e33B

[joebw]

Hi All,

I apoligize for the lack of pictures, but the e-camera is very ill.

I have 41 Leatherman knives.  May even include several that you've never heard of.  Anyway, the e33B and the e55B arrived the other day and I'd like to share my thoughts on the e33B with you.

The e33B is a member of the Expanse family of the rationalized Leatherman knive.  It has a black FRN handle with stainless steel half-end scales.  If this leaves you curious, go to the Leatherman site and look at their image photographs.  It is a very attractive knife with a 154CM blade.  Of interest is that Leatherman etched their name, the blade steel and the model number on the blade.

Features of this folder include a 2.6 inch (6.6 cm) blade with a thumb stud.  Beyond the thumb stud, this knife has the Leatherman blade launcher for quick manual opening.  Out of all the Leatherman knives with this feature, this is the first one I've had where it really works out of the box without a wrist flick or three hours of opening and closing.  Additional features are the carbiner/bottle opener and the bit driver with additional bit storage in the handle.  Please look at the Leatherman image page for additional details on this.  Leatherman redesigned their pocket clip for both the Crater and Expanse families.  All I can say is that I really like the new three-screw (no wiggle) clip - great job to the design staff.

I like pretty knives that work.  The e33B is one of these.  This one will be my EDC for the next month or so.   Take a look and see whether you agree -

Joe

[jzmtl]

Does the stainless part adds weight/slippery? That's the two reasons I don't like stainless handles.

[donvito]

Hi All,

I apoligize for the lack of pictures, but the e-camera is very ill.

I have 41 Leatherman knives.  May even include several that you've never heard of. 

Joe

Get that camera a doctor, you can't tease us like that and not post pics  Nice review thx.

[J-sews]

I gotta admit that the previous Leatherman knives never really appealed to me appearance-wise. This new Expanse is really a nice looker though 

Thanks for the thoughts Joe!

[MultiMat]

Thanks Joe , I really like the blade launch option & I think it is great that LM is using it on their larger knives now.I think I need a larger LM knife with that highly addictive blade launcher option.BTW Joe do you notice any difference in the blade launcher action on these new models  compared to the older models ie does the larger/heavy blade make any difference?

[joebw]

Hi MultiMat,

Leatherman is only using the blade launcher on the c33 and e33 series knives.  These are liner lock knives with 2.6" blades.  The c55 and e55 families have 3.1" blades and are lock backs.  No blade launchers for these.

As to the question on whether the stainless "scales" adds weight, the answer is not much if any as these are very thin stainless overlays on top of the FRN base.  The stainless does add a bit of spring backing to the spare bit storage FRN which is a good thing.

Another point of interest on the c33 and e33 is that the blade side of the FRN scale has a small, flat-topped post molded in it to center the knife blade in the carabiner.

The blade launcher design is different.  The launcher nub is a little bigger than on the previous Leatherman knives and appears to have a greater throw to it.  I understand that the blade bearings were changed from Nylon to bronze.  Since Nylon can swell 8% in volume with moisture, this should help launcher reliability.  My e33B did a full launch without wrist action.  My c33L took a number of openings and closing actions to reach that state.  Still, an improvement over the previous families. 

Best - Joe

[MultiMat]

That is a shame they did not put the blade launcher on the bigger blade.A knife the same size as my k502x with a blade launcher would be tops.Is it the extra weight of the blade or the different locking systems that prevents the blade launcher system going on the bigger knifes ? 

[NeitherExtreme]

Is it the extra weight of the blade or the different locking systems that prevents the blade launcher system going on the bigger knifes ? 

Yeah, I think with the way the launcher works, it would be darn near impossible to make it work with a lock back.