# leatherman tools



## Brock200 (Mar 5, 2009)

Hey guys and girls

I am an owner of a leatherman Blast tool which i find extremely handy when fishing off yaks, it has a good sized knife to cut up bait, got the pliers to perform surgery on the fish who tend to have an appetite for the whole hook etc. HOWEVER mine has began rusting all over after a 2 trips on my yak DESPITE me looking after it well, hosing it down, soaking it in fresh water over night, and oiling it once dry! its never been fully submerged in the salt, maybe a splash here and there from the paddle, but it was in its case so the leather case copped majority of it, this tool is supposedly 154CM steel with titanium in it, so after reasearch its meant to be good stuff. Anyway i sent it away through BCF and got it back today 2 weeks later after apparently being "buffed" yet rust was still on it! Not happy AT ALL, and i am considering a refund and spending the $130 buks on a new reel, maybe i can find something good at army disposal. So what i want to know is if any of you guys have owned one, whether its rusted on you after a short period of time and whether they are a good tool for on the water? If not... what do you use on the water that is better quality and has the same functionality as the leatherman?

cheers

Brock


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## rob316 (Oct 2, 2007)

even the highest quality steel is prone to rust / electrolasis from exposure to salt water and air mate...I have tried expensive and cheap multitools and none of them do well after periods in that environment...I now use the xtools floating - they don't for long - pliers as they have a tungston cutting edge thats good for braid as well ... I also carry a small divers knife in sheath as well....they are both lasting the distance... ;-)


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## Brock200 (Mar 5, 2009)

thanks for the info rob.. its funny though, some people must just get lucky when they buy something thats stainless and it never rusts. My old man has a pocket knife that has sat in salt water for ages and it has never got a spot of rust on it, he got it from army disposal tho, so it is probably made of some pretty awesome materials to withstand a beating and a half. Then again i did maintain this one well... and after minimal use it was rusting in the joints and all kinda of places! Just thought that for 130 buks i would be getin something that would last a bit longer without getin rusted up


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## Cammers (May 18, 2008)

Hey brock,
Yeah I have a leatherman and mine has developed surface rust on it. Mine has never seen saltwater, only used it for freshwater fishing, camping and when I was working on a farm. Its had a pretty hard life. I never rinsed it or maintained it though, so maybe I deserve it. I have chosen to stick with a fixed blade knife, line/braid clippers and a standalone set of pliers on the yak instead.

Cheers mate

cam


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## basschaser (Jan 30, 2009)

ive got a wave tool, it has done me great up in the mountains, chasing trout, i have not been game enough to take it out on the yak though as loosing it would be worse than a little bit of rust. although i have also just recently got mine back from BCF, for some reason it got very loose... so you couldnt even use the pliers, send it off and got it back for free and she works great again... a great little service!!!


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## Booyah (Apr 26, 2009)

I also have rust issues with leathermans and wouldnt use them near salt water, i did however find their service/warranty very good. I had a leatherman wave (previous model) for several years then used it at the beach a few times and it got a bit rusty and the pliers where nie on impossible to use, hence i sent it off to get fixed. They ended up sending me a brand new wave but the newer model at no cost other than postage. I didnt learn my lesson though and used this one in the salt as well...pliers again stuffed, will send it off as well and hope for another replacement..whicj i'll keep away from the ocean!


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## Guest (May 6, 2009)

Got my Supertool for many years now, don't do anything to it, and it is fine. No rust at all??
I know that sometimes the tools(high carb) used to produce the thing (whatever it is) bring small particles into the surface of the stainless steel (fiction/preassure), which starts to rust then.
But it's strange got lethermans for over 10 years all fine (a bit worn mabye).
One stainless knive I've got rusts when you look at it, my other stainless dive knive i don't even rinse every time and it is fine..?


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

When comparing the different stainless products remember there are many grades of s/s, and not all are marine grade, which is why you see so much variation in performance.....look for S/S 316 when buying for marine use


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## john316 (Jan 15, 2009)

got 2 leatherman tools. One was a 40th birthday present - now 16 years old - and the other from a Salvos op shop, age and previous maintenance unknown. Have had zero trouble with either of them and the secondhand one lives in the pocket of my hobie and seems to thrive on total neglect. The press stud on the pouch has got hard to do up and undo but the pliers are very useful with dehooking toothy critters...

John


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## simond11 (Aug 29, 2005)

I also have a Leatherman and it has developed rust on it, although it has never been near saltwater. Would not dream of taking it on the yak.
I think one just has to be lucky as to which piece of equipment gets rusty and which doesn't.
Cheers

Simon
Prowler 15


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## Guest (May 6, 2009)

Probably they used different sort of steel for different models, or changed it.
Would explain it..?


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## Junglefisher (Jun 2, 2008)

Seems like maybe the older ones used a more rust resistant grade of steel?


