Leatherman SURGE - bad quality!

[Vadim]

Hi everyone! OK,a short story: today I just squeeze a handles ,when tool was open and crack the frame.Never cut anything before.This is my 4th Surge and I'm going to send it back to replace and never use it again,no more!I'm going to sell it.No more Leatherman.Here is the picture to explain you on Leatherman Wave,they use a same frame but mine has a crack.

[BIG-TARGET]

That's a first

[Gadget Guy]

That's a first

+1    

[Dizos]

This is my 4th Surge

You have had problems with all 4?

[Vadim]

This is my 4th Surge

You have had problems with all 4?

1.Lost plastic scissor piece - send it back.
2.Received a new one with lots of knife,scissor and plier play - send it back.
3.Received a new one but its was looks like some body used it a lot - sand it back.
4.Received a new one,everything was fine until today...going to sand it back,then - sell it.

I was try all three - SOG,Leatherman and Swisstool.The Swisstool is BEST! (for me of course)

[jim guy]

when you get it back you want to trade it? Ill take it off your hands, ive put my surges through so much no failures yet. Dont know whats going on here.

[Gadget Guy]

This is my 4th Surge

You have had problems with all 4?

1.Lost plastic scissor piece - send it back.
2.Received a new one with lots of knife,scissor and plier play - send it back.
3.Received a new one but its was looks like some body used it a lot - sand it back.
4.Received a new one,everything was fine until today...going to sand it back,then - sell it.

I was try all three - SOG,Leatherman and Swisstool.The Swisstool is BEST! (for me of course)

Wow, that is just really bad luck.    I've never had a single problem with any Surge that I've owned.

[Vadim]

when you get it back you want to trade it? Ill take it off your hands, ive put my surges through so much no failures yet. Dont know whats going on here.

Craigslist - for sale.

[Vadim]

This is my 4th Surge

You have had problems with all 4?

1.Lost plastic scissor piece - send it back.
2.Received a new one with lots of knife,scissor and plier play - send it back.
3.Received a new one but its was looks like some body used it a lot - sand it back.
4.Received a new one,everything was fine until today...going to sand it back,then - sell it.

I was try all three - SOG,Leatherman and Swisstool.The Swisstool is BEST! (for me of course)

Wow, that is just really bad luck.    I've never had a single problem with any Surge that I've owned.


You lucky

[jim guy]

when you get it back you want to trade it? Ill take it off your hands, ive put my surges through so much no failures yet. Dont know whats going on here.

Craigslist - for sale.

If you dont sale and you decide to trade let me know

[MultiMat]

I think you have the Leatherman Curse  .
Man you have had the worst run with your Surges mate.

[Vadim]

when you get it back you want to trade it? Ill take it off your hands, ive put my surges through so much no failures yet. Dont know whats going on here.

Craigslist - for sale.

If you dont sale and you decide to trade let me know

hmm,what do you have?I have a Leatherman Surge + Leather sheath,Bit Driver Extender,Two Bit Kits + Nylon Sheath.

[jim guy]

pm sent

[trickknife]

This is my 4th Surge

You have had problems with all 4?

1.Lost plastic scissor piece - send it back.
2.Received a new one with lots of knife,scissor and plier play - send it back.
3.Received a new one but its was looks like some body used it a lot - sand it back.
4.Received a new one,everything was fine until today...going to sand it back,then - sell it.

I was try all three - SOG,Leatherman and Swisstool.The Swisstool is BEST! (for me of course)

Wow that is a string of bad luck, but I did have that happen on my new wave...same location.  They fixed it and sent it back.  No problems since.  maybe theri deisgn team is sleepinZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[ratslash7]

I used to carry a Surge (still do sometimes) and I was hard as hell on it and never had a single problem...well... I take that back. The little clip that holds the bits in fell out once but I put it back with a little Loc-Tite and then I never had a single problem.

A guy I work with bought one recently and within a week the scissors messed up. I think it was the plastic bit that broke. It's at Leatherman warranty department now. I'll let everyone know how it goes when he gets it back.

Too bad you've had such a string of bad luck. None of my LM's have ever let me down.

[thebullfrog]

I don't care what anyone says. From what I've seen lately both here and in person, LM's QC has been REALLY in the toilet lately. All my older LM's have been amazing, as they should be, but every new one I've personally encountered lately has had either severe faults, or a bunch of small things that you never used to see before. I really don't think they are capable of keeping up with the demand they have these days and keeping quality in check. It's really disappointing.

[BIG-TARGET]

Bullfrog, in other words, Leatherman has fallen victim to its own success?

[thebullfrog]

Seems that way. I mean I love LM, and maybe it's just coincidence that I keep coming across bad ones, but it sure is getting to be a pattern lately.

[BIG-TARGET]

Seems that way. I mean I love LM, and maybe it's just coincidence that I keep coming across bad ones, but it sure is getting to be a pattern lately.

Now, my question would be: When will the observation be frequent enough that they will cross the line from anecdotal to imperical proof that something is wrong at LM?

FYI,nothing personal Bullfrog, but I hope you are wrong. But if you are right, I just hope it is limited to one person at quality control, being a goof off!

[DaveK]

I don't care what anyone says. From what I've seen lately both here and in person, LM's QC has been REALLY in the toilet lately. All my older LM's have been amazing, as they should be, but every new one I've personally encountered lately has had either severe faults, or a bunch of small things that you never used to see before. I really don't think they are capable of keeping up with the demand they have these days and keeping quality in check. It's really disappointing.

