Category Archives: knife

Victorinox Classic too small- how about the Ambassador?

The Victorinox Classic is well named, it is exactly that- a classic. Reputed to be the most purchased knife in history, it combines the trinity of most useful tools. Blade, scissors and nail file. If you have the SD version of the Classic, then you also enjoy the handy little 2.5mm flat ScrewDriver tip to the nailfile instead of the nail cleaner. Away from the lovely thin Alox scaled versions, the more usual Cellidor scaled Classics also come with tweezers and toothpick.

Just 58mm in length and around 21g, the Classic is small, light and ideal for hiking. So useful is it that I EDC a little white scaled Classic SD, given to me as a present, on my work keys. This will handle most day-to-day tasks. However, Three Points of the Compass feels that there are other 58mm Victorinox knives that offer greater functionality with very little weight penalty.

Victorinox’s 74mm Ambassador with the ‘holy trinity’ of tools shown- scissors, blade and nailfile

Looking beyond the little 58mm knives, some might feel that it would be even handier to have just a little larger blade, and just a little larger pair of scissors. If that is you, then Victorinox have you covered with the Ambassador. Shown above, this knife is from the, very limited in range, single layer 74mm models that Victorinox have released.

Blades of 58mm Classic and 74mm Ambassador compared. For just a little longer knife you get a lot more capable blade

Surprisingly, the nailfile on the Ambassador is smaller than that on the Classic, though it is still a capable tool

Found with or without a keyring, the Ambassador doesn’t have the wide range of variants that the Classic has offered. I don’t really know why there aren’t just a few similar alternatives. Is a pen provided as with the Signature, or a little LED light in the scale as with the Swiss Lite? Sorry, no. There is a fairly uncommon alox scaled version called the Lady Victoria and that is about it.

The Ambassador is a little longer than the Classic when closed, 74mm instead of 58mm, and a little heavier- mine weighs 34.6g. For that you get a knife that is more comfortable in the hand, particularly for those with larger hands. It is also quite a thin knife, just 9mm. More importantly, the drop point blade now provides 46mm of cutting length over the Classic’s 33mm. The scissors are noticeably beefier than those found on it’s baby cousin too, though still small. The scissors on the Ambassador have cutting blades around fifty per cent longer. Scale tweezers and toothpick are the same in both knives and are interchangeable. Perhaps surprisingly the nailfile on the Ambassador is actually smaller than that on the Classic. It only comes with a nail cleaner tip, there is no SD version. But the nail cleaner tip will handle many little Phillips screws.

74mm Ambassador from the first collector’s series. Toothpick and handy tweezers removed from scales

Victorinox have released limited edition sets of the Ambassador with special scales, though nowhere near as many as the Classic has come with. My example shown here, with yellow and purple abstract pattern on one of the white scales, comes from the first Ambassador collection released. Beside the coloured scales of the various collections, the scarce RocKnife series released from 1988 are heavier on trail (having actual stone scales) and deliver no additional functionality, they don’t even have the scale tools, though they are pretty.

74mm Victorinox Ambassador

The Ambassador features:

Pen blade
Nail file with nail cleaner tip
Scissors
Toothpick
Tweezers
Some models also feature a keyring

The Victorinox Ambassador doesn’t get a lot of attention, but if you feel a Classic isn’t quite large enough for your backpacking adventures, or even your EDC, but you still like the simple toolset, then why not have a glance at this very slightly larger offering. It may be just what you are looking for.

The scissors on the Ambassador are beefier and a vast improvement on the useful but much smaller scissors on the Classic

Victorinox Mate and Vagabond- are these the perfect multi-tools on trail?

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Three Points of the Compass has previously looked at both the Rally series, which builds on the well-known Classic, and the amazingly compact, if over burdened, MiniChamp. There is also an alternative that falls between these camps. Not often found these days in the UK, however I note examples frequently turn up in the US on eBay. This is the remarkable Victorinox Vagabond.

