New 2017 Leathermans

[Gareth]

So, what was Leatherman's last real new MT?  The Rebar?   No, the Signal.  Or am I forgetting something?*

I do understand everyone's disappointment, I really do.  What we want is something new and exciting, but what we get is something that our members have been doing for years and not even the best versions of those ideas.  What can be done with a half Sidekick/Wingman is just cool IMO.






*Really, am I forgetting something?  I feel like I'm forgetting something.

[Gareth]

Oh, and I feel like I've got to say this; for all you Leatherman fans that feel let down at the moment, why not try a Gerber, a SOG or a CRKT?  If you don''t have one already why not try a Vic Spirit?  They all do make some really good tools...it's just that not ALL the tools they make are great.   Seriously though, try an MP400, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

[Gerhard Gerber]

They could've done better if they stole an idea off the forum 

[ducttapetech]

So, what was Leatherman's last real new MT?  The Rebar?   No, the Signal.  Or am I forgetting something?*

I do understand everyone's disappointment, I really do.  What we want is something new and exciting, but what we get is something that our members have been doing for years and not even the best versions of those ideas.  What can be done with a half Sidekick/Wingman is just cool IMO.






*Really, am I forgetting something?  I feel like I'm forgetting something.

Signal and Tread as far as I know.
 I don't expect to see something new every year from LM. Why should they. They have a sweet line up. I would mainly like to see updates and improvements on there existing tools for a few years then if they what, make something that will upset the Multitool market.

[Yadda]

Meh.

Well said!+1

[metasyntax]

I'm still a little surprised at the near universal reaction though.  A USA made, mid grade steel, light weight, OHO pocket knife with a 25 year guarantee from a known maker for $25 or less.  For those in the market I'm not seeing the downside.

I think this is going to be the key selling point: made in the USA at $15–$20 on the shelf at every Wal-Mart/Target/Meijer and Lowe's/Home Depot/Menard's. And that sounds like a very good sales strategy. Now, there are some good knives around that price, such as the KABAR Dozier folding hunter (Taiwan, AUS-8), the Ontario RAT Model 2 (Taiwan, AUS-8), and the Buck #482 Bucklite Max medium folder (USA, 420HC). I'm sure there are more, these are just some of the ones that I have and know are quality. But of these manufacturers, only Buck has the market penetration to really compete in store. I have reservations about the design and implementation of the Skeletool knife, as I stated earlier. These are acceptable on a multi-tool (I've been very happily carrying my Skeletool for the last couple weeks), but they give me pause on a dedicated knife. I'm sure Leatherman will sell a ton of these though, for the marketing reasons mentioned. Which is a good thing, maybe they'll get back into making more knives.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Leatherman has never been overly successful with their knife lines.  No one wants a knife from Leatherman, they want pliers and bottle openers and saws and screwdrivers because that is what Leatherman is known for.   Just like no one ever bought a Sony Walkman Toaster.

This is a way for Leatherman to keep their costs way down and still e in the single bladed folding pocket knife segment, and for that I suppose it's a good thing.  But.... the ergonomics on this are strange and may even be potentially hazardous.

I like the Freestyle.  I'm rather lukewarm on the Skeletool, but they are both reasonably comfortable and ergonomic to use, especially the Freestyle since it doesn't have the carabiner sticking out underneath.  That's great, but the handle is also quite wide, and fits your hands well. 

The KBx handle is only half that, and if you look at a Skeletool or Freestyle you see that it is fairly square, which may cause it to roll a bit in your hand when you deploy the blade, since there may not be enough handle left in your hand to counteract it the way the Freestyle would.

I'm looking forward to trying one, and let's face it, at that price point why wouldn't you, but I don't have high hopes for this one.  However, I have been wrong before- I really doubted the point of the Freestyle before too... 

Def

[Padre]

These are knives for people who arent interested of knives. Someone mentioned Ontario Rat 2, and these cannot compete with it quality wise, or any otherwise either.

