New Blue Micra

Pacu · **on:** December 28, 2009, 11:32:50 PM

Been totin' my new micra in my change pocket the last couple of days. Be suprised how much you use it when it's handy.
My wifes neice got me this one for Christmas. Ifinya don't have one ya ought to try one out. I've got two now..ss and blue ano.

DaveK · **Reply #1 on:** December 29, 2009, 12:56:57 AM

Very nice

I never understood how people without Micras get by tbh. Life must be really hard for them.

David · **Reply #2 on:** December 29, 2009, 07:16:57 AM

Sharp lookin blue Micra Pacu.

Magnus · **Reply #3 on:** December 29, 2009, 09:33:09 AM

Quote from: DaveK on December 29, 2009, 12:56:57 AM

Very nice

I never understood how people without Micras get by tbh. Life must be really hard for them.

they aren't really a primary multi tool, just something you carry with your main one (or two, or three, or four.....), when you need a good pair of scissors.

DaveK · **Reply #4 on:** December 29, 2009, 02:29:00 PM

Quote from: Magnus on December 29, 2009, 09:33:09 AM

Quote from: DaveK on December 29, 2009, 12:56:57 AM
Very nice

I never understood how people without Micras get by tbh. Life must be really hard for them.

they aren't really a primary multi tool, just something you carry with your main one (or two, or three, or four.....), when you need a good pair of scissors.

That depends on what the job in hand is really.

turnsouth · **Reply #5 on:** December 29, 2009, 05:28:15 PM

Quote from: DaveK on December 29, 2009, 12:56:57 AM

Very nice

I never understood how people without Micras get by tbh. Life must be really hard for them.

I was in a club with a friend one time, and he knew my affinity for knives and tools. It was a 95 degree day, so I was wearing loose shorts, and had left my ST and folder in the car, just carrying my Micra. He asked to use my knife to remove a hang-nail, and when I handed him my Micra he started to laugh at the "tiny little tool" I had. Well, it only took him a couple of minutes of using the scissors and knife blade for him to say: "Man that is really handy, you got an extra one I can have?"

Sean · **Reply #6 on:** December 29, 2009, 05:33:16 PM

Very nice! I've said it before and will again, most of my daily jobs "multi wise" can be accomplished with either
my Micra or my Squirt P4.

1jump2many · **Reply #7 on:** January 01, 2010, 06:30:24 PM

I like the colored Micra's that are painted, not the ones that Leatherman just put a translucent colored plasic on them. I have one or two of the plastic colored ones. I have one of the Stars and Stripes edition Micra's. It's the only one that I have that is painted. You've inspired me to start looking around for more painted Micras. Anyone know how many different colors there are?

DaveK · **Reply #8 on:** January 01, 2010, 06:39:52 PM

Hehe. Good luck finding those painted Micras

There are (were ) three colours generally available blue, red and green:

There was also the elusive Purple one, but they are super-rare.

These wouldn't be users though - they were discontinued for good reason - i.e. all the paint comes off

I may have a spare red one that you could make me an offer for btw

Zed · **Reply #9 on:** January 01, 2010, 06:46:47 PM

Im going to get a micra to go with its big wave brother when i get it back ,

paul

1jump2many · **Reply #10 on:** January 01, 2010, 06:58:58 PM

Quote from: DaveK on January 01, 2010, 06:39:52 PM

Hehe. Good luck finding those painted Micras

There are (were ) three colours generally available blue, red and green:

(Image removed from quote.)

There was also the elusive Purple one, but they are super-rare.

These wouldn't be users though - they were discontinued for good reason - i.e. all the paint comes off

I may have a spare red one that you could make me an offer for btw

I know of a gun store that has a bunch of Leatherman tools and they don't seem to sell many of them. I remember seeing the blue and I think the green painted one there. That was where I got the Stars & Stripes Edition. It's almost as if they bought a bunch of Leatherman products at one time and don't sell many. They are a little high too. I'm sure by now all the painted Micra's are gone but I'll have to check them out to make sure.

DaveK · **Reply #11 on:** January 01, 2010, 07:05:25 PM

I'd certainly check for them. They are quite collectable now if they have any paint left on them!

1jump2many · **Reply #12 on:** January 02, 2010, 03:32:03 AM

I'll be in that area next week, I'm definitely going to stop in and see what they have around these days. I might stop in that place once every couple months and I always check out their MT area and they always seem to have the same stock they had the time I was there before. I think it's probably a combination of their prices being high and most people are there to buy guns and gun accessories.

DaveK · **Reply #13 on:** January 02, 2010, 03:49:40 AM

Yeah that tends to happen in the UK too.

