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Leatherman Blast Review
Submitted by An Outdoor Idiots Team Member.
The Leatherman Blast: Needlenose Pliers
Leatherman describe the Blast's pliers as being "regular/needlenose", and the diagram that comes with the Blast does not differentiate between the tapering tip of the pliers, or the curved open area with grips that comes before this.
It is possible that the tapering part alone is intended to be a hybrid between "regular" pliers and "needlenose" pliers - because they do taper to a small point, however they taper very abruptly compared to normal long, thin needlenose pliers. For the purpose of this review, we will treat the two areas of the pliers separately: we will call the tapering part the "needlenose" pliers, and we will call the curved open part the "regular" pliers. This page covers just the needlenose pliers.
Here is a comparison with a small pair of dedicated needlenose pliers:
By comparison, the tip of Blast's pliers is not tiny, but it's still usefully small - about 2mm:
Both sides of the needlenose pliers mate with each other very precisely...
... meaning that it is possible to grip tiny things with the very tip.
The purpose of the needlenose pliers is not necessarily just to apply a lot of gripping force. They can also be used simply as an extension of your fingers for situations where your fingers are just too big to grab hold of something. I.e., they can be used for anything from bending a bit of wire in a survival situation to make it into a fishing hook, to helping you thread a lace through an eyelet in a boot.
A forum member tells us that the perfect use for needlenose pliers is to remove nasal hairs, and that is surely the perfect test of the finesse of any such pliers. However, our editor had none ready for harvesting at the time of review, and so we have mocked one up, using some everyday sewing thread:
The precision is very impressive indeed, and although we have not properly tested the pliers for the task of removing nasal hair, we feel, with the above photograph as evidence, happy to recommend them for that purpose.
Other than removing nasal hair, we had a mental block when it came to thinking up tests for the needlenose pliers, other than to remove things that are stuck in the soles of your boots:
We forgot to take a photograph after the nail was removed, so you'll just have to take our word for it: it worked.
Page 11 of 18 Previous Next [Top of Page]
Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: Overview: Vital Statistics; The Metal; The Plastic; Quality of Construction
Page 3: Overview: Usage
Page 4: Rulers
Page 5: Wood/Metal File
Page 6: Small Bit Driver
Page 7: Screwdrivers
Page 8: Bottle Opener
Page 9: Wire Stripper
Page 10: Can Opener
Page 11: Needlenose Pliers
Page 12: Regular Pliers
Page 13: Wire Cutters
Page 14: Hard-Wire Cutters
Page 15: Saw
Page 16: Scissors
Page 17: Knife
Page 18: Conclusion
Page 2: Overview: Vital Statistics; The Metal; The Plastic; Quality of Construction
Page 3: Overview: Usage
Page 4: Rulers
Page 5: Wood/Metal File
Page 6: Small Bit Driver
Page 7: Screwdrivers
Page 8: Bottle Opener
Page 9: Wire Stripper
Page 10: Can Opener
Page 11: Needlenose Pliers
Page 12: Regular Pliers
Page 13: Wire Cutters
Page 14: Hard-Wire Cutters
Page 15: Saw
Page 16: Scissors
Page 17: Knife
Page 18: Conclusion
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