Wingman Multi-Tool, Spring-Action Pliers and Scissors, Stainless

There have been excellent reviews of both the Leatherman Wingman and Rebar, as well as all the others, but because there are so many models, it can be hard to choose which one to buy. I hope to help in the choice of economical "Full-size" multitools, as Leatherman calls a number of models. The "full size" line of tools are all about 100mm long when folded, and include the Charge TTi, the New Wave, the Rebar, and the Wingman. The first two are much more expensive than the latter two, and I will only discuss the Rebar and Wingman. Leatherman multitools can be further subdivided between blade-in and blade-out designs. In the former, you must open the tool to have access to the knife blade(s); in the latter they are available just as they would be in a pocket knife The Rebar is a blade-in design; the Wingman is blade-out. If your most common use of the tool will be for cutting with the knife blade(s), then the Wingman would be more convenient. The Rebar has a much superior shear-type wire-cutter with replaceable blades. The Wingman has a butt-type or pinch-type wire-cutter. Both work, but the Rebar works noticeably better, especially for hard wire. The Rebar has two large blades, a plain blade and a serrated blade; the Wingman has only a single combination blade, but it is instantly available because of the blade-out design. The Rebar has a full-size double-sided file with a serrated edge that can serve as a hack saw. Wingman has what can only be described as a toy, a single-sided, half length file. I could consider it worthless. The Rebar has a full-size wood saw; the Wingman has none. The Wingman, however, has an excellent scissor, the best of the whole line, while the Rebar has no scissor. The Wingman's pliers are spring loaded; not so the Rebar. All the blades, even the small screw-drivers, of the Rebar lock; only the knife and scissor of the Wingman lock. A negative, however, of the Rebar is that the lock-release levers protrude enough to catch if you carry it in your pocket. The Rebar comes with a nylon sheath, while the Wingman has no sheath but does have a good retentive pocket clip. Also the Wingman has a somewhat more rounded shape at the end so it carries better than any of the other full-size multitools in the pocket. Both Rebar and Wingman have a good Phillips screw driver, but the Rebar's is superior. Unlike the Rebar, the Wingman has no awl. At around 22 dollars the Wingman is the best value; the Rebar with sheath is around 37. Which to buy? If you want a multitool small enough to carry in your pocket, one that you will keep in your desk or kitchen junk drawer, if you will mostly use the knife, and find a scissor handy, I'd recommend the Wingman. If, however, you want a more fully competent multitool, that can compare well with the much more expensive Wave and Charge, a tool that includes excellent file, awl, and superior wire cutter, choose the Rebar. What if price is no object? I'd still probably recommend the Rebar. It is noticeably lighter (191 vs 241 g) than the New Wave, and it is 3 mm less in breadth and thickness, which seems little until you hold the two together. The Wave and Charge are simply too big for even occasional pocket use. All of the multitools mentioned in this review are of high quality and will last a long time. Some reviews have said that Leathermans are not made like they used to be, and a review here compares unfavorably the Rebar with the Supertool. (They are similar in design but the Supertool is considerably bigger.) In any case, I have an "old Supertool", made when they still forged "USA" into the pliers, and for the life of me I can see no difference in quality. Certainly the wire cutter of the Rebar is superior. (Incidentally, they are still made in the USA, but a stupid California law keeps them from stamping it on the tool.) So, just buy one, or several, they are all good. I have one in each car, pack, kitchen tool drawer, backpack, etc. I guess you can have too many Lethermen, but I have not gotten there yet!

This is a wonderful, high quality product that I consider essential and carry daily. I have owned many cheaper multi-tools of other brands and would never be able to go back. The pocket clip has been durable and has not bent after considerable use. The blade was extremely sharp. I love how you can access the blade and scissors from the outside of the tool. I did have to slightly adjust the opening tension when it first arrived to get it to my liking, but this was likely a personal preference.

