Leatherman Charge Ti
The newest evolution in state-of-the-art multi-tools.

report review
Field Report - April 14, 2005

"You got yer Leatherman on ya?"

"Is that some kind of trick question?"

SPECIFICATIONS

The Leatherman Charge Ti is manufactured by Leatherman Tool Group.  

Web: http://www.leatherman.com

The Leatherman Charge also has its own website: http://www.leathermancharge.com

Year of Manufacture: 2004
MSRP: U.S. $124.00

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

LISTED WEIGHT:   8.4 ounces

FIELD USE

FIELD CONDITIONS

I carried the Leatherman Charge Ti every day all day.  If I was wearing pants, I was wearing the Charge.  I had three overnight trips and did use the Charge in the context of backpacking.  

USAGE NOTES

The sheath has held up wonderfully, and I am very pleased with it.  It is definitely a drastic improvement over previous Leatherman sheaths.  

I didn't have much call to use the Removable Pocket Clip.  I used it a few times while wearing sweat pants since they don't take a belt.  I was satisfied that the tool was secure.  I had no real use for the Removable (quick release) Lanyard Ring either.  The ring is rather large, but unfortunately too small to fit a standard carabiner through.  I meant to rig it up with a piece of cord, but never did.  I had a few calls for the special bits when changing the tail light on a friend's Chevy, and also while tampering with computer equipment.  As expected, I most frequently used the Phillips/regular bits.  The bit driver feature of the Charge is quite handy - more so than I expected - although not in a backpacking context.  

I had the opportunity to examine a new Leatherman Wave tool side by side with the Charge.  The major difference seems to be that the Charge has titanium handles.  I'm still not sure that the titanium provides any benefit except that I can impress my fellow tool geeks by saying, "Look!  It's titanium!"  

The needlenose pliers are quite good, and the trademark of Leatherman tools is a high quality set of pliers.  The jaws meet so perfectly that they can be used as tweezers - and I used them as tweezers on several occasions.  I used the wire cutters on everything from coat hangers to household electrical wiring and was quite pleased.  

The 154 CM Clip-Point Knife is still sharp despite moderate use.  The performance is what I would expect from steel of this quality.  The knife proves handy for everything from string to cardboard to pizza.  The thumb hole allows easy one hand use.  I didn't use the serrated knife - a modified sheep's foot design - at all.  I have always had the habit of leaving one blade of a multi-bladed tool unused and sharp at all times for emergencies.  I never know when my arm will get pinned by a boulder and I'll need something sharp to get free...  I used the saw only twice.  It really isn't much of a saw, but it was good to trim some dowels.  

The scissors really are a tremendous improvement over the scissors in the PST II and Wave tools that I have.  While they are only 3/4" (2 cm) long, they are very sharp and are really good for trimming fingernails and toenails.  Other small jobs like snipping string were also accomplished readily.  Cutting out paper dolls for my daughter was better done with larger scissors.  The wood/metal file - what I call a "double bastard" file - is very sharp and proved useful for many tasks from removing flashing to deburring a walking stick.  The diamond-coated file was excellent for light honing work as expected.  

The large screwdriver saw frequent used as a prying tool.  I seem to pry on things a lot.  Lids, cases, and just about anything that needs forcing gets treated to a dose of the large screwdriver.  In the backpacking context, this is frequently useful.  I can't really say the same thing about the small bit driver.  Despite some trying, I never found anything small enough to use the tiny bit on.  I did find some small screws on a friend's camcorder, and the driver did work on them, but I got caught in the middle before I could get the camera all the way apart...and I had to put it back together.

When the plier jaws are closed, and the handles brought in line, the ends of the tools describe 8 inches exactly.  The ruler on the Charge is on the inside of the tool, and I much preferred it on the outside.  The ruler on the inside is not convenient to use, in my opinion.  The bottle/can opener is quite functional, and I often used it to open cans in the house (my wife usually saying, "Why don't you just use the regular can opener?") and in the woods.  While it isn't lightweight, a can of SpaghettiOs® with meat balls at the end of the day is a real treat.  (Do NOT make the mistake of bringing SpaghettiOs® with sliced franks.  Weenie-Os.  Ugh.  Just thinking about it makes my eye twitch.)  The wire stripper is part of the bottle/can opener tool, and strips 12 gauge electrical wire quite nicely.  I felt that it could be a little sharper, so I sharpened it.

IN THE FIELD

My standard method of carrying the Charge is closed in the sheath.  While the sheath will hold the Charge with the handles open, I'd hate to take a fall and stick the pliers into my leg, so I store it in the sheath closed.  In my daily carry, I have moved it from my left to my right side because my left side was kind of crowded.  While hiking, I frequently pass the strap of my scat pack through the belt loop on the sheath and carry it that way.  While backpacking I will either do the same thing, or thread the hip belt load stabilizer strap through the belt loop on the right side, making the tool convenient for use with the pack on.  

I have a particular habit of putting the tool back into the sheath after use in the same position.  That way, when I take it out, I always know how the tool is oriented, even in the dark.  I can open and close the tool with one hand, and I can access all the tools with only one hand.  Of course, I have had a lot of practice in this with other Leatherman tools, so this isn't surprising to me.  It's very important to be able to open multi-tools with one hand, in my opinion.  

After about two months of regular use, all my other Leatherman tools got rather loose and were very easy to open.  After longer periods, they were really loose.  The Charge has an extremely clever camming device engages and locks the knife blade and the sheep's foot blade so that they cannot open.  This camming device also seems to provide tension even if the pivots have gotten loose.  The Charge still seems quite tight to me.

The jaws are quite wide for needle-nose pliers, and I have decided that I prefer the narrower jaws on my Leatherman PSTII.  The beefier jaws on the Charge don't fit into small spaces well, and doing fine work is more difficult.  I have really come to enjoy the top pull nail notches rather than the side pry notches in previous tools. Of course, if you don't have fingernails, getting the tools out can be difficult.  

TESTING STRATEGY

I will continue to carry and use the Leatherman Charge TI every day and on every trip I have planned during the Long-Term Review period.  I expect that I will use the Charge several times a day as I have been doing.

SUMMARY

THINGS I LIKE

1.  Feels strong and substantial.
2.  Decent sheath.  Better than previous Leatherman sheaths.  
3.  Easy one-handed operation.

THINGS I DON'T LIKE

1.  Liner lock on main blade does not engage properly.
2.  Ruler on the inside.  (Not that it could go anywhere else...)
3.  Still room for sheath improvement - but definitely moving in the right direction.

***

Thank you for your time.

Shane Steinkamp
shane@theplacewithnoname.com  
www.theplacewithnoname.com/hiking