Rebar vs. Juice S2

[pfrsantos]

I've been looking around for a medium MT (not very heavy, capable of light/medium tasks). I don't need a tool box everyday. Once in a while I need some screwdrivers, pliers, scissors or a knife. I reduced my choice to two contestants:
Rebar and Juice S2
They both have things I like that the other doesn't have.

Rebar:
All tools lock
More than one knife (plain/serrated)
Saw
Replaceable wire cutters
Comes w/leather sheat

Juice S2:
Scissors
Outside accessible tools and knife
Lighter
Smaller

They're about the same price. So... thoughts, suggestions, ideas?...

Thanks!
 

[sir_mike]

Actually, the Rebar runs around $35-40, whereas the Juice S2 runs around $45-55 so the Rebar is cheaper!

I like the Rebar better than the Juice because of the tool setup and I dont think the difference in weight/size between the two is much at all!

[derekmac]

Whenever I carry something with the tools inside, I usually end up carrying something with outside opening tools the next day.  Maybe I've spoiled myself with outside opening tools, but they are my preference, so I'd probably choose the Juice.

[kirk13]

Basically,here's the thing.

The S2 is an inferior SAK SuperTinker built around a pair of pliers.

A Rebar is an old school Leatherman,but if scissors are the deal breaker,your stuffed!

I'd disagree a little with Sir_mike,the Rebar is a fair bit bigger.

If you had the budget,get the Rebar,and a Vic Compact!Best of both worlds

Or better still,get a Spirit

[Gareth]

As you've found out they are such different multitools it's hard to pick.   Could I ask if you are planning on carrying it around with you, or is it going to sit in your car/desk/home?

[pfrsantos]

@sir_mike
I found both at $50. Will look around for a better deal. Price is important too. Maybe it's one more for the Rebar...


@Gareth
I would be carrying it. That's why the lighter weight of the Juice looks good. I have some Vics I usually carry, was looking to get something with pliers to "retire" them.

[Aloha]

kirk makes a great point about scissors, to some its a deal breaker and to MTOers it just means you'll need a SAK to compliment it. 

as far as needing tools on the ready Juice wins with scissors, blade, and opener.  I don't have a juice tho I have considered getting one several times but I cannot seem to reason the high cost VS the rebar.  my thoughts is the Rebar is a higher value tool for a few reason

secondary blade choice. serrated  ( preserves edge on primary blade by having 2nd blade and great when cutting fibrous material )

file and saw  ( I have used my saw a lot oddly enough )

replaceable hard wire cutters.  you mash the wire cutters on juice big problem  ( again preserves blades, use for cutting zip ties as well as other items you may have used for blades for )

awl ( I found an awl to be a great feature when other wise I would have used a blade tip or driver )
   
ruler.  sure your not gonna measure off things in feet but its there ( I have actually used mine )

all tools lock.  (tho to be fair my SAKs don't and I love them just the same but we are talking juice here)

the Rebar is .75 longer and 2.3oz heavier.  I say carry horizontal and you shouldn't even notice it.  there was also a great thread on Ranger carry that Comis did that may also be an option 

[baja820]

Basically,here's the thing.

The S2 is an inferior SAK SuperTinker built around a pair of pliers.

A Rebar is an old school Leatherman,but if scissors are the deal breaker,your stuffed!

I'd disagree a little with Sir_mike,the Rebar is a fair bit bigger.

If you had the budget,get the Rebar,and a Vic Compact!Best of both worlds


Or better still,get a Spirit

I'm going to disagree with you on both of your statements regarding the juice and the rebar. The juice is superior to the SAK because it has functional Pilars and the rebar is not "oldskool" it has some new and innovative features.

[sir_mike]

If you look on Evil-bay, you will see the Rebar for less than the $40 alot and the S2 right around $40 or just a few bucks over that!

@sir_mike
I found both at $50. Will look around for a better deal. Price is important too. Maybe it's one more for the Rebar...


@Gareth
I would be carrying it. That's why the lighter weight of the Juice looks good. I have some Vics I usually carry, was looking to get something with pliers to "retire" them.

[Cupboard]

Portugal may not have as good prices as you get in the US.

If you want it for occasional light/medium use I'd go for the Juice. They are more than adequate for medium duty use and are pretty compact given all the things they can do. From what you've said I think the Rebar would be a bit overkill.

