tldr; The original 1983 multitool. Started the category. Many still carrying 30+ year old units. Collector item and functional classic.
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Best praise vs top criticism for Leatherman PST
“I'd been carrying a Leatherman PST on my belts since the late 80's. A few years later I discovered Gerber made a multitool and I felt to be fair I should check it out. One night in 1992 I was with my girlfriend in my living room watching TV in the dark. We were drinking Grolsch beer, which had the ceramic stoppers held on by stout wire. She told me the ceramic stoppers made good improvised roach holders for joints, so she asked me to liberate the stopper by cutting through the wire. So I pulled out the Gerber and bore down on the wire cutters. Suddenly it went "THUNK" and I figured it went through the wire like butter! It was in a darkened room after all. But then I realized I'd broken one of the Gerber jaws clean off! Now to be fair, it's possible to break anything with enough force, and it's entirely possible that wire was much too thick for any multitool. But I've been wary of Gerber multitools since then.”
“This fault has not been fixed. The all-time-classic Leatherman PST has the same issue but ten times worse and nobody complained back then because people had different standards. The blade issue can be dangerous if the handle containing the blade is facing down towards your fingers, fighting against gravity and out of your sight. If the blade is instead pressed against the meat of your thumb then is should be a non-issue, it should stay down without cutting you and it will always be visible. I've memorized where the blade is so it ends up under my thumb meat every single time I open the pliers. You can mod it with magnets but I've found it unnecessary. I'm not certain if such a mod would void the warranty; I'm betting on it being okay but it's just not something I feel like doing to my Bond. Would I take the Bond into a stressful warzone where I'll inevitably make an error that gets me cut by the blade popping out? No, Bond absolutely isn't for those environments but it's great for basic tasks at a leisurely pace. Of all my Leatherman tools I find the Bond the most comfortable to use and hold, but it's obviously a lot slower to operate than models with outside-access blades and such. I've never been cut by my Bond but I have just once been pinched pretty bad by the slipjoint spring. It's a decently strong spring, much stiffer than the old PST from back in the day.”
134 Reddit opinions analyzed • Last updated 4/4/2026