While my Gerber multitool has served me well for 3-4 years I am in the market for one the two above-mentioned MT's.

These both seem very sturdy but I have yet to handle or use either one.
I would appreciate ANY opinions of the two and which one you prefer and why.

Thanks!

swisstool spirit. slimmer and more comfortable, everything is accessible in the closed position, and you'll find a good deal on amazon. got mine for $36.

A few years back. I want to say around 10. Myself and a group of my friends all bought different multitools to carry. Steve a Leatherman, Myself a Gerber, Jeff a SOG, etc. We compared notes on the different tools for a year. We all carry Leathermans now. I don't have time right now to type the entire comparision but one tool had a blade break, another tool would pinch your hand under heavy use and so on. The leatherman always did what was ask of it.

The Swisstool wasn't one of the six we purchased so it may have preformed just as well as the leatherman.

I am a big fan of the Leathermans I have the old Super Tool and EDC it. I have not really had a chance to handel the Swisstools, but everbody seams to like them, try to make a list of features/tools that are most important to you and what you will be using the tool for most of the time, also think about what you don't like about your current tool and what improvements need to be made. Then compare the two tools and see which one fits the bill better for YOU.

Thanks, all.
My biggest concern is the saw blade, followed by the main cutting blade, and then the screwdrivers/can opener, etc.

All my Vic SAK saw blades are outstanding and I am curious about the Swisstool and Wave's saw blade.

The pliers are towards the bottom of my list.

My Gerber's main cutting blade is partially serrated (argh) and a bit fragile looking.

In order of priorities/features (most desired to least).
ALL locking tools
Efficient saw blade
Sturdy main blade (non-serrated)
Lanyard ring/attachment
File/metal cutting blade
Pliers (primarily for cutting 18/20 gauge snare wire)
Lastly, the screwdrivers/can/bottle opener/etc.

BTW, this MT will be replacing a Vic SAK Fireman model (great saw but no pliers) in my PSK and thank you again for the replies...I look forward to any/all additional comments.

leighman,

I own both, I perfer the wave just a little more but looking at your prioritie let me say a couple things. the swiss tool spirit has a partially serrated blade so I would pass on it looking at your list.
if the highest priority is the saw I would by a swiss tool, not the spirit model but one of the other models. I think from lots of use and side by side comparisons that the sak saw is the best, next leatherman, Bear and son, and sog is at the end. all blades lock on the swiss tool and it has 1 straight edge blade and one fully serrated blade. their blades have great edge retention. I read cliff stamp says they use sandvik steel. I don't know about that but it is great. the file is good and if you use it to saw metal like i have it is slow but works. that is beacause it is a metal saw. the leatherman has a file but not a metal saw. I use to carry this tool everyday but switched to my leatherman because it has a pocket clip and lots of little bits. I hope this helps.
terry

Great info scrappy, and exactly what I was looking for.
The exact Vic Mt I am looing at is their Swisstool 'X' model.
Local knife shop (bladematrix.com) has the Vic for $63.75 and a sale on the LM Wave for $50.
Thanks!

Leatherman 25 year warranty, most expensive of them all.
Victorinox life time warranty, best finish of them all.

I edc my leatherman surge, which is just a Wave on steroids. I love it, and it seems to be totally indestructible. I have no experience with the swisstool, but i can simply say that I love leathermans. The blade steel isnt incredible, but leatherman seems to do a good heat treat on it or something because it performs about as well as my 154cm blades. As for the saw blade, if the one on the wave is anything like the one on the surge, i find it to be very effective.

just my 2c, i would go with the leatherman

You can find good reviews on both (and many others) here; http://www.multitool.org/

and understand, they are two different size tools, the SwissTool is bigger,
like stated, the Surge would be a more similar comparison.

Leatherman