While pretty and well made Victorinox MTs don't seem well used or carried.

[HarleyXJGuy]

We'll see. I got a Spirit X for Christmas.

30 day challenge!

30 day challenge!

30 day challenge!

30 day challenge!

30 day challenge!

30 day challenge!

30 day challenge!

30 day challenge!

30 day challenge!

30 day challenge!

30 day challenge!

 

[Etherealicer]

Actually, if you are up for another 30 day challenge... I would love to see the Evo 17 from Wenger. It would be interesting to know how it compares to its sister Vicky the Huntress

[smiller43147]

Just got a Spirit for Christmas, and it hasn't left my pocket.

[dks]

.... Christmas spirit.....

[Top-Gear-24]

.... Christmas spirit.....

[Poncho65]

Necro thread

I have a Swisstool and have used it but time and time again I am drawn back to my LM I was actually talking with my nephew the other night about MTs.  I have actually  him along over the years and bought him a couple LM and a SAK or 2 and even a few slippies and fixed blades.  I saw in him when he was young the same affection toward sharps and shinys that I had so I had to point him in the right direction He is about to graduate high school and probably going to a trade school and was asking my opinion on what kind of MT be best for what he was going for. I had bought him a Wave when he was 11 and I suggested that if he wanted a great everyday tool that would be the one to use.  Of course he has lost it along the way in the 7 years he had it I really didn't expect that he still had it  but as I was showing him my different MTs we came up to the Swisstool X that I have and I told him it was the Cadillac of MTs (then I got to thinking ) If it is that great why don't I carry it Then I came across this thread and had to bring it back. I guess I just like the familiarity of my LMs more, I carry a SAK everyday to go with it but never feel the need to strap the Swisstool to my side.  I hope my nephew finds his Wave or at leasts buys another one cause that will be a great tool for him going into maintenance I may give the Swisstool a go this week just to see if I can make it with it or not

[Aloha]

I still feel the same as when I posted this.  I love my Swisstool more since but it never gets the nod over my LMs.  My Spirit never gets the call period. 

There are those here who swear by either and thats terrific since whatever works for them works.  It gets old to argue what is "better" since we each have a preference.  I know what works for me and its just that simple.   

I'd be interested in those who used a LM then got a Swisstool or Spirit  and abandon the LM only to return?

I do have a Swisstool in my vehicle and carry one camping.  I chose the SWT because it is a bad arse tool and I do enjoy using it.  I think some refining could be done to the tool and some has been as we've seen with the plier pivot.  I will add that I dig the plier tip being bluntish.   



 

[Kampfer]

I am one of them, been carrying a Spirit every single day since beginning of this year, never looked back to my other Leatherman tools. The Spirit works well, more importantly it carrys well; for that size and weight it offers a "complete" tool set, and it is perfectly engineered and made. Love it. Nothing is going to replace it any time soon.

[cody6268]

Don't have one (hope to get one, the SwissTool X this summer), but Leathermans are what I carry the most. In fact, I'm currently carrying a PST II.

[Aloha]

I am one of them, been carrying a Spirit every single day since beginning of this year, never looked back to my other Leatherman tools. The Spirit works well, more importantly it carrys well; for that size and weight it offers a "complete" tool set, and it is perfectly engineered and made. Love it. Nothing is going to replace it any time soon.

I forget if you had "settled" on a go to tool from other makers before you found the Spirit?

My thinking is, would you have been swayed away if you had a tool that worked then discovered the Sprirt?

My Wave has been my go to tool since I got it and while the Surge has bumped it from time to time I have never not carried my Wave either for work or otherwise.

The Spirit and SWT are very well made and I agree they have terrific tool sets.  Freaking chisel for goodness sake 

[Kampfer]

I am one of them, been carrying a Spirit every single day since beginning of this year, never looked back to my other Leatherman tools. The Spirit works well, more importantly it carrys well; for that size and weight it offers a "complete" tool set, and it is perfectly engineered and made. Love it. Nothing is going to replace it any time soon.

I forget if you had "settled" on a go to tool from other makers before you found the Spirit?

My thinking is, would you have been swayed away if you had a tool that worked then discovered the Sprirt?

My Wave has been my go to tool since I got it and while the Surge has bumped it from time to time I have never not carried my Wave either for work or otherwise.

