Leatherman has announced exciting new tools for 2015, such as the recently discussed Tread multi-tool bracelet and watch and Signal outdoors tool. But that’s not all – there’s also the Rev, a new entry-level tool designed around an affordable price point.
The Rev follows the success of the Wingman and Sidekick tools, which I reviewed, compared, and bought several of over the years.
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Upon hearing that the Rev will be an “affordable” multi-tool and a tool “for all budgets,” I wondered if the Rev would be replacing the Wingman and Sidekick.
Our friends at Leatherman said the following:
The Rev will not replace Wingman or Sidekick. We had to raise the price on those two [multi-tools] in the past year, and we wanted to still be able to offer consumers a tool crafted in Portland, OR like the rest of our stuff (not outsourced) that still hit that $30 price point. There are a few efficiencies made in design that allow us to do that.
According to press materials, the Rev shares common manufacturing and assembly steps with the Wingman and Sidekick, which helps to keep costs down.
Compared to the Sidekick and Wingman, the Rev features one outside-opening tool instead of two – a knife blade that also appears to be a little simpler designed. Fewer machining and grinding operations should also help keep costs lower.
The Leatherman Rev features 13 tools and functions:
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- Combination needlenose and regular pliers
- Wire and hard-wire cutters
- Knife blade (420HC stainless steel), 2.6″ long
- Package opener (for safely opening clamshell packaging)
- Ruler (1.5 in | 3.8 cm)
- Can and bottle opener
- Wood and metal file
- Small and medium slotted screwdriver
- Phillips screwdriver
The Rev is 3.8″ long when closed, weighs 5.9 ounces, and is made from stainless steel. Its knife blade is outside-accessible and locks into place for safe and convenient use. There’s also a removable pocket clip on the reverse side.
The Leatherman Rev launched with an MSRP of $37. As of August 2021, the retail price has risen to $40.
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First Thoughts
It looks like the Rev will be a great starter multi-tool, and like the Wingman and Sidekick, it could also be a great backup for multi-tool and EDC enthusiasts and heavier users. Like their other multi-tools, the Rev is made in the USA.
While the Rev is not quite as fully-functioned or refined as Leatherman’s more premium multi-tools, it seems like a great tool to keep in the car glovebox, office desk drawer, tool bag, kitchen junk drawer, and other such locations.
I don’t always carry a multi-tool in my pocket or clipped to my belt, but I don’t like traveling without one either. The Rev – and the Wingman and Sidekick that came before it – are affordable enough that I don’t mind keeping one in the car for seldom use.
As mentioned, Leatherman made a couple of design decisions in order to achieve a lower price point. The knife blade appears functional, but simpler. And there is no scissor or saw. The Rev has just the knife blade as its sole outside-opening tool.
Although the Rev is said to have an MSRP of $37 and with an expected street price of $30, I think that its regular street price will easily approach $20-25. During winter holiday shopping seasons, its price might even drop further.
The Wingman and Sidekick seem to have been immensely popular during the past couple of holiday seasons, which was perhaps additional motivation for Leatherman to develop an ultra-affordable multi-tool. My thoughts are that either Leatherman will be able to arrange with retailers (such as Home Depot) to sell the Rev for less than $20 during the holiday season, or the Rev will replace the Wingman at the $20 price point.
There are two tools/functions I have very happy to see featured in the Rev. First, the knife blade has a plain edge. While plain edge knife blades are presumably easier and cheaper to manufacturer than partially serrated ones, they’re also typically easier to maintain and sharpen. Second, the “package opener” works fantastically well for opening plastic clamshell packages.
Jerry
I like it. I have a personal preference for multi tools with scissors, but I know not everyone will agree. These would make a good gift of a ‘first’ multi tool for my nephews, though.
I prefer a smooth knife to serrated, again personal choice, but I do LOVE the clamshell blade. I have gotten packages in the mail, and carred the, through the house to where my Wingman was sitting, because it works so well.
If Leatherman is listening, I think one of these with some sort of scissors, instead of can opener (when was the last time you were in an EDC situation, and really needed a can opener? I don’t think I ever was, but I’m constantly snipping a loose thread or similar with scissors.). If they can do that, made in the USA, at an around $20 price point, I’d buy several for gifts. Currently, I’m down to my last ‘extra’ wingman for that purpose. I think $20-$25 is a very common gift price point.
firefly
I like having my multi tools with scissors as well. That’s why I love the Wingman. I rarely use the blade on the multitool so even though I also prefer a plain edge it’s a none issue for me. In fact as far as versatility go I think the partially serrate blade have an edge over a plain one.
