New to multi tools, need some help!

I am new to multitools and have never owned one (only cheap Swiss army knives).I need a multi tool that I will use for hiking, camping, emergency, I'm not planning to EDC it.

The Leatherman Surge, and Charge TTi seems nice to me and I hear a lot of good stuff especially on the Charge, but I can't really decide between them.

One negative thing I heard about the Surge is that the main blade is made out of weaker metal(?).

Any suggestions of good, reliable multi tools? I heard rusting is a big problem.

and how do you maintain multi tools? Can I spray WD-40 to clean, lubricate them?

Do I need knife sharpeners?

Let me start off by saying that I am not an expert on multi-tools and don't claim to be. But, I own quite a few multi-tools and I know what I like and what works for me.
I am just going to stick to my opinion of Leatherman in this post. The Charge TTI is by far my favorite full size multitool. It contains every tool in it that I would ever need. (no need to list tools here anyone can look them up) The main blade on the TTI is S30V steel, which is a plus, if this is the only blade that you carry, holds a great edge. The Charge blade is always my back up blade, I carry another knife for daily tasks. (easier to use and deploy) When I carry the Charge TTI it is always either in my Maxpedition EDC pocket organizer, or in its sheath, too big for pocket carry.
I have never had a rusting problem with any of my multi-tools, if you take care of them they won't rust. As far WD-40 is concerned I would never use is on my multi-tools, I like Tuf-Glide, use it on all my multi-tools and knives, along with a little Flitz polish when I want to shine them up.
As far as sharpeners go I use the Lansky system, But if the blade on the multi-tool is the only thing you need to sharpen, the Smith's pocket sharpener is great.
If you want a smaller multi-tool, check out the Leatherman Juice S2, small enough for pocket carry, and has the best scissors of any multi-tool on the market, IMHO.
As you can tell I am a big Leatherman fanboy. I never have had any problems with any of the Leatherman's that I own, and they also have a great warranty behind them if something should go wrong.
Take care and I hope my opinion on Leatherman helps you out.

I recently bought a Charge TTi to replace my ageing Winchester model and I couldn't be happier. The things that made the Charge stand out to me were the excellent one hand opening and locking main blade and the fact that all of the tools lock. There aren't many multitools where the main blade can completely substitute for a decent folding knife for edc. I really didn't expect the "2d" bits to work very well but they do, in fact every tool except maybe the bottle opener seems well designed for actual use. As a bonus, the sheeth has elastic side pouches that hold my 1xAAA edc light (ITP A3) perfectly.

All that said, if I weren't planning to edc it I'd probably go with a larger model like the Supertool. There are times when a larger pliers would be useful as would the ability to hammer with it (think tent stakes). I wouldn't worry too much about the steel. Better ones will hold an edge longer but you still need to sharpen them eventually. I havn't had much luck with special sharpening tools, I may just be dumb but the only thing that works for me is a plain old sharpening stone. I've never had a problem with rust, just keep it clean and dry and it'll be fine. I do wipe the blade with an oily rag sometimes but the only time I spray anything into it is if it's gotten very wet.

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Thanks for the comments!

I also have only found positive stuff about the Charge TTi, and most of the other Leatherman products. So I ordered the Charge TTi with a Style CS as a replacement to my Swiss tool.

Good choice! I ordered a Leatherman Charge TTi this weekend. It was a local offer on the internet (Netherlands) for about the same price as a Wave, so after reading some reviews (also on this wonderful forum) I decided to go for the Charge.

My charge TTi arrived today! (they had it on stock) It's very well built, and comfortable also smaller than I expected

Only negatives I found is that the tools inside flips out pretty hard, kinda hurts my nails. When I close the tool, the plier head scratches a little against the inside but I don't think it will cause problems.

The price was incredibly high, I guess because it's imported to the EU, all the places sells this for about 250USD (converted). If you take away the tax, it's about 200 USD.

I also got the Style CS with it, as a EDC tool. I chose it because I find myself needing scissors more than pliers. Very compact and the tools are very useful for me, there aren't much useless tools on it (for me).

I already became a Leatherman fan! plus their 25 year warranty sound very nice!

Will definitely get a more compact Leatherman in the future, Skeletool CX? Wave? Blast?

Mine was a little stiff at first but it lostened up a bit with some use.

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My BLast is my EDC. They are a bit stiff at first. The scissors are PHENOMENAL (provided you dont mind taking tiny snips...) I use Tri-flow lube on mine once in awhile.

Warranty service on them is GREAT, if you ever abuse your tool and need it repaired. Or, if for some reason you saw down a forest and need to sharpen it...they'll gladly do it for you.

yliu said:

Will definitely get a more compact Leatherman in the future, Skeletool CX? Wave? Blast?

Click to expand...

I have a Surge, Skeletool CX, and a Style CS

The Surge is what I carry to one of my places of work due to the need for fairly robust pliers.

The Style CS lives on my key ring. Great tweezers. Fantastic little tool!

My EDC and favourite is the Skelly. It gets the most use and has the main tools covered in a Very attractive package.
I dig it! :thumbsup: