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Wingman versus Kobalt 15-in-1 Almost Cheap Showdown

us Offline Lynn LeFey

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Wingman versus Kobalt 15-in-1 Almost Cheap Showdown
on: January 16, 2013, 02:46:01 AM
Here we are folks... two Almost Cheap tools going head to head. I think a more fair match-up would be the Kobalt versus the Sidekick, but I don't HAVE a sidekick, so... just deal with it. :D

Here we go.

Weight and Dimensions
Wingman 3.8" (9.7mm) closed, 7oz (199g)
Kobalt 3.6" (92mm) closed,  9.34oz (265g)

Plier Assembly
Needle nose is much more precise on the Wingman. Dentition on the pliers fore of the non-needle nose section are larger and better formed on the Leatherman. I'm not sure if this would make them longer wearing versus the Kobalt and/or more likely to mar a grasped surface.

There is a good deal of play on the pliers of the Kobalt side-to-side, none in the Wingman. I believe there was a very slight amount of play in the previous Wingman I owned, so this might just be an exceptional model I got.

The non needle-nose section of the Wingman is less obscured by its wire cutters. The Wingman's pliers are about 3/8" (10mm) longer, which may give better reach, but would likely give slightly worse mechanical advantage at the tip. the pliers are about 1mm thicker on the Wingman. Pivot is 9mm on the Wingman, 8 on the Kobalt.

Anvil wire cutters on the Kobalt were easier to use and significantly more comfortable cutting 12-gauge wire.

Both pliers are spring loaded, with resistance being lighter on the Wingman, but the resistance on the Kobalt is quite reasonable.

Ergos on the handles under high pressure definitely go to the Kobalt. Its wide, rounded scales are very comfortable under heavy pressure. There was a great deal more flex felt in the frame of the Kobalt under heavy use. The backstop for the plier assembly of the Wingman is the frame of the tool. For the Kobalt, it's a set of backsprings. But it sets against more than 3 of these, and I don't see serious problems of them all giving way under moderate to heavy use.

Other tools

I'll start with the tools that are outside-accessible on the Wingman.

Blade(s):
The Wingman has only one blade, a hollow ground semi-serrated one-hand-open sort of drop point blade. it is push-cut on phone book paper sharp out of the package. The one-hand open feature is STRONGLY right-hand aimed, very difficult to do left-handed. Adjustments to the tension of the torx screw may fix that.

The Kobalt has two blades, a plain hollow-ground drop point, and a sheepsfoot serrated blade. The plain blade comes dull out-of-package. A few minutes work had it sharp enough to pull cut plain writing paper. The Serrated blade is overly aggressive, with teeth almost like a saw, and would snag and hold 550 paracord, instead of cut it. It did, however, do a reasonable job of hacking through corrugated cardboard.

The next tools are not comparable between these: The Wingman's scissors and the Kobalt's Saw.

I've tested the Wingman's scissors elsewhere. Here's how they faired (The TLDR version, better for light stuff, not great on textiles/leather, or heavy plastic)
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,36798.0.html

The Kobalt's saw (and really everything except for the shape of the scales) is the same as the Sheffield 17-in-1 tool. Here's how that saw faired in testing (The TLDR version, Better than a Husky Medium MT, worse than any Leatherman or Victorinox. Useable, but mediocre)
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,37422.0.html

Common tools inside both:

Can opener: Lets get it out of the way. The Wingman is the hawk-bill Wenger style. It works pretty well. The Kobalt's is in the Vic style, but not of vic quality. It's bad, but it works.

Files: Neither of these tools are going to win file of the year award. The file on the Kobalt has a crappy side, and a slightly less crappy side. The single cut side on mine will JUST BARELY file my nails. The crosscut side will file my nails, and just about nothing else. The 'third side' file is utterly worthless. The file in the Wingman is VERY aggressive... and about an inch and a half long. On the backside of the Wingman file is a short ruler. Not super useful.

Phillips: The phillips driver on the Kobalt is fairly short (maybe a bit longer than a Juice series) and terrible. The can opener is actually better at turning phillips screws. The phillips of the Wingman is good, about the same as the flat phillips bit for the Wave. Reach is a bit better than the Kobalt's as well. I think it will take as much as you'd want to put on a non-locking tool.

Flatheads: There are two options on the Wingman, and 3 on the Kobalt. I test most every flathead against a screw on the faceplate of a lightswitch. The Wingman's large flathead is too large to fit. The small is smaller than feels comfortable, but gets the job done. The Kobalt's caplifter/flathead is nearly identical in scale to the Victorinox version but with rounded corners. The next one down is again rounded but meh, okay. The small flathead is so rounded as to be kind of worthless. As general use pry tools, the Wingman's larger driver looks pretty reasonable.

What's left?

The Wingman has a package opener. It's a good general cutting tool/scraper thingy. it also has a wire stripping V notch with the can opener. I never use those, but some folks might find it useful.

Oh... beer bottles. Yeah, the cap lifter on the Kobalt is an atrocity. The hook that catches the cap, like every other tool on this, is overpolished, and therefore, over-rounded. The Wingman has to use its can opener to open bottles. While this might pierce the top of the cap, that hook on it is very well defined, and catches cap edges well.

Tool access and retention
Access to all the tools on the Wingman is easy. inboard tools have an area under to push them up for easy reach, and well defined hooks to catch your nail on to extract. Expect tool clumping (at least in a new tool). The Kobalt tools to the outside have easy to reach nail nicks, and some of the tools between them have hooks to catch your nails on, but a few have hard-to-reach nail nicks, and all of the tools have very strong retention holding them in, so a good deal of force is needed to extract them. Bad while trying to get them out but good while deployed. Tool retention on both tools is pretty darn good, with a slight edge going to the Wingman.

Carry options
The Wingman comes with a built-in pocket/belt clip. For my taste, the splringiness is just about right. The Kobalt comes with a very solid nylon sheath, with strong snap closure. Lanyard? Nope. Neither one. Unless you want to pull THIS stunt...
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,33534.msg585215.html#msg585215

So, what's my final take-away? If you intend to do a lot of plier work, the Kobalt's more comfortable. If you need a good blade or fast blade access, go with the Wingman. If you need a saw, Kobalt. Scissors? Wingman. Sheath carry, Kobalt. Pocket carry, Wingman. Most everything else? Wingman. File? Get something other than either of these.


 

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