I know of a place in Derbyshire that still has a Mini and a Pulse (and maybe a Flair actually) in a display case - and he'll never sell them at the prices he wants

He even seems to know that

BIG-TARGET · **Reply #14 on:** January 02, 2010, 10:51:05 PM

You can never have too many micras in your pocket

1jump2many · **Reply #15 on:** January 21, 2010, 02:29:10 AM

Quote from: DaveK on January 01, 2010, 06:39:52 PM

Hehe. Good luck finding those painted Micras

There are (were ) three colours generally available blue, red and green:

(Image removed from quote.)

There was also the elusive Purple one, but they are super-rare.

These wouldn't be users though - they were discontinued for good reason - i.e. all the paint comes off

I may have a spare red one that you could make me an offer for btw

Dave,

I was in a store today called REI. I'm not sure if you have any in England but doubt it. REI is a chain, but I don't think they have any outside the US. Anyway, I was having a look around and saw that they had a bunch of Leatherman Micras on their MT wall. All of them were painted. Not the translucent plastic covering, but painted. They had a ton of them too. Red, Blue and what at a quick glance looked like the standard stainless steel but was actually Gray. Being that this place isn't the type of store that carries old/rare stuff I get the impression that Leatherman has brought the painted Micras back. REI pretty much defines the term retail. They have a lot of nice things but they aren't even the type of store that would have old stock. They were $25.95 so I didn't buy any though. I wonder if anyone else has seen them?

DaveK · **Reply #16 on:** January 21, 2010, 11:18:06 PM

I can't be sure without seeing a picture, but I'm betting that what you saw were the Micras with the anodised covers.

These are the latest and current attempt by Leatherman to add a bit of colour and actually are anodised aluminium covers that are fastened on top of the Micra scales (so they are doubly thick). The easiest way to tell from a distance is by seeing if the tweezers are visible. If they're not (i.e. they're under the covers) then your search continues!

http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3665184

DaveK · **Reply #17 on:** January 21, 2010, 11:21:28 PM

In fact, here's a really old picture, but you can see three green Micras:

Left is anodised cover version, top is polycarbonate cover, extreme right is painted

1jump2many · **Reply #18 on:** January 21, 2010, 11:40:55 PM

Check out Leatherman's web site, they are now showing all the colors. Gray, Black, Green, Blue and Red. It doesn't say whether they are anodized but the side they show has "Leatherman Micra, Patented" on them. I imagine that would be the same side that the used to have "Leatherman Micra, Pats Pend", which is the side with the tweezers exposed. The new colored models that are Patented do not have the tweezers exposed. So they probably are anodized. Actually I would prefer anodizing over painting.

Magnus · **Reply #19 on:** January 21, 2010, 11:44:52 PM

well, anodisation doesn't jump off the tool when you look at it funny...

1jump2many · **Reply #20 on:** January 21, 2010, 11:52:06 PM

Quote from: Magnus on January 21, 2010, 11:44:52 PM

well, anodisation doesn't jump off the tool when you look at it funny...

Yeah, it looks better than those Micra's that have the translucent plastic covers on the handles too.

DaveK · **Reply #21 on:** January 22, 2010, 04:06:06 AM

Oh yeah - the anodised covers are definitely the longest lasting of the attempts that they've made. There is a down side to them though, in fact two really.

1) The covers make them bulkier, so much so that the covered Micras won't fit in little suede and leatherette sleeves - you have to use the Squirt sleeve. I suppose that if you bought a coloured Micra you probably wouldn't carry it in a sheath anyway, so maybe that doesn't matter.

2) The way the tweezers are visible through the cutout in the scales is one of the things that defines the Micra - they just don't look right, and it's more fiddly to get the tweezers open with the covered versions.

They definitely do wear better though - no question.

Personally, I still prefer the SS finish, probably for the same reason that I think SAKs should have red scales - it just seems "right"!

1jump2many · **Reply #22 on:** January 22, 2010, 04:19:36 AM

Yeah, I don't understand why they didn't leave the tweezers cutout. Now, you've peaked my curiosity about the thickness. I will have to buy one just to see how much thicker it is than the Original.

SlackOne · **Reply #23 on:** January 22, 2010, 08:16:32 AM

Even if the paint "jumps off" of the painted Micras, I don't mind. I got a used painted edition with a lot of missing paint and scrubbed the rest off. The weathered patina that it left is actually quite attractive, a rather industrial-looking gray. Unfortunately the scissors have a small notch and are a tad loose. I'd send it in to get the scissors fixed, but I'm afraid I'd lose my cool scales in some trade :/

1jump2many · **Reply #24 on:** January 22, 2010, 04:05:36 PM

Quote from: SlackOne on January 22, 2010, 08:16:32 AM

Even if the paint "jumps off" of the painted Micras, I don't mind. I got a used painted edition with a lot of missing paint and scrubbed the rest off. The weathered patina that it left is actually quite attractive, a rather industrial-looking gray. Unfortunately the scissors have a small notch and are a tad loose. I'd send it in to get the scissors fixed, but I'm afraid I'd lose my cool scales in some trade :/

They would probably replace it with a new one.