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Ladies and Gentleman, I would like to introduce the Mystery Of Lanthenman!

ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Some of you may recall that I have been fascinated with Leatherman's Tread and it's knockoffs.  To date, I have found absolutely no reason to spend the $$ on a real tread versus a fake, so I decided to step up the game and see what happens next.  :D



For those not following why this is in the watch forum, a product called Chronolinks made an aftermarket set of links capable of joining a watch to a Leatherman Tread.  I have been resisting the urge to try them, as my wrists are quite small and I have already had to remove two links from my Tread to fit me.  The loss of 2-3 more links gone for a watch seems a bit abhorrent, as I am already down to 8 links, and this cold potentially cut it's already very limited usefulness in half.



So, I did what any of us would do but wouldn't admit to- I found a knockoff of Chronolinks on eBay for half the price and ordered them!   :facepalm:

Why not, it's how I got into Treads, and since getting the knockoff I have obtained two more Treads.

They haven't arrived yet, but I was amused by the tracking info:



Apparently the local mailman is so incompetent that he has had access to the package since the 7th, but he won't deliver it until the 12th of the following month!   :ahhh

I know, I know, that's not really how it works, that's just the way it appears and it amused me so I had to share.



This is what they look like, and I will test them and provide photos and thoughts when they arrive, probably today or tomorrow.   :D

Or next month. 

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


ca Offline Chako

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Funny that. I just received a set and adapted one of my real Treads to a Sketchers watch that the bracelet broke on me. I am quite happy with the watch link adapters. They are solid. I then thought to myself...that maybe I might want to try a black knock off Tread. Got one of those in the mail. I am curious to see if the link adapters will work on the non-Leatherman product. Time will tell.
A little Leatherman information.

Leatherman series articles


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Just to make this even funnier, they were delivered two days ago and one of the neighbors put it somewhere that I'd find it, and I didn't look there.   :facepalm:

Still opening the packaging, I will let you know when I get through all of the bubble wrap.  That could take until June 12th...
 
Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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This is going to be a long one, so settle in kiddies.  For those who don't want to waste the effort to go through it all, here is the bottom line:

Show content
On the whole, I feel pretty smurfing stupid for having wasted money on this absolute crap.


For the rest of you, here is my justification for the above statement, in great detail. 



They came packaged well, and protected against scratches, which is a nice touch.  The links I got were absolutely perfect, and included some spring pins, which is always appreciated, because let's face it, they get lost or broken easily, and they are cheaper than dirt so why not include them?



Here is the watch I got the links for- I like the look of the Seiko Orange Monster on a bracelet, so why not combine the bracelet and Tread so I don't have to wear both?  I like the NATO strap it's been on for a while, but time for a nice change, right?



I think these are going to look nice, and they fit into the lugs on the Seiko nicely, which provides a level of reassurance, as this is one of my favorite watches and if I lose it I am going to be very upset.



Unfortunately, the spring pins that are currently on my Seiko are too big to fit in the links.  This is not a good start.  You can visibly see the difference in size between the pins I have and the supplied ones, so I wanted to use the heavier ones, but that obviously is not going to happen.





The difference is size isn't just my imagination- the Seiko pins are 3mm and the new pins are 2mm, which may not seem like much (it's only a millimeter, right?) but it means the Seiko ones are 50% larger than the supplied ones.  Strike Number One, but I am sure the pins are adequate enough....



The links are perfectly sized to fit into the lugs, and that means they should help reduce the pressure on the pins, so it should be ok, and I should get past my paranoia.



Starting to look nice, and the watch and links take up about 10cm.  For those not familiar with centimeters, here is a measurement system that may mean more.



The equivalent of three Tread links.  Remember that I already removed two Tread links to get it to fit my skinny wrists in the first place, so this loss of three more means I have lost 50% of the function of the Tread.  This is not ideal, especially considering the cost of the Tread to begin with.



During assembly I decided to compare components, and while it may be hard to see in this photo, the screw on the left that came with the links is slightly smaller than the Leatherman ones, on the right.  Since I had my calipers handy I decided to measure them.





Maybe half a millimeter's difference, which really isn't a big deal as the forces needed to break the heads off these screws would probably have already caused major, irreparable damage to your arm long before you need to worry about the Tread or your watch.



