerLock, Freehand etc) being what we normally think of as heavy duty, although some of the more standard sized tools can handle some pretty heavy jobs as well.

Def

[Mercury]

Check out Leatherman's site, they have the weight and size listed for all their tools.  Size wise, there are generally 4.5" tools(heavy duty), 4" tools(medium), 3"-3.5" tools(pocket), and 2"-2.5" tools(keychain).  The weights vary by Manufacturer, but the Surge pretty much takes the cake for us regular users at 4.5" and 12.6 oz.  That's a big pill to swallow.  The only maintstream(made by one of the big 4) multi I am aware of that is bigger is the Paladin PT540 at 5" and 13oz, but it is built by SOG for Paladin and made specifically for Electricians/communications techs. 

In any case, it all depends on what you will use the tool for.  A regular joe can get away with just a Leatherman juice for his everyday carry, but the tools don't lock so if you plan on using it for anything heavy, you should go with a Leatherman blast, Wave/charge, or Swisstool spirit.  If you are in maintenance or a trade of some sort, you may want a SOG powerlock or Leatherman ST300/surge.  The original Swisstool is the same size, and roughly compares to them. 

[Styerman]

To make your life real simple , if i were you I would go one of two ways , either a Leatherman Wave , or a Victorinox Spirit , Both are good value for money , neither will do you wrong . The big multi's just don't have functionality that justifies the weight penalty ( at least to me ) .

Whatever you choose , enjoy the ride , and enjoy your time here .

Chris

[Mr. Whippy]

To make your life real simple , if i were you I would go one of two ways , either a Leatherman Wave , or a Victorinox Spirit , Both are good value for money , neither will do you wrong . The big multi's just don't have functionality that justifies the weight penalty ( at least to me ) .

Whatever you choose , enjoy the ride , and enjoy your time here .

Chris

QFT

[WhichDawg]

Check out Leatherman's site, they have the weight and size listed for all their tools.

for an even better site with more MTs; http://multitool.org/wiki/tiki-index.php?page=Comparative+Multitool+Weight+Chart

understand weight can be a serious issue for some, with all they carry or their sensitivity to it.
for them less is more