Rebar:
All tools lock - for light/medium use I'd say that wasn't so important, and non locking knives can be advantageous in certain areas
More than one knife (plain/serrated) - if you're never likely to use the serrated knife, it's just extra weight
Saw - do you need a saw? See above. If you spend all your time in an office there may be little point. If you spend a lot of time out doors, then this may be a more important factor.
Replaceable wire cutters - for light/medium use the replaceable wire cutters are of no real benefit IMO. I've cut coat hangers with LM non replaceable cutters with no noticeable damage. On the other hand, if you're anticipating there may be some heavy wire cutter action in the future, then the replaceable ones may be better.
Comes w/leather sheath - it does indeed!

Juice S2:
Scissors - see point about saw, above
Outside accessible tools and knife - this is quite a big one for me. not that the Rebar knives are desperately hard to get to but it does involve a few more steps. If you're going to be doing lots of little tasks with a knife throughout a day, the time does add up. I see outside accessible knifes as a bit of a safety feature too - if it's quick and easy to put away you're more likely to do so rather than leaving an open knife waiting for the next job.
Lighter
Smaller - but this means smaller tools.

They're about the same price. So... thoughts, suggestions, ideas?...

Thanks!
 

[AimlessWanderer]

Basically,here's the thing.

The S2 is an inferior SAK SuperTinker built around a pair of pliers.

A Rebar is an old school Leatherman,but if scissors are the deal breaker,your stuffed!

I'd disagree a little with Sir_mike,the Rebar is a fair bit bigger.

If you had the budget,get the Rebar,and a Vic Compact!Best of both worlds


Or better still,get a Spirit

I'm going to disagree with you on both of your statements regarding the juice and the rebar. The juice is superior to the SAK because it has functional Pilars and the rebar is not "oldskool" it has some new and innovative features.

I would put the Juice as inferior, as the pliers are the ONLY superior element over a SAK of choice. The Rebar is a much better quality tool ... but it's still very heavily compromised. The blades feel very thin and didn't instill much confidence with me, the indexable cuters get in the way of gripping, there's no scissors or easy option for fitting them, and the inboard tools makes the knives and saws less efficient (the opposing handle can get in the way) and means more faffing to get to an implement. If you're looking at a choice between those two, my own personal suggestion would be to keep looking 

If a Spirit is too heavy (or too heavy on the wallet) then again, keep looking. It might be that one of these tools is indeed the best for you, but I was unimpressed with both the Juice line and the Rebar. Maybe a SOG PPP may be an option as you can easily customise it (yes I know this is the Leatherman forum  ) or (though it didn't work for me either) maybe look at a Pulse if you can track one down. I found the locks intolerable, but there are many here that love it

[powernoodle]

That difference is weight and size is noticeable.  This may not make much difference if you are going to carry it for 2 hours, but if its day after day and week after week, I think you will really start to be aware of it.  So the question is whether the (arguably) added utility of the Rebar is worth the increased size and weight.  Sounds to me from what you said that it is not worth it (for you), but only you can make that decision.  So I would vote for a Juice S2 plus a Classic SD or Compact for the precise scissors.  Rock on.

[Gareth]

the problem with recommending the Juice is the fact that so many people don't get along with them.   Personally I quite like my Juice but there is no doubt that it has it's flaws.  On the up side I'd say it's a much easier MT to carry than the Rebar.

With the Rebar on the other hand the number of people who are happy with them seems much higher so would seem a safer bet.  I've only had my Rebar for a few days now, but on the whole it seems a good MT.

[pfrsantos]

Thank you all for all the input. It's really been helpfull. I got some new points for and against both MTs. I'll also look on more info on the others mentioned here.
If there's something more anyone wants to add, I think it'll benefit everyone.
 

[Cupboard]

The Rebar is a much better quality tool ... but it's still very heavily compromised. The blades feel very thin and didn't instill much confidence with me, the indexable cuters get in the way of gripping, there's no scissors or easy option for fitting them, and the inboard tools makes the knives and saws less efficient (the opposing handle can get in the way) and means more faffing to get to an implement.

