So, here it is: though the recorded challenge was truncated, here is the 30-Day Rebar Challenge Final Rundown!
This was a fun picture to take, and is pretty indicative of the tool's early life.Before I start, I need to state two important things. The first is a reminder that I used this Rebar for awhile
before I chose to make it a challenge tool. The second is that I am still, to this exact moment of this exact day, carrying this tool in my satchel. It is still my go-to plier-based multitool, though I've done a little modding for fun that we will talk about later.
Oh, and a third thing: Merry Christmas or whatever you're all about this time of year! Woohoo!
The Blades
There are two main blades on the Rebar, and they are both still in excellent shape...despite things like this:
Using Val's main blade as a rasp!Throughout the 18-ish properly recorded challenge days, I treated the blade poorly, and did stupid things like batoning with it. Batoning! Stupid! It has cut through Tyvek, Styrofoam, building paper, wood (see: batoning. Stupid!), leather, assorted dirt-ridden plants, poly-cotton, fibreglass insulation, acoustical insulation, cheese (copious!), and Jothra Brand
TM Fingers. It has done light prying (stupid!), and smoothed holes on a bamboo pennywhistle (low D, in case anyone's keeping track.) It has survived handily. In fact, it retains a decent edge, and is very easy to sharpen. Here is the main blade as it appears today:
Never mind the Viking runes. Good blade. Jothra Approved.As you can see, apart from some minor rust speckling, the blade is still in excellent shape. I like it. The serrated blade is in even
better shape (less scuffed shape at any rate), since it receives less use. It's not too hard to keep sharp, either.
Same light rusting; nothing serious.A complaint I've seen in a few places is that the blade can be hard to use because it faces the wrong way when open, so half of the handle gets in the way when trying to cut down to a surface. I'm not sure this is a Rebar problem, since one can get around it by opening the tool handle.
Blades: Yes! Winners!
The Drivers
Three drivers for driving! Vroom vroom!As far as screws go, these three drivers cover most of your usual bases. None are good for Robertson screws, but that's something us Canadians are used to with multitools.
I haven't done any really terrifying prying work with the large slot driver, because I broke the identical one out of my old Wave II less than a month after I bought the tool. There isn't a lot of material bracing the driver in the handle; I fear this one would break if I were too hard on it as well. I will not, however, count this against the tool, because you can generally do better prying with the plier tips if you can get them in there.
The Phillips driver is nice and long, and should work with a Leatherman multi-driver kit.
Drivers: Also effective...at driving things, anyway!
The File / Metal Saw
Hey...more rust!Both sides of the file do exactly what they should. They file.
The metal saw will cut through a 3" nail. It takes a million years, but it works. My late Wave's metal saw was faster. My old Victorinox Ranger's was the fastest of the three.
It's cosmetic, but this is the rustiest component.
The File / Metal Saw: Excellent as a file, and passable as a saw, in a pinch.
The Saw
What can I say about the saw? It's great. I've used it on wood, plywood, drywall, bamboo, potable water pipe, Styrofoam, and (really) gingerbread. It's a very effective saw. I was a little worried about the aggressive-looking teeth getting it stuck in things, but I have had no problems whatsoever.
Nice teeth, baby! Marvy! Fab! Far out!
The Reamer
Hell yes.
HELL YES.There's no motion blur in that shot, but I did hammer that reamer into a piece of bamboo with a hammer. The reamer did just fine through the pounding, and also succeeded in boring out all eight of the holes I needed to make on the whistle I was building.
Here's how much damage the hammering did:
None at all.I have used the reamer on a great many materials, most notably solid wood, plywood, and metal road signs. It is keen.
Reamer: The reamer is one of the winningest features of the Rebar. It is fantastic.
The Can Opener
It is one. Seriously. It opens cans.
Can Opener: In binary: 1.
The Pliers
Alright. You've been waiting for this. It's time to look at the pliers!
Tying wire!There aren't any surprises for me here. These pliers are the reason I bought the Rebar in the first place. I could take or leave the replaceable wire cutters, but I will admit that they have cut plenty of coat hanger, and plenty of tie wire for sidewalk and floor pours (I did some concrete work over the summer). The plier jaws have made short work of tying chores. Awesome awesome awesome.
Oh, and remember The Worst Thing I Have Ever Done? Refresher: it was a thing I did to Campy the multitool with a not insignificant amount of hammer.
This set a bad precedent.I was removing a forming pin by breaking it off. Remember that? Yikes. Anyway, I unfortunately did not get a picture, but Val the Rebar did the same thing for two of those pins. No problem. No serious damage or scuffing. This is obviously
super abusive, but Val survived it handily.
Pliers: BADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSS!
The Fit and Finish
I love the look of this tool. I am perfectly happy with the inside-access tools.
Every tool locks, you guys. The all-stainless look is nice. The only problem with the stainless is that in many of the tools, it...well...wasn't. The little bits of cosmetic rust aren't a huge issue, and they even help the tool look rugged and used, but I might not have minded an official warning somewhere that I needed to perform rustproofing.
One important thing I noticed very early on is that Val's pliers were misaligned by about 1 mm. They came this way. The wire cutters, however, line up just right. The misalignment is not at all a functional issue, and the pliers are excellent, but I do wonder how they left the factory like that.
Fit and Finish: pretty good. Val looks like the Millennium Falcon, which gives me a thrill. Minor scratches, minor rust speckling, and slightly misaligned pliers.
P.S. - The minor scratching may be my fault:
Yes. I did this again. Those DVD shelves needed a lot of finishing nails. There was surprisingly little scratching, actually.The Takeaway
The Rebar is a sturdy, simple, and versatile tool. Mine is a big success story. It has perfectly fit into the niche formerly occupied by my dearly departed Wave. It can take a surprising amount of abuse.
I am comfortable recommending the Leatherman Rebar. Just keep in mind that the Rebar now costs anywhere from half again to double what it cost when I bought mine.
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