It’s sound like we are asking for a lesser version of the Wingman. What I also like about the Wingman is that the scissors are accessible from the outside.
Steve
I don’t understand using a flimsy scissors to snip a loose thread, or much of anything else for that matter. That’s what people have been using knives for for thousands of years. I have been carrying Leatherman multi-tools for about 20 years now, and I have never had one with a scissors, and yet I get everything (including loose threads) cut just fine with my knife blades. I’m sorry, I just don’t see it. Nearly every multi-tool already has a knife blade on it, so why take up that valuable real estate inside the handle with a redundant tool…one that basically does what the knife blade already does. Give us another size of screwdriver, for instance. No matter how much you may want to, you will NOT tighten or loosen an 1/8″ slotted screw with a 1/4″ flat screwdriver blade. Ain’t gonna happen. But scissors…that’s redundant…that’s just a 2nd way of getting the same job done you could already do with the knife blade. Poor design and poor logic to think that a scissors meets the stringent criteria that space inside a multi-tool should demand.
Chance
I am very pleased to read that this tool “like their other multi tools” is made in the USA. I have been trying desperately lately to find out for sure where Leatherman is making their products. Their website is very vague and there is no mention of country of origin on the packaging or the tools themselves. It is nice to see the response from Leatherman stating that they are still producing them in OR.
Lynn
My understanding is that Leatherman has the plier head assembly made in Mexico. All other parts are fabricated in Portland, where the tools are also assembled. It is only because the plier head is made outside the U.S. that Leatherman can’t put ‘Made in the U.S.’ on their tools any more.
Chance
Thanks for the info! I wish they would state that on their packaging. It would be nice to know that even the vast majority of the product was Made in the USA. I almost didn’t buy a Leatherman recently as a gift because I could not get any info as to where it was manufactured.
PW
Leatherman’s packaging information is vague because they were on the losing end of a lawsuit about the US content of their tools.
Some of their components are foreign made – for example, they used to (perhaps still do?) use a German source for some of their files.
Just IMO, but I feel like the lawsuit was bogus. It was started by some ambulance chasers looking for a buck. 15% foreign content is practically unavoidable these days:
http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2006/01/23/story7.html?full=true
I live in the Portland area and toured the Leatherman factory. It’s very clear that Tim Leatherman is invested in US jobs and manufacturing.
But ever since that lawsuit, they’ve been extremely cagey about country of origin details. I think they got very nervous about it.
James C
I appreciate the note on cost-cutting by finding ways to economize common manufacturing with other models. This is a smart way to do it. I really hope they don’t ever cut quality or go the route of Gerber and shift even some of their manufacturing out of the US.
Yadda
The price point issue is interesting…. Home Depot sold the Sidekick at Christmas for less than $20 and closed them out in the past few weeks at $9 in stores. Maybe the increased cost is on a go foward basis?
Nathan
good idea and it looks like it would be a nice device for EDC for us office workers. I have a 3 inch blade limit that actually limits my wave tool. if the REV – or perhaps a REV 2 – were to come with a 2.91 (ish) inch plain blade (I hate combo blades) , and trade the separate slotted and phillips for 1 Bit holder. keep the file and bottle/can opener.
you’d have about the perfect home – office environment multi-tool
skfarmer
looks like a nice tool. it needs a pocket clip. is it an option like some other models?
since i started using models with a pocket clip i have a hard time wearing ones that require a case.
Stuart
Thanks for the reminder! There is a pocket clip – I added mention of this into the post just now. Leatherman says it’s a replaceable pocket clip, but I believe it to be a removable clip as with similar models.
Andrey Ganushak
Minus scissors from Wingman, but plus $10 in cost.
That’s the inflation in Multitools 🙂
Jerry
One other innovation I noticed on my Wingman, that is present on this tool, is the little cutout in the back of the handle that lets you use a finger to push the tools a little ways out of the handle, making them easier to open. A great addition for someone who has cracked many a nail when opening the tools in an original PST, using only the tiny nail nicks.
skfarmer
upon further review i see one way that they probably lowered cost. the tab that puts pressure (to hold them open) on the folding tools other than the blade is made as part of the outside handle. on wingman and sidekick tools it is a separate part. i don’t know if that is better or worse but it does kind of give it a more finished/cleaner look.
i kind of like it and i may have to try one.
Phenom
Just wondering if that this new model has spring loaded pliers or not.
Stuart
It does NOT look to have spring-action pliers. All of the SHOT Show coverage I’ve seen show the Rev as having regular pliers.
fraser
I love the leatherman rev, because where I live you are not allowed to carry a knife so I just took the knife off.