[metasyntax]

I like the Juice B2 as a sort of modern traditional knife. And they brought back the full-sized Juice blades!

These are knives for people who arent interested of knives. Someone mentioned Ontario Rat 2, and these cannot compete with it quality wise, or any otherwise either.

I have no doubt the RAT 2 will be a better value and higher quality, but it won't be as cheap ($28 on KnifeCenter right now vs. $25 MSRP for the LM) and I've never seen one in a physical store.

[Gareth]

I like the Juice B2 as a sort of modern traditional knife. And they brought back the full-sized Juice blades!

These are knives for people who arent interested of knives. Someone mentioned Ontario Rat 2, and these cannot compete with it quality wise, or any otherwise either.

I have no doubt the RAT 2 will be a better value and higher quality, but it won't be as cheap ($28 on KnifeCenter right now vs. $25 MSRP for the LM) and I've never seen one in a physical store.

It's the one I'm most likely to buy, but I'd have to find it on a deal first.  I'm sitting here trying to think of another non-OHO knife with a serrated blade.

[Old Boy]

On my wishlist, given the amount of mods I see on the net, is the ability to swap out tools, pliers heads, etc. as needed. Or a customization site similar to Benchmade or Buck.

The Wave for me has always been perfect when I go camping etc. But as an urban edc it's an overkill to carry, and all the other MTs have a tool I don't need or not function as well.

A modular MT would be awesome, wish we had a LM rep as a MTO member. I remember seeing something similar (SAK like) to that concept but seemed lower quality. Would be great if a bigger company took on that challenge.

[sLaughterMed]

I almost feel like someone at Leatherman found a giant bin of the old Juice scales and blades, and aksed the engineering department to find a way to get rid of them all.

[Padre]

I almost feel like someone at Leatherman found a giant bin of the old Juice scales and blades, and aksed the engineering department to find a way to get rid of them all.

It might be good news. Their spares for warranties are still there unused. Juice blades must be pretty tough afterall.
 

[Etherealicer]

I like the Skeletool blade shape, it just has too many holes in it. So I'm partially excited for those folders as they offer a nice blade in a really slim and light-weight package.

[Kampfer]

I like the Juice B2 as a sort of modern traditional knife. And they brought back the full-sized Juice blades!

These are knives for people who arent interested of knives. Someone mentioned Ontario Rat 2, and these cannot compete with it quality wise, or any otherwise either.

I have no doubt the RAT 2 will be a better value and higher quality, but it won't be as cheap ($28 on KnifeCenter right now vs. $25 MSRP for the LM) and I've never seen one in a physical store.

It's the one I'm most likely to buy, but I'd have to find it on a deal first.  I'm sitting here trying to think of another non-OHO knife with a serrated blade.

Cold steel Lucky

[Gareth]

I like the Juice B2 as a sort of modern traditional knife. And they brought back the full-sized Juice blades!

These are knives for people who arent interested of knives. Someone mentioned Ontario Rat 2, and these cannot compete with it quality wise, or any otherwise either.

I have no doubt the RAT 2 will be a better value and higher quality, but it won't be as cheap ($28 on KnifeCenter right now vs. $25 MSRP for the LM) and I've never seen one in a physical store.

It's the one I'm most likely to buy, but I'd have to find it on a deal first.  I'm sitting here trying to think of another non-OHO knife with a serrated blade.

Cold steel Lucky

I'd forgotten about that one.

[Gareth]

I like the Juice B2 as a sort of modern traditional knife. And they brought back the full-sized Juice blades!

These are knives for people who arent interested of knives. Someone mentioned Ontario Rat 2, and these cannot compete with it quality wise, or any otherwise either.

I have no doubt the RAT 2 will be a better value and higher quality, but it won't be as cheap ($28 on KnifeCenter right now vs. $25 MSRP for the LM) and I've never seen one in a physical store.

It's the one I'm most likely to buy, but I'd have to find it on a deal first.  I'm sitting here trying to think of another non-OHO knife with a serrated blade.

Cold steel Lucky

I'd forgotten about that one.

