Review of the Leatherman Rebar

[jzmtl]

Believe it or not I didn't buy a rebar till a week or two ago, and just in time for doing the basement floor too.





After the well received introduction of Leatherman Supertool 300 as replacement for the venerable Core, Leatherman shrunk the Supertool by half inch, and gave us the Rebar. It has since replaced the Blast family of full sized tools in Leatherman’s line up, and I would say it’s a worthy successor.

Rebar retains the familiar butterfly opening boxy handle with all inside opening and locking tools, while incorporates many new features piloted/reintroduced on Supertool 300 such as replaceable wire cutters, flared and folded handle edge, full metal construction (yay no more plastic!), and by many requests, the return of clumping tool.

The first thing you will notice with it in your hands are the large cutouts and nail nicks for the two main blades, which make opening them much easier even with gloves on. You get a clip point plain edge blade, and a sheepfoot serrated blade like most full size Leatherman tools. Both blades are 420HC stainless steel, while a lower end cutlery steel, it serves to keep the cost down and easy to resharpen. There is however, no quick way to determine which blade are you opening until after the fact, perhaps a tactile indicator like those found on Wave would be nice here (ridges on spine of serrated blade).

The handles also offer both metric and imperial ruler. While it’s functional, it’s not something you want to rely on.



Once the handle is opened, the newly designed plier head with replaceable wire cutters reveals itself. The wire cutter is made of 154CM, a high grade cutlery steel which should resist damage better. Even if you do damage it, you can just pop a new one in instead of either live it or send it to Leatherman for repair and wait for it to come back. It offers a regular cutter and a hard wire cutter, both will handle paper clip and small nail with ease. The jaw itself is well casted and machines, with well defined teeth and edge.





In order to accommodate the replaceable cutter however, a large section had to be hollowed out, reducing its strength.



Given the well made teeth, the jaws work very well at holding onto any objects you may wish to grab and locking onto a screw/nut.





Behind the pliers pivot is a wire crimper, given its proximity to the pivot should give plenty of leverage to crimp (or break) any objects you have on hand.



A file and a wood saw can be found opposite the two blades. The wood saw works just like those found on other Leatherman tools, AKA very well. The sharp double toothed design will rip through wood very quickly (as quick as you can with a saw this short anyway), and the offset placement allows it access to locations that others cannot reach.





The file is double cut on one side and single cut on another, with saw like teeth on the bottom edge. It’s much sharper than files found on some previous models and cuts fast. However you may wish to avoid soft materials as they will clog the file quickly.

The rest of tools are quite standard Leatherman, and they work well.

The Phillips driver fits #2 screws perfectly and does not slip, while the small flat driver fits small slotted screws as well.





The large flat driver also does well at probably the most common use for a large flathead screwdriver, yes admit it, you do it all the time, prying things.



The awl is relatively sharp at both point and edge for both punching holes and scraping things that would otherwise damage a knife edge. It also has an eye if you insist on sewing.

And finally the combo can/bottle opener, while it doesn’t excel at either, it’s perfectly usable. Some complain that the sharp point will puncher bottle caps instead of opening, which has happened to me before. However if you lift the entire tool upward instead of using the tip as a fulcrum, it’ll work without a hitch.

   

Despite the (few) shortcomings, Rebar is a good quality multitool that you can depend on. Either as a mobile toolbox or around the house, it will serve you well for many years to come. And at its price point, you certainly could do a lot worse.


Pro:
All metal construction
Replaceable wire cutter
Sharp file
Excellent price/performance ratio

Con:
No scissors.
Possible weaker jaws due to replaceable wire cutter
No quick way to ID plain/serrated blade

[pahl]

Wow, almost a month later and no replies to this great review.

I found this review well searching for info on the rebar. It's been a few years since I shopped for a new multitool so I was checking the Leatherman site to see what's new.

Was looking at getting the ST-300, but I have other 4.5 inch Leatherman tools and just don't care for that extra half inch over their 4 inch models.

Then I seen the Rebar! It looks like a four inch version of the Super Tool to me so I searched for a review of the Rebar and found this topic.

Thanks for the review!

Just looking at the photos I wonder if there is any difference in quality between the flat blades on the ST-300 vs. the Rebar.

What do you think of the Rebar now that you have had it for awhile?

Any other Rebar owners care to add their thoughts?

[detron]

It is a minor gripe,  but I have the st300 and the rebar. I hate that the rebar bulges on each side.   the st300 does not bulge

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2

[Gareth]

In fairness, this review was broken away from a larger thread that contained lots of other reviews as well.  It'd gained lots of praise and good feedback there, in fact it won a Multitool.org competition.

You are spot on though pahl, it is an excellent review.   Oh, and welcome to the forum.

[styx]

This is really an excellent review that shows actual use and possible problems 

[enki_ck]

Yes it is. It almost made me buy a Rabar after reading it a couple of times.

[AimlessWanderer]

Excellent review - but not a fan of the tool at all. I did have a Rebar for a while, but there were too many things that I didn't like.

1) No scissors, and an apparant inability to fit scissors easily
2) Blades were VERY thin IMHO
3) Inboard tools, makes access slower and means usable blade length is lost from the saw and blades on certain jobs
4) Plier jaws are horrible, and gripping with the large serrations (centre section) WITHOUT biting into whatever you're gripping with the indexable cutters was either very tricky or impossible

Mine didn't stop with me long 

[jzmtl]

Wow, almost a month later and no replies to this great review.

What do you think of the Rebar now that you have had it for awhile?

Yeah it's broken off from another thread, so the replies weren't moved over.

Funny you asked that, I was using it to remove and install some tiny c-clip and spring just earlier, the tip is too fat/square for my liking. I don't use my MT for heavy duty stuff (I mean look at the pliers, it's about the same size/thickness as a small hobby set, would you use those to cut chain link fence?), so I prefer it to be precise instead.

[J-sews]

I'm still rotating my Rebar into carry duty every few weeks or so, and have been quite satisfied with it. Like Al and others have stated though, I'd be happier if it had scissors. What they really need to do is come out with a Rebar II, with a similar tool set as the old PST II. (i.e. with scissors and a diamond file)

[detron]

I'm still rotating my Rebar into carry duty every few weeks or so, and have been quite satisfied with it. Like Al and others have stated though, I'd be happier if it had scissors. What they really need to do is come out with a Rebar II, with a similar tool set as the old PST II. (i.e. with scissors and a diamond file)

That is a great idea!  I think scissors are the biggest negative for this tool.  I love a diamond file, but a non-diamond file is better than no file.  I agree diamond is better, but it does have a file.  scissors are completely absent.

[jzmtl]

I'm still rotating my Rebar into carry duty every few weeks or so, and have been quite satisfied with it. Like Al and others have stated though, I'd be happier if it had scissors. What they really need to do is come out with a Rebar II, with a similar tool set as the old PST II. (i.e. with scissors and a diamond file)

You mean you don't have a SAK on you? 

I like the new file compare to, say wave's, it's a lot sharper. I also have a credit card sized silicon carbide sandpaper in my wallet so I can improvise something similar to diamond file if needed.

[J-sews]

Nope, I'm a plier person. If it ain't on my multitool, then I ain't got one.

[Gareth]

I'm still rotating my Rebar into carry duty every few weeks or so, and have been quite satisfied with it. Like Al and others have stated though, I'd be happier if it had scissors. What they really need to do is come out with a Rebar II, with a similar tool set as the old PST II. (i.e. with scissors and a diamond file)

You mean you don't have a SAK Micra on you?

 

[styx]

Or a Squirt PS4, Style CS or PS?

[J-sews]

Oh heck yes. I always have a Micra as nearby as my truck. But as a one-tool-at-a-time-carrying kind of guy, I'd be happier if the scissors were right there on the Rebar, and then I wouldn't have to go get the Micra.

[Goatlord666]

Believe it or not I didn't buy a rebar till a week or two ago, and just in time for doing the basement floor too.





After the well received introduction of Leatherman Supertool 300 as replacement for the venerable Core, Leatherman shrunk the Supertool by half inch, and gave us the Rebar. It has since replaced the Blast family of full sized tools in Leatherman’s line up, and I would say it’s a worthy successor.

Rebar retains the familiar butterfly opening boxy handle with all inside opening and locking tools, while incorporates many new features piloted/reintroduced on Supertool 300 such as replaceable wire cutters, flared and folded handle edge, full metal construction (yay no more plastic!), and by many requests, the return of clumping tool.

The first thing you will notice with it in your hands are the large cutouts and nail nicks for the two main blades, which make opening them much easier even with gloves on. You get a clip point plain edge blade, and a sheepfoot serrated blade like most full size Leatherman tools. Both blades are 420HC stainless steel, while a lower end cutlery steel, it serves to keep the cost down and easy to resharpen. There is however, no quick way to determine which blade are you opening until after the fact, perhaps a tactile indicator like those found on Wave would be nice here (ridges on spine of serrated blade).

The handles also offer both metric and imperial ruler. While it’s functional, it’s not something you want to rely on.

(Image removed from quote.)

Once the handle is opened, the newly designed plier head with replaceable wire cutters reveals itself. The wire cutter is made of 154CM, a high grade cutlery steel which should resist damage better. Even if you do damage it, you can just pop a new one in instead of either live it or send it to Leatherman for repair and wait for it to come back. It offers a regular cutter and a hard wire cutter, both will handle paper clip and small nail with ease. The jaw itself is well casted and machines, with well defined teeth and edge.

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

In order to accommodate the replaceable cutter however, a large section had to be hollowed out, reducing its strength.

(Image removed from quote.)

Given the well made teeth, the jaws work very well at holding onto any objects you may wish to grab and locking onto a screw/nut.

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

Behind the pliers pivot is a wire crimper, given its proximity to the pivot should give plenty of leverage to crimp (or break) any objects you have on hand.

(Image removed from quote.)

A file and a wood saw can be found opposite the two blades. The wood saw works just like those found on other Leatherman tools, AKA very well. The sharp double toothed design will rip through wood very quickly (as quick as you can with a saw this short anyway), and the offset placement allows it access to locations that others cannot reach.