Victorinox Mate, surprisingly compact. Sadly, now difficult to find

Victorinox Mate

Tweezers and toothpick are located in the scales on both the Victorinox Mate and later Vagabond

The forerunner of the Vagabond was the Victorinox Mate. Built on the familiar small 58mm frame. The Mate has few variations. It has red cellidor scales with useful tweezers and useless toothpick (I have never been a fan of these). It has the small drop point pen blade, nail file with nail cleaner tip and scissors found on the Classic knives, also the effective combo-tool as found on the Rover that combines 2.5mm flat screwdriver tip with a cap lifter. There is no wire-bender notch on this. These knives also come with the unusual ‘cut & picker’ blade with scraper (sometimes called an orange peeler). Perhaps the most useful aspect to these knives however is the addition of another blade. This is a sharp little Wharncliffe blade, usually referred to as an Emergency blade. All this in a 34.4g four layer tool weighing more than the simpler 20.8g Classic but less than a 45.2g MiniChamp. This knife enjoyed a brief production run- appearing in 1995 and probably discontinued within two years.

The Mate features:

Pen blade
Emergency blade
Cut and picker blade
Nail file with nail cleaner tip
Combination tool with cap lifter and 2.5mm flat screwdriver tip
Scissors
Toothpick
Tweezers
Keyring

Victorinox Vagabond (left) and Mate (right) with tools opened

Victorinox Vagabond

Vagabond and Mate from Victorinox, two handy little multi-tools. Both discontinued but available on the second-hand market

If the Mate led the way, the Vagabond certainly pointed in the right direction. The Mate evolved into the Vagabond around 1997 with a couple of refinements to the toolset that add slightly to functionality with zero deficit. The 2.5mm flat screwdriver tip switched to the end of the nail file while a surprisingly effective little Phillips tip was added to the combo-tool. A wire bender was now also added but I cannot say that this has ever been of any use to me. Some people particularly like the little nail cleaner found on Victorinox knives, and lets face it, hands and nails get pretty grubby on trail, however Three Points of the Compass has found that the little flat point screwdriver tip is almost equally as effective with clearing gunk out. The cap lifter is effective but I wish it were a combination cap lifter/can opener, now that would be useful. Weight of the now discontinued Vagabond rises imperceptibly to 34.6g.

Combination tools compared. The little Phillips will handle a wide range of screws, even the small screws found on mobile phones

The Vagabond features:

Pen blade
Emergency blade
Cut and picker blade
Nail file with 2.5mm flat screwdriver tip
Combination tool with cap lifter, magnetic Phillips screwdriver tip and wire bender
Scissors
Toothpick
Tweezers
Keyring

Shapes and size of the two blades found on both Mate and Vagabond

The Vagabond would be a great choice as a small lightweight multi-tool to take on an extended hike. Less so for just a day hike. Is the ‘orange peeler’ blade superfluous? I am not sure. It is for the individual to look at what is required for personal circumstance. At least the useless ruler and coke spoon, sorry, cuticle pusher, as found on the MiniChamp are excluded. Victorinox have produced combinations of tools within both their small 58mm range that I favour, and their larger offerings, that should meet the needs of just about any hiker.

Why would an extra blade be of any use on trail? It can be useful to include such a thing exactly as Victorinox have termed the Warncliffe blade, as an ’emergency’ blade to be bought into use in the event of the main blade becoming damaged or just blunt. I think it more useful to keep a second blade purely for food preparation, using the main blade for anything else- opening packages, cutting tape, trimming skin etc. The narrow pointed Warncliffe blade is great for fine work, so possibly keep that for any possible surgical procedures…

My annual pilgrimage to Victorinox

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Victorinox’s Flagship London store

The iconic red handled Swiss Army Knife makes a suitable display the height of three floors

Each year, Three Points of the Compass makes a pilgrimage to Victorinox’s Flagship store in New Bond Street, London. This was the first flagship store that Victorinox opened in Europe. While it displays and sells watches, travel gear and fragrances, mostly on show as soon as you walk in the front door, it is the lower floor that attracts me. This is where over 400 models of Victorinox knives and some 650 household and chef knives are displayed.

As you descend the stairs, you are immediately presented with the repair table where customers can drop off their battered and damaged possession to be expertly repaired by the on-site craftsman.

Kitchen and household ware do not necessarily draw me, it is the central cased knife displays and wall mounted models that draw me to them.