I've also just remembered the Vic Bakers knife as well.

[AimlessWanderer]

Oh, and I feel like I've got to say this; for all you Leatherman fans that feel let down at the moment, why not try a Gerber, a SOG or a CRKT?  If you don''t have one already why not try a Vic Spirit?  They all do make some really good tools...it's just that not ALL the tools they make are great.   Seriously though, try an MP400, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

^^^ This!

A perfect time to broaden your horizons

[Syncop8r]

I almost feel like someone at Leatherman found a giant bin of the old Juice scales and blades, and aksed the engineering Marketing department to find a way to get rid of them all.

FTFY 

[Poncho65]

I am still over here like Why haven't they came out with something plier based They should have redone the Wave/Charge series like they did with the Surge and made a Surge sized Charge or expended the Rebar line with different toolsets Why do we have ideas here and they don't and they have people that get paid to come up with stuff

Hoping that they are just late with a prototype tool and just didn't make it to SHOT but will be an early summer release

[chrono]

On another thought, people now can officially buy a Skele blade as spare. It is strange to call a folder as a tool in Skeletool. They are even lazy in naming 

[Kampfer]

Skeletool KB vs Buck 484, 484 is superior in very way.

Blade length: KB 2.75" ; 484: 2.75"
Blade Steel: KB 420Hc ; 484: 420HC
Weight: KB 1.5oz ; 484: 15.oz
Warrenty: KB 25yrs ; 484: Forever
MSRP: KB $25 ; 484: $22

[Gareth]

Or almost exactly the same.

[ironraven]

Been saying it for years. Praying it, really.

Tim needs to come out of retirement. With a vengeance. Bloody, brutal vengeance. Take his company back. Design, or ask designers how much money they want to save Leatherman.

[rdub934]

I kind of like the Skele-knife. I think I'll get one. I wish it incorporated at least the driver and bit storage. I also wish, that instead of just different paint jobs, that they offered different blade options; the serrated sheepsfoot (with glass breaker!), 154cm plain edge, 420 combo, and maybe introduce a tanto.

The Juices are pretty disappointing IMHO. You know Leatherman have seen the amazing Single-wing Wingmen that have been so well documented here on MTO, they really, really, really should have given consumers a production version. That would blow these Juices away.

I am curious about the box-cutter tool, the timing that it showed up on Trademarkia is interesting. Basically right before SHOT. It seems like they would have wanted to either have it ready in time for SHOT 2017 or waited longer to file and have it ready for SHOT 2018.

[Poncho65]

Or almost exactly the same.

That is what I was thinking



 

[Poncho65]

The Juice knives would have been better had they incorporated other tools instead of just the blades It really looks as though they had leftover parts from the old Juice line and just wanted to use them

I would be up for a Juice knife with PE blade, diamond file, saw and scissors

[Gareth]

Knife and diamond file would definitely be more interesting to me.

[Monrogue]

The Juice knives would have been better had they incorporated other tools instead of just the blades It really looks as though they had leftover parts from the old Juice line and just wanted to use them

I would be up for a Juice knife with PE blade, diamond file, saw and scissors

Yes, a KF4 with scissors in place of one of the blades, or even the woodsaw in my case as I have rarely used one.

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

[Aloha]

Another "Second" for LM? These 1/2 tools have been made here for a while now, mostly with a better tool layout. I wonder if they had excess parts lying around?

Pete

THIS ^^^


SIGH. 

LM all you have to do is ask one of OUR modders to come up with tools for you  . 

UPDATE the WAVE.  R&D a Surge blade exchanger to fit the Wave and add the Rebar Plier head while you are at it.  Ditch the Serrated blade and add OHO scissors at the same time omit the small scissor and add an AWL.  Ditch the small bit driver an maybe add a Chisel?

Maybe off some other tool in BO?  I'd love to see the Crunch in BO.  Maybe offer the Crunch in a A100 configuration?  LM pruners?  Maybe re-design the Juice and offer it in BO?  I don't know I'm just spitballing here.