LM Sidekick / Wingman : Tool issues

[Shuya]

Hey folks,

I am thinking about buying a Sidekick - in fact not just thinking, I did buy 3 of these and sending them all back because of quality issues.
Watched that video and thought it would be a gread lighter EDC choice instead of my Wave

But the tools I got had all problems with the pliers, as can be seen here on a photo Ive found on the german amazon in the reviews:

The wire cutters do not touch. All tools I touched had this problem.
(And one had a wobbly blade where the linerlock moved all the way past the knifeblade and stopped on the frame leaving the blade with some play against the lock)

Is this true for lots of tools or just for some first production tools?

Whats your experience with this kind of pliers? Ive seen some on images around here but noone mentioned some quality problems afaik.

Regards
Michael

[aurabattler]

The blades and tools should be solid but the wire cutters don't meet.  That's true for all Wingman and sidekick. The pliers wobble too.   

[Padre]

They dont meet but pinch enough to cut any hard material pretty well, like chain links.

[aurabattler]

Yeah!  They just designed to be not meet and there are a bit wobble.  It is true but they are pretty strong enough for a lot of hard wire. It is also true that they have difficulties on some tiny and soft wire,  but for those type of wire, the scissors can do the job.  Wingman's pliers are not as precise as others like the Rebar which cuts hair,  but Wingman is a very versitile and capable tool.  I used to edc it for around two years without a complaint. It performed what it should everytime I pull it out.  I carry it a lot less now just because the Skeletool is better in size to serve my daily needs.

[Zachary Edwards]

I did not have any issues with mine I just love my sidekick apart from the saw  it broke on me but easy fix just pulled the saw off and put one off my wave on


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[ducttapetech]

Also bare in mind, these are not LMs usual tools. These where made for a low cost multi and where meant to compete against low quality tools. They are also meant for the person who rarely cuts a wire or might rarely turn a screw.  While most LMs are meant for 'that time you got caught with your pants down and you have no tools' they know a lot of contractors and tradesmen carry them. Hence why they make the Wave or Rebar and so forth. Yeah they make some tools for the 'survival group' or other gimmick crowds, LM made the Wingman and sidekick for the average Joe Blow. The guy who just cutting a rare wire or replacing a battery in the kids toy.