Leatherman sells dozens of multitools, and the spec sheets blur together fast. The right pick depends on where the tool lives: on your keys, in a pocket, on a belt, or in a truck box.
Each pick below is the Leatherman we’d hand someone for that job, with the tradeoff stated plainly and the skip case named where a pick doesn’t fit the work. If none of them fit, the right move is to skip the category entirely and carry a dedicated knife instead of forcing a compromise into your pocket.
Best for keychain carry: Leatherman Micra
The Micra packs 10 tools into a body that measures 2.5 inches closed and weighs 1.8 ounces, so it rides on a key ring without dragging your pocket down all day long, through keys, doors, and daily carry.
Spring-action scissors lead the set, backed by a 1.6-inch 420HC knife, tweezers, a nail file, and screwdrivers, and the colors run from Stainless Steel to Cardamom, Ginger Peach, and Parakeet at one flat price. It’s a grooming kit first. Buy it for the person whose multitool needs start and end at keys, mail, and loose threads.
Leatherman Micra
10 tools · 1.8 oz · Spring-action scissors
Price: $49.95
Where to buy: Buy it at Amazon
Best for pocket EDC: Leatherman Skeletool CX
The CX trims the multitool down to seven tools and 5 ounces, then spends the savings on a straight-edge 154CM blade hardened to 58-60 HRC, which is the spec that separates it from the standard Skeletool.
Pliers, wire cutters, a bit driver, and a carabiner that opens bottles cover the rest, spare bits store inside the handles, and the 420 stainless frame closes to 4 inches and clips to a pocket like a folding knife. Seven tools, zero filler. Buy it if your pocket carry starts with the knife and treats the pliers as backup.
Leatherman Skeletool CX
7 tools · 5 oz · 154CM blade
Price: $99.95 $79.95 (save $20.00, 20% off)
Where to buy: Buy it at Amazon
Best all-rounder: Leatherman Wave+
Eighteen tools ride in the Wave+, including two 420HC knives, a saw, spring-action scissors, an electrical crimper, and a large bit driver, and every one of them opens and locks with one hand, without setting anything down.
It weighs 8.5 ounces and closes to 4 inches, so it’s a belt or bag tool rather than a pocket one, and it comes in Black or Stainless Steel with the sheath sold separately. The separate sheath still grates at this price. This is the default answer. Buy it if you want one tool that covers the house, the truck, and the campsite.
Leatherman Wave+
18 tools · 8.5 oz · One-hand opening and locking
Price: $129.95 $103.95 (save $26.00, 20% off)
Where to buy: Buy it at Amazon
Best for work: Leatherman Rebar
The Rebar carries 17 locking tools in a 4-inch closed body that weighs 6.65 ounces, with replaceable wire cutters and an electrical crimper built for the jobs that kill cheaper tools.
We broke the Rebar down in full when our Rebar piece ran earlier this month, and the short version holds: pliers first, everything else after. Colors run wider here, from Stainless Steel and Black to Burnt Sienna, Mossy Slate, Heathered Cranberry, and Coyote Tan.
Step up to the Super Tool 300 if the work runs heavier: 19 tools, 9.6 ounces, a 3.2-inch blade, and cutouts in the rolled handles so the tools open while you’re wearing gloves. Leatherman rates its pliers as the strongest the company has produced, and our Super Tool 300 write-up covers the full tool set. Gloves on, tools out. Buy the Rebar for belt carry on workdays, and the 300 when the jobs outgrow it.
Leatherman Rebar
17 tools · 6.65 oz · All tools lock
Price: $99.95 $79.95 (save $20.00, 20% off)
Where to buy: Buy it at Amazon
Leatherman Super Tool 300
19 tools · 9.6 oz · Electrical crimper
Price: $119.95
Where to buy: Buy it at Amazon
Best for the outdoors: Leatherman Signal
The Signal keeps the full-size multitool shape, 19 tools at 7.5 ounces, and adds the gear a normal multitool skips: a ferro rod for fire, an emergency whistle, and a hammer face for tent stakes.
The blade is a 2.73-inch combo edge that opens with one hand, and a diamond-coated sharpener rides in the frame for trail touch-ups when the edge dulls on wood and cord. Camp gear first, toolbox second. Buy it for the camper who keeps forgetting the small stuff, because the small stuff is built in.
Leatherman Signal
19 tools · 7.5 oz · Ferro rod, whistle, hammer
Price: $149.95
Where to buy: Buy it at Amazon
Best budget buy: Leatherman Wingman
Fourteen tools, spring-action pliers, scissors, and a one-hand-opening combo knife at this price is a trade most buyers should take every single time without thinking twice about what you’re giving up.
It weighs 7 ounces and closes to 3.8 inches, and the pliers spring open on their own, which your hands notice by the third job of the day. The blade is 420HC and the fit runs looser than the Wave+, and that gap is exactly what the lower price buys. Cheap, never flimsy. Buy it as a first multitool, a glovebox spare, or the one you lend without worrying.
Leatherman Wingman
14 tools · 7 oz · Spring-action pliers
Price: $49.95
Where to buy: Buy it at Amazon
How we picked these six
These picks come from Leatherman’s current lineup, sorted by the carry job each tool is built for, with every spec and price pulled from the maker’s pages and the live listings for the exact configurations linked below.
No hands-on testing is claimed here: the rankings follow tool sets, carry size, blade steel, and the prices buyers actually pay this week. Specs first, stories second.
The numbers, side by side
Weight and closed length decide where a multitool actually lives day to day, so the whole set sits on one table with the numbers that separate a keychain tool from a belt tool.
| Micra | Skeletool CX | Wave+ | Rebar | Super Tool 300 | Wingman | Signal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tools | 10 | 7 | 18 | 17 | 19 | 14 | 19 |
| Weight | 1.8 oz | 5 oz | 8.5 oz | 6.65 oz | 9.6 oz | 7 oz | 7.5 oz |
| Closed length | 2.5 in | 4 in | 4 in | 4 in | 4.5 in | 3.8 in | 4.5 in |
| Blade | 1.6 in, 420HC | 154CM straight edge | 2.92 in, 420HC | 2.9 in, 420HC | 3.2 in, 420HC | 2.6 in, 420HC combo | 2.73 in, 420HC combo |
| Price at Amazon | $49.95 | $79.95 | $103.95 | $79.95 | $119.95 | $49.95 | $149.95 |
Pick by carry first and tool count second, because the wrong carry means the tool stays home. Carry decides.
Questions buyers ask before picking one
Is the Wave+ worth twice the Wingman? Yes, if you’ll use it daily: one-hand locking tools, scissors, and the bit driver are the gap, and it’s $103.95 against the Wingman’s $49.95, with replaceable wire cutters in the bargain.
Can any of these fly in a carry-on? No, because every pick here carries a knife blade, and the Micra’s tiny size doesn’t change that answer at the checkpoint.
Does a sheath come in the box? No. Leatherman sells the sheath separately on the Wave+, Rebar, Super Tool 300, Micra, and Signal, so budget for one if you belt-carry, or pick the Skeletool CX or Wingman and use the pocket clip instead.
Start with the Wave+ at $103.95 if you want one tool, no second purchase, and no regrets about the choice. Skip the whole category if your jobs need real pliers and real drivers, because a multitool is a compromise you carry, not a toolbox you store.