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Ive used my Wave on the yak for two years now and it looks good as new. I have it leashed on and keep it in the side pocket of the Revo. Like everything else on board it goes in the hull in the surf zone.
When it develops a bit of rust I scrub it with an old toothbrush or a scourer for the tuff stuff


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## Brock200 (Mar 5, 2009)

thanks for all the posts guys, seems like some people have got leatherman tools that have excellent rust resistance, and some have leatherman's that rust.. Interesting! supposedly the new material they use is 154CM steel, i believe the old knives were made with 400-series steel which isnt as corrosion resistant as the 300-series like what dodge said, 316 is the best marine grade and has higher concentrations of nickel and 2% molybdenum for resistance against chlorides (such as salt NaCl etc) most of the Caribbeans i use on my kayak are 316 and cost a fortune! however not a spot of rust on them at all despite being under the saltwater attached to my anchor . 154CM apparently is a great all round steel for corrosion resistance, hardness and edge quality, and most of their tools after 2004 are supposed to be made from this material. Hard to say whether 400 series steel is superior to 154CM grade. I personally believe if it is a true stainless steel it should be able to resist most surface corrosion for a longer period of time then 2 months and 3 fishing trips, different story if it was submerged in salt water often perhaps


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## yakattack (Jan 12, 2008)

You could also try giving it a coat of inox after each trip i find that even the cheepest quality stainless steel wont rust if you hit it with inox after a wash down.

Cheers Micka


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## AndyC (Feb 29, 2008)

I hope I'm not going to 'get it in the neck' here. I have this funny feeling I am treading on hallowed ground (Brand Power).

Firstly, do I understand correctly that this item cast $130? I just googled up Letharman Blast and Up came Amazon with that brand and model (Blast) for $36.77 (US $, I presume), plus shipping. Perhaps its a different model?

Secondly, in answer to "what do you use on the water that is better quality and has the same functionality as the leatherman?"

I Don't know exactly what functions a Leatherman Blast has but you can get it together with a 40 bit assortment for $55.75 (again, propably US$), plus shipping.

Personally, I recently picked up a multi-tool at SupaCheap for $10. The only brand on it is "SCA" and it has the word "Stainless' printed on the plier jaws. It has fine-nosed pliers, a plane knife, scissors and a whole lot of other bits and bobs that I'll probably never use (but the phillips head screwdriver came in handy already.

It has been on a half dozen salt water trips, off the rocks and in the yak. I've actually washed it in salt water to remove bait gunk and I've never thought to "maintain" it at all. There isn't a sign of any rust or other blemish on it and the knife even holds a reasonable edge.

The downside is that it is small but is fine for removing hooks and crushing hook barbs and cutting up bait. I have my eyes open for a larger model. But it does everything I want it to do and, at $10, I won't need it back to slash my wrists with, when I inevitably drop it over the side.

Reading how this high profile, brand name item has performed, I am convinced yet again, of the folly of over-advertised, over-priced, over-rated "quality' shopping.

Cheers All,

AndyC


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## Greybeard (Mar 17, 2008)

The leather pouches should only be used to carry the tool when in use like all good Knives never store them in leather for long periods leather will hold moisture.
Cheers Greybeard


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## Hydrofoil (Apr 15, 2009)

Hi all,
I have had leathermen for years. My first was a supertool, a gift given to me 15years ago. It has come out on all my sea water fishing trips- I have a runabout which during summer months usualy got taken out every fortnight. I had no problems at all with the supertool. After fishing I usually blast it down with fresh water, then I lube all the blades with olive oil. The olive oil seems to be fish friendly as opposed to wd40 etc.
The second I bought recently9Wave tool), again no major rust problems. I do get little rust colour markings from time to time but after a good clean and the same process as above it comes back pretty good. Sometimes I open it all up and bang it into the dishwasher. Most importantly you must lube it back up afterwards.

Interesting points mentioned in the above posts about the quality of stainless steel, Old v new etc. I work in an industry that works with ss. Recently we have noticed imported steel from china has lower nickle content due to the price of nickle soaring in the last year. In order for steel to be classified as stainless steel it has certain specifications and each has a tolerance levels.ie it must fall between a high and low content of 'ingredients'. The imports we are buying at the moment are at the lowest nickle content level but still withing tolerence. We have has issues relating to corrosion due to this. It still is regarded as stainless but its durabilituy and corrosion resistance is very much lowered.

Hope this helps, remember always treat you gear with respect, give it a good old oil down, use olive its cheap and it works,

Later
Leo


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## YakN00b (Jun 9, 2008)

I am along time Leatherman user and have several. I find that if I dont touch my supertool it does develop some surface rust but a spray with inox and a wipe and its gone. Now I spray it with inox every 2 trip or so and it never rusts.
as has been said keeping it in a salt soaked leather pouch isn't the best environment for it.

Another thing about stainless is if you get it in contact with normal steel ie rub with steel wool etc it will rust badly afterwards.


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## theclick (Jun 25, 2007)

Yup. any contact with regular steel will cause problems. If you use steel wool on it, say goodbye. Best option with these, is if you don't get your money back, buy something cheaper and see how that works....or keep all your gear seperate. Ie: seperate scisors, pliers, etc etc. That way if one goes, you dont lose your whole hit.