The Spirit and SWT are very well made and I agree they have terrific tool sets.  Freaking chisel for goodness sake 

I been using Wave / Mini-Surge for a long time before, they are great tools, MT/Pocket knife all in one. If I can only have ONE thing for EDC I would go pick up a Wave in a heart beat.

Now I carry the Spirit plus "Knife of the day", this combo gives me more ability.

[Aloha]

I am one of them, been carrying a Spirit every single day since beginning of this year, never looked back to my other Leatherman tools. The Spirit works well, more importantly it carrys well; for that size and weight it offers a "complete" tool set, and it is perfectly engineered and made. Love it. Nothing is going to replace it any time soon.

I forget if you had "settled" on a go to tool from other makers before you found the Spirit?

My thinking is, would you have been swayed away if you had a tool that worked then discovered the Sprirt?

My Wave has been my go to tool since I got it and while the Surge has bumped it from time to time I have never not carried my Wave either for work or otherwise.

The Spirit and SWT are very well made and I agree they have terrific tool sets.  Freaking chisel for goodness sake 

I been using Wave / Mini-Surge for a long time before, they are great tools, MT/Pocket knife all in one. If I can only have ONE thing for EDC I would go pick up a Wave in a heart beat.

Now I carry the Spirit plus "Knife of the day", this combo gives me more ability.

  How the heck can I forget this amazing tool  to myself. 

[HarleyXJGuy]

I am one of them, been carrying a Spirit every single day since beginning of this year, never looked back to my other Leatherman tools. The Spirit works well, more importantly it carrys well; for that size and weight it offers a "complete" tool set, and it is perfectly engineered and made. Love it. Nothing is going to replace it any time soon.

I forget if you had "settled" on a go to tool from other makers before you found the Spirit?

My thinking is, would you have been swayed away if you had a tool that worked then discovered the Sprirt?

My Wave has been my go to tool since I got it and while the Surge has bumped it from time to time I have never not carried my Wave either for work or otherwise.

The Spirit and SWT are very well made and I agree they have terrific tool sets.  Freaking chisel for goodness sake 

I been using Wave / Mini-Surge for a long time before, they are great tools, MT/Pocket knife all in one. If I can only have ONE thing for EDC I would go pick up a Wave in a heart beat.

Now I carry the Spirit plus "Knife of the day", this combo gives me more ability.
(Image removed from quote.)

You got rid of the Mini Surge?

[Etherealicer]

I am one of them, been carrying a Spirit every single day since beginning of this year, never looked back to my other Leatherman tools. The Spirit works well, more importantly it carrys well; for that size and weight it offers a "complete" tool set, and it is perfectly engineered and made. Love it. Nothing is going to replace it any time soon.

I started with a SwissTool, then switched to a Spirit (gifted all my non-Spirit SwissTools away)...
Over time I got excited with many other tools (Charge, Mini, PST, Juice, PPP, MP-600) but once the initial excitement of something new wore off I always returned to the Spirit (Mini is not really that small etc...).

I actually got rid of most of them. I think my 2nd favorite is the Charge, but it sees very little pocket time. However, it is wonderful for modding

[magentus]

I carry my Spirit every day at work and it has helped me with all sorts of jobs - mostly little DIY and maintenance jobs around the estate I work on.

Having handled several LM models courtesy of an acquaintence I'm not sold on them over my Spirit, but I was given a Spirit first and see no reason to add to it. It is solid and useful. What more can I ask of it?

Maybe if I'd had a LM first I would feel differently, but my Spirit is both well used and carried.

[sLaughterMed]

No Spirit over here. As good as it is, my current tools do just fine, and I get them locally much cheaper than they can be found online. Hard to justify $60+ for a standard Spirit when I can get most multitools good tools for <$25 around town if I wait long enough. If I do eventually get a Spirit, id do what Kampfer does, and pair the standard one with a knife du jour.


If im totally honest with myself, I could get by with just a Compact, forget all those other tools. But whats the fun in that?

[magentus]

No Spirit over here. As good as it is, my current tools do just fine, and I get them locally much cheaper than they can be found online. Hard to justify $60+ for a standard Spirit when I can get most multitools good tools for <$25 around town if I wait long enough. If I do eventually get a Spirit, id do what Kampfer does, and pair the standard one with a knife du jour.


If im totally honest with myself, I could get by with just a Compact, forget all those other tools. But whats the fun in that?

