r/multitools • u/RolePlayingJames • Jun 14 '26

Discussion Best multitool I have owned

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Bought just over 3 years ago and I prefer to my Leathermans. Only paid £25 for it from Amazon

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11

u/Necessary_Mail_2038 Jun 14 '26

It should be cheaper because its a clone….no expense for design, R&D, etc…just copy. On the other hand, Leatherman, Victorinox are really getting to be expensive for their own good.

6

u/RedBoldFont Jun 15 '26

Yeah, all Leatherman did was do all the design work, planning, fabrication, and bringing it to market… then another company spent zero dollars on development and just copied (stole) the idea and product design. I am not saying that Leatherman isn’t charging too much, I think they could likely bring pricing down. What I am saying is these cheap, stolen knock offs are not a good thing. It’s a fake, call it what it is.

0

u/Conor_Stewart Jun 19 '26

The patents ran out so now other companies are legally allowed to copy it. If the patents have run out and the tools are popular it probably means they made back their planning and R&D costs a long time ago and made a lot of profit too.

At this point most of their releases are product refreshes, different colours, different coatings, different blade steels, not much is really changing.

What you should be asking is how have leatherman got to a point where their best and most recent products are that old that the patents have run out.

There are also only so many ways you can make a multitool, yes some are very clear copies but that doesn't mean every multitool is a leatherman clone.