Now of course there are always going to be folks who want more, but a multi-tool or Swiss army knife is all about having a *usable* tool on hand when needed, or saving many walks back to the toolbox for the purpose-made tool. With that in mind, this tool excels. Compared to a similary-equipped Swiss army knife, it is thinner, since the tools are split between two handles, instead of one, but heavier. The pliers is much more useful than that of a folding Swiss army knife, but not quite as useful as that of a full-size or Heavy Duty series Leatherman. + Spring-loaded pliers are not strictly needed, but once you've tried these, you won't want to go without them ever again. They just make it so much handier! + Combo knife blade and scissors are externally accessible; brilliant! + Unique and useful package-opener tool is not currently found on any other Leatherman. This is a good way to open clamshell packaging without risking hurting oneself as much. Just remember to move your shoulders to do it, not your arm joints, so that if you slip, the knife doesn't move as far and slice you up. + #2 Phillips and large flat screwdrivers are generally useful + The can opener/bottle opener/wire stripper is a great compromise tool. I used it as a can opener the other day just for fun; it takes a while but does the job. As a bottle opener, it works great. The wire stripper, not so much, unless you cut a ring around the wire insulation with the knife blade first. It is not sharp enough to get through THHN home wiring insulation. + Pocket clip instead of a belt pouch is a nice touch. This is a multi-tool that actually fits pretty well in a pants pocket, even if it is on the heavy side - The wire cutter works much better for either solid gauge wire or stranded wire with thick strands than it does for very small flexible stranded wire with many thin strands. It is a "pinch-style" cutter, not a scissor-style. It should be noted that the scissor style wire cutters are initially more useful for that small flexible wire, but once the plier joint loosens up over time, they're almost completely useless. The pinch style cutter used on this one will always work the same; it is not dependent on a tight joint. Since it is not particularly sharp to begin with, it should never deteriorate - Tools don't lock open. However, it should be noted that if you are using them properly, with the pliers closed, there is still no danger of them folding up on you to the point of causing injury. Their open position puts the pressure line past the joint, so that they don't tend to fold up anyway. Some folks don't like the combo knife blade, but if you think about it, it makes sense in many ways: a) When we need a sharp plain edge, it is usually toward the tip half of the blade, right? Like for cutting open boxes and such. b) A lot of people who buy this either don't know how, or are too lazy to sharpen a knife blade. Therefore, it is useful to have a serrated one that will stay sharp a lot longer, right? c) When you have something tough and fibrous to cut through, having a serrated blade can be useful. I'd rather see a combo blade like this one than to sacrifice the scissors, or relegate the scissors to a small inside tool, as is done on other Leathermen. This one has a polished finish, as opposed to the brushed finish most other Leathermen have. I kind of like it. This is a great tool, and I think it will get a lot of people into Leathermen.

