Leatherman Free Series

[Mike 56]

Amazon has the P2 119.00 you can have it Wednesday free shipping with prime. The P4 is 139.00 free shipping without prime you can have it Friday.

[genevabuck]

The Walmart near me no longer have any Leatherman products in the store.


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Walmart sells what moves. No way are they putting a $140.00 multi tool on the shelves. My local Walmart currently has a Rebar. That’s it right now.

[george1]

Crap, l got all excited about getting one but it looks like it wont be that easy.
l'll look into  using Amzon and getting it delivered to my hotel as my wife has an account.

[JustinCase]

Same goes for the WM in my town and the others near me. They used to sell Leatherman but now I only see Gerber, Ozark, Stanley and other brands. They probably took LM off the shelf because of the price since average Walmart shoppers are not looking forward to spend all that money on a tool, that might be the reason why they don't sell?

[Wessaen]

Same here for the four local Walmarts. I routinely check on Brickseek to look for deals/ randomly walk in as one of them is near my work.

When the local Walmarts cleared out their LM stock about a year and a half ago they had Revs for $7, Skeletools for $15 and Rebars for $20.   

More recently they had 3 D-cell/2 C-cell Maglite sets for $19. 

-Wes.

[ReamerPunch]

Rebars for $20.   

I would have cleared out the clearance.

[roamingcat]

Today, I finally have the opportunity to try out the Free in person at my local LM distributor who has just received it into their showroom. It is not officially on sale yet until next week but they are very kind to let me play around with the show piece 'to my hearts content'.

My initial impression is the Free indeed feels like a high quality tool and there is a lot of cool factor. I particularly wanted to check out the 3 hotspots mentioned earlier in a recent video which bothered me. After playing around with it in both open and closed positions extensively, I concluded the only hotspot that bothered me is the locking mechanism at the end of the handles when I squeeze hard at the pliers. I can feel the other 2 hotspots but it isn't enough of a concern for me personally. But that is just me and everyone's hand is different. For those in doubt, I suggest you try it out in person first if you could before buying.

The good news for me is it will be available for sale (finally) here next week. The bad news is it is priced at 45% more than the US list price for the P2 at today's exchange rate . My initial reaction is I probably won't be in a hurry to pay this premium especially I have just upgraded my Vic Spirit scissors (shown next to the P2 for comparison). I may even plan for a holiday to the US and pick it up there if I could.

[gerleatherberman]

Today, I finally have the opportunity to try out the Free in person at my local LM distributor who has just received it into their showroom. It is not officially on sale yet until next week but they are very kind to let me play around with the show piece 'to my hearts content'.

My initial impression is the Free indeed feels like a high quality tool and there is a lot of cool factor. I particularly wanted to check out the 3 hotspots mentioned earlier in a recent video which bothered me. After playing around with it in both open and closed positions extensively, I concluded the only hotspot that bothered me is the locking mechanism at the end of the handles when I squeeze hard at the pliers. I can feel the other 2 hotspots but it isn't enough of a concern for me personally. But that is just me and everyone's hand is different. For those in doubt, I suggest you try it out in person first if you could before buying.

The good news for me is it will be available for sale (finally) here next week. The bad news is it is priced at 45% more than the US list price for the P2 at today's exchange rate . My initial reaction is I probably won't be in a hurry to pay this premium especially I have just upgraded my Vic Spirit scissors (shown next to the P2 for comparison). I may even plan for a holiday to the US and pick it up there if I could.

That was cool of them to let you check. 

45% MORE? 

[roamingcat]

That was cool of them to let you check. 

45% MORE? 

Yup. USD175 for the P2 here. I understand it lists at USD120 in the US. Thats 45% markup according to my calculator.

With that said, they are very friendly and have good customer service.

[Syncop8r]

You got City Hands, Mr Hooper... been countin' money all your life.

[Aloha]

This may have been asked already, it hard to keep up so sorry in advance.  Looking at the plier head and the replaceable cutters.  Is there less material on the side of the plier head where the cutters are?  I am looking at my ST300 and theres appears to be more material from the replaceable cutter to the outside of the plier head?  Makes sense? 

[Aloha]

Have y'all seen this guys overview?

[McStitchy]

Very interesting Aloha, thanks 

[AimlessWanderer]

This may have been asked already, it hard to keep up so sorry in advance.  Looking at the plier head and the replaceable cutters.  Is there less material on the side of the plier head where the cutters are?  I am looking at my ST300 and theres appears to be more material from the replaceable cutter to the outside of the plier head?  Makes sense?

The Free Costly loses the 80's shoulder pads, but does seem to have more metal in that area than the Wave+ does

[Max Stone]

Have y'all seen this guys overview?

Very interesting and objective. Worth the watch. Thanks Aloha. 

[genevabuck]

Have y'all seen this guys overview?

Probably the best overview so far. I wish he would have tested the hard wire cutters though. I don’t doubt LM when they say that they are their strongest ever.

[Wspeed]

  would be good if they start showing videos
of testing the Free rather than just talking about it 

[gerleatherberman]

would be good if they start showing videos
of testing the Free rather than just talking about it 

I'm not done with the Surge challenge.

I have a P4 ready to go, because I have another on order for the collection.

But, that said, the idea is if LM uses the same tool steel on the Free as the rest of their tools, in theory it should perform well. The locking system appears to be very strong, with incredible lockup. Though I would need to do extended testing to know for sure. Same goes for the pliers mounting with the elastomer cushions. I'll give it a go after the Surge challenge. Just two more days for me.

[Wspeed]

Look forward to see your testing of the Free GLBM 

[AimlessWanderer]

I don’t doubt LM when they say that they are their strongest ever.

I do! For the same reasons that I mentioned before, all the force been delivered through those four little latching lugs.

I'm not saying it's weak per se, (as mentioned before, we don't know if the casting have sufficient tensile strength and ductility) just that I seriously doubt that it's as strong as the Surge/ST300 head, as the force is better delivered (stronger load bearing, and more evenly distributed) from handles to head. That last video which demonstrates twist between handle and head, would also suggest that not only are these lugs of smaller cross sectional area than elsewhere on the head, but may also be unevenly loaded, creating even more load on individual lugs.

[genevabuck]

I do! For the same reasons that I mentioned before, all the force been delivered through those four little latching lugs.

I'm not saying it's weak per se, (as mentioned before, we don't know if the casting have sufficient tensile strength and ductility) just that I seriously doubt that it's as strong as the Surge/ST300 head, as the force is better delivered (stronger load bearing, and more evenly distributed) from handles to head. That last video which demonstrates twist between handle and head, would also suggest that not only are these lugs of smaller cross sectional area than elsewhere on the head, but may also be unevenly loaded, creating even more load on individual lugs.

As I said, I’m waiting on someone to prove their claims wrong.

[Top-Gear-24]

I do! For the same reasons that I mentioned before, all the force been delivered through those four little latching lugs.

I'm not saying it's weak per se, (as mentioned before, we don't know if the casting have sufficient tensile strength and ductility) just that I seriously doubt that it's as strong as the Surge/ST300 head, as the force is better delivered (stronger load bearing, and more evenly distributed) from handles to head. That last video which demonstrates twist between handle and head, would also suggest that not only are these lugs of smaller cross sectional area than elsewhere on the head, but may also be unevenly loaded, creating even more load on individual lugs.

 

That's why I took some pics of the P4 along with the Surge and Wave + ... (again, bad pics, smartphone, dark outside ... you know)





Not saying that they will break more easily, but it's fair to say that, at some point in time, somebody at Leatherman thought it would be a good idea to thicken the shoulders on the pliers at the spot where the replaceable cutters are.  Hence the beefed up plier heads on the Surge/ST300/Rebar.

[gerleatherberman]

I'm not seeing the new system as weaker. The lugs appear to be of high quality and some serious squeeze testing(crushing pencils and cutting high strength wire) has instilled me with a sense of confidence.

As far as the handles sway, I have already covered that several times. Mr. TX Crib may not be aware that the handles sway is an inherent problem with any all-outboard implement MT. I even posted a video of me doing it to my Spirit.

[AimlessWanderer]

I'm not seeing the new system as weaker. The lugs appear to be of high quality and some serious squeeze testing(crushing pencils and cutting high strength wire) has instilled me with a sense of confidence.

As far as the handles sway, I have already covered that several times. Mr. TX Crib may not be aware that the handles sway is an inherent problem with any all-outboard implement MT. I even posted a video of me doing it to my Spirit.

But on the Spirit, it doesn't affect the load transfer the same way.

I still think the Surge/ST300 is a stronger design.

[genevabuck]

I remember when the Rebar came out. There were big time questions about the strength of the pliers. Is there a thread about them failing yet? 

[AimlessWanderer]

That's why I took some pics of the P4 along with the Surge and Wave + ... (again, bad pics, smartphone, dark outside ... you know)

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

Not saying that the will break more easily, but it's fair to say that, at some point in time, somebody at Leatherman thought it would be a good idea to thicken the shoulders on the pliers at the spot where the replaceable cutters are.  Hence the beefed up plier heads on the Surge/ST300/Rebar.

It is possible that they've been able to improve the metallurgy to compensate, or allow the dimensional changes. We'll have to see when someone first manages to break them, whether the weak spot is on the engagement lugs, or around the insert pocket (and how they were being used when failure occurred). I'm sure if we're patient enough, someone will break one sooner or later.

[AimlessWanderer]

I remember when the Rebar came out. There were big time questions about the strength of the pliers. Is there a thread about them failing yet?

I'm sure we have seen a broken Rebar head before 

[genevabuck]

I'm sure we have seen a broken Rebar head before 

Perhaps. I’m sure every implement on a multi tool has been broken.

[AimlessWanderer]

Perhaps. I’m sure every implement on a multi tool has been broken.

Indeed!

[gerleatherberman]

But on the Spirit, it doesn't affect the load transfer the same way.

I still think the Surge/ST300 is a stronger design.

Indeed. But, all in all, Leatherman doesn't tend to produce junk(the squirt scissor implement is a pretty bad design, but that isn't typical). Their R&D has always been very good. Part of LM's appeal is the trust people have in their designs. Same with Vic. QC is another topic, of which I have issues with LM and Vic.

Of course the Surge, 300 and MUT pliers are going to be stronger. They are much bigger and designed to be really tough.
LM is selling the P2/P4 as the strongest "full-size" pliers and not the strongest HD pliers.