LEATHERMAN Surge – Heavy-duty multipurpose multi-tool

Brilliant tool, well thought out and very well made. Using standard Bosch fitting holder is genius, and the screwdriver uses standard screwdriver bits. Every tool works excellently, even the scissors are a decent size. Very happy!!

This multitool is the only product ever bought from Amazon and is totally worthy and is one of the most rugged and versatile tools ever owned. Too bad because UK legislation and cannot be used as edc but great tool at home or maybe in the ca

I have always wanted a Leatherman but it was not until the demise of my Swiss Army knife (a gift 15 years ago) that i had good reason to purchase one. The initial inspection was a bit confusing as the instruction booklet did not have my precise model in there. After a few minutes it dawned on me that there was no way the tools on info booklet could be on my Leatherman.

After that it has assisted with me when gardening, doing small maintenance on lawnmowers/strimmers and general house maintenance (adjusting screws etc). It feels robust with a reassuring weight. Best of all it is not laden with too many tools that just get in the way when selecting the tool you want.

This is the perfect tool for people who just want a general day to day multi-tool that, when used in front of others, does not make you look like a MacGyver wannabe. A great buy.

Having had a smaller Leatherman since the 1990s, I decided to treat myself to the much larger Surge. My previous Leatherman was made in the USA & came with a leather case. However upon receiving the Surge you can tell the difference in quality as they are made in China. The new Chinese Leatherman tools are no match to the old USA manufactured ones. I’ve had my Surge for over a month now & used in a variety of tasks. My only big concern is the quality of the steel / blades. When cutting wire over a period of time the actual Plier Blades become damaged that rendered poor performance in continuing my task. So I may be returning the Surge or contacting Leatherman to discuss replacing the Plier Blades. Overall it’s a sign of the times when previously good high quality brands switched production to Asia in which the quality of the product diminishes.

Had a leatherman charge tti fantastic piece of kit used heavily every day had it for several years then left it behind on a job gone. Looking for a replacement didnt want to pay charge tti prices. looked at the surge. Bigger and sturdier than the charge in fact for what I use them for its a much better tool. Very very impressed especially at the price.

I love this tool, the blade was razor sharp out of the box. All tools are great infact- except for the flat head screw driver. The first time I used it with any kind of pressure the bit twisted, so it is no longer straight. I could tell from the type of metal used for the bits that this would be the case, reminds me of cheap bits you get with bog standard bit drivers. Having said that, I didn’t buy this tool for the flat head, so no real concerns here. It does lose a star for that fact though as it does cheapen the whole experience.

Really pleased. I knew it was going to be a fairly hefty tool but it’s everything I was hoping for. I did a lot of research for this and everything about it meets up to what I had been hoping for.

Pros;High quality finish, blades and tools are all well formed for precise fit for task.
Cons; too bulky and heavy to carry as a pocket tool,bit driver is not a universal fit so only brand bits used,long blades too far from center mass offers poor contol under heavy use which may risk slipping off task,blades made be left bent after use, easily straightened but over time….
Over all. Its over priced as just a pair of pliers and the tools are for “make do only” below par as a pocket knife or as a multi tool, but its the best pair of pliers i own.

In the month or so since I purchased this, there’s only been about 3 days I haven’t found a use for it. The range of tools is excellent, its very sturdy, and seems to be pretty robust. The sharpness of the blades leaves a bit to be desired, and they don’t seem to be as well hardened as most knives as they do dull pretty quickly – even just cutting duct tape.

Certainly not a cheap tool, but I expect this tool will outlast me if I look after it.

This Surge replaced a Wave which was lost. It seems like a larger heavy duty Wave. Some improvements though, namely better scissors are available before opening the tool. All told, it is built to the most rugged Leatherman standard and all tools function very well. At around 12 ounces it is quite a heavy tool & while it comes with an excellent fibre sheath, I’d rather carry it in a tool kit. The ad says it comes with a leather sheath but this fibre one I think, is better. About the best Leatherman multitool available at the moment.

This is a best tool on the world! Full stop. If you think about buying do not wait any longer. I work with few Leatherman’s and Surge is best so far. I work as a handyman and I can’t imagine my work without it! Strongly recommended.

The build quality of the Surge (new 2013 model) is excellent and every function of the tool works perfectly just as expected. I was especially pleased by the scissors and the main blade, which are very useful. On the other hand I don’t think including two flathead screwdrivers is really useful, the big one should probably be replaced with something else. The blade exchanger and the bit driver are really good and they add a lot of versatility to the tool.
I would certainly recommend the Surge 2013 to anyone looking for a heavy duty multi-tool.

Very pleased with the quality of the leatherman surge, very useful tool to have so many uni-tools in one location to hand. I would like to see a ratchet design for screw bits , one day this might happen. The idea of putting in saw bits from jigsaws for replacements is an excellent design. Top marks for leatherman.

