Since I was looking at getting a knife, I was wondering if there are any other good makes of multitools other than leatherman. Some LM multitools are either too small and useless, don't have the features I need or are too expensive and aren't street legal.
I'd like something with a knife, sissors, philips scredriver and pilars but small, strong, cheap and legal to carry about in the UK.
Most multi-tool blades lock for safety reasons. I would no longer regularly use one which didn't. I have an old SOG ToolClip which I used to use a lot. It has no locking blades, and I can't tell you how many times it bit me before I finally gave up with it.
The tool I currently use the most is a Leatherman Charge Ti. It
almost fits your description. New they aren't cheap but you occasionally see good used examples. I bought mine on this forum and I'm so impressed with it that if I see another one I'll buy it unless you beat me to it.
Its main drawback as far as I'm concerned is that it has no awl. I've used a Victorinox SwissTool for many years (it has an excellent awl) and I'm still very partial to it, but the S30V blade on the Charge beats everything else I've tried hands down.
Unless I'm flying on a scheduled service I carry a multi-tool all day every day in the UK. I can't work effectively without tools and the law allows for that.
Some of the cheap makes of multi-tool are really nasty and you'll wish you'd saved up for a better one not long after you bought it.