Let's just think about this a bit. How many problems do you know about in, say, the last 6 months with LM tools? Without counting, and being generous let's say 20? In fact, go on, let's double it to be on the safe side and call it 40 defective tools in 6 months. Then ask yourself how many tools do you reckon Leatherman have sold in that 6 month period? What do you reckon the percentage of tools with problems is? I'll add that I've probably had 20 Leatherman tools arrive in the last 6 months and every single one of them has been perfect.

Then consider how many people post on the internet if there was no problem with tools they bought. We all know they do when they have a problem, but not so much when things are good, because it's not an interesting story.

Obviously, any company should be striving for zero defects, but very few are ever going to achieve that, but I do think you're being a bit melodramatic mate.

[glorn]

I recently purchased a Leatherman tool...

...and it was fine.

Nothing wrong at all.

Nope.



Anyone else have a Leatherman tool that is fine?

[Vadim]

Guys,just take a look at Swisstool and Leatherman and be honest,Swisstool has a way better quality.Leatherman is good and I like it but the quality is... ,not so good,I tell you it from my own experience.And like thebullfrog said I don't care what anyone says,I see what I see,Leatherman need a better quality control.Enough said. 

 
    

[Gadget Guy]

Guys,just take a look at Swisstool and Leatherman and be honest,Swisstool has a way better quality.Leatherman is good and I like it but the quality is... ,not so good,I tell you it from my own experience.And like thebullfrog said I don't care what anyone says,I see what I see,Leatherman need a better quality control.Enough said. 

 
    

Your opinion is always welcome here.     I have switched mainly to Swiss tools for my edc, but I think Leatherman still makes a great product.   

[DaveK]

Guys,just take a look at Swisstool and Leatherman and be honest,Swisstool has a way better quality.Leatherman is good and I like it but the quality is... ,not so good,I tell you it from my own experience.And like thebullfrog said I don't care what anyone says,I see what I see,Leatherman need a better quality control.Enough said. 

You've had terrible problems and service CD, and you are more than welcome to share that with people. Just don't make the mistake of thinking that everyone else has had the same experiences.

I made this point on another thread recently, and we all forget that we on this forum are a tiny, tiny minority of people that buy Leatherman tools, and there's probably only us that analyse them to the degree that we do here!

Put it another way, if there were serious QC problems at Leatherman, would you expect to see that said all over the internet and amongst people you meet? In reality, if you google these problems, the links all come back here, or to a couple of other like-minded sites!

I'd be right p*ssed if I'd had the experiences you've had with your Surge, but to think that this is common is more than a little misguided

The Swiss v Leatherman issue is a matter of personal experience and opinion, and it simply isn't mine I'm afraid. I respect your opinion, but if you want to post it on the internet, you have to expect that others will disagree with it 

[Nikos]

I didn't have the best of luck with the local LM reps myself but claiming that LM quality is going down is way out of line. I just keep wondering if it's a local problem for CD as well... Say, mate, when you were sending it back, do you mean LM Oregon or some local service center?

[Benner]

Guys,just take a look at Swisstool and Leatherman and be honest,Swisstool has a way better quality.Leatherman is good and I like it but the quality is... ,not so good,I tell you it from my own experience.And like thebullfrog said I don't care what anyone says,I see what I see,Leatherman need a better quality control.Enough said. 

 
    

Don't be fooled into thinking that Vic have no problems.  My swisstool has play in every tool, and in the pliers and the file doesn't sit on the ledge that it should.  It rattles as well.  Does this mean Vic have bad QC?  Not at all, it just shows that every company will have the odd dodgy one slip through the net.

[Dunc]

Guys,just take a look at Swisstool and Leatherman and be honest,Swisstool has a way better quality.Leatherman is good and I like it but the quality is... ,not so good,I tell you it from my own experience.And like thebullfrog said I don't care what anyone says,I see what I see,Leatherman need a better quality control.Enough said. 

 
    

Don't be fooled into thinking that Vic have no problems.  My swisstool has play in every tool, and in the pliers and the file doesn't sit on the ledge that it should.  It rattles as well.  Does this mean Vic have bad QC?  Not at all, it just shows that every company will have the odd dodgy one slip through the net.

In fact you can find a fault ( although sometimes minor ) in nearly every Swisstool or Spirit . It may be a tiny bit of play in the pliers or a file that slips off its seating notch when the handles are open or too much play or too tight tools .
   One think I will say for Vic is I've never had one with a faulty lock up or one that doesn't function as it should .


Dunc

[Vadim]

I didn't have the best of luck with the local LM reps myself but claiming that LM quality is going down is way out of line. I just keep wondering if it's a local problem for CD as well... Say, mate, when you were sending it back, do you mean LM Oregon or some local service center?

Yes I mean Oregon,its all about one week to replace.

[Vadim]

OK,OK guys,just slowdown  ,the Leatherman is a very good tool and I like,I think its just me to have a bad luck with LM ,but overall is a nice tool.You right,every tool has some problems,no perfect.Thank you for your replays.

[Pacu]

My Surge quality is top notch..besides the fact that when i carry it i sink half a foot into the concrete.   So far i have yet to get a bad Leatherman...

What was  the build dates on your defective Surges?  mine is 0908