Leatherman Skeletool CX

This summer, I was sure I had lost my Gerber multitool that had been serving me so extremely well through the years. I looked everywhere - over and over - but no luck. Talked to some friends we had recently visited and asked them to check if I had left my Gerber lying around somewhere; nope. Nothing. Finally, I figured that it was time to swallow the (very) bitter pill and get a replacement. After some research I chose the Leatherman Skeletool CX which is way more compact - and much lighter - than the Gerber. Then, after the Leatherman arrived, well you can guess what happened: I reached all the way down into one of the side pockets of my back pack and: hello again to my Gerber!

I was really glad to find the good old tool of mine and, actually, I was also very happy with the new and - in comparison - tiny Leatherman. The two multitools both sport very capable pliers but the design is completely different. Gerber is obviously much more heavy duty and has several built-in tools whereas the Leatherman actually only has two main functions: pliers and a knife. You can use the Gerber pliers with one hand only just fine but forget about the knife; the Leatherman definitely takes both hands to fold out the pliers but you do easily operate the very capable knife with just one hand. The very best of two worlds, then, but unfortunately not in one single package.

So, what gives? It would be major overkill to be carrying around two multitools, that's for sure! To me, this is the deal: the Leatherman is so small and 'skinny' that I hardly notice it in my pocket (it has a very smart clip that holds the tool firmly in place within the pocket) so I actually do end up carrying it most of the time. This - and the fact that folding out the knife and locking it in position with one hand works super smooth - is a really great combination. I don't need the pliers very often so it's okay to me that it takes both hands to use them.

Build quality of these two multitools is excellent; the Gerber is built like a tank and the Leatherman Skeletool perhaps more like a sophisticated surgical instrument (full disclosure though: I know very little about surgery). The joints used to fold in and out the Skeletool plier jaws are ingenious and tight but, of course, there's no way I could do any repairs if they would malfunction somehow.

Thumbs up to both tools but the tiny young guy wins by sheer grace and engineering genius!

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