$2 Challenge- Contender #15

[Grant Lamontagne]

As with many of the tools in the Great $2 Challenge, Contender #15 is a copy of a brand name tool- in this case it is a copy of the Leatherman Carabiner which was originally released as an accessory with the Sidekick.  I enjoyed the tool so much that at the release of the Sidekick and Wingman at SHOT I almost begged Leatherman to release the Carabiner on its own as well.  I guess I wasn’t the only one as it is now available for $8, which makes it ineligible for this challenge.



Enter Contender #15- a copy of the original that is available within the budget we had for this challenge, and, like the original, features a carabiner (duh?), bottle opener and a ¼” hex slot.

This is a fairly simple design, and to be honest, I like it for that.  Unlike many tools of this type and in this challenge, it isn’t trying to be too much.  It is convenient to carry and has the most useful functions.



Contender #15 is quite well finished, close to but not entirely on par with the original, and like the original is marked NOT FOR CLIMBING, which I desperately hope is not something anyone here would have tried anyway.

There’s really not much to say about Contender #15.  It was effective enough at opening a bottle, the slot holds a ¼” bit well enough and it cost a relatively cheap $1.49.  As the original is not really a lot more money I would recommend it instead, but at $1.49 I would probably buy this one again.

Def

[Grant Lamontagne]

Here are a few photos to compare Contender #15 to the original Leatherman Carabiner.  As you can see they are remarkably similar, with the only real noticeable differences being the Leatherman logo, the visibility of the "NOT FOR CLIMBING" warning and the finish on the jimping.







Looking at a side by side comparison, I would probably repeat what I said above.  The original is better, but this one is not bad and hard to beat for the price.

Def