Repair work was underway

Some of the 400 or so pocket knives that are on display

I always have a small shopping list pre-prepared. To wander into such a shop without such discipline invites disaster. In London for a small planned walk later with a couple of friends from work (more on that in a future blog) I had an hour to spare in the morning to indulge in drooling over various knife models and variants that will never make their way in to my meagre collection. I am afraid not being in possession of deeper pockets has its disadvantages (or advantages as Mrs Three Points of the Compass might feel).

Victorinox released a number of models with walnut scales in August 2019, the Classic SD was one I was on the look out for

Victorinox released a number of models with walnut scales in August 2019, the diminutive Classic SD Wood (0.6221.63) was one I was on the look out for. Being a natural product, every knife is slightly different

While Three Points of the Compass does have representatives from the various lengths of knife that Victorinox has and does produce, it is mostly the smaller knives, especially the 58mm range, that has attracted me over the years. There were a handful of 2019 releases that I had in mind for this visit.

Each year, Victorinox releases a small range of their knives with special alox scales, 2019 offer was 'Champagne'

Each year, Victorinox releases a small range of their knives with special alox scales, 2019’s offer was ‘Champagne’

Swiss Card and 58mm ranges

As a subscriber to the Victorinox newsletter, I had been sent the offer of a free Victorinox chopping board. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I picked up mine from the downstairs till, the helpful lady who proffered this to me, also followed in my wake as I made my way round the store selecting my small number of purchases. She spread the walnut scaled knives across the counter so that I could select the one that was ‘just right’. I won’t relay here how much my choices cost but an applied discount made a welcome reduction.

A couple of my purchases will feature in some 2020 blogs where I take a closer look at some particular tool sets in the handy smaller knives that Victorinox offer the backpacker. But more on those next year.

My small haul from my 2019 visit to the New Bond Street store

It’s not all knives you know…

Leatherman keychain tools- making a choice for hiking

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Making a final choice…

Though fiddly, and occasional needing an extra bite, the small bottle opener on the Squirt S4 will do just that

Though fiddly, and occasionally needing an extra bite, the small bottle opener on the Squirt S4 will do just that

Over the past few days I have been looking at the various little multi-tools that Leatherman have released over the years with the aim of seeing which is most suited for taking hiking.

As you can see from the tool table below, a wide variety of capability is provided by these little multi-tools. However for Three Points of the Compass, the E4 is just about useless on trail whereas almost any of the remaining eight, shown above, would be a great partner.

The lack of any scissors on the Squirt P4 also precludes this tool from any gear list I would compile. I can see how many hikers would pick the Micra or Style PS from this line up. Certainly the latter accompanies me as part of my Urban EDC to work each day. Inclusion of a pair of pliers would be a nice feature on trail however I prefer a full size pair of scissors over pliers which narrows my choice to just three: the Micra, Squirt S4 and Style CS. All three have a similar blade. So it comes down to what other features are included and all three in my shortlist have similar extra tools. While I have a pair of tweezers in my First Aid Kit, I still prefer removable tweezers over those fixed to a multi-tool such as the Micra and those in the Squirt S4 (and E4) are conveniently tucked away yet easily removed.

The useful detachable tweezers on the Squirt E4 and S4 tuck away into the tool efficiently and could easily be missed if you were not aware they were present. They are easily extracted, unlike some of the alternatives

The useful detachable tweezers on the Squirt E4 and S4 slide away into the tool efficiently and could easily be missed if you were not aware they were present. They are easily extracted, unlike some of the alternatives

The small eyeglass flat tip screwdriver found on the Leatherman Squirt P4 and S4

I like the extra medium sized screwdriver on the Micra and S4 though I do wish it were an awl instead. If it were exchanged for an awl that would remove my often used bottle opener. I prefer the dedicated thin eye-glass screwdriver over using the less convenient flat Phillips tip. However the Style CS offers a small but useful toolset, is the thinnest of the Leatherman keychain multi-tools and weighs less. The lightest Micra is 49.9g, Squirt S4 is 52.3g while the Style CS (still available for purchase by the way) is the lightest at 41.7g.

