Gerber vs Leatherman

EDC is Leatherman Skeletool (issued by Group). I went through three broken RFI Gerbers and then started giving them away as gifts to friends and family every time I was given more. I swear the military has a love affair with those things, I had at least 8 given to me during RFIs. Civvies love them as gifts and they tend to just go in the glove compartment for emergency use.
 
Well, I have already mentioned what you can go do with a Gerber. Sounding on an elephant penis is one of many alternative uses that any model from that manufacturer would be good for.

My first major tool was a leatherman supertool.
I actually started carrying 2 tools after a short period of time, one super tool and one Crunch (Crunch is vise grips for pliers) and having the Crunch helped with some of the tasks that earned me my first Arcom downrange. Couldn't have accomplished the welding I was trying to do without it.

Following that, I bounced between leatherman models until I handled a Victorinox at the outdoors shop in Columbus I got my bike, just on a whim of "Swiss army knives kicked ass in boy scouts, lets see what this shit's all about".

Here's what happened:1001.gif

From there on, I had victorinox as my primary tool. Like I said, you have 2 blades and 2 other tools at your disposal without having to open up the thing. The steel is stainless tool steel that is tolerant of abuse. It will give before it snaps, unlike Gerber steel where it's just going to shatter if you look at it wrong.
 
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Big time "plus" for the Leatherman Skeletool. I've beat the shit out of mine and it still works like new.
 
compforce said:
EDC is Leatherman Skeletool (issued by Group). I went through three broken RFI Gerbers and then started giving them away as gifts to friends and family every time I was given more. I swear the military has a love affair with those things, I had at least 8 given to me during RFIs. Civvies love them as gifts and they tend to just go in the glove compartment for emergency use.
Click to expand...

I agree here. The RFI Gerbers were straight up garbage. The RFI Gerber seat belt cutting tool though...that thing worked in a pinch!
 
I've broken Gerbers and Leathermans, I've had the same Victorinox Swisstool for 8+ years and it's still soaking up abuse.
 
Well I guess I'm going to see a Victorinox Swisstool in my future.

What model did you guys get?
 
I had a Gerber from late 80's on to a couple of years ago. It broke. Sent it to Gerber for repair. They didn't make that model anymore and had no parts. So they sent me a new one, actually an upgrade since it had the crimping pliers.



For no charge....
 
I carried a gerber multi-tool in '02 to '03. It didn't hold up well.
EDC'ed a Leatherman Wave in '05 to '13. Right now i carry a Leatherman Charge, which i bought cheap from a surplus store but still in good condition. Its got improved features (154cm steel blade) plus a seatbelt cutter. I miss the "scissors" of the Wave model though. All in all, a great and useful multi-tool for my daily use. I like the Leatherman.

image.jpg
 
I have a Leatherman Skeletool. It is a good basic, no frills tool for light to moderate duty work. You just have to be careful not to over torque it too much. I also have a Wave and it is much more robust. My two cents.
 
49-oht.jpg

51-raptor.jpg




I EDC this right now, top pic. Leatherman OHT. Works like a Gerber but as we all know now, Gerber sucks cock. The second is a Leatherman Raptor. Same design as the old trauma shears. I bought a pair cause I am a gear nerd but for real busy EMS where we get blood, vomit and shit, seems like a giant pain in the ass. Getting skagatch (Italian jargon for dirt or shit), would prove hard to really clean. They are auto-clavable but who the fuck has an auto-clave at home...

F.M.
 
Ranger Psych said:
That's why they expect you to buy a couple sets and make sweet love to someone owning one at a hospital. I looked at the raptor and laughed... how much they wanted for what it does? I'd rather buy more beer.
Click to expand...


a set of plain trauma shears, a leatherman, my sebenza (or whatever carry knife I decide on that day) and some ingenuity in where they are placed... If I need an O2 wrench, I'll pull out my American Kami titanium Combat Spork (yes, it is real and I own one) if I don't have it, well, that's another use for the leatherman.... I don't need to spend another $80 on a hard to clean pair of shears that require a PhD to manipulate.

+2 on the beer idea.

eta link to American Kami.... browse around..... lots of sharp pointies as well as sporks.
 
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