I was lucky enough to win my Spirit in a GAW a couple of years back - I couldn't justify spending that sort of cash on a MT. The author of the GAW (gustophersmob) said it would ruin me for other MT's and he was right! I have no need for any others and they all seem to me to be a little less special than the Spirit.

[Poncho65]

No Spirit over here. As good as it is, my current tools do just fine, and I get them locally much cheaper than they can be found online. Hard to justify $60+ for a standard Spirit when I can get most multitools good tools for <$25 around town if I wait long enough. If I do eventually get a Spirit, id do what Kampfer does, and pair the standard one with a knife du jour.


If im totally honest with myself, I could get by with just a Compact, forget all those other tools. But whats the fun in that?

I was lucky enough to win my Spirit in a GAW a couple of years back - I couldn't justify spending that sort of cash on a MT. The author of the GAW (gustophersmob) said it would ruin me for other MT's and he was right! I have no need for any others and they all seem to me to be a little less special than the Spirit.

That is basically what happened with me and the Rebar I found it to be (almost) perfect, lacking only scissors but I carried an Executive anyway The Rebar being so great for me is the reason I slowed down coming on here for a long while I did have more money but hey like sLaughtermed said where is the fun in that I like having a diverse amount of tools to pick through when going somewhere and pair it with something different sometimes just to see if it will work

[Aloha]

I can see how starting with a Spirit or Swisstool would ruin if for many.  I got my Spirit a while after I had my Wave.  I then got a Swisstool and was blown away for a while.  I guess its pretty simple for me, the Wave just ticks so many boxes for my work.   

I am always so interested in how we all arrived at what tools we use. 

[Poncho65]

I can see how starting with a Spirit or Swisstool would ruin if for many.  I got my Spirit a while after I had my Wave.  I then got a Swisstool and was blown away for a while.  I guess its pretty simple for me, the Wave just ticks so many boxes for my work.   

I am always so interested in how we all arrived at what tools we use.

It seems to be that whatever brand people start with they seem to go back to (there are a few exceptions I am sure) but that seems to be the general consensus. Yeah it is funny how many tools we use to (in general) do very similar tasks.  Some want it all while others are very content with a bare minimum Most of the time I want it all

[metasyntax]

Now I carry the Spirit plus "Knife of the day", this combo gives me more ability.
(Image removed from quote.)

That red Victorinox logo looks very nice!

Spirit X is my most carried MT, followed by the Rebar. I don't have to use it for a lot of dirty work though, so both still look relatively new. The ST300 may be tougher, but the Spirit is cooler, so that's why I carry it more. Certainly loved, just not worked over too hard.

[Tomcat_81]

About 12 years ago I bought an already used Vic Spirit which was about to accompany me to Greece, for a project involving LandArt.

Love at first sight, but I still had to use it  ( ;-) ) a lot since the rest of our equipment was rather poor, so my Spirit cut branches, pried stones out of their bed, drilled holes, loosened- and tightened screws (lots of screws)  and eventually even had to re-shape a dysfunctional bathroom door ( sliced away about a centimeter of wood because whoever had planned that bathroom hadn't bothered to measure if the door would fit. )

 I only know still about these details because this was the first ride, the beginning in which I was just fascinated by how useful that thingy was. Back home, the Spirit got some sharpening and was like new again.

Since then, this small shiny thing has accompanied me really everywhere and is at my side every day. It was the sole tool used when when laying some 30 squaremeters of parquet for a student friend of my back-then-girlfriend (yeah, no other saw involved than my Spirit, those guys were useless), it was the only tool involved in dis- and reassembling the faulty cooling system of my wondefully weird New Zealand Subaru Legacy before selling it the next day ( Zoidberg, if you ever encounter a white S.Legacy "YR1099" on the road, just flee- it might blow up at any time!), I fixed an enormous lot of windows, doors and even a chicken house with it, had to sew a shoe for a nice swiss lady on a NZ volcano, and disassembled 75 desks before moving them to another school. I had to loosen hundreds of bolts, screws and nuts, cut two padlocks (Brass -0:1-Spirit)and several rusty hose-clamps, and even had to break into our neighbour's flat. Not to talk about all the small repairs on my trusty Opel Astra and everything people keep on bringing me (can you fix that NOW?).

That tool HAS seen a lot of use, but I just don't abuse it. And I never ever lend it to someone, even my wife got her own Spirit ;-)

So what's to be seen of almost ten years of real and constant use?