Placement of tweezers in Squirt S4, Style and Style CS. Those on the latter are by far the most difficult to remove

Placement of tweezers in Squirt S4 (top), Style (centre) and Style CS (bottom). Those in the latter are by far the most difficult to remove

Still looking good after thousands of trail miles, the Leatherman S4 remains a favourite for Three Points of the Compass

Still looking good after thousands of trail miles, the Leatherman Squirt S4 remains a favourite for Three Points of the Compass

My biggest preference other than my essential two tools is the ease in opening tools from the outside with no need to unfold the entire multi-tool. So, for me, it narrowed down to the old, now discontinued, Squirt S4.

Carried in my ditty bag, one of these great little multi-tools has accompanied Three Points of the Compass on well over 3000 trail miles over the years. While I do occasionally swap it out for a different knife or multi-tool, seeing if something else works for me better (usually trying a 58mm Victorinox or Leatherman Style CS), I constantly find myself returning to the old favourite S4. Perhaps I need to find a spare on the second-hand market in case mine should ever get lost on trail somewhere. If only it also had a can opener and that awl…

Tool	Micra	Squirt P4	Squirt S4	Squirt E4	Squirt PS4	Squirt ES4	Style	Style CS	Style PS
Needlenose pliers		X		X	X	X			X
Pliers		X			X				X
Scissors- full size	X		X					X
Scissors- small					X	X	X		X
Straight knife blade	X	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Wire cutters		X		X	X	X			X
Extra small screwdriver	X	X	X	X	Flat Phillips will handle small ‘eyeglass’ screws	Flat Phillips will handle small ‘eyeglass’ screws	Flat Phillips will handle small ‘eyeglass’ screws	Flat Phillips will handle small ‘eyeglass’ screws	Flat Phillips will handle small ‘eyeglass’ screws
Medium screwdriver	X	X	X		X	X
Small flat Phillips	X	X	X		X	X	X	X	X
Phillips				X
Wood/metal file		X		X	X	X
Nail file / cleaner	X		X				X	X	X
Bottle opener	X	X	X	X	X	X		X	X
Tweezers- Fixed	X
Tweezers- Removable			X	X			X	X	X
Ruler	X		X
Awl		X
Wire strippers- 20GA, 18GA, 16GA, 14GA, 12GA				X		X
Keyring attachment	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
Carabiner								X	X

While you may not choose to carry one of the small Leatherman multi-tools as part of your hiking gear, they make great EDC items. Whichever you may purchase, one of the X-small leather Heritage sheaths produced by Leatherman to celebrate their 35th birthday in 2018 makes a great holder

While you may not choose to carry one of the small Leatherman multi-tools as part of your hiking gear, they do make great EDC items. Whichever of the variants you may prefer, one of the X-Small leather ‘Heritage’ sheaths, produced by Leatherman to celebrate their 35th birthday in 2018, makes a great holder

The 2011 Leatherman Keychain user’s guide gives some further detail on the tool contingent of the Squirt PS4, ES4, CS, Style, Style PS, and Micra.The production dates for all nine Leatherman keychain tools are included in the table below. Some of the older tools are getting a tad difficult to source, so start looking!

Weights and dimensions of the Leatherman keychain multi-tools
	Micra	Micra- with added aluminum scales	Squirt S4	Squirt P4	Squirt E4	Squirt PS4	Squirt ES4	Style	Style CS	Style PS
Production dates	1996-Present	?- present	2002-2010	2002-2010	2003-2010	2010-present	2010-present	2010-2014	2010-present	2011-present
Maximum length (including keyring if present) x width (when closed) x thickness (across scale screws)	66mm X 19.25mm X 12.40mm	66mm X 31.25mm X 13mm	60mm X 20.55mm X 13.60mm	60mm X 20.65mm X 13.70mm	60mm X 20.60mm X 13.70mm	60mm X 19.65mm X 13.80mm	60mm X 20.80mm X 14.00mm	59mm X 10.80mm X 12.40mm	76mm X 20.60mm X 10.45mm	76mm X 20.60mm X 10.50mm
Weight	49.9g	55g	52.3g	55.3g	53.5g	56.9g	54.3g	23.1g	41.7g	44.9g

