is the "leatherman wave" any good?????

I would give it 3+ stars. I carry one routinely and it has come in handy many times for simple tasks. The pliers are not slip joint so they are not as functional as they could be but they are decent wire cutters.

Slice: I have owned a Leatherman Wave for the past five years, and two Christmas's ago I gave each of my two grown sons one. It is my opinion the Wave is one of the best muiti-tools on the market today. I don't carry mine on my person daily but it's with me whenever I take an overnight trip, go shooting, or fix something for the wife, I use my wave even though I must have several thousand dollars worth of tools in my workshop. My two sons feel the same way about theirs. BTW, I will not use it on gun scews unlee it was an emergency repair

Used my first wave for 7 years before I lost it. Now have a secound wave in use for 3 years. I like the thinner design, don't care to carry a tool with 2 dozen functions that's an inch thick.

From what I can tell they are 'pretty good' (3.5 star). But if I were you, I'd try and find an old Schrade ToughTool. You can still find them NIB on fleaBay. Actually, just this morning I won an auction for a NIB one. They were never that cheap when they were still in production!!!
I've had one for 15 years and lemme tell ya, they are absolutely indestructible.
The one I bought today is going to be preserved and stored so that one day when I am old and grey and I come close to wearing out my current ToughTool, I can have a new one ready to go.
They easily earn a 5* rating in my book.

I carry a Charge TTI (a titanium handled version of the Wave with upgraded s30v blade steel) on a duty belt every day. I don't have a ton of experience with other quality multitools (just cheap chinese hardware store leatherman copies). My assessment after a couple years of carry is that the leatherman is certainly worth the price of admission. With a multitool, you're often in the position of making a tool do something it's only borderline suited for; the Leatherman is sturdy enough to stand up to what amounts to more or less regular abuse. I'm sure the Wave would be very close to the Charge's functional equal, though obviously a bit heavier.

I'll admit that I still prefer to carry just a locking knife when I'm off duty. Less bulk and easier to clip into whatever pocket is free after I strap on a gun, wallet, phone, keys, etc., etc.

The Wave is the best Multitool I have used yet, if you get one be sure to get the accessory set of tool inserts. They have spare screw drivers and torx heads as well as sae and metric allens.

I've got the Ti version of the Wave too. I won a SS version at the Massey shoot that I advertised here, which my wife promptly decided was hers. I've carried, and still have, several multitools but this one is my favorite. I've got the "bit kit" that has interchangeable bits that fit loads of hardware, even the Roberts and Tork fittings.

It's my second one. The first fell off my RV (don't ask) and got run over several times. I told the lady on the phone when I was ordering a new one that getting run over by dozens of cars constitutes "normal use" and should be covered under warranty. She didn't agree but she did laugh and gave me a discount.

4.5 Stars

Going on the premise that "nothing is perfect" I can't give it 5 stars, but you've listed 4 stars as "good." In my estimation the Wave is Very Good, so 4.5 stars.

The tools that I've found useful haven't always been the ones I thought would be "most used." I primarily bought it for two reasons when I was selecting a replacement for my Leatherman Supertool: 1) the two main knife blades are immediately accessible without having to open the main tool, and they are easy to open one-handed, and 2) the rounded edges of the plier handles don't dig into my palms like the ones on the older Supertool.

The knife blades are my favorite part of the tool, but I've found these useful, too:

• The "micro" screwdriver is good for tightening the screws in my eyeglasses, working on small electronics, and is the perfect size for popping bathroom doorknob push-button locks from the outside;
• The can opener actually opens cans;
• The pliers themselves have been very useful for opening stuff, holding stuff, bending & straightening metal, cutting wire, whatever;
• The screwdrivers are okay, but a shank extender would be extra useful;
• The scissors have been used more than anything but the knives and pliers; I can trim my nails with them, open stubborn packets, trim threads on clothing, snip strings from tags when using a knife would be a bad idea;
• One side of the file works surprisingly well for finger nails after using the scissors to trim off a ragged edge or fix a chipped nail;
• The ruler works, but is a little awkward.

I've never used the saw blade, so I can't say how well that works.

All in all, it does everything I have wanted from it. Now, if I could find an extension for the screwdriver shank, it would be "even gooder."

I've had one for 15 years and lemme tell ya, they are absolutely indestructible.

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Nope...not quite indestructable.

Add one frozen screw, one very cold rainy winter day, and one fustrated guy , and you get a broken Tough Tool.

I bent out the locking "tab" on the slotted driver side. Now I have a Tough Tool that won't lock on one side.

