Testing Of Another Sort

Grant Lamontagne · **on:** April 20, 2011, 02:36:59 PM

While shopping with a friend of mine the other day, he mentioned that he wanted me to talk to his wife around Christmas time to help her get him a decent multitool. Well, as most folks here know, there are many decent multitools out there, and the difference between a good one and a great one is up to the individual. So, I decided to give him a multitool about every week and let him use and abuse each one to see what he likes the best.

I've started him off with a brand new Leatherman SuperTool 300 and I was thinking about going to a SwissTool or PowerLock next.

It should be interesting though, as the first few tools I give him will probably either be the standard that he judges future offerings by, or he'll forget the first few because he's not in the habit of carrying or using them, and the first few times he uses them he'll fumble around trying to figure out if the tool can do what he needs to do.

Regardless of the outcome, it should be an interesting experiment. This friend knows nothing about multitools, pocket knives, Swiss Army Knives etc so we are dealing with as unspoilt a subject as is reasonably possible. I'll keep this thread updated with his thoughts, responses and details of each tool. So far he's had the ST300 since Sunday, and I'm kind of doubting he's done much with it!

Def

Cyclone82 · **Reply #1 on:** April 20, 2011, 02:48:52 PM

This will be good to follow. I want to get a ST300 sometime too.

edcgear · **Reply #2 on:** April 20, 2011, 02:49:58 PM

Ohhhh an experiment, this should be interesting! Unsuspecting guiney, labyrinth, lab enviroment... Let's see how it ends!

AimlessWanderer · **Reply #3 on:** April 20, 2011, 03:09:15 PM

Quote from: edcgear on April 20, 2011, 02:49:58 PM

Ohhhh an experiment, this should be interesting! Unsuspecting guiney, labyrinth, lab enviroment... Let's see how it ends!

Aw now C'mon - if it ends, he's not into multitools.

We should be saying "lets see how it begins" (and how long it takes to get hooked)

It's going to be very intersting to hear the innocent views of the uninitiated

I have a (much smaller) version of this going off myself. A good friend wants "something" but doesn't know what. We've narrowed it down to SAK but he's bewildered by the choice, so I've decided to get him a swisschamp which I KNOW will be too big for him. I'm going to tell him to play with it and tell me what tools to get rid of to become a pocketable size for him

MultiMat · **Reply #4 on:** April 20, 2011, 03:56:04 PM

He is a lucky devil

. Now that is a library I would like to be a member of

Def does he do manual work

Hope he does not break any of them

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #5 on:** April 20, 2011, 04:41:41 PM

He doesn't do much manual work, which is a good thing. He's a booking officer for the local police force and owns his own home, has a cottage and several boats, so he's got a lot of hands on projects. So, it will be a good variety of challenges for a multitool!

Def

Mr. Whippy · **Reply #6 on:** April 20, 2011, 04:48:46 PM

Uhm, hi!

I'm a newbie and I was wondering if Mr. Lamontagne would be willing to send me a Leatherman St300 to try for a while. I promise I will send it back after I'm done with it.

thanks in advance.

MultiMat · **Reply #7 on:** April 20, 2011, 05:08:02 PM

Quote from: Grant Lamontagne on April 20, 2011, 04:41:41 PM

He doesn't do much manual work, which is a good thing. He's a booking officer for the local police force and owns his own home, has a cottage and several boats, so he's got a lot of hands on projects. So, it will be a good variety of challenges for a multitool!

Def

Home , cottage & several boats

, how has he survived all this time with out a MT

cerbera147 · **Reply #8 on:** April 20, 2011, 05:47:11 PM

I think the one handing opening blades of the Wave, Charge and Surge will open his eyes

I feel the ST300 is for someone who uses pliers before blades. The Skeletool's lightweight nature should appeal as well

Quote from: MultiMat on April 20, 2011, 03:56:04 PM

Now that is a library I would like to be a member of

Where do we sign up? There's a new author called Timothy Leatherman

David · **Reply #9 on:** April 20, 2011, 06:44:28 PM

Quote from: Mr. Whippy on April 20, 2011, 04:48:46 PM

Uhm, hi!

I'm a newbie and I was wondering if Mr. Lamontagne would be willing to send me a Leatherman St300 to try for a while. I promise I will send it back after I'm done with it.

thanks in advance.

Sparky415 · **Reply #10 on:** April 20, 2011, 09:13:50 PM

You are a thoughtful friend Boss

enki_ck · **Reply #11 on:** April 21, 2011, 12:24:17 AM

Quote from: cerbera147 on April 20, 2011, 05:47:11 PM

I think the one handing opening blades of the Wave, Charge and Surge will open his eyes ...

+1

I would go with the surge for the described tasks. Real heavy use multitool with large blades and scissors. Not so great for carrying around, but one of my definite favorites.

Gareth · **Reply #12 on:** April 21, 2011, 12:55:46 AM

This should be interesting.

Cyclone82 · **Reply #13 on:** April 21, 2011, 04:46:50 AM

We dont even know if he wants/needs pliers. He might be happy with a SAK

edcgear · **Reply #14 on:** April 21, 2011, 06:58:57 AM

Everyone is happy with SAK...

Malarauko · **Reply #15 on:** April 21, 2011, 11:51:53 PM

Yeah a SAKs nice but... sometimes you want the capability to repair steel girders and for that you need an ST300.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #16 on:** April 22, 2011, 12:21:15 AM

Spoken like a man who has never experienced Wenger's SwissGrip! :p

Def

AimlessWanderer · **Reply #17 on:** April 22, 2011, 01:20:15 AM

Quote from: Grant Lamontagne on April 22, 2011, 12:21:15 AM

Spoken like a man who has never experienced Wenger's SwissGrip! :p

Def

Absolutely!!

The things I'm interested in hearing is the views of LM's OHO vs Swistool fit and finish vs SOG compound leverage vs Gerber OTF deployment etc. Here we can often get consumed by the minutia over comparing one tool with another, and we have already developed and reinforced our views over what a tool SHOULD do or SHOULD have. I dare say a wine connoisseur would be appauled by my personal wine tastes - but I like what I like.

Here we have someone who has so far been spared the musings of peers steering him in a particular direction with "this is better because ... " and "but it's not as good as because ..." or even "the pinacle in this category is ... because ..." Other than maybe Def, we don't even know of it's going to be the aesthetics, the weight, the manufacture, or any other characteristic of the tools which will draw praise/criticism.

Might I suggest chucking a couple of goofball models into the mix too, such as a Suspension or Paul Chen Multitasker. It would be really interesting to hear their views and comparisons at a truly noob level rather than a more experienced and discerning critique

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #18 on:** April 22, 2011, 01:27:54 AM

That is pretty well the exact reason I assume folks here are going to find the results of this experiment interesting. I have not swayed this guy one way or another, or talked up any one brand or model over another, and even if I did, he'd not likely know which model was which.

I plan to keep the experiment going as long as he's willing to play along, and I also plan to cover as many different types, models and manufacturers as I can.

Def

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