Don
Just bought my first Rev at Lowes for $25.00. Didn’t list it as a sales price so I would expect come the holidays it will be cheaper. Seems like a nice tool that does the job but its affordable enough that if you beat on it a bit , it wont really bother you. I as well like to keep a leatherman around the office and glove compartment. I normally carry an OHT but this is a good backup if I don’t have my OHT with me.
Mark
Just bought the Rev at Lowes as well for $25 and had a question. What is the “V” notch on the bottom of the can opener for? I suspect some sort of cutting but thought it strange it’s functuon was not listed on the packaging. Overall, a very well made EDC leatherman.
Toolfreak
It’s a wire stripper.
Toolfreak
Seems kind of weird that designing and manufacturing a whole new 2.6″ knife blade out of the same 420HC stainless steel is a cost saving measure, vs. just using the 2.6″ blade out of the Wingman and/or Sidekick. The handle part that holds the knife blade is different too, vs. just using the same handles as on the Wingman/Sidekick.
Just seems to me we’re not getting the real story from Leatherman about why they jacked up the prices on the Wingman and Sidekick and designed new parts for this lower end model if using similar parts is a cost-saving measure.
Makes even less sense given that the Sidekick was cleared out at $9 as mentioned above, and wallyworld cleared out the Wingman (I got one for $12), so something is up.
Gripes aside, it’s also kind of weird Leatherman didn’t do the same “twin” thing with the Rev that they did with the Wingman/Sidekick. Much of the comments I read about Leatherman tools are from people that have to remove the knife blade due to local carry laws or for travel restrictions.
Seems to me that Leatherman would have a best-selling multi-tool on their hands if they designed a pair of scissors to replace that blade on the Rev and called it something like the Cam – Carry Anywhere Multi-tool. It’d sell to everyone that wants a muti-tool but doesn’t want to buy one, only to have to disassemble it to remove the blade, and it’d also sell to hardcore multi-tool enthusiasts, since it’d be cheap enough to justify buying it just for carrying at work on when travelling.
Stuart
When I spoke with Leatherman, they said they had to raise the price on the Wingman and Sidekick in the past year, but that they still wanted to offer a “tool crafted in Portland, OR like the rest of their stuff (not outsourced) that still hit the $30 price point.” The entire comment is quoted above.
If you ask me, it’s also probably because there’s increasing pressure from Home Depot and other large chains for lower-priced multi-tools for the holidays. If Leatherman’s cost on the Wingman and Sidekick, they wouldn’t be able to sell at the same prices at Home Depot and elsewhere as in past years. I mentioned this in the post as well.
Leatherman has/had knifeless tools. I guess sales weren’t strong enough to make another one?
The new Leatherman Tread (https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/leatherman-tread-multi-tool-bracelet-and-watch/%3C/a%3E%29 is travel-friendly, but obviously lacks scissors and pliers.
Toolfreak
It’s just bizarre for a company to raise the MSRP on two particular products, then those particular products are closed out at a third of their original lower price by major retailers, who apparently don’t want to bother trying to sell them at the new higher price. Not really a good way to make money if you ask me.
A stainless steel, USA-made Leatherman multi-tool with pliers at an even lower price for holiday sales seems like a good idea, but they really just raised the prices on the Wingman and Sidekick, with the Rev taking the low-end ~$30 spot the Wingman previously held. Street prices will be lower, sure, and the holiday sale prices lower still (Lowe’s has the Rev for ~$25 for Father’s Day), but Leatherman really needs to get it together.
Their manufacturing costs have gone up for some reason but it’s still cheaper for them to design a new tool and new parts for it than use off the shelf parts and make more tools with existing mass-produced parts? Someone at this company is not using their brain.
Given the dislike for the combo smooth/serrated blade on the Wingman, they could probably have even just switched to using only the same smooth blade on all three multi-tools, saving more money than making three seperate large blades for each tool.
Most of Leatherman’s knifeless tools are of the smaller variety and not quite as useful as the standard type like the Wave, or the smaller Wingman/Sidekick/Rev. I think a knife-less multi-tool made by just replacing the blade on the Rev with scissors would be a cost-effective way to make the “ideal” knife-less pliers-type multi-tool that people have wanted for a very, very long time. Which means, they probably won’t do it.
Brian
After considering the higher end Wave, and other models, I went with Rev because of its pocket friendly size and integrated clip. Not disappointed!
Overall quality was a nice surprise – it’s well designed and built. Not only is it the best I’ve seen in its price range, it’s quality is on par with the higher priced models.
For me, it’s the sweet spot of minimalism. Every tool (except perhaps the package opener) gets use and I haven’t really wished for any additional.