Just a few thoughts, not a full review.
The Minichamp I own I am now using well over 10 years. The averall long term quality of the tool is superb, but it has some small issues:
First of all: it comes with tweezers and a pencil. The pencil get lost easily. But don't expect to get replacements somewhere .... (The Minichamp II has a retractable pencil, so no losses anymore).
The scissors of this tool are superb: very small, sharp and the beak opens wide thanks to the spring. But this spring is the next problem. After using this tool more then 10 years the spring will break. And again, dont expect to get a replacement somewhere....
The last issue is the "cuticle pusher". It is only used by professional manicuring, so completely useless for us, but on the other hand: it also has a nail cleaner, a nail file and of course the scissors are ideal for nail clipping ....
The screwdriver has a nice, but hard to read 3.5 cm/1.25" scale. The very nice phillips screwdriver is magnetized. Issue with these two: the lanyard ring of the minichamp is on the wrong side of the minichamp: when turning screws a lanyard will always wrap around the tool (or he screw).
There are two blades: one curved, one straight (emergency). Both very small, so only limited useable, but ideal for e.g. opening a watch when replacing batteries.
The "orange peeler" is an odd tool, but very effective. Not only for the purpose it was made for, but it also is a very effective rope cutter and it even cuts carpeting.
Finally the phillips screwdriver also has two extra tools: the one I use the most (the bottle opener) and the one I don't know how to use (the wire stripper). Thanks to the accessibility (the phillips screwdriver takes two places and has a bit of a "hunchback", so you do't have to search) the bottleopener is also very effective.
But the wire stripper? As an electrical engineer I am really wondering how to use this. It is only a little notch in the handle. No, for real wire stripping I will use real tools.
All tools are as easy to pull out after 10 years as on day one. I really love this tool, but because of the wear, the lost pencil and the broken spring I will replace te Minichamp with a new one.
This will be the Midnight Minichamp. It has a rectractable pen, (so no losses anymore) and a small LED light instead of the tweezers.
In the meantime I purchased two other tools: the Leatherman Squirt PS4 and the Leatherman Style CS. Why?
Well, in Europe SAKs and multitools are quite expensive, but after browsing eBay I saw the Leatherman keychain tools are available for a reasonable price, so I ordered the Squirt PS4 to see if it could replace the Vic Minichamp.
Of course the main tool is a bit different: although it is tiny, the K of SAK stands for Knive so I consider that the main tool. Though having a comparible blade, the Pliers of the Squirt PS4 is a nice addition, but they also take up some space, so what tools have to be surrendered?
First of all the tweezers and pen. No problem.
As I said the pencil was already lost for several years and it might have been a great emergency tool, but only for big emergencies.
Searching for a "real" pencil mostly is no problem. Surrendering the tweezers? Ok: they are nice but not that great.
And for a number of jobs you can also use pliers instead of tweezers.
Surrendering the emergency blade: well a knive with two blades is nice, but absolutely no requirement, though I liked the emergency blade more then the curved one.
And the knife blade of the PS4 is even more curved...
Surrendering the "wirestripper" of course is no problem at all. If I want it back I can also cut a notch in one of the existing tools of the PS4 and wonder what it is about and how to use it...
But surrendering all nail tools is a pity (except of course the cuticle pusher). The wood files of the Squirt are not suitable for nails and the Squirt's phillips screwdriver looks like the Vic's nail cleaner but it is far too sharp. Seeing the orange peeler go is also a pity.
Comparing the Leatherman Squirt PS4 with the Victorinox Minichamp:
When looking at the Leatherman it simply spells quality. But comparing it with the Victorinox, also a quality instrument, there are some differences.
Opening the outside tools of the LM is a bit harder. Of course designing spring action is finding the delicate balance between easy access and tools falling out of their slots.
But thanks to a history of 125 years knife making I think Victorinox has found that balance.
The Leatherman has some isues: the slits (for opening) on the blade and the file are too small, the slits on the other tools are ok, but inaccesible because the casing is too big.
Unlike the Vic's one, the LM flathead screwdriver has a full sized head. Of course the application dictates the size of the head so I can't say wich one is better, but you could say that with a small tool like this it is more likely you will use it for small screws. The thickness of the head makes it unusable for small screws.
The phillips screwdrivers of both tools are very nice, but different. The Vic has a small magnetized square head, the LM has a larger, but sharp flathead taking up less space then the Vic.
On the Vic both screwdrives are full size, on the LM half size, thus taking up less space which is nice. On the Vic the screwdrivers are combined with a not very usefull ruler, a very usefull bottle opener and a completely useless wire stripper. The LM only has the most usefull of the three (the bottle opener).
Unlike the Minichamp the Squirt is not suitable for nail maintenance. The only usefull tool for that are the scissors. You could say the PS4 was made for different applications:
the Vic can be used for personal hygiene, and very small jobs like peeling oranges and replacing batteries in toys, the PS4 was made for small DIY jobs.
This makes the choice of a wood/metal file over a nail file more logical.
And what about the Style CS?
Well, looking at the LM product catalog I immediately fell in love with the Skeletool - style tools. I also wanted a tool with slightly bigger scissors and I don't like the Micra. So the Style CS seemed to be the right choice.
But when it arrived it looked a lot smaller then I expected and therefor not that sturdy. But ok, nice enough and what do you expect of a quality instrument that cheap?
In "scissors mode" the Style CS is exactly what I expected. Also the carabiner is very nice. I really don't get it why some of you want to chop it off (also with the Skeletool).
I didn't try the bottle opener yet (this weekend I only drank draught beer ....)
The nail file is nice, but I would have expected a nail cleaner at the end, not a flathead screwdriver. Of course the tweezers are not of the best, but they will come in handy.
Again the knife blade is a bit of a disappointment. It is quite hard to open because of the small slit. A bigger slit or even a hole just like in the skeletool would make the Syle CS a lot more attractive. And why is the blade length only 3.5 cm? On the site is says it is 4.06 cm. But that is the distance from tip to the bottom of the "LEATHERMAN" engraving.
And there is room for almost another centimeter of blade length in the slot! I really wished it was a little longer.
Donations
Community Links
