Leatherman Charge TTi- first impressions

[KC2IXE]

I just got my leatherman TTi today from leatherman4less.com (standard disclaimer - only relation is as a 1st time customer)

Now - I'm a serious Knife nut. I've probably rejected more knifes for some reason or another than most people will own - I'm seriously picky about my knives

I've owned an original super tool, a Mini, a micra, and a couple of squirts, but other than the micras/squirts, all have been rejected as EDC on my person carry - there is always one in my backpack, but...

First impression - it's heavier than I thought
2nd - if your going to put an S30V blade on a tool - please sharpen it. I don't consider the edge that is on the main blade out of the box to be acceptable

The notches on the back of the secondary blade that are supposed to allow you to ID which blade is which by feel are way too rounded off to feel them - it is as if they buffed them with a fairly aggressive deburring wheel, and all the edges are gone

I LIKE the blade shape on the main blade

The file - what can I say - the diamond side looks/feels OK, but man, can the actually cut some REAL teeth on the regular side - the teeth seem to be rounded, and bidirectional - they are supposed to have a sawtooth profile

The saw looks OK

The pliers - the come to a nice needle point, but except for the 1st serration at the top, they do NOT fully close

The interchangeable bit - #1-2Phillips - 3/16 straight bit - folks - it's either #1, or it's #2 - don't give me a bodge up

Can Opener, Mini Bit, flat blade - look like they will be OK

Scissors - hey, they trimmed my moustache OK - I usually use my knife to cut things like paper (see - sharpen the blade please)

I'll try it for a while, AFTER I sharpen the blade - as it is, I don't consider it a knife replacement - maybe once it's sharp

I wish multi tool mfgs would do a few things - first - FILES are NOT made out of stainless steel (well - nail files, but...) Put a real high carbon steel "it rusts when you look at it" file in there - and for the pliers... Figure out what kind of steel say - Klein or ChannelLock use for their pliers, and use it - yeah, you'll have to clean/oil it once in a while so it won't rust, but you'll have a better tool

 

[Morelite]

Nice review

The TTi is new to me, how does it differ from the XT?

 

[KC2IXE]

I'm not sure about the xT - the TTi is basicaly a combination of the Ti and xTi, but with the blade upgraded to S30V

 

[carl]

How does the top-of-the-line SOG multitool compare to the Charge? It doesn't have interchangeable bits but I like the increased grip strength on the plier. I keep wondering which one to get. What do you think?

 

[cy]

pictures sure would be nice...

 

[kanarie]

2nd - if your going to put an S30V blade on a tool - please sharpen it. I don't consider the edge that is on the main blade out of the box to be acceptable

Isn't the primary knife blade 154CM steel ?? (was also bad sharpened on the Ti) And the rest of the tools from S30V steel??

 

[D@rk Messenger]

Isn't the primary knife blade 154CM steel ?? (was also bad sharpened on the Ti) And the rest of the tools from S30V steel??

That's the Ti you're thinking about, the rest of the tool is made of 420 stainless, and of course titanium, with S2 tool steel for the bits, and only the clip point blade is S30V.

 

[Perfectionist]

Well seeing as I'd lost my old Ti ..... I thought I'd get the new 2007 TTi ..... even though the discontinued Ti could be bought for kick *** prices ....

Big mistake !!

I knew there was little difference between the old Ti and new TTi apart from the addition of the Crimper and Cutting Hook and better steel on the Main Blade ..... but I did assume the new Charge would be more refined in fit and finish and so worth the higher price .....
Nope !!

The fit is actually worse (on mine anyway) than my old Ti .....
- the four external blades don't sit in the centre when closed, in fact the File blade actually scrapes the side when deploying (hopefully it won't rub off the Diamond coating)
- one side of the internal blades is far too tight and the other too loose
- the Plier heads don't perfectly close together leaving a gap
- the Liner Locks are all off-centre and one looks like it may slip
- the Main blade is nowhere near sharp

I'm gonna lube it up with Militec and put it through my SharpMaker but overall ..... I reckon I'd have been better off getting the older Ti's for a much better price .....

 

[iocheretyanny]

stop scaring me, I just ordered it

BTW on Amazon it is $107 shipped, and comes with free Barska 8x21 Binoculars.

Now a question to you guys who already have it - it comes with a fixed flat screw driver - WHY? since you have interchangable bits that can do that? for prying?

 

[Perfectionist]

On my old Ti I sharpened it down to make a chisel/scraper/pry ..... also sharpened the micro screwdriver to use as an awl/punch .....

 

[Duluth Diesel]

Good review. I'm not sure what to do now. I've been wanting to get the new TTi, but maybe I'll stick to my old Made in USA original Wave. It does the job, and has been my EDC for years. I agree the blades are a compromise, which is why I carry an Emerson CQC-13 and a very abusable SuperKnife as well.

 

[JasonC]

I have both the TI and TTI so here are couple of my comments.

1. The main blade on both seem pretty sharp to me but then again I don't own any other decent knives so cannot compare the sharpness.

2. The notches to distinguish the serrated blade are a bit rounded but it does do its job and lets you feel which blade is which, I think if they were too sharp it could catch in your pocket/bag etc.

3. The file on my TI did catch on the body slightly but not enough to concern me, however, the file on my TTI does not catch the body at all. The serrated part of the file does feel fairly smooth but in practise it does its job fairly well. I think if it was carbon steel it would not be practical for a lot of people because of the rust factor.

4. The pliers do not close 100% on either version without pressure but why would you need them to close 100%? most things that you would hold with the pliers would be more than thick enough for the pliers to grip. As a test I tried to hold a peice of paper with them and with moderate pressure it held it perfectly. Another test I did was to try and undo a nut which was stuck and so I had to put my full weight on the pliers to grab the nut, it took all of my weight (78kg, I know I'm slim!) without any problems.

5. The hard wire cutters also worked perfectly for me when I had to cut a couple of sections out of barbed wire, no damage at all to the edges of the cutters.

6. I have used the saw a few times (with both models) on thick branches and it works perfectly, albeit a little awkward because of the overall size.

7. The scissors work fine on both models.

8. The locking mechanisms work fine on both models.

9. The movement of the blades/handles seem a little stiffer on the TTI but that could be just because it's new.

In general I like both of the models, the TTI just has a couple of extra features which is obviously beneficial.

Jason