Now I have to decide what links to sacrifice, and I select mostly links with the Allen wrenches on them and try to keep the ones with the screwdrivers on them, since I use the screwdrivers a lot more often.  Not that it really matters as I have found the Tread to be largely useless for the most part, and is just man jewelry for the "look at me" crowd.  It looks right at home with a man bun.   :facepalm:



Speaking of Tread shortcomings, while doing all of this I noticed that several screws on my Tread were already quite loose.  This is my real Tread, not the fake one, and this is not filling me with good feelings about putting one of my favorite watches on it- and this is a Tread problem, not a cheap aftermarket link copy.  I wore the fake Tread for months and never had this problem.   :twak:





Getting back to the comparison, the little link bridges look pretty much identical- the real one is on the top in both photos, while the watch link one is on the bottom.  There's no discernible difference between them.



Eventually I get it all back together, with one link removed from one side, and two from the other and my beloved Seiko smack dab in the middle, and I have to say that it looks pretty darned good I think.  Then I try it on. 



That's when I remember that I wear the Tread a little looser than I wear my watch, and I don't want my watch flopping around like that, so guess what?  Another link has to come out.   :facepalm:



It comes apart again and I decide that I am sick of the Style PS screwdriver not being big enough, so I switch to using the other tool handy on my desk, the SOG Snippet.



Usually I use the Compact, but I am looking for excuses to use the Snippet, and it works a treat.  Well done SOG.   :tu:



Out comes another link and then the strap becomes way too tight when I try it on again, which leads to the next annoyance- I now have to put back one of my lower priority links to get rid of the half-sized double screwdriver link with the Leatherman logo on it.  At this point I may as well have just bought another knockoff- for those keeping track, I have now lost 6/10 links, or 60% of the utility offered by the Tread, and it's usability was dubious at best. 



It does look nice though, and only the truly detail oriented (aka anal) types would notice that after all of that, the watch is mirror polished and the Tread has a brushed finish..



In short, I paid $40 extra for the opportunity to make an already overpriced, limited use tool even less useful.  The only way this could have been worse is it I'd paid full price (about $70) for real Chronolinks.

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


00 Offline Mechanickal

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00 Offline Dutch_Tooler

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 :oops:
Cheers!
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Location: Southern Germany, most of the time


fi Offline Antti Lammi

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Hmm i prolly would buy those links to myself, i dont much use treads tools anyway so i could sacrifice tools to get watch in tread


Only Tools Matters


it Offline SirVicaLot

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This serves as a perfect example why theory and practice sometimes don’t come together  :oops:


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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One other important point to make...





As if the Monster wasn't heavy enough already, this makes it almost half a pound.   :facepalm:

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


si Offline lister

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And no 18mm ones? Well that about wraps it up for my plans for multi-tool-ified vostk amphibia...  :(
There is no magic therefore gadgets!


ca Offline Chako

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That is interesting.

I just got my black no-name knock-off. I must admit, I was expecting something worse then what I got. If you didn't have the real Leatherman Tread, it would be somewhat hard to tell them apart other than there is no Leatherman branding on it.





Here it is with the 4 links I had to take off on a real Tread to fit the watch and my wrist.



And one of the watch on a real Tread using the link adapters I received...which required the 22mm ones.

A little Leatherman information.

Leatherman series articles


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Nice one.  I have yet to see a knock off without the Leatherman branding on them.  Mine is branded Leatherman and I hate to say it, but I think I sort of prefer the knockoff to the real thing.  About the only thing it gives up is the scriber, and I don't think I have ever used it for anything anyway.  I will happily give up one function I never use for a tool that is literally one quarter of the price.

I'd be interested in seeing a bit more of that fake of yours, specifically the screws and ball detent.  Does it have one or two balls?  Inquiring minds want to know....

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


si Offline lister

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Would it be possible to mod the 20mm links to fit 18mm watch?
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ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Would it be possible to mod the 20mm links to fit 18mm watch?

If you have a steady hand and/or decent grinder, I don't see why you couldn't just cut 1mm off of each end to make it fit.

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


us Offline Poncho65

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It still amazes me that the knock offs are as good or better than the real ones :ahhh if the fake watch adapters where the same then LM would definitely have a problem :facepalm: :D


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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It still amazes me that the knock offs are as good or better than the real ones :ahhh if the fake watch adapters where the same then LM would definitely have a problem :facepalm: :D

Yeah, I don't see me spending 500 bananas on the Tempo, so I can't really compare it.  Maybe someday, but not now.  :D

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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I wore this watch at work the other day, and I am fast starting to change my opinion of it.  I originally thought the idea was moronic, and now I am leaning more towards active hatred.