The Surge is one of Leatherman’s top two tools, not only in size but also in functionality. On top of the mandatory semi-needle-nose pliers, it has (take a deep breath)….. a clip-point blade, serrated blade, bottle/can opener, awl with needle loop, scissors, large bit driver, small bit driver, large slot screwdriver, and a blade exchanger. Not only do all of the tools lock in place, the blades, scissors and blade exchanger can all be accessed with the pliers closed, just how I think the majority of us would use them. From the factory, the blades are both fairly sharp without being overly so and each has a one-handed opening loop for getting them out with relative ease. The scissors are much more robust that the ones I’ve seen on other tools and are perfect for cutting through tougher materials. The other tools are all well-made but it is quite difficult to take out one of the tools without the one(s) next to it coming out as well – a small amount of oil might help here.

It seems that most of the other tools will be familiar to anyone who has owned a Swiss Army knife or a pocket tool, possibly with the exception of the bit drivers and blade exchanger. The drivers are metal sockets that, unless you buy an adaptor, only take Leatherman’s proprietary screwdriver bits so you won’t be able to use the 300 hex-ended drivers you’ve had sitting in a drawer for the past 15 years. You only get two bits with the Surge – a small double-ended jeweller’s bit and a large double-ended bit, but others are available as a set should you want them. Even though they’ve given me no trouble yet, I would question the quality of Leatherman’s bits, partly from reading other peoples’ experiences with them on the internet and partly because mine don’t feel particularly robust; the older bit sets in black plastic holders seem to be the ones to go for, if you’re desperate for additional ones.

The blade exchanger is something that you’ll either love as ingenious and forward-thinking, or hate as awkward and restrictive. A simple sliding-lock adaptor, it takes either Leatherman’s wood and saw blades (one of each being included) or any jigsaw blades with a t-shank fitment – I’ve found that Bosch branded blades work well, after a bit of cutting down to fit. What the exchanger does is to do away with your reliance on a single fixed blade that could snap, thereby rendering it completely useless. What it also does is to force you to carry at least one other blade in your pocket, if you’re likely to need more than one during the course of your day. I’m never that far from my tool box, which contains an ample supply of spare blades, but I still find the exchanger to be a clever and useful tool, even if it doesn’t grip some of the thinner jigsaw blades as well as it does Leatherman’s proprietary blades, so they tend to rattle a bit.

Other than that rattle, all of the Surge’s tools lock open firmly with no hint of play at all and the pliers feel extremely solid once deployed. While they lack the technological intricacies found on certain other multi-tools, they incorporate a wire cutter and wire stripper, and are big and robust – it’s obvious that they account for much of the Surge’s weight. Having been spoiled with the marvel that is compound leverage pliers, the ones on the Surge, while rugged, are pretty agricultural and I get the impression that I’d do myself an injury if I tried to use them in the same way. Squeezing them as hard probably wouldn’t hurt the pliers at all, but I couldn’t say the same about my hand, although they do have smooth, rounded handles which does help somewhat.

I’ve heard a few complaints about the quality of recent Leatherman tools, in particular the steel used in their construction, and I have to admit that my Surge (a 2010 model) doesn’t quite seem to have the tightness and solidity of older versions. There’s some movement in the handles with the pliers closed, making them rattle against each other, and the wire cutters don’t close together as closely and precisely as on some other multi-tools. The steel scales look and feels to be of lesser quality than Leatherman tools of old, with a few tarnishes on mine straight out of the box, none of which are serious though. Maybe it’s just me finding fault, and to date my Surge has been faultless, but I still worry that it couldn’t take hard use (or hard weather) quite as well as some of my other multi-tools.

My Surge came with a lovely part nylon / part leather premium pouch with a leather belt loop and nylon loops on either side that look like the kind of places you’d put pens or very thin torches. The pouch doesn’t have any pockets for additional driver bits or spare exchanger blades, but it does have an opening at the bottom which the pliers’ jaws can poke through, allowing you to carry the Surge with the pliers open or closed. My only complaint about the pouch is that cracks appeared in the leather under the closing popper literally after only a day; an unavoidable product of me bending the leather in that spot when opening it, which I hope doesn’t turn into something more serious.

Having bought my share of multi-tools over the years, I came to the conclusion that the perfect tool, combining complete portability with complete practicality, was something I wouldn’t see, so I gave up on that idea and now buy different tools for different jobs. The Leatherman Surge sits towards the `practicality’ end of the scale, with a hefty stainless steel body and tools for almost every job, but it’s still no bigger or heavier than any other full-size multi-tool I’ve handled. I like my Surge very much, but it’s certainly not perfect. It does have some really nice innovations and some heavy-duty (for a multi-tool) accessories mounted in a chassis that I have some doubts about; if the pliers were a bit more advanced and the body felt better made, it would certainly be a 5-star product.