Leatherman keychain tools- Style series

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A small series of mini multi-tools with style…

Leatherman Style series

Leatherman Style CS

In 2010 Leatherman shrunk their full size Skeletool (originally released in 2007) and produced the Style CS. Unfortunately, while the larger Skeletool came with two blade options, either 420 High Carbon stainless steel or the better quality 154 CM stainless steel, to which molybdenum had been added. The Style CS continued to be available, as did the other key-chain options, with the perfectly functional but lesser 420 HC steel. This tool has a great pair of scissors, much better than the smaller scissors found on its cousins. So successful is the tool set that despite the quite similarly provisioned Micra, it is still manufactured today.

Leatherman Style

Also in 2010, Leatherman introduced a very small tool simply called a Style. It was basically half of a Style CS, and was very much aimed at the Victorinox Classic camp with holy trinity of blade, scissors and nail file, plus tweezers.The tool proved to be a bit fiddly, and the nail nick locations only exacerbated the situation. Consequently, this tool enjoyed only a short production run of four years and is now discontinued. Mine is a 2011 model. It came in 4 anodized colours. Red, Black, Pink, and Blue. Of interest to the collector is a special pink Style with the breast cancer ribbon on both blade and scale. This was one of a series of 3 tools to promote breast cancer awareness, which Leatherman called their Pink Program.

Black scale version of the Leatherman Style, to be honest, it is a tad boring

Leatherman Style PS

While the Style CS had sprung loaded scissors for the end jaws, in 2011 consumers were offered an alternative when the Style PS was released. The Style PS has pliers for its jaws and a smaller pair of scissors in the handle. The Style PS has no blade so supposedly can be taken through airport security, though I wouldn’t like to risk losing a tool to an over eager or cautious official. Again, so popular is this tool that it is still available new today.

A welcome brew on the Cleveland Way, 2019

The carabiner on the Style CS and PS can be used for clipping the tool on to a belt or pack strap, though I don’t like doing that. There is a good chance it will come adrift and get lost on trail, there are actually few times you require to use it during a hike, it is of more use at halts or end of day. By keeping it within the pack you are also keeping the trail funk out of the tool- dust, debris, bugs and rain.

I have also, though very infrequently, used the carabiner to hold a particular bit tip from the wider Leatherman bit kit. Be warned however, it is not designed to handle this and won’t take a lot of torque.

However the carabiner is a pretty effective bottle opener should a bottle of beer come your way…

There is only the one screwdriver tip option on each of the Style series. If you have aparticualr piece of kit with you that requires a specialised bit tip, one option, that will only handle light work, is to pack along one of the little bits that Leatherman provide as part of their 'bit kit'

There is only the one screwdriver tip option on each of the Style series. If you have a particular piece of kit with you that requires a specialised bit tip, one option, that will only handle light work, is to pack along one of the little bits that Leatherman provide as part of their ‘bit kit’

Tweezers

Tweezers are found in six of the nine Leatherman keychain tools, those on the Squirt S4, E4 and Style are the most easily removed. While all of the Style series feature removable tweezers. Those in the scale on the Style PS and CS are notoriously difficult to extract while those on the Style are not only easier to pull out but have a better angled design of tip. The Style and Squirt S4/E4 share similar shaped tweezers apart from the angle of the nail nick and angle of the tweezer tip being the opposite to each other!

Tweezers in Style PS and CS are tucked away in the scale. They can be surprisingly difficult to extract

The tweezers on the Micra are entirely different. They are permanently fixed to the tool and flip out for use. There is no chance of losing them yet I find them awkward to use, particularly as they have no angled tip. I don’t like them though I am sure these thin tweezers have their fans. If the tweezers in the Style series were all easy to extract, they would probably be my second favourite due to their size and angled tip. The more angled tip to the tweezers in the Squirt S4 and E4 are better for extracting thorns etc.

Tips of tweezers compared. Left: from Style CS and Style PS, centre; from Squirt S4, right: Micra

The next blog will look at making a final choice from the small yet surprisingly different range of Leatherman keychain tools.