I will start off by saying I LOVE multi-tools. I have at least a half dozen of them, from the original PST, to the very large Surge. The Wingman is one of my favorites. I will start off to say that while I already own several multi-tools, it seemed that each one was bigger, and had more tools than the last. Not wanting to damage my original PST (the original ones are getting pretty rare to find in good condition) I decided I wanted to go the direction of 'less is more' in that I wanted a multi-tool that had the tools I find most useful, but in as small and easy-to-carry package as possible. I narrowed it down to either the SIdekick or Wingman, and decided on the WIngman. They both seem to be built on the same frame, and have the same pliers. The differences between them seem to be that the Wingman has scissors and a box/package opener, while the Sidekick has a wood saw, and a second (small) knife blade. Since the tools I use the most are the pliers, scissors, and knife blade, I went with the Wingman, and haven't been disappointed yet. The Wingman is small enough, it doesn't come with a pouch, and for most of us, it isn't needed. Unless you have very small/shallow pockets, or like to wear extremely tight pants, just slip them inside a pocket, using the included clip to keep them from falling all the way in. When folded, they have a fairly strong spring, that keeps them folded, and all edges are rounded off somewhat, to make them comfortable in your pocket. Now, on to the tools. Knife blade: small, but big enough to be useful. While never to be confused with the blade on a Charge or Super Tool, it is right along with the theme of the tool in that it is big enough to be useful, while fitting in a compact package. It comes reasonably sharp, and is easy to resharpen. It is made of 'decent' steel, but won't be confused with a blade of the new,exotic steel. Scissors: Again, small, but big enough to be useful. Great for snipping loose threads, opening small packages, or shortening the soda straw in a child's sized cup (my kids spill far less when a short straw is used in a short cup), and that sort of thing. They work very well, but don't take a very big slice with each snip. I might mention that both the scissors, and the knife blade are accessable without having to 'open' the tool's handles, a very nice feature. They also both lock in the open position. The first few times you open them, they are a little stiff, the scissors especially needed a bit of effort to open all the way to activate the lock, but both are loosening up with use. Either CAN be opened with one hand (now that they loosened up a bit) but it is easier to use both. Screwdrivers: I was surprised at how substantial the large flat bladed driver was. All are precisely made, and the phillips, while looking a bit 'flattened' is made with precision, and works very, very well. There is a small screwdriver built into the end of the file, which works well, but because of the way it is built into the end of the file, doesn't fit into tight places all that well. File: Works well, but is quite small. You can't make a tool this small overall, without sacrificing something. It has teeth only on one side, instead of the usual Leatherman coarse on one side, fine on the other. Ruler: This is on the backside of the file. Little SAE and metric marks, that while precise, are a bit hard to read because they are not labeled very well. Personally, I'd rather have a two-sided file, instead of the file with teeth on one side, and the measure on the other. Honestly, what can you do with a measure under 2 inches long? Can/bottle opener: Works (I actually tried it) but is a bit smallish, so it takes a lot of little 'bites' to go all the way around a can. The wire stripper built into it is sharp and works as well as any of its kind. Box opener: I was surprised to see this, and it took a bit to figure out how it works, but what it is, is a small hooked blade, designed only to make shallow cuts, when pulled towards you. It turns out that it works great for opening boxes without damaging what is inside, and also for opening things in that dreaded hard plastic shell wrap. Leatherman should get an award for designing something that makes opening those shells less of a chore (it works that well, once you get onto it - it works best when pulled at a certain angle) The only tools that truly lock are the knife blade, and the scissors. The others have a spring loaded cam mechanism that holds them open fairly securely, but isn't a true 'lock'. Pliers/wirecutters: I LOVE that the pliers are spring-loaded. Makes them FAR easier to use, and the folks at Leatherman really got it right in that there is just enough spring tension holding them open to make them easy to use without losing your grip, yet keeping the action smooth and easy. The wire cutters are not as good as on the bigger Leatherman tools, but work adequately. Build quality overall, is better than I expected, given the price I paid (right around $20) To sum it up, I belive that the Wingman (and it's brother the Sidekick) are probably the smallest 'quality' multi-tool you can buy, that is still big enough to really do the job, and includes the tools you really need, without much extra. While the many-bladed multi tools are great for when you can carry a big/heavy tool, the Wingman is a very good balance of small/light enough to always have on you, yet big enough to do the job. Any bigger, and you might as well get a full-sized one with a pouch, and any smaller, and it would be less useful.

4 stars is perhaps a little generous, but value is the key that led me to put 4 instead of three. This item goes as high as $35 at retail. Recently, I saw one for $30 at Wally World. Amazon sold me one for $21. At that price, you get a lot of function. This tool is less than half the price of many in it's "class". The spring loaded pliers are useful and cool. The handle is very comfortable. Two of the most useful secondary tools, the knife and scissors, deploy without needing to first open the pliers and they also have a liner lock to secure them open. The spring loaded scissors are quite large for a pocket tool. The knife is a handy size and partially serrated. It's always nice to have a couple of screwdrivers. A special hooked blade, useful for opening plastic blister packs is nice. I wish the bottle opener was easier to get too. Having to open your tool, take out the opener, close the tool, open the bottle, open the tool, put away the opener, close the tool.... I usually will cary a quicker opener on my keychain, so this one gets little use. I know that some leatherman tools have the opener intergrated into the carabiner clip. That looks a little funky to me, but the clip and bottle opener ready to go are nice. The wingman comes with a pocket clip. That is nice. I usually carry it in a rear pocket, opposite the wallet. The length and width are compact enough, but the thickness is a bit on the bulky side. It effectively chokes off the entire pocket. There are slimmer, lighter tools. Fancier ones. But you could buy three or four of these for the price of one of the nicer models. Keep one of these in your car or daypack, and you'll always have a very handy tool nearby. It gets a lot of jobs done. It is not of the highest quality, but I consider it to be a quality product. There is a little play in the pliers. This is not a professional quality tool. But if you are not a professional, don't carry a tool box, and don't wear a tool belt, this can fill the roles of several different items. At this price, I am not afraid of damaging it. I can really beat on this thing, if I want. I recommend it. If you've never owned a pocket multi-tool pliers, this is the perfect way to check one out. I carry it a lot.