Cheers for the tip on the small SCA ones. Ive been looking at them with some interest but suspected they would die without much convincing. Will have to check em out.


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## rawprawn (Aug 31, 2005)

Probably a case of the older ones being made of better steal. New models being made from China SS probably a cause for concern. I had a great Gerber for years on always had it with me on the yak. As with most things I own I didn't look after it overly well. It never rusted.

I'd still have it if I didn't drop it overboard when getting me feet tangled up in my anchor line


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## Redfish (Apr 25, 2007)

I had issues with leatherman's back when they only had the original! Starting to show my age!

I decided it was easier and better to carry a proper set of pliers and proper bait knife. I'm not overly concerned if I lose one overboard and they don't rust as much. Plus you don't have to wash the pilchards you've been cubing out of the folding sections!


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## Red Herring (Dec 18, 2006)

Brock,

If I can give you a tip go for the $2 'alvey type' plastic hook disgorgers from kmart. They work a treat and you can buy a handful and still get change back from a redback ... best of all they don't rust 8)










RH


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## Goran (May 10, 2009)

If your talking about the Blast that i think your talking about, its not made from 154CM steel, 154CM is used as a knife blade on the Charge and Skeletool, your blade and the rest of the leatherman is made from a lesser stainless steel, and if i remember correctly the blade is 440c which your basic blade steel. I have both the charge AL and a leatherman knife both which feature 154CM, the blade has been dropped into sea water many times and hasn't developed any rust or stain. Same goes with the leatherman. I paid hat bit extra for my Charge and e304x knife but i havn't experienced any problems and they've worked without fault.

After all the steel is stainless, not rustless so you cannot rule out any rusting, sure you can prelong the life from your tool but cannot remove the chance of rusting completely. If i remeber correctly leathermans have a 25 year warranty so i'd contact leatherman directly and not BCF, they can take awhile to get stuff moving along.


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## craig51063 (May 30, 2008)

When i use to live down the snow ,the importer lived in Cooma .when i had a problem with me letherman he simply said to me to come on over and pick out a new one ???????????????????????????

he also told me about the lifetime warranty they [ if anything goes wrong with them we simply exchange them ] stating that when the serated blade gets blunt he either exchanges the blade of swaps it for a new knife .!!!!!!!

now iknow they have been taken over by a new disdributer BUT IT MIGHT BE WORTH CONTACTING THEM AND TELLING THEM OF YOUR COMPLAINT .

cause you never know

craig


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## Brock200 (Mar 5, 2009)

Woah this post has really taken off!

SCA tool- Yep i have one of these aswell, it was my backup when the leatherman went in for its buff job, cleaned it up after every trip and its starting to rust aswell... although i suspect my sister has taken it out on the kayak and not cleaned it thoroughly afterwards

craig51063- sent them an email about a week ago now with no reply. Said they were going to get back to me as soon as possible, must be pretty busy eh? :lol:

goran- ive been considering buying just a knife since i only use it more often then the leatherman, although i think i might go down to the army disposal, somebody was telling me the other day they have some unreal knives there.

red herring - i actually have one of them! If all else fails that will be what i will resort to, however when my hook got caught in my anchor rope the other day i dont think that would have helped me pull it out of the rope like the leatherman did ;-)

Seems like we all have a different way to handle the tools we purchase for on the water. I admit the leatherman tools are extremely handy, and im thinking i may just learn to love it with a bit of rust (provided it doesnt sieze up from it). I believe that sometimes the cheaper stuff works better then the expensive gear, however im finding that the little bit more you spend on fishing gear the quality increase is exponential, even when it comes down to hooks! I had a heap of surecatch hooks and they tended to snap in half with ease, i only fish with mustad hooks now, worst thing that can happen with them is they get bent a bit. I think a trip to the army disposal is in order to buy me a good knife!

cheers

brock


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## basschaser (Jan 30, 2009)

for every one that is trying to contact leatherman, via email. there is not much point... they will just put u onto the aussie distributer... which is "Zen" i think? not sure, but agter contacting them they just said to take it in to a place that sells them ie... BCF king of knifes etc and they will send it off the the distributer and get it back with no cost to you, other wise you can seen it off yourself. you will have to check who the distributer is though


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## YakN00b (Jun 9, 2008)

I have not made a claim in Australia these experiences are from South africa.

1996 Cut welding rod with leatherman PST and stuffed the cutter. it was replaced no questions asked
1996 Bent tip of knife blade on PST it was repaired no questions asked.
2002 Twisted tiny screwdriver on Supertool it was repaired no questions asked

All of the above from abuse
2005 Supertool pliers developed play after a few years of daily use it was replaced.
2006 Did something stupid to my Wave cant remember exactly what it was repaired no questions asked.
2008 Bought a Skeletor here and something happened to the pocket clip it was replaced

So I will very happily keep buying Leatherman tools even if they rust in salt water


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