Beyond scale colour, there are few options within the Style range, however Leatherman have switched around the blades a little and a small range of inclusion, or not, of holes in the blade and nail nick size and position can be found

Leatherman keychain tools- Squirt series

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Leatherman Squirt series

User guide for the first three tools in the Squirt series, 2006

2006 user guide for the first three tools in the Squirt series, the S4, P4 and E4

The first Squirt series

Eight years after Leatherman released the Micra, its first keychain multi-tool, it released two more. In 2002 the stainless steel framed, aluminum anodised Squirt S4 and Squirt P4 hit the vendors shelves. The S4 had scissor jaws while the P4 had a small set of pliers.

Leatherman Squirt S4

My Squirt S4 was made in 2007 and I purchased it the following year. It has remained a frequent companion on the majority of my hikes since then. I have swapped it out on occasion, most usually for a Victorinox, but I have usually found myself promptly returning to it. I really appreciate a full size set of good scissors. Beside the desired blade, as a glasses wearer, it is probably the extra small screwdriver that has seen most use, that and the bottle opener with numerous bottles of beer. On longer hikes the nail file has been useful and I have successfully worked on stove repair and changing internal trekking pole mechanisms with the screwdrivers.

Leatherman Squirt P4

The Squirt P4 is not my favourite keychain tool because of the lack of any scissors at all. But beside pliers, blade, files and various screwdriver heads, instead of the tweezers found on both E4 and S4, the P4 does include a short little awl. This implement is not particularly sharp when purchased new. In fact it is positively blunt. However it can easily be sharpened up. This is useful for poking holes in belts or fabric, even as an extra little blade. I am not one for modding my multi-tools but if I were, I would be stripping the P4 down in an attempt to swap this awl out with some tools on other Leatherman tools that I find less useful. Both the Squirt S4 and P4 were available in grey, yellow, orange, pink, black, red, blue, green and purple.

A short but useful awl is found on the Squirt P4. This is the only one of the Leatherman keychain tools to have this, a shame, as it would be a great addition to others in the line

A short but useful awl is found on the Squirt P4. This is the only one of the Leatherman keychain tools to have this implement, a shame, as it would be a great addition to others in the line

Leatherman Squirt E4

In 2003 Leatherman followed the S4 and P4 with the Squirt E4. First available in bright ‘inferno red’, for a year or two, the E4 could only be purchased at one of the Radio Shack outlets though it wasn’t actually branded as an E4. In the UK, it may have been available through their Tandy stores. These small shops were aimed at the home hobbyist and electricians, this was the market that Leatherman were attempting to tap with the E4. After a while, availability spread to other outlets and ‘glacier blue’ and ‘storm grey’ colours were added to the range. Mine is in the latter colour.

Tips of electricians (left) and normal pliers (right) compared

The electricians pliers are fitted with efficient wire strippers and a useful needlenose plier tip. Back tools include file and blade, however, no scissors. Not only do I complete very little electrical work on trail, with both Squirt P4 and E4 lacking scissors of any size at all, neither of these tools is going to make it out on to a hike with me.

The Phillips screwdriver on the E4 is a thing of beauty. Incredibly well formed it is a proper 3D shaped screwdriver tip that folds away in to the tool well. However I have found the 2D Phillips tip found on other Leatherman multi-tools more adaptable in practical use. Not only fitting a wide range of Phillips heads but also can be used on a small range of slot screw heads too. The 3D Phillips head is only found on the Squirt E4.

3D and 2D Phillips head screwdrivers on the Squirt E4 and Squirt P4 compared

All three of the first Squirt series were discontinued in 2010 to be followed by two replacements.

Few hikers would actually hand a Leatherman, or any knife, from a keyring. A split ring attachment is often superflous. If the ring is attached, the key ring attachment can be swung round and tucked out of the way

Few hikers would actually hang a Leatherman, or any knife, from a keyring. A split ring attachment is often superfluous. If the ring is detached, the key ring attachment can be swung round and tucked out of the way, as here

The second Squirt series

Leatherman Squirt PS4

In 2010, hot on the heels of the discontinued Squirt S4, P4 and E4 came two revamped replacements. These were the Squirt PS4 and Squirt ES4.

