Possibly discontinuing tools soon?? MUT, ST300EOD, OHT, TTI, CRUNCH

[Happy Gilmore]

So...I want to be clear about this...as of today the 2nd of January I am only confident about the discontinuation of one of these tools..

The CRUNCH 

I have had multiple emails from companies such as Granger (Adorama being the latest one) who have been notified DIRECTLY by Leatherman that this tool is being discontinued...RIP and after 10months of being out of stock this seems to sadly be a reasonable conclusion.

The remaining tools, the MUT, OHT, ST300EOD, and Charge TTI are less certain. ALL of them have limited or NO availability on Leatherman's website. If it were not for the presence of the TTI I would feel confident they are phasing them out..but It seems wierd they would stop making the TTI specifically. What are your thoughts on this?

Text from Adorama:

Thank you for placing an order with Adorama.

Regarding the following item:

Item Number LHT68010201K - LEATHRMN CRUNCH,STANDARD SS W/NYLN SHT(

We are sorry to inform you that the manufacturer has notified us that
the item you ordered has been discontinued and is no longer
available.  For this reason we are cancelling your order.
We regret any inconvenience this may have caused you and continue to
appreciate your business.
Please visit our web site where you may find other items which might
suit your needs www.adorama.com .

As is our policy, We have not charged you for the back ordered item,

we only charge your card when we actually ship the items.

Please accept our apology for this inconvenience.

[Poncho65]

I do know we have speculated most of 2021 about the Crunch and I wished it wasn't going to be discontinued, I have also noticed a big increase in their price on ebay

Because of the early scare I bought another one for a pretty good price

I really hope that the TTi is not being discontinued 

The OHT has surprised me.tjat it stayed around for as long as it did really

The MUT and ST300 EOD are specialized for military use more and I would be surprised to see them go as well but who knows

[Happy Gilmore]

I do know we have speculated most of 2021 about the Crunch and I wished it wasn't going to be discontinued, I have also noticed a big increase in their price on ebay

Because of the early scare I bought another one for a pretty good price

I really hope that the TTi is not being discontinued 

The OHT has surprised me.tjat it stayed around for as long as it did really

The MUT and ST300 EOD are specialized for military use more and I would be surprised to see them go as well but who knows

The TTI throws me off completely...were it not for that..I would easily be seeing a patern that makes sense..Unless the cost for Ti and working it is far higher than I realize. Its possible that the G10 variants being successful might be the reason its going away? after all they are super light at 7.9oz and far far easier to make in comparison.

edit..I just realized...the TTi has 2 parts that might be the problem..the plier head (with crimpers) and the Ti scales...hmm, that might make it a lot more likely than I initially thought....

[Juan el Boricua]

Sadly, it all points to that; these models are more of a niche/captive market,  and with the recent price hike, maybe they'll be non profitable to manufacture/sell  . Of all these models, my heart goes to the Crunch.

Maybe we'll see annuals/LE like Victorinox with models like the TTi, "Heritage Crunch", "ST300 EODM" ( a Super Tool 300M with the nlade exchanger from the EOD).

[Happy Gilmore]

Sadly, it all points to that; these models are more of a niche/captive market,  and with the recent price hike, maybe they'll be non profitable to manufacture/sell  . Of all these models, my heart goes to the Crunch.

yea...the crunch...is easily the biggest loss...nothing and I mean nothing...does what the crunch does..

[Juan el Boricua]

  100%

[chrono]

I can see the MUT and ST300 EOD with limited sales oversea, but the Tti drop would not make any sense. It is their premier model with gift appeal and is actually hard-use-able.

[Happy Gilmore]

I can see the MUT and ST300 EOD with limited sales oversea, but the Tti drop would not make any sense. It is their premier model with gift appeal and is actually hard-use-able.

had it not been for the release of three Budget oriented tools BOND, CURL, and BOLSTER coming out in 2021 I would have agreed with you. Once I relealized that both the plier head AND the scales are specific to the TTi..now I'm not so sure.

[Rich_SD]

Count me skeptical.  Leatherman just recently said that the Crunch was not discontinued, there was a significant demand for it, and they were just behind in production.  Yeah, they could have been lying, but so could that distributor. 

This reminds me of several months ago when I wanted to buy a black Crater C33Tx - they were unavailable on Leatherman's site, they were unavailable from every distributor (some even listed them as discontinued), most of the C33Tx sales on eBay said it was discontinued, and I saw multiple comments all over the internet saying it was discontinued.  I was very close to paying a premium price to get one, then they just showed back up on Leatherman's website and they have been off and on it since then.

That said, I suppose it's easy for me to be skeptical since I already have one. 

[SteveC]

Been down the rumor mill hiway before, believe when it says it so on the LM website.

[cnlson]

I do know we have speculated most of 2021 about the Crunch and I wished it wasn't going to be discontinued, I have also noticed a big increase in their price on ebay

I got one for $71 on ebay in August, But it had to go right to service when I received it.

The OHT has surprised me.tjat it stayed around for as long as it did really

ditto. easily my candidate for worst leatherman ever.

Count me skeptical.  Leatherman just recently said that the Crunch was not discontinued, there was a significant demand for it, and they were just behind in production.  Yeah, they could have been lying, but so could that distributor.

I recall the same thing, i just cannot remember where I saw them say that.

Been down the rumor mill hiway before, believe when it says it so on the LM website.

Thats the thing, They just take the links out of the menu altogether. For the TTI + it doesn't say "out of stock" the page simply is not in the menu to get to, I have to google to get to the page. On the other hand the Crunch while the link is gone I can use the search on leatherman's site and find the page with a sign up to know when it is back in stock.

My guess is supply chain, the locking pliers are probably produced overseas and delayed or slow getting here. I ordered a pair of Japanese Pliers on amazon and they took 2 months before they got delivered.

