SO I Bought a Gerber Suspension at Lowe's In Westborough MA

[bashk]

Of course i bought it, and then read the opinions here. Anyway, my first instinct was to return it immediatly and get a higher quality tool, but I had to consider my motivation for the purchase in the first place.

Now while I would love to buy a new (and I prefer large multis) mutli, I really needed to keep tabs on the extra spending especially since I have about 5 other top notch multis.

While my collection consists of high quality brands, they are getting old, and for some strange reason my original Leatherman Wave seems to get the brunt of all the hard tasks. So I decided to get a designated "beater" to give my other multi-tools a bit of a break. I went to Lowe's (generally a mistake since the last time I was in there I walked out with a Surefire 6PL) and sifted through the multi-tool selection. I didn't want to spen $60+ so I picked up the Suspension.

I guess I'll give it a try despite the sentiments, and see what happens. I mean afterall, it cost $30.00. If it fails, I'll return it and get the SOG that I was drooling over.

Thanks,

Bash

[Papacat]

Bash,

There are Leatherman multitools around that price range that are far better like the Kick, or Blast if you want to spend a few dollars more.  Also look online at Ebay or Amazon and get your multis for cheaper.  Just a suggestion.

-Papacat.

[bashk]

Unfortunately there wasn't much of a selection. It was either $30.00 for the Suspension, or $60+ for anything else minus the Kobalt stuff.

[scrappy]

yes, sometimes their selection is limited. the suspension looks cool though. I have one on the way.

[bashk]

I saw the video of the guy that built the closet for his wife and ended up breaking his Suspension in the process.  As a result, I initially regreted the purchase. After I thinking about it for awhile, I realized, and please correct me if I am wrong, that he failed to mention what he was doing when the tool broke.

An interesting - at least to me - point. I have a forced hot water system for heating my house. The copper pipes (about 250 ft. total) had no insulation. I realized that I was wasting precious energy running my heating system this way so I went to the hardware store and bought 250 of insulation. As we all know, whenever you work on one project, you notice that you need to fix something else. Long story short. An old electric wire was resting on a hot water copper tube and I wanted to move it off of it. The person who installed the wires used wood staples like I've never seen before. There was no way I could pull it off so I could move the wire. I used my Leatherman Wave and a prybar, and it took a considerable amount of effort to get this staple out. What I put my Wave through would probably constitute abuse even though it came out unscathed.

Now, if my Wave shattered into several pieces and I put it on YouTube, neglected to mention how I was using it, and proclamed what a piece of crap it was, I would be creating an unfair perception.

Again, please forgive me if I missed out on any important points but if memory serves me well, I think we don't really know how his tool failed in the first place.

Disclamer: I am sure that my Southborough compatriot will be able to elaborate more on his experience.

Thanks,

Bash

 

[Grant Lamontagne]

You are absolutely right about what the guy was doing at the point of tool failure, and how that is significant- but I'd also like to point out that the Wave survived when you did what you thought was abuse.

A good tool will be overbuilt- remember, multis are designed to be used in situations where you don't have a toolbox handy, such as on the side of the road.  In those situations, you need to be able to rely on your tool, even if it means pushing it harder than you need to.

Def

[ringzero]

Unfortunately there wasn't much of a selection. It was either $30.00 for the Suspension, or $60+ for anything else minus the Kobalt stuff.

I got both a Suspension and SOG Powerlock from Lowes.

Keep the SOG in car for emergency use - great tool that seems overbuilt and very tough.

Keep the Suspension in the house and use it almost daily around the house or out in the yard.  LOVE its springloaded pliers - excellent for electrical stuff and for precise handling of smaller items.

My Suspension has had a good workout over the several months I've had it, while doing a variety of jobs.  I've subjected its pliers to a fair amount of stress and have experienced no issues so far.

I still think Suspension is a decent tool for its price, with great ergonomics and decent functionality.  If it breaks, then it'll go back to Lowes which had a liberal return policy in my experience.

That Kobalt multi looks good too.  It got a decent review here on MTO and also a good review over on EDC forums, IIRC.

Every time I go to Lowes I'm intending to pick up a Kobalt multi, but I always forget to grab one on the way out.

.

[hawkchucker]

Hey i go to that Lowes. But really dont dismiss the Kobalt tool. I really like it as a loaner tool and it really isnt that bad. It sure isnt up to the Leathermans or the sogs there, but it is way better than the GULP..... Suspension. It still hurts to type in the name.