The two tools pulled together the most popular elements of their forerunners. Effectively, each carries the same toolset other than the Squirt PS4 having standard pliers and the Squirt ES4 having electricians wire stripper pliers.

I would anticipate the PS4 having far greater sales over its brother. You shouldn’t simply write off the electricians pliers however. The useful quite thin electricians tip is capable of quite fine work such as pulling thorns and splinters, though it would be even more useful if they were truly needlenose tips.

Leatherman Squirt ES4

It was a very clever combination of tools that Leatherman managed with these two multi-tools, they really learnt from the earlier incarnations, this despite my personal preference that a few other aspects had been retained instead.

Both Squirt PS4 and ES4 were released with blue, red and black anodised aluminum scales and are still being manufactured today.

The two sides of the files found on the P4, E4, PS4 and ES4 Squirts compared. You can see the toothed edge to the file that can be used for notching wood, sawing plastic and not much else. Each of these tools has both file surfaces

While some of the mini Leatherman multi-tools have wood/metal files, that can be used as nail files, others come with dedicated nail files. All of these actually do a pretty good job and there is little to choose between them. Each nail file has either a nail cleaner or small flat screwdriver tip, though these will not handle a lot of torque.

Nail files compared. Top: Style PS, centre: Squirt S4, bottom: Style

This was a great series of small multi-tools from Leatherman. How could they follow it? By stripping them down to the essentials and adding a little style, that’s how. I shall look at what followed in the next blog.

Leatherman keychain tools- Micra

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Not a personal favourite…

Leatherman Micra

Leatherman Micra

The Leatherman Micra is one of the oldest keychain multi-tools, first released in 1996 and still made today. Leatherman have made a small number of attempts over the years to change the appearance of this model. The basic tool is stamped out in stainless steel. Later models had an aluminium ‘skin’ in various anodised colours fixed over it. The obvious resulting difference is the former rectangular cut out in the handle body beside the tweezers became largely obscured as a result. The latest variant is with coloured translucent plastic skins over the internal steel construct. The additional scales and skins do add a handful of grams to the tool. The basic tool weighs 49.9g, those with aluminum scales come in at 55g.

As previously mentioned, the Micra has to be opened to access all the tools. Personally, I find this an annoyance and prefer just about any other keychain tool made by Leatherman as it is much less faff to get at what I require.

In common with the other small Leatherman multi-tools that come supplied with them, the spring loaded scissors on the Micra fit in the hand well and will tackle most average tasks with ease

The Micra comes with a great pair of spring loaded scissors. These are easily my favourite tool on this little multi-tool. They keep a good edge and will cut through just about anything you would normally encounter on trail- packages, mountain house bags, cordura, cordage and tape, plasters and skin. They will trim nails but are a little over size for that.

2D Phillips and flat tip screwdrivers on the Micra will handle a wide range of jobs, light work only mind…

The little glasses screwdriver, combined with a reasonably effective bottle opener, is just the right size for the tiny screws on my glasses. The extra long tip is also effective where the screw is close to the frame, some other small screwdrivers can be difficult to get ‘in to’ the job. There are two other screwdrivers on the Micra, one is a medium sized flat tip, the other is a 2D Phillips head that is surprisingly effective.

The nail file and nail cleaner tip found on the Micra is as good as any found on the whole range of Leatherman multi-tools. Both sides are shown here

I find myself using nail files quite often on trail. The one included on the Micra is simply a roughened surface but I prefer this type over the ones found on some of the alternatives, which are more properly wood or metal files. This is the real deal and the nail cleaner is just as useful. The tweezers are long and sturdy, folded inside and remain attached to the tool when opened out. They have no chamfered tip though and frequently don’t meet properly at the tips. As to the 12cm rule inscribed along the outside of the tools frame, never used, don’t need it.

Tips of Leatherman keychain tweezers compared. The Micra is on the right

I can see why this multi-tool is still in production after more than two decades, it is a classic, it does now look a little dated, but it is effective for most small tasks. It’s best selling point over the Leatherman alternatives is that all the tools are tucked away inside where they are not going to gather pocket fluff and detritus. For me, that is a negative and others I shall look at in future blogs I would rate above the Micra.