[bobartig]

but the Tti drop would not make any sense. It is their premier model with gift appeal and is actually hard-use-able.

I'm also eager learn more about some of these models phasing out. As for the TTi, however, LM has been running a natural experiment for the past 18 months or so with the Charge G10 series exclusives from Cabelas, Sportsman's, and REI. So they have some data about how eager consumers are for another "premier" Charge. They can always put a crimper head on a G10 charge, and it otherwise shares the other high-end elements of the TTi. The main difference here is that the G10 is nowhere near as robust as the TI scales. My guess is that this doesn't really matter for most users because most people don't want to use a Charge that hard anyway (you often need gloves to avoid hurting your hands when using a multitool hard).

So, I'm not at all convinced they are getting rid of the TTi, they do have data about a fairly available alternative "premier" Charge tool configuration they could sell. Also, the Charge model is the tool they have iterated and revised the most over the past ~20 years. If they discontinued the TTi I'm certain they'd immediately replace it with a suitable successor.

[Barry Rowland]

I had seen that the OHT was discontinued on a vendor site, but this is definitely not the first time the Crunch has hit the rumor Mill.  I agree, I hope the Crunch survives... it's easily the most unique m/t out there.

[Chako]

I will believe it when official notice from Leatherman comes.

[Aloha]

I picked up a Crunch as a user a few months ago and glad I did.  I do hope the Crunch continues on.   As for the rumors, guess we'll see. 

[Barry Rowland]

They're definitely not cheap on the seller's sites.  I noticed that even the Rebar is out of stock on Leatherman's site.  I could kick myself if the Crunch is disco'd 

[SurgeUk]

I had a quick look around UK type websites and, after 6 pages of google, all I could find were the two below 

I clicked add to basket and it went to the next step; so I presume they each have at least one in stock 

I didn't go to the next stage as I already have one 

https://apollomarine.co.uk/product/leatherman-crunch/

https://masseys-diy.co.uk/product/leatherman-crunch-multi-tool-w-leather-sheath-stainless-steel/

[Zephon]

Keeping my eye out for website updates- like when the prices will increase and when these tools will be moved to the ‘discontinued’ section of the website.

[gadgetman7]

I’d be kind of surprised if they drop the TTi version. It’s been in and out of stock for a while. However, it’ll be interesting to see what/if Leatherman shows anything at SHOT Show. After the Free fiasco they may not show anything. That might be a clue as to where they’re heading.

I really hope this isn’t due to a serious revenue issue.


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[chrono]

I’d be kind of surprised if they drop the TTi version. It’s been in and out of stock for a while. However, it’ll be interesting to see what/if Leatherman shows anything at SHOT Show. After the Free fiasco they may not show anything. That might be a clue as to where they’re heading.

I really hope this isn’t due to a serious revenue issue.

IMO, they are shifting toward the lifestyle trend with lightweight and colorful offerings. I doubt we will see head-turning design like MUT for a while.

I would like to see them dive into two segments:
- Blade steels for their large models (MUT, Wave, Charge, Signal): S30V is getting dated. TTC tinkered with S35VN and damascus YEARS ago.
- Back to doing large knives

They have expertise and machinery to be successful at these. My guess is, they are waiting for another TTC to give them some new money making ideas (which I am surprised noone seems to want to re-blade Leatherman yet). They should learn from Spyderco when doing exclusives. See how people still buy those PM2 variants. You do not make exclusives and they offer those same models as standard offerings.

[gadgetman7]

Just checked, Leatherman is not listed as an exhibitor at SHOT Show. I don’t know if it’s because of COVID or just that their whole marketing strategy is shifting.


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[Poncho65]

They released tools at different times last year so they may be shifting to that

[stugumby]

Wow, $10 jump on the Curl and others, 149$ for a free p-4, at this rate im never getting there by saving my quarters....

[hsherzfeld]

The ST300EOD is in stock.

[gadgetman7]

I understand the Wave going up but raising the price on the Curl and the Bond makes absolutely no sense. They’re going to put themselves out of business at this rate.


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[Happy Gilmore]

The ST300EOD is in stock.

Like the MUT, one variant is in stock, the other is not. Same thing happe Ed with the OHT, now they are all out.

I understand the Wave going up but raising the price on the Curl and the Bond makes absolutely no sense. They’re going to put themselves out of business at this rate.


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One idea I've been ignoring till now is that leatherman is trying to move things oversees. I thought it was crazy...but it's hard to ignore some of their choices.

[SurgeUk]

Wow, $10 jump on the Curl and others, 149$ for a free p-4, at this rate im never getting there by saving my quarters....

Try £150 - £170 depending on where you look in the UK (that's $200 - $230 US) 

[chrono]

The rumor mill you guys started here may have pump the Crunch price over $200+ on eBay 

[Poncho65]

I have noticed that the Crunch prices went up way back when we first heard mention of the Crunch being discontinued 

I bought one as soon as I heard the news (or rather fake news at the time) and luckily didn't have to pay to much for one but still to expensive for me normally

[Adam5]

Yeah, I could not pull the trigger on buying one before because I could not see spending $110 on one MT that I was not certain I would get much use from. There were too many cheaper models I still did not have. But now, it is mostly the more expensive models I don't have. And it may be even costlier now, so I don't know if I will ever own a Crunch.

Having said that, I made an attempt to buy one this week. The business did not mention that the Crunch was on backorder or discontinued, and they took my money. But I have received no notice yet on when it will be shipped. So I am assuming the business does not actually have any in stock and would have it drop shipped from Leatherman, which we know will not happen. So I guess I will have to contact them next week, ask them about the status of my order, and cancel the order when they tell me it is on backorder.