But it did last for almost 18 years.

I don't have any experience with the wave, but I bought the Leatherman Core multi-tool a while back. I never thought they'd be worth the money, but after spending way more money on other, cheaper tools, I finally decided to get a Leatherman. I can't tell you how glad I am that I did. It's lasted way longer and has been tighter and stronger than any of the other ones I've had and I think they're well worth the extra money. 5*

Nope...not quite indestructable.

Add one frozen screw, one very cold rainy winter day, and one fustrated guy , and you get a broken Tough Tool.

I bent out the locking "tab" on the slotted driver side. Now I have a Tough Tool that won't lock on one side.

But it did last for almost 18 years.

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Ok fine, so nearly indestructible. (outright abuse notwithstanding)

I actually just found out that new ones are being made in China. No idea if this has any impact on quality. So I can't vouch for the Chinese ones. Mine is Schrade USA.

4 stars here.

They seem to do a better heat treat on the stuff that should be heat treated than other multi-tool makers. (except for the gerber that my brother has from the early 90s, that is )

I've not used a leatherman wave, but have been thru a couple of the original models.... They're extremely well made. Both mine are now failed, the first one was warranted , and the second one will be.

Turns out that the bypass cutters aren't up to heavy, hard steel wire (but it needed cutting now, and they succeeded, but damaged the cutter)... That was #1. #2 failed via gross failure of the plier forging at the handle/hinge junction.... but that was after MANY years of hard use. I don't fault it. It'll be replaced.

J

I carry and use the Leatherman "Supertool." I have a "Wave" in one of my gear bags, but I just like the feel of the "Supertool" for everyday use.

Cannot go wrong with Leatherman products.

19-3Ben said:

From what I can tell they are 'pretty good' (3.5 star). But if I were you, I'd try and find an old Schrade ToughTool. You can still find them NIB on fleaBay. Actually, just this morning I won an auction for a NIB one. They were never that cheap when they were still in production!!!
I've had one for 15 years and lemme tell ya, they are absolutely indestructible.
The one I bought today is going to be preserved and stored so that one day when I am old and grey and I come close to wearing out my current ToughTool, I can have a new one ready to go.
They easily earn a 5* rating in my book.

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How do I tell the "old" Schrade Tough Tool from current production?

I like my wave. I had to take some fine sandpaper to the thumb/opening grooves in the knife blades (which were uncomfortably sharp) but otherwise great stuff.

How do I tell the "old" Schrade Tough Tool from current production?

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If your doing the E-Bay thing you will need a photo of the pliers. On the left hand side will be stamped U.S.A.

Right hand side will be SCHRADE.

No U.S.A, then it is a Taylor.

id give my Wave ****
its been through alot of rough spots and came out doing ok
ive owned it for about 4 years now and the only problems ive had were the security torx that hold the tools in place tightened up to the point that a few things wouldnt come out without force (fixed that finaly found security torque bits) and the file snapped in half at one point (dont know when or how) but i dont use the file often and tehres still enough there to use so im not sweating a replacment
its not perfect but its as close as i can find at a price i can afford

i would recommend getting one

I love my Wave. I carry it every day that I can.

Just received my brand new Chinese made ToughTool in the mail. It is absolute garbage. Not worth the metal it's made from. There is absolutely no comparison with the USA made knife.

I'll post a full review with pics in the next couple of days. I just wanted to mention it here in case anyone saw my previous posts and decided it would be a good idea to try out the new ToughTool.

I am thinking about buying the Leatherman Wave and I really want to know:
Is it worth the money? So if there is anyone out there who owns the Leatherman Wave, I want to hear what you have to say.

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I have owned and carried a Wave for about 12 years (farmer) and have literally abused the tool. I have used it from opening wire bales to repairing my tractor and everything in between. Although the tool now looks like heck from my abuse it still functions like a dream. Based only on my personal experience with the Wave I can only give it the highest of recommendations.

There are at least two different designs of the Leatherman wave one has locking tools (+) that can/have to be removed to use (-) it is also larger. It gives you one less tool and the ability to loose 4 of them if/when you drop one is smaller than a tooth pick I only have one of this version.

The other is slightly more compact with nothing to loose but no locks on the drivers I have two of these and they are the ones I use most.

5 STARS

The Wave is well built. It has everything I need in a multi-tool and nothing that I do not. I carry mine every day (even to church on sunday).

Another plus is that it covers up the bulge of my Kahr in an IWB pretty well!