Leatherman Wave Multi-Tool
[KLW]

I have to say, this is the best £90 (got mine a few years ago) that I’ve ever spent. Although it may seem pricey, I’d say that the Wave is totally worth it. I doubt very much more than a week has gone by since I first bought it that I’ve not used it for something or other.

I’ll start with the case. I got a leather case with mine although I’m not sure if they come with a leather or nylon one nowadays. Mine is very sturdy; the leather is a few mm thick and has stood up really well. There are elastic channels on either side that can be used to store the torch that it comes with. I never use the torch so only have a few matches in the elastic.

My case has a pop-stud to fasten it which has held up well to all the abuse that its received. Finally, the belt loop on the back is large enough for it to fit onto a PLCE webbing belt (some coaxing required though) so you can have it easily accessible on your webbing.

The torch that mine came with is fairly bright and has a magnet on the end for standing it up on a work surface. I’ve never really used it though but it’s a nice extra.

Now onto the Wave proper! When it’s in the ‘closed’ position (folded up, pliers hidden inside) is when you fold out the cutting tools. It comes with a straight-edged knife, a serrated blade, a metal saw with coarse and rough files and a wood saw.

The plain edge knife is extremely sharp (I’ve not needed to sharpen mine at all) and is sturdy – there are a few small dings near the tip of the blade in mine but nothing serious and it is still sharp. You can open the blade with one hand (ungloved, with gloves it would be harder) and it has a sturdy locking mechanism that you can undo with one hand as well. At its widest, the blade is about 2mm thick. It reduces down to about 1mm near the tip. Plenty thick enough to be a good cutting tool!

The serrated blade is also very sharp but can be tricky to open with a single hand. It has the same locking mechanism as the knife (and as the other two tools). The blade is a fairly uniform thickness of about 1½mm which makes it suitable for quite demanding tasks.

The metal saw is quite useful, as are the files. However, as a substitute for a hacksaw and proper files it doesn’t come close. Good if you’ve no alternative though. Also, the blade is about 1mm thick which means it isn’t suited to fine metalwork.

I don’t have much occasion to saw wood and although the wood saw on the Wave is sharp enough it is fairly awkward to use as it has such a small length. It is good for getting rid of small branches etc. but a standalone saw is a much better alternative if you can carry one! At the end of the saw is a lanyard ring that slides out. I don’t use it but it is obviously a good way to secure the Wave to the sheath/yourself.

When you open the Wave up you get a decent pair of needle nose pliers with a wire cutter. The pliers are strong and have held up to abuse well. The wire cutter is useful but not extremely good.

The handles of the pliers are where the inner tools of the Wave are stored. On one side it has a bottle and can opener combination and a socket that comes with medium flathead and Philips screwdriver ends. You can buy a bit kit that has a wide range of ends that fit into the socket.

I’ll say now that all of the tools lock into place when fully opened. There is a button on the back of each handle that unlocks them when depressed. This is a really useful feature when using any of the bits – far better than non-locking Swiss Army knives that have tools that will fold in under pressure.

On the other handle there is a slightly wider and longer Philips screwdriver bit, a pair of scissors and a much smaller socket that has a very small flathead and Philips bit. The scissors are good – they’ll cut through string quite easily, and thin wires. They aren’t extremely sturdy however. The mini screwdriver bit is extremely useful. It’s the same size as the screwdrivers you get in glasses repair kits but you won’t lose this one. It is quite hard to get out though, so I just leave the flat head end out on mine to save having to change it over. Also, because it is so thin its quite delicate; treat it with care!

Another good feature of the Wave is that there is a ruler in cm and inches on the outside of the handles when opened up. Handy when you’ve misplaced your ruler although when you want to measure anything over 3” it can be quite awkward as the pliers get in the way.

The Wave comes with a 25 year guarantee which says something in itself! In terms of brand name, although probably the most expensive choice, I’d say Leatherman are far ahead of Gerber (having seen a friend’s) and far outclass the humble Swiss Army knife.

Date Added: 20/12/2010 by Arrse Reviews