When I’m at home I’m usually wearing old BDUs from when I worked at the surplus store. 642 in the front pocket and Benchmade clipped to the back pocket or IWB. Been finding myself lately puttering around the house doing this and that and thinking maybe a Leatherman would be a better solution than the old Axis lock.
Requirements are:
[ul]
[li]externally accessible blade with thumb stud or hole for ease of opening
[/li][li]pliers
[/li][li]pocket clip
[/li][li]scissors (ok, not a requirement, just something I’d like to have)
[/li][li]compact size (I really don’t want to tuck a Wave into my waistband)
[/li][/ul]
I had seen the Freestyle and was underwhelmed, but that Skeletool looks promising. Especially with the beer opener! Might have to try to find a local retailer with one in stock and see how it fits in the pocket. I’m not optimistic about the first part, unfortunately.
Seems like a killer deal. Get ahold of dan on the for here. He will let you know if it’s in stock. Tell him you wanna use the ten percent stimulus discount. That’d be a great deal.
I’ve got a couple of the Skeletools (a regular and a CX). I also have an older Leatheman sideclip but it doesn’t have an externally accessible blade and is discontinued.
I have carried the Skeletool CX since late December. I usually EDC a large Sebbie or GB and have no problem dropping the Skeletool into the pocket below them. I don’t notice it until I need it, even in Levi’s. If you wear pants that have the change pocket inside the regular pocket it’s even better.
The tool. Pocket clip is very secure. Pliers are great, knife blade works fine. The screwdriver is good, I like the way it locks into the bit holder. The extra screwdriver blade is held in a slot on the frame, this is the weak point in the design. I lost one bit, replaced it with one from another Leatherman knife I had and haven’t lost it since. You can buy extra bits from Leatherman, I wish they made one that was half Phillips & half slotted, then no worries if you lose the stored bit.
If I were buying one I’d buy the regular stainless. It’s cheaper, weighs the same and other than blade steel / color no difference. The blade on the regular is as good or better than the Swiss Army knife I carried for daily cutting chores. And the bottle opener does work quite well!
There’s also the CRKT zilla and zilla jr, but I’m not sure if they would be better than the skeletool. I guess the gerber crucial might also fit the bill.
Thanks for the link, that was interesting. I saw they also had a review of the Skeletool. I think I may order both from Amazon as I think I could find ways to use each of them.
Another vote for the Skeletool. I have the stainless and it replaced the EDC knife and leatherman squirt I used to carry for probably a bit less weight.
Another vote for the Skeletool. Carried ever since the day I purchased it. No regards. Still carry my EDC knife and the blade on my Skeletool CX is a secondary “in case” blade.
