(4.5 / 5)
The Leatherman Rev is Leatherman’s cheapest full size multi-tool. This tool has almost everything you’d want in a multi-tool, and is high quality, as you’d expect from anything with ‘Leatherman’ on the label.
The Bottom Line
- Great quality in a budget option
- Sharp 6cm stainless steel knife
- All the tools you’ll need (in my opinion)
- Lacks replaceable wire cutter
Purchasing
The Leatherman Rev is available for around £40-£60 from a number of retailers. When I bought mine, it was only £30, so the price may vary.
The Tools
Pliers
This, along with the knife, is one of the key tools of the Leatherman Rev. Shaped like a combination between needle-nose and conventional pliers, they are surprisingly versatile . These are beefy enough for jobs like bending back tent pegs and tightening up things (like on my stove or while cycling). At the same time, since the tip narrows down, they’re useful for fiddly jobs; I’ve even used them as tweezers for splinters!
Knife
This is probably the most useful tool on the Rev. 6cm isn’t long, but its been more than enough. Made of 420HC steel, this (apparently) offers a good trade-off between rust resistance and sharpness.
As a result, I’ve only had to sharpen this knife once in the 3 years I’ve had it, and I’ve never had issues with rust.
Whether I’m using it for opening packets, carving wooden tent pegs, or even just whittling something to pass the time, this knife has been very useful while camping.
The Rest
This is what makes the Leatherman Rev really a multi-tool. Along with the two main tools mentioned earlier, the Rev also offers:
- Philips screwdriver
- Flat-head screwdriver
- This and the Philips screwdriver work surprisingly well for such a simple tool. You can even use them at a right angle to the tool to get more leverage
- Wire cutters
- Built into the pliers, these work well on smaller bits of wire. I’ve slightly chewed mine up by using it on wire that was too hard. They still work fine, but since you can’t replace the cutters, once they’re damaged, they’re done.
- Combination can and bottle opener
- Wire stripper
- I’ve never used this before, but I have doubts as to how well it would work, as it is just a small V shaped cutter in the side of the bottle opener
- Combination file, ruler and small screwdriver
- This is a little useless, as the file is too small for anything but the smallest of things, and likewise with the ruler. The small screwdriver works fine.
- Box cutter
- This tool is great, and is probably my favourite of the smaller tools. It works really well, and hugely speeds up opening packages and the like
- Trouser clip
- As you might guess, this comes in handy for carrying the tool. I’ve tied on some brightly coloured sailing string, to help with both finding this in the dark, and so I can clip it to a carabiner.
General Comments
All in all, the Leatherman Rev is a great multi-tool. Though it does market itself as a budget multi-tool, it costs more than a lot of generic options you might find. For me, this isn’t an issue, as the quality you get for that slight increase in price makes this tool more than worth it. While it doesn’t have all the tools (notably it’s missing scissors), I’ve never found myself wanting more, and I don’t think the jump in price to the tools with more features is worth it.
If you’re looking for a general tool that is at home in any camping/outdoors environment, this could well be the one for you. It works great as an accessory for cook kits (see here) and as a general tool for mending inevitable breakages. If you need something heftier or more suited to bushcraft, check out the Mora Companion.
Ultimately, this is a great multi-tool which I would highly recommend to anyone.