Buck Revel & Flashpoint

You’d think there’d come a point where Leatherman would run out of ideas for new products to join the many that have gone before, and indeed are still available.

However, Leatherman still have a few aces up their sleeve and with the latest Rebar multi-tool they have gone for all out strength and versatility. Remember that Tim Leatherman – the inventor of the plier based multi-tool – has for years demonstrated the strength of his original multi-tool by putting a ? ve-inch nail in the jaws of the plier, then standing on the handle to shear the nail in two, (Editor: I’ve seen him do it more than once) so how much stronger can you make it?

Tougher, Stronger

With the Rebar, Leatherman a? cionados will immediately recognise the iconic box-like body and sloped-neck design found on the Super Tool 300 and Micra. The Rebar rounds out Leatherman’s classic ‘heritage’ line of products by offering one in each size category. Just like the Super tool 300, the Rebar pliers have been optimised for strength and feature replaceable wire/hard-wire cutters - a ? rst for a four-inch multi-tool from Leatherman.

Incidentally, due to the rugged, robust build, it really suits its name as Rebar is ‘Americanise’ for any strong round or square section steel bar used as reinforcement in construction.

Measuring 4” in the closed position and weighting 6.7oz in weight, the Rebar is a relatively compact multi-tool yet still holds pretty much everything a hunter requires. The butter? y opening pliers are fully featured with the usual needlenose plier, regular plier, hard wire cutters and wire strippers, and even these look slightly tougher and chunkier than on other Leatherman tools.

Longer Tools

The inner handles hold a good selection of folding tools including a double-sided ? le, small and medium ? at head screwdrivers, medium Phillips screw driver, an awl, a 2 ½” ? ne edge clip point knife blade, a 2 ½” serrated knife blade, a combination can /bottle opener, a 2 ½” aggressive toothed wood saw and a lanyard ring. All are deployed using thumb nicks or lugs. The full length edges of the cutting tools start approximately ¼” from the pivot point (there is no extended unground ricasso). This gives more length to the cutting edge of the blades and can make a big difference to the way the multi-tool can be used. Also, like Leatherman’s Blast tool, the screwdrivers are elongated so reaching screws is a tad easier and to some extent allows you to apply more torque.

Conclusion

In my opinion the Leatherman Rebar ? lls a de? nite niche in the company’s roster. Everything about the tool says strength and ‘in ? eld’ practicality. It is priced at a very reasonable £59.95 and is supplied complete with either a Nylon or Leather pouch and a 12-month guarantee. A tactical version with a Black Oxide ? nish, supplied with a black MOLLE Sheath is available at £69.95.