Classic Leatherman. I've owned 11 in since he came out with them in 1983. You wanna have made in 1983 is still solid. The wing man is my overall favorite with its size and types of tools. The scissors are quite large as compared to other Leathermans.

I have owned a Leatherman for more than 20 years. I purchased the wingman series multitool and it far surpasses my older model. The wingman knife blade opens with one hand and locks in the open position making it very nice while using it for odd jobs.the scissors are nice and the spring loaded pliers are great while using your other hand to hold the project your working on. Built tough to withstand the rigors of any of your needs. Simply a great multitool...

I went into this with no knowledge of the leatherman brand nor any particular expectation of quality or usefulness from this tool, I had simply ordered it at the suggestion of a coworker. Before it arrived, I was worrying that this wasn't really a product made for me... sure, I used tools for a living and had my hobbies, but I wasn't really the type of person who ever carried blades or an army knife. When it did arrive, however, I was very pleasantly surprised by pretty much every aspect of the tool! The wingman immediately felt good in the hand and was just the right weight. The appearance of the multitool looked perfectly utilitarian and didn't overly emphasize the blade, which is something I could appreciate since this is a tool I would be frequently using in public spaces around families and children, who, understandably, get spooked easily by strangers with knives. Each individual tool in the kit felt sturdy and well exceeded my original expectations: the pliers had a very healthy yet not overpowering spring action, the scissors are, by far, the most useful I've ever seen in this form factor, to the point where I prefer them over most full-sized scissors, the knife was sharp and short enough to not look overly threatening when deployed, yet long enough to not impede their use, the drivers were sturdy and not overly awkward to use, even the plastic cutter was a breakout hit and thoroughly useful! What really put it over the top was when I noticed the 25 year warranty, which is actually one of the best warranties I've ever seen. There's no registration or documents to keep, if the tool breaks, you just send it in for free and they fix it. I've yet to test how far that warranty extends, but it seems to cover just about everything including regular use! The clip was also quite useful for securing the wingman on the inside of my pocket, which concealed it nicely while still making it easy to access In terms of criticisms, I do have them, but I don't necessarily expect perfection for the 5-star rating, which I do believe this product has demonstrably earned. There are tools on the wingman which I find completely useless. For example, the file is acceptable for filing metal, but it's not an easy task and just feels far too short, likewise, the ruler is pathetic and I've instead just notched my own inch markings on the outside surface of the multitool. The bottle/can opener is probably good, but I am very unlikely to ever actually use it and find myself wishing something more impactful was there instead. The phillips driver also leaves something to be desired, as the tip is a bit "squashed" so that it fits flatly fit back into the housing, I've found this design leads to a lot more stripping than I would like... Overall, I just wish there was some option to modify my tool with aftermarket parts or to at least remove the ones I find useless, but considering the price, quality, and overall usefulness of the included kit, I'm not unhappy with my purchase at all!

Lovely product and great quality. I'm confident that it will be around and useful for decades to come, at least until I lose it. My Wingman did not come with the Pouch for carrying. Amazon's CSR said one isn't in the description so buyers shouldn't expect one in the box.

Excellent

Habe den Leatherman nun seit fast einem Jahr und nutze ihn beruflich (überwiegend die Zange und das Messer). Das sind meine Erfahrungen: - gute Verarbeitung - bis jetzt kein Verschleiß erkennbar -> Feder der Zange funktioniert einwandfrei, die Klinge des Messers ist noch scharf - keine Korrosion Leider fehlt ein Gürtelholster, aber passende gibt es schon für ein paar Euro. Insgesamt stimmt hier die Preis / Leistung wirklich sehr gut! Zwar gibt es aus dem Hause Leatherman oder Victorinox noch qualitativere Tools, aber zum 3, 4 oder fünffachen des Preises. Was wiederum meiner Meinung nach nicht gefertigt ist und dieses Tool als optimal erscheinen lässt!

Bought as a gift. Looks and feels well made. Nicely presented.

C'est un outil parfait: il est solide, simple mais complet et il se glisse dans ma poche. Je suis très content d'avoir mis quelques euros pour un produit de qualité et que je garderai longtemps.