Leatherman or Gerber?

[Dan1982]

I am in the market for a new multitool and am very torn between the Leatherman Wave or the Gerber freehand. i know how popular the Wave is amongst you all but i find them a touch on the weighty side. i have never handled a Gerber so was just wondering if the quality was as good or if they were any lighter??

All comments welcome!

Dan

 

[rancid badger]

I am in the market for a new multitool and am very torn between the Leatherman Wave or the Gerber freehand. i know how popular the Wave is amongst you all but i find them a touch on the weighty side. i have never handled a Gerber so was just wondering if the quality was as good or if they were any lighter??

All comments welcome!

Dan

I have owned a Gerber for about 12 years,I have no idea which one it is. It has been a hell of a tool, even managing to cut through a 16 strand, cable, bike lock( eventually) in an emergency!
I was admittedly very impressed at the total lack of damage to the cutters but I would go for the Leatherman if I were to look for a replacement, entirely on grounds of quality.

Every Leatherman I have handled seemed to have better feel and build quality.
So that's my two penneth
cheers
R.B.

 

[g4ghb]

sorry to rock the boat but I have and love my victorinox swiss tool

 

[seved]

I have a gerber that i use almost everyday, its good, maybe its a little weake. But i am happy with it. But i am in progress of buying a new one and i think thats going to be a leatherman.

Seved

 

[hiraeth]

I have a Gerber 600 series.Use it most days and have had it for a couple of years now and it has taken a fair bit of abuse and has never given me any problems.
One thing i particularly like is you can open it one handed .

 

[hiho]

i've been looking into a gerber suspension. but also a wave and neevr gone and got one yet... will watch this post with interest

 

[sapper1]

I had the original leatherman supertool for 15 years and swapped it for a leatherman wave imported from america complete with 40 piece bit set . I wouldn't even consider anything else as both tools have never let me down.

 

[Barn Owl]

I'm the same as Sapper1,have both supertool and wave still going strong after years of use.

 

[British Red]

Has a Gerber 800 and a Leatherman Charge.

Leatherman all the way for me, much better made I found

Red

 

[a12jpm]

Office furniture installer by trade so use my multi tool hard and daily for anything that requires me to walk back to the van - sorry I'm a bit lazy.

Gerber lasted 5 weeks, leatherman still going strong after 4 years! If you need to use it daily buy the best you can afford. If it's for occasional use save the money. Down side of saving money is things always tend to break when you most need them not to. Which by the way is normally on the 6th floor of the office building your in with no lift, oh and the van is parked half a mile away thanks to the little hitlers that patrol glasgow city centre!

 

[Lurch]

Leatherman is better build, but reflected in the price.
Gerber have sprung handles but Leatherman do not.
Both apparently have first user lifetime guarantees, I never realised that about the Gerber until the rep told me.
Pays yer moneys, takes yer choice.

 

[Chainsaw]

Dropped my gerber 800 from the top of a ladder and broke the wee spring clip after having had it about 3 years. Emailed the factory then took it back and receptionist gave me a spanking new one straight out the drawer. Now that was a reception area worth browsing round, blades everywhere!! Would post a photo but the gallery is goosed. I don't think you'll go far wrong with either of them, handle them both and then choose.

Cheers,

Alan

 

[JDO330]

Auto Express magazine did a review on multi tools, might be worth having a look as it might put a different angle on things. From memory they really rated the Leatherman but the Gerber's (suspension & 800) came out top based on VFM.

I guess if money isnt a problem then the Leatherman is probably the way to go?

Out of interest, B&Q do the Gerber suspension for £30 if you wanted to have a look at it. I personally think it looks pretty good for the money - probably even cheaper on line.

ATB, Jon.

 

[Native Justice]

Good experiences with the Gerber product are in the minority here in the states. I have the LM Charge and the newest product they've offered, the carbon fiber Skeletool. I love them both but from a purely weight consideration the Skeletool gets the nod big time. It has only the tools you need and actually can be clipped in your pocket without feeling like you need to tighten up your belt another notch to keep your pants up. As ya'll would say, "it's a good bit o' kit". I payed just under $70US for mine and it's worth every penny. It may not be good for those planning to use it for construction or extreme heavy duty (get the Surge,Charge or Wave for that) use but for practical EDC use it's great.

Just my $.02. Good luck on your purchase.

NJ

 

[Rebel]

I have owned a Gerber 600 series for about five years now. I don't use it daily but it does get used regularly. I have no complaints. It certainly did not save me any money as it was the same price as an equivalent Leatherman at the time.

All multi tools are a compromise as a dedicated tool is better. The good quality multi tools are usually broken by people expecting too much from them IMO. A cheap pair of pliers from B&Q is stronger than the most expensive multi tool ones. I wouldn't use my Gerber for any really demanding tasks unless it was an emergency.

 

[slasha9]

I have handled a few Gerber multi tools but I can't imagine any of them matching up to any of my Leathermans (I now have five, even I don't know why) The Surge is too big for EDC (think of a sword with a hinge) and the Charge is really a Wave with a superiority complex.
I agree with one of the previous posts that the new Skeletool will cover almost any EDC job but the Wave has the edge for me (no pun intended).

 

[Graham_S]

I prefer the gerber.
I've broken too many leathermans.

 

[Jedadiah]

Dan, i'm not sure about the model, but i have a Gerber Multitool that is a few years old. Your welcome to it if it helps you decide. That should leave funds to buy a Leatherman and compare the two. All i ask is that, if it is not what you want, pass it on to another worthy cause. Drop me a PM with your address bud.

 

[Brendan]

Broke my original leatherman wave a few weeks ago, my own fault snapping off the serated blade digging in a dead tree!
I sent it back to leatherman and they sent back a brand new black wave and new leather sheath all under warranty, I also have an original pst which is still going strong after 12 years of abuse.
If you find the wave too heavy go for the charge titanium.
Also have a gerber tool which is ok but not a patch on the leathermans.

 

[Mikey P]

Leatherman, Leatherman, Leatherman. No competition.

Started out with Supertool (had for 10 years), then Wave (have had for 3 years) for operational use, and recently Skeletool (stays in my workbag - v light compared to others).

No problems with any, well made, well designed.

Tried Gerber but just didn't like it!

I think it's basically a personal preference: whichever you start out with and get used to, you'll love forever. We used to have the Leatherman/Gerber argument on dets and ops all the time - no-one ever switched!