Knife fight - Letters

J. Baldwin!

I was surprised to see you reviewing the tired old Swiss Army Knife! (Winter, 2001.) Here's an alternative review.

My Leatherman Micra (www.leatherman.com) is a micro-multitool, in my opinion superior to the Swiss Army fatso. I am comfortable with this tiny tool in my dress suit pocket, and yet the Micra really works hard. Micra folds smaller than a penknife, but includes scissors, tweezers, ruler, bottle-cap opener, knife, screwdrivers, file, and cuticle/nail cleaner. It weighs 50 grams. Optimum hardened stainless steel. Lanyard attachment. I love mine! I lose them but have never broken one.

George von Hilsheimer
Maitland, FL
By email

JB responds: That's cool, sir, but I regularly use a lot of things on my Swiss Army Knife that are not on lesser models, e.g., the magnifier. The tiny screwdriver in the midst of the corkscrew is uncommonly adept at untangling jammed small knots. The approximately 32,000 duties I've used it for say it well. I started with smaller ones a long time ago. My Leatherman standard original model enjoyed much less use and was maddeningly designed to assault hands and fingers. Later models are better. What it comes down to is that the current variety makes a personal match likely. Thanks for writing.

Peter Warshall says: I prefer the Leatherman because of the pliers and better steel. I even like the picnic variety, with a blade for spreads, a decorker, and better scissors than the Swiss Army model.

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