Well, there's nothing wrong with the watch- I love my Orange Monster but the tread as a watch band is absolute crap.

Maybe it's because my wrists are tiny, but after all the effort I went to to adjust the Tread to fit as well as possible, the best possible fit seems to gouge into my wrist.  It's not noticeable at first, so you wouldn't necessarily pick up on it when you first try it on, but after a couple of hours you start to see the red marks and it seems to dig in when you move certain ways.

After a few more hours I had red marks that were still there the next day, and by the end of the day I was actually feeling a fair bit of pain from it every time I moved my wrist.

I have to say, I am not amused with this thing in the slightest, and I feel as if it would be less torturous to try and amputate my reproductive organs with the tiny cutter on the Tread than it would be to continue wearing it as a watch.  But, in the interest of being thorough, I may try it on another couple of watches to see if the pain-on-the-ass-ery continues, or if my Seiko just happens to be the wrong size.

But, at least this piece of smurf looks cool....  :facepalm:

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


it Offline SirVicaLot

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Not good, i hope it works better with a different watch  :oops:


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Me too, but I think it is just going to be better as a Tread for a variety of reasons.

Which, given how little I think of the Tread, is quite the insult as a watch band.   :facepalm:

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


ca Offline Chako

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Sorry to hear that. I can see how that could happen however. I must say...I was not sold on the idea originally, but the concept has grown on me. I think this is a settup that works for larger wrists overall. Even so, I still had to remove 4 links from the Tread.
A little Leatherman information.

Leatherman series articles


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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And that is the weakness of the Tread- I am penalized for having smaller wrists, and even more if I want to know what time it is.   :facepalm:

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


ca Offline Chako

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Agreed.
A little Leatherman information.

Leatherman series articles


ph Offline Zephon

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Hi guys, just wanted to pick-up where the thread last ended.

It’s only now that I’ve come across the fake Tread. It’s marketed as a 29-in-1 Tool in a couple of online marketplaces in Manila, Philippines. I initially got a black one for approximately USD30. I thought that would be a steal compared to a real one that’s USD100+. Then I went to the other market place and found a stainless one for USD20!!!  I couldn’t cancel the first one so now I have a black and silver.  I also spent USD10 for a pair of 22mm adapter for a watch.

First of all, I don’t have a watch with a 22mm lug size. Unfortunately, the 22mm was the only one available. All my G-Shocks are like 16mm lugs. Either I find a cheaper watch or cheaper adapter.

For the KO Treads, there is no Leatherman branding on the small link. Heck, neither even came in a box - they were bubble wrapped in a ziplock bag and shipped to Manila from China.

The cutter on both were useless. The blade will not cut (try to imagine saying that ala-Doug M. in Forged in Fire). Tried to bring the stainless one to file - must be the edge geometry or something. Maybe more elbow grease needed. It’ll cut string with effort though.  The black will certainly discolor once I file it.  The poking pin for SIM cards get bent very easily.

The clasp has 2 balls. It’s not easy to remove. Maybe that’s why the original only has one- so you can remove it easily to use it.

I’m keeping the links with hex drivers. I had to remove 2 links plus the half size one. I’ll wear one tomorrow to see how it goes.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Yeah, it's a bit harder with G Shocks.  I don't recall seeing any of these link adaptor doodads that went as small as 16mm.  When it comes to G Shocks, I just assume that they require specific G Shock bands and I don't mess with them beyond that for the most part.

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


ph Offline Zephon

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Hi Grant, I owe you a reply on this.

I’ve finally managed to get a good deal on an adapter without breaking the bank.

I’m using a basic G-Shock Glx-5600 as a base. I wanted to get a matching stainless bracelet to go with the bezel. I found one which is a combination of 1pc stainless bracelet on 1 pair 16mm to 22mm adapters! It’s essentially a rip-off the Jay n Kays adapters (poor guys, unknowingly getting ripped off by China pirates).

So I can now switch between stainless band to imitation tread in a few minutes.

Note these are all after market parts.


ca Offline Grant Lamontagne

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Much like my issue, you don't seem to have a lot of links left by the time you put a watch on it!  When you count the amount of lost functions and compare them to the cost of the Tread, it hardly seems worth it to look that "cool."   :facepalm:

Def
Leave the dents as they are- let your belongings show their scars as proudly as you do yours.


 

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