These are many of the reasons I gave my Rebar to my dad. I do disagree about the cutters though. They are definitely inferior to the "normal" ones for cutting thick, soft things because they're much thicker but I liked them enough to put them in my Wave. I can still comfortably grip (with the plier jaws at least) an M12 bolt, only I can't really close my hands around it so that's a bit of a moot point. The head is also IME pretty tough, I've used it as a sort of pry bar to undo M16 (I think) eyes holding a flange on a mid size (7.5kW) pump.



So anyway, I agree the Rebar has its faults but certain bits have their strengths too IMO.

[kirk13]

Best thing to do is go and play with both.

I've played with 4 different Juices,some were ok,some weren't . Rebars seem to be more consistent

[Monrogue]

There are a lot of excellent points here.  I have both, but I can tell you that my S2 is never really carried anymore, and the Rebar is one of my favorites.  I think that is partially due to the fact that it has been replaced by SAKs.  Don't get me wrong, the S2 is a great little minimalist tool as it has all the basics that most people would really need for daily life (depending on your profession of course).  I prefer to carry a full size MT with a SAK to compliment it.  The Rebar and Compact was one of my best combos in the past.  It does lack scissors, which isn't a big deal if you are willing to carry a SAK to remedy that.  It's slim and lightweight with a versatile set of tools.  So it really comes down to what you think you'll really need and are willing to carry. 

[pfrsantos]

I have found some reviews on botyh in other threads. Seems the Juice has diferent heights on each half and the Rebar's blades are very thin...

As I said, I won't be doing any (very) heavy use of them, maybe I'll be better off with some other tool...

I'll keep looking for more comments on both before I make up my mind.

Thanks again, everyone!

[Monrogue]

Another option if you wouldn't mind having a saw and diamond file, but still have it be a fairly small, lightweight size would be the Juice KF4.  It's not a lot thicker than the S2, and it only adds about an ounce of weight, and also has a second serrated blade.  It doesn't have scissors or the combo opener tool though, so if those are dealbreakers, ignore my suggestion   It's also retired, and doesn't seem that easy to come by (I was very lucky with the one I got). 

[colt 1911]

Go with the rebar.

[JAfromMn]

For the office a Juice


For outdoors the Rebar

that's what I do anyway.

the juice don't see much use these days.

[Jothra]

While I didn't get photos, I can tell you that my Rebar has passed the coat hanger cut test repeatedly, and the hammer-in-as-a-wedge test once with absolutely no damage.

[Monrogue]

While I didn't get photos, I can tell you that my Rebar has passed the coat hanger cut test repeatedly, and the hammer-in-as-a-wedge test once with absolutely no damage.

Man, we gotta keep MTs/SAKs away from you when you have a hammer in your hand

[Jothra]

While I didn't get photos, I can tell you that my Rebar has passed the coat hanger cut test repeatedly, and the hammer-in-as-a-wedge test once with absolutely no damage.

Man, we gotta keep MTs/SAKs away from you when you have a hammer in your hand

I had already done Hammertime with the Campers Tool knock-off, so it only seemed fair. The Rebar keeps impressing me. It's kind of the tool I always wanted the PST to be.

[Monrogue]

While I didn't get photos, I can tell you that my Rebar has passed the coat hanger cut test repeatedly, and the hammer-in-as-a-wedge test once with absolutely no damage.

Man, we gotta keep MTs/SAKs away from you when you have a hammer in your hand

I had already done Hammertime with the Campers Tool knock-off, so it only seemed fair. The Rebar keeps impressing me. It's kind of the tool I always wanted the PST to be.

Yeah I love the Rebar.  I would have liked to see a 30 day challenge for it while you were still doing construction work.  I'd like to see what kind of abuse it could endure.

Sent from my XT901 using Tapatalk 2

[detron]

I love my Rebar, my only negatives are no scissors (I carry a SAK anyway), and the file does not have diamond dusted side. (not a huge deal)

the rebar is about the size of a Leatherman Kick with a full compliment of tools.

[CanadianLMfan]

The Juice S2 is an excellent choice and I recommend it if you don't regularly use a saw on a MT.
If you're looking pricewise, there's a special pack of the Rebar and Micra selling for $45. That is useful because it gives scissors in the Micra.

[adobo]

Id go with the Rebar. just add a Rambler (or SD) in your keychain and you'll be fine.