OUR STUFF
Home PageForums
Search
PUBLISHED ITEMS
The LibrarySubmission Guide
GET TO KNOW US
About UsThe Team
Site User Manual
The Lounge
Contact
Site Map
Leatherman Blast Review
Submitted by An Outdoor Idiots Team Member.
The Leatherman Blast: Overview
Vital Statistics
When folded up and in its sheath it is quite small. Here it is next to a £2 coin:
Using a £2 coin for size reference is probably only of use to people living in Britain. For readers in the rest of the world, it might help if we pointed out how big a £2 coin is: it is a bit larger than a £1 coin.
The Blast can come in a leather sheath or a nylon sheath. This one came in a nylon sheath. The sheath has a label with a picture of a multitool on it, which is helpful if you forget what's inside.
Here is a naked Blast, again next to a £2 coin:
The observant will notice that there are ruler markings on the outside of the Blast, and, from this, the mathematical will be able to deduce that, when closed, the Blast is about 10cm (4") long.
It weighs just under 200g (7oz) and the sheath weighs just under 20g. In accordance with natural laws, then, a Blast in a nylon sheath weighs about 220g (a bit less than 8oz).
The sheath has a flap which closes with Velcro, and it has a loop for threading a belt through. Here is proof, at least for the belt bit:
If you want to carry it on a lanyard rather than in the sheath, then it has a lanyard ring that can be folded out:
The Metal
The metal used is described as "100% stainless steel", of "optimum grade hardness for each tool/blade". One never really knows what to expect of any steel until one uses it, though. For example, the steel used here rusts very quickly for a stainless steel. Within a week of use, plenty of spots of rust had formed.The leaflet that came with the Blast does make it clear that it should be oiled periodically, "especially after use in a damp environment". Unfortunately, one's fingers are a saltwater environment, and one has to put one's fingers all over each tool when folding it out.
After failing to oil the Blast, this is what the large flathead screwdriver looked like after a few months, even without the Blast ever being used in a damp environment:
To be fair, the rust spots actually appeared very quickly - i.e. in about a week or so, then didn't seem to worsen after that. Furthermore, after about 10 seconds light work with some 220 grit sandpaper, it cleaned up nicely, showing that the rust spots were superficial:
NB: All the photos of the Blast in this review were taken after months of use, with no oiling. Some of the close-up shots make the tool look very rusty indeed, which is perhaps a disservice to Leatherman, considering no effort was taken to follow their maintenance guidelines. Therefore, where the photos show notable levels of rust, we will add this comment underneath:
The Plastic
As you can see in the second picture on this page, there are dark plastic grips which are of particular comfort when the Blast is opened out and you are using the pliers. The comfort isn't amazing - if you are going to be repeatedly squeezing hard on the pliers then your hands probably won't thank you at the end of the day. However, the contoured plastic does offer a fairly good grip even with wet hands, and is no doubt much better than straight metal.The plastic calls itself "Zytel" and is apparently very good at dealing with heat and nasty chemicals, which is nice to know in a general-purpose tool. It has certainly stood up well to the horrific substances that ooze out of Ray's pores, and there can be no better accolade than that.
Quality of Construction
Construction is generally very solid. When closed up, the Blast feels like a dense chunk of metal. When opening it up, every moving part moves with a pleasing sort of stiffness - sometimes making it a bit awkward to fold out the desired tool, but always giving the impression of robustness. At no point does anything rattle, and even when using some of the larger tools in applications where there is a lot of torque, nothing feels like it is about to give.In terms of robustness, there were two disappointments. One was the saw, and the other was the hard-wire cutter, both of which will be covered in due course.
Not only is the Blast generally very robust, but it is also very precisely put together. Things line up wonderfully and it really is quite an engineering achievement to have such a small item with so many moving parts fit together so neatly.
Page 2 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
© Copyright 2007 Outdoor Idiots.com (Steal our stuff and a puppy gets it!)
This site is best viewed at a resolution of 1024*768, and with your eyes.