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

The file is double cut on one side and single cut on another, with saw like teeth on the bottom edge. It’s much sharper than files found on some previous models and cuts fast. However you may wish to avoid soft materials as they will clog the file quickly.

The rest of tools are quite standard Leatherman, and they work well.

The Phillips driver fits #2 screws perfectly and does not slip, while the small flat driver fits small slotted screws as well.

(Image removed from quote.)

(Image removed from quote.)

The large flat driver also does well at probably the most common use for a large flathead screwdriver, yes admit it, you do it all the time, prying things.

(Image removed from quote.)

The awl is relatively sharp at both point and edge for both punching holes and scraping things that would otherwise damage a knife edge. It also has an eye if you insist on sewing.

And finally the combo can/bottle opener, while it doesn’t excel at either, it’s perfectly usable. Some complain that the sharp point will puncher bottle caps instead of opening, which has happened to me before. However if you lift the entire tool upward instead of using the tip as a fulcrum, it’ll work without a hitch.

(Image removed from quote.)   

Despite the (few) shortcomings, Rebar is a good quality multitool that you can depend on. Either as a mobile toolbox or around the house, it will serve you well for many years to come. And at its price point, you certainly could do a lot worse.


Pro:
All metal construction
Replaceable wire cutter
Sharp file
Excellent price/performance ratio

Con:
No scissors.
Possible weaker jaws due to replaceable wire cutter
No quick way to ID plain/serrated blade

AN OUTSTANDING REVIEW!

[powernoodle]

Powernoodle agrees that this is a great review.

Just as a data point, note the Rebar's 5 points of contact on this nut - 2 of which are the cutters.



For me, the Rebar and Swisstool Spirit are the best EDC combo of size and utility (for urban EDC, that is).  The lack of scissors on the Rebar, as noted, is a big downside, but I solve that by carrying a Classic SD, Compact or other SAK.  For me, the Victorinox scissors are vastly superior because they are so precise, so I want them no matter what Leatherman I am carrying.  But both the Rebar and Spirit pack a bunch of utility in this 7 ounce genre.  And the Rebar is less than half the price of the Spirit, though you give up the Spirit's precise fit and finish.

[jzmtl]

The spirit was quite comparable price wise before victorinox forced MAP, then it almost doubled in price along with a couple other popular models, include swisschamp.

[detron]

The spirit was quite comparable price wise before victorinox forced MAP, then it almost doubled in price along with a couple other popular models, include swisschamp.

I wish I had known about cheaper prices in the past.

what does "forced MAP"  mean? 

[jerseydevil]

Minimum Advertised Price.

[detron]

thanks,  it looks obvious now   

[Monrogue]

Yes it is. It almost made me buy a Rabar after reading it a couple of times.

So what's stopping ya man??   Just thought you could use some help from a Personal Shopping Assistant

[Monrogue]

Oh, and I should chime in on this excellent review.  As I've stated several times in various threads, the Rebar is one of my favorite MTs (carrying it this week actually ).  As a matter of fact, recently I've been considering it my overall fave, alongside the Spirit, which is funny because they are quite opposite in a way.  I originally wished it had scissors, but that was before I got into SAKs, so now I have scissors covered when I carry the Rebar anyway.  Diamond file would be nice, but not majorly necessary for me. 

As for the issue with identifying which knife blade you're opening, I use the ruler as the guide.  The plain edge is on the inch side, and serrated on the cm side.  Perhaps that will help?  It's the only way I could think of when I first was using it. 

[jzmtl]

It is, but not nearly as instinctive as the method they used on wave. But then again, nothing you can't fix with a dremel (or just a stone/file). 

Another thing I didn't want to mention in the review because I figured it's irrelevant to most users, is the extra spacer in one of the handles. I hate spacers, if it were up to me I'd ditch that and the folding lanyard loop to drop in scissors and something else.

[Monrogue]

It is, but not nearly as instinctive as the method they used on wave. But then again, nothing you can't fix with a dremel (or just a stone/file). 

Another thing I didn't want to mention in the review because I figured it's irrelevant to most users, is the extra spacer in one of the handles. I hate spacers, if it were up to me I'd ditch that and the folding lanyard loop to drop in scissors and something else.

That was another suggestion I thought of later, to mark it in your own way somehow.  I also agree about the lanyard loop and spacer.  You would think they could have managed to fit something else in there instead of wasting space with those.

[CanadianLMfan]

This would be almost the perfect tool if it had scissors.

[leigh.ratcliffe.5]

I've owned one for some time now. It's a good basic tool/first multitool. I cannot say that I have found the lack of scissors to be an issue. It's not a Wave but then again it is somewhat more economically priced.  Interestingly it has actually replaced my Wave as my prefered tool.

[Gareth]

I have one now as well and do basically like it.  Can't say it's "one multitool to rule them all" but it is good.  LM do seem to have worked hard to make this a slim chap, being not much bigger than the old Kick, but having much more tools crammed in there.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Now posted on the Main Site. 

Def

[jzmtl]

Nice, now the photos won't be lost when imageshack barfs.  Although I should've probably corrected a few typos before you copied it over.