That phillips-screwdriver is getting a bit roundish
The blade looks scratched and a bit noodeled down
The knurling (or what it's called) in the plier head is rounded and slowly loosing grip
The wirecutter has a lot of small dents and bits.

Otherwise it just keeps going.

[alexTOOL]

A Victorinox juice size or keychain multitool would be a winner...

Let´s dream! 

[Kampfer]

Now I carry the Spirit plus "Knife of the day", this combo gives me more ability.
(Image removed from quote.)

That red Victorinox logo looks very nice!

Spirit X is my most carried MT, followed by the Rebar. I don't have to use it for a lot of dirty work though, so both still look relatively new. The ST300 may be tougher, but the Spirit is cooler, so that's why I carry it more. Certainly loved, just not worked over too hard.

I carry the Standard Spirit with serrated butter blade, as it could work as a safety cutter, and all my folders are plain edge only.

[Smaug]

That's almost a troll post, Aloha. Watch yourself. 

I often hear "It's too nice to use".  I initially thought the cost associated with these tools was a big determining factor for the non usage but a LM Charge TTi or MUT can be as costly.

Because they're not highly polished, so they don't feel too nice to use.

I finally got one and yes it is a wonderful tool and all things said were true, (snip)

..and here, you can see why it is "one and done"

I then got a Spirit and as with the Swisstool carried it and it performed as expected tho the scissors did disappoint me.  IIRC Enki did a wire cut test and the Spirit actually didnt do so well in that test.

Huh? Since when are scissors intended to cut wire?  Use the wire cutter.

So what I'm saying or asking is simply if these tools are so great then why aren't hte majority of MTo using them?  With the vast experience and tool knowledge here it seems these tools are the "One and Done" tools.

The reason mine sits is because I'm a desk jockey 5 days a week, and an apartment-dweller 7 days a week. I just don't need an MT that much, and when I do, I usually don't need pliers. So a SAK is my weapon of choice. When I'm expecting work on my off time, I carry it. When I'm expecting work on the job, I carry my Gerber MP600 ProScout. (as opposed to my MP400 Amateur Scout)

I have been thinking simply that these tools are like the Ferrari or Lamborghini that one finally obtains and while one cherishes these cars only drives them on special occasions.  Heck one rarely sees cars like these with high mileage even tho they are so called cars to be driven.

I consider it more like a Honda Accord EX, in mint condition, with the manual transmission: Super nice, super capable, does everything well. But do I really NEED something that nice? Nah. Let me take the Prius C, because this is just a ride to the local grocery store.

Me, I carry the Wave or Surge or ST300 because they IMO are really that much better and more versatile in what I do.  I do take my Swisstool out from time to time however.       

I've got a Surge. Just how is a Surge "that much better?" OHO implements, I'll give you that. Interchangeable saw blades; I haven't needed that yet. Bigger pliers? Unnecessary. Bigger flat-head screwdriver? Yeah, that's awesome.

ST300 isn't even in the same league. Everything's hard to get at. Doesn't matter how nice the tools are, if they take so long to get to. With the SwissTool series, everything is right there. The pliers are the only thing that is harder to deploy than a knife blade on a SAK.

I think you prefer the ST300 and Surge just because you already made up your mind that they're better, rather than for any practical reason. 

[maximus0723]

I have both Spirit and Wave. I love them both. Anyone looking to get either one should get both. 

Get Black Oxide even if it costs $10 extra. Once you go black, you never go back!

[Demel]

Get Black Oxide even if it costs $10 extra. Once you go black, you never go back!

[Poncho65]

Come on Smaug lighten up cause your post is starting g to sound like a troll post as well. The Supertool 300 is definitely in the same league as a Swisstool

It is each to his own. I started with LM and even though I own a Swiss tool I can never make myself carry it because I don't like the way you have to open and close it. Pretty much that does it for me. Most of my LM are very easy to open especially after a little break in. I have tried to break the Swisstool in and it still just as bad of a nail breaker when I bought it 6 or 7 years ago

Aloha was referring to the cutter in his post you just misread it 

[Wanimator]

I plan on getting a Swiss Tool RS soon, to carry to rotate with the Rebar.

[captain spaulding]

I plan on getting a Swiss Tool RS soon, to carry to rotate with the Rebar.

Good decision. While I like the "X" model the RS is great since I rarely need a file and will gladly replace it with a rescue blade.