Which keychain multi-tool?

Don't really want a swiss army or anything.
I was looking at the leatherman squirt, but was curious what you guys would recommend. I like what the squirt has.

http://www.knifesupplycompany.com/lt81080001k.html

I love my leatherman micra. a bit smaller than the squirt and less prone to scratching, which is a good thing when carrying it on your keychain.

MayCooper said:

I love my leatherman micra. a bit smaller than the squirt and less prone to scratching, which is a good thing when carrying it on your keychain.

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Hmm amazon reviews were saying the squirt is smaller then the mirca and some people preffered it..
I dunno..

check out the gerber clutch

I am carrying the Micra in my pants pocket since many years and it often was a great help. The Gerber Shortcut would be intersting too, the knife blade is on the outer side of the grip. But it's a little bigger and heavier.

JaGWiRE said:

Hmm amazon reviews were saying the squirt is smaller then the mirca and some people preffered it..
I dunno..

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you're absolutely right, I was having a bit of a brainfart... squirt is slightly heavier, but 0.25" smaller when closed.

Anyway, here's some specs (from the Leatherman website):

Squirt S4

Length: 2.25 in. / 5.5 cm closed
Weight: 2 ounces / 57 grams
Materials: Stainless steel with anodized aluminum scales

Scissors
Straight Knife
Tweezers
Extra-Small Screwdriver
Medium Screwdriver
Small Flat Phillips Screwdriver
Nail File/Cleaner
Opener
Lanyard Attachment
Ruler


Micra

Length: 2.5 in. / 6.35 cm closed
Weight: 1.75 ounces / 50 grams
Materials: 100% stainless steel (Optimum grade hardness for each tool/blade).

Scissors
Clip-Point Knife
Tweezers
Nail File / Cleaner
Flat Phillips Screwdriver
Extra Small Screwdriver
Medium Screwdriver
Bottle Opener
Ruler (Inch / Metric)
Lanyard Attachment

Squirt. Used to carry the Micra but found pliers very useful. It really comes down to personal preference between the tools on each, though. I also liked the fact that I could get to the Squirt's screwdriver bits and a couple of other things without having to open up the whole tool.

I had the clutch in fact I still have it in my cycling pack, the squirt P4 is much better made and smaller (but the pliers open wider). The outside blades are nice to have in the Gerber but are very stiff in mine and not as well made.

micra is nice but the pliers squirt and a good knife are really handy

I know you started the thread by saying you didn't want an SAK. But, given the functionality you said you wanted, you MAY want to reconsider and look at the SAK MiniChamp. http://www.rocketworld.org/victorinox_mini_champ.htm

It really IS small enough to be a keychain tool and it has a lot of useful stuff that really works. It's my EDC.

small blade
scissors
retractable pen
nail file
nail cleaner
emergency blade
cut & picker blade
scraper
cap lifter
magnetic Phillips screwdriver tip
wire stripper
ruler (inch & mm)
screwdriver
cuticle pusher
tweezers
58 mm (2.28 in.) closed
key ring

W.

Vinnyp said:

I had the clutch in fact I still have it in my cycling pack, the squirt P4 is much better made and smaller (but the pliers open wider). The outside blades are nice to have in the Gerber but are very stiff in mine and not as well made.

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Wmi, it seems like there are enough other decent multi-tools, and I am fed up with swiss army (just bored, they are great knives.)
I am looking at the S4, with scissors and tweezers, I think it`d be pretty useful, haha.

I have a leatherman micra.I use it all the time also look at the leatherman juice xe6 that is my next one,

I EDC a SAK Mini-Champ too ..... am considering upgrading to this though .....

http://www.photonlight.com/PTC-Swis...lashlights-p/smld-wenger-swiss-army-knife.htm

The Gerbers blow compared to the Leathermans, and yes I have both. The pliers Squirts are great. If you ever strip wire the RadioShack wire strippers Squirt works surprisingly well and the pliers on that one are nearly as nice as the P4.

The scissors and strippers versions come with tweezers, the pliers version does not.

dammitjim said:

The Gerbers blow compared to the Leathermans, and yes I have both. The pliers Squirts are great. If you ever strip wire the RadioShack wire strippers Squirt works surprisingly well and the pliers on that one are nearly as nice as the P4.

The scissors and strippers versions come with tweezers, the pliers version does not.

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Yeah, I on the rare occasion work with electrical and electronics, but I`m pretty certain in those situations you`ll catch me with full fledged tools, lol.
Pliers are sort of nice, but they probably add some weight to the multi-tool too, and I think scissors would be more useful.

I prefer the Squirt to the Micra, as the Squirt's tools can be accessed without opening it up. Both are quite satisfactory though. I can't make up my mind as between scissor or plier. Carry either and you are more prepared that most folks you'll encounter.

cheers

powernoodle said:

I prefer the Squirt to the Micra, as the Squirt's tools can be accessed without opening it up. Both are quite satisfactory though. I can't make up my mind as between scissor or plier. Carry either and you are more prepared that most folks you'll encounter.

cheers

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Definitley. The only thing is pliers, I think have really err, what's the word, selective applications, where if I was going to use them I'd probably know in advance I'd need them. Scissors on the other hand are just useful all the time :lolsign:.
Seems like the squirt and mirca are both good multi-tools for the keychain and I can't go wrong with either. Compared to my cheapo dealextreme swiss multi-tool knives I'm sure they'll both be vast improvements, I am sick of the swiss army design anyway.

What would you cut with the scissors that you couldn`t cut with the knife blade? On the other hand, there isn`t a substitute for the pliers. JMHO

The Micra for scissors, the Squirt for pliers. The Micra has one of the best EDC scissors you can get. The Squirt is one of the smallest pliers packages you can get. Depends on what you feel you need more between these two, scissors or pliers.

Both of these multi-tools are very well built and perfectly sized for being attached to the keychain and fuctionability.

dig-it said:

What would you cut with the scissors that you couldn`t cut with the knife blade? On the other hand, there isn`t a substitute for the pliers. JMHO

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Thats generally the way I think. But scissors do have some advantages over a blade. For example, this afternoon I cut a wristband off of someone's arm with the scissors on my Wave. A blade could have done it, but the scissors are a little safer. A couple of days ago, I used it to cut a couple of stray threads off of Mrs. Powernoodle's dress. Again, a blade could have done it, but the scissors were easier.

You are right that there is no substitute for pliers.

One approach is to carry one for a while, then the other, and see which gets used more.

Another is to carry a larger SAK or multi-tool that has both. But then you lose the size factors.

cheers