Bit Driver!

[Leatherman123]

what do you guys think about the bit driver included in LM's top notch models? Personally I love it. You can 42 screwdrivers in a pouch! I rarely run into recessed screws. Hell, if you run into a recessed screw you will probably have a screwdriver nearby! Plus I have the LM Bit Extender! I usually have a Nite Ize Pock Its XL and I carry a mini mag w/ 1 watt LED upgrade and IQ switch, Leatherman Surge, 42 piece bit kit, bit extender, 4 xtra long hex bits- 2 philips- 2 flat, 12 foot tape meassure, and a Smith's Sharpener!

[Sea Monster]

42 bits? 

Sounds like one those kits you get free with your Black and Decker drill. The sort that allow you to drive screws roughly 42 times before you're out of bits! 

[Leatherman123]

Leatherman Bit Kit!

[Viper]

42 double sided, or 21 double-sided?

[Sea Monster]

Are the Allen head bits SI or Yankee?

[cryptrick]

42 double sided, or 21 double-sided?

There 21 Double Sided

[Carthas]

I'd have to say that I have mixed feelings about the bit kit, or rather Leatherman's proprietry bits in general. I'm an IT technician, working in the desktop support role, and more recently network support. In the early days, I used a Leatherman PSTII, which, with it's pliers, knife, phillips head screwdriver, and scissors, I was able to do pretty much everything I needed with that tool (I mainly worked on generic "clone" PC's). As I advanced in my career, I came into conact with computer hardware made by companies like compaq/HP, Dell, Sun microsystems etc, which used several different types of screws (mostly Hex bits), which meant that my trusty PSTII was not able to cope.

Even though I had amassed a pretty decent toolkit by this time, being the multitool-holic that I am, and finding the advantage of having a multitool at my side for all those drop-what-you're-doing-and-drive-out-to-site-now! jobs. I upgraded, and went out and bought an old style wave, with a leatherman universal tool adapter. Replacing some of the bits in the tool adapter's case with ones that I used more often. Life with this setup was pretty good, until about 2004, when I saw the new wave. From the picture on leatherman's site, it looked to me as if the tool had a regular bit driver built in. "Awesome!" says I, "No more carrying around 2 pouches for me!" and off I go to purchase the thing. You can imagine my dissapointment when I actually saw the tool. "Great, a proprietry bit driver, and the only bit it has is either phillips or flat blade. May as well have stuck with my PSTII" So off I went to find out if leatherman sold any extra bits for it. Sure enough they did, in the form of the Leatherman bit kit, which appeased my woes quite considerably. After getting the kit, and shuffling the bits around so that all the most used ones were in one card, I put that card in the little puch behind the Wave, and life was good. Now I had finally merged 2 pouches into 1.

After using the Wave with these bits for about 3 years, I have found these to be quite useful, but for a few exceptions. The smaller bits are fine, but the larger ones only make contact with the screw that your working on at the 2 ends of the bit. Although the bits themselves are made of "tool steel", a lot of the screws that I deal with are not, so with the added stress on less area of the screw, you can end up reaming out cheap screws quite effectively with these bits if you're not careful. It's for that reason that I still carry the tool adapter, although not on my belt. It stays in my laptop bag now, with the rest of the bit kit. The thinner profile of the proprietry bits takes up less space that the regular bits would, and they have come in useful for those times when I've needed a bit that I don't usually carry and can't find in my real toolkit.

The last time I used it was when the fancy cover for the clutch peddle for my girlfriend's car came loose. I had a full allen key set supposedly containing both US and UK allen keys, but none of those fit. One from the bit kit did however. I did 2 things that day. (1) Praised myself again for buying that bit kit and (2) went out and bought a better quality set of allen keys. My next purchase will be the bit externder, to see if it will replace the tool adapter. Somehow I doubt it though - the tool adapter sits in the central axis of the tool, and it feels almost like using a real screwdriver when you use it, the bit extender is a little off axis.

[Sea Monster]

I've been hanging out for an excuse to use a Crunch as a hex bit driver to see if it is any good, but by the time I've unscrewed the adjustment bolt anything I am working on has since corroded into scrap and under several thousand years of silt and clay.

As for your Uk/US allen set - You have to be particularly careful about buying good Allen drives, as they, more than any other drive style, require a firm fit to avoid buggering the bolt head.

If possible, get the ones with the "Ball".

Another big woe is that even if you have the best tools in the world, half the Allen bolts you'll encounter will be rubbish and slightly off-sized, meaning they'll gouge out anyway.

[NeitherExtreme]

I like the driver. The pluses are obviously variety and tool steel. And actually, the stubbiness of the driver has helped me in a few tight "right angle" situations. Drawbacks have been mentioned above... Have to buy extras from LM (unless you buy a Charge), "thin" drivers aren't the best on larger applications, not so great at recessed screws.

Really, I think its a creative comprimise, and adds to the variety among the different tool models, so all in all I'm happy about it.