Which Multitool Brand Wins?
We compared 14 multitool options head to head. Leatherman Charge Plus came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Leatherman Charge Plus
Price shown in test: $140, most expensive brand tested
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Mossy Oak
Price shown in test: $24
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Ozark Trail
Price shown in test: around $5, least expensive brand tested
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Spec | Weight | Sharpness Initial | Sharpness After Aluminum | Wire Cutter Test | Phillips Screwdriver Test | Flathead Screwdriver Test | Blade Lock Test | Corrosion Test | Ergonomics |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Leatherman Charge Plus$140, most expensive brand tested | blade made of 154CM steel, replaceable plier knives, comes with 12 different bits, blade release lever, belt clip, made in USA | 237 g | 265 | 295, a 10 percent loss | 48 lb of squeezing force to cut the nail, second best of all 14 (behind Havalon), no visible damage to the cutters | outlasted the screw, which broke at 59 in-lb, no visible damage | broke at 53 in-lb | gave up at 55 lb (tied with Victorinox for 4th best), blade lock bent pretty badly and the blade is stuck open | did better than average | named among the best handle comfort (with Mossy Oak, SOG, Victorinox) and among the easiest to deploy tools on (with Leatherman Skeletool, SOG, Gerber Gear) |
| 2Mossy Oak Outdoor Survival Portable 21-in-1 multi-tool set$24 | ultra-durable stainless steel construction, corrosion resistant claim, advanced 3D hollow structure, tools lock into position with a release to fold the knife, made in China | 334 g, heaviest of all 14 at the time it was tested | 255 | 310, an 18 percent loss | 65 lb, moved into second place behind Ozark Trail at the time | easily outlasted the screw, which broke at 95 in-lb, no visible damage, one of only 7 brands with zero damage on this test | 82 in-lb, by far the best result up to that point in the test order, some damage to the bit but easily replaceable | gave up at 17 lb, no visible damage to the mechanism | about the same level and intensity of rust as Hart | named among the best handle comfort (with Leatherman Charge Plus, SOG, Victorinox) |
| 3Ozark Trail 12-in-1 multi toolaround $5, least expensive brand tested | long nose pliers, standard pliers, wire cutters, knife, bottle opener, can opener, Phillips screwdriver, awl/file, saw, medium and small slotted screwdrivers, made in China | 158 g | 175 | 325, a 46 percent loss, among the worst edge-retention results | 59 lb of squeezing force to cut the nail (per the detailed individual test statement); the video's own closing wire-cutter recap sentence instead says 'the Ozark 29', which does not match and is treated as a garbled/dropped-digit recap number rather than a corrected value, since the two mentions disagree and the detailed individual test statement is the more reliable primary source | cammed out at 48 in-lb, small amount of visible wear | cammed out at 37 in-lb, pretty badly bent | no blade lock; folded at only 4 lb of pressure | quite a bit of rust, described as the worst of all brands ('pretty much every tool has rust on it') | named among the least comfortable on the hands (with Stanley) and among the least ergonomically friendly (with Stanley, DeWalt, Ganzo); needs a screwdriver just to access the knife and all tools are very stiff |
| 4Hart$15, sold at Walmart | 18-in-1 capability, made in China | 238 g | 205 | 240, only a 15 percent loss, described as still in great condition | 67 lb | outlasted the screw, which broke at 59 in-lb, no visible damage, one of only 7 brands with zero damage on this test | cammed out at 34 in-lb, pretty badly bent | no blade lock; folded at only 2 lb of pressure | quite a bit of rust, but not as bad as Ozark Trail | not tested |
| 5RoverTac$20 | lifetime warranty, 12-in-1 capability, durable stainless steel, claims to be rustproof and corrosion resistant, made in China | 312 g, heaviest of all brands at the time it was tested | 260 | 370, a 30 percent loss | 105 lb, a lot of effort required, but the cutters survived with no visible damage | cammed out at 45 in-lb with a popping sound, screwdriver ruined | 44 in-lb, the best result yet at that point in the test order, but the screwdriver was damaged | gave up at 29 lb, part of the blade lock mechanism broke off during the test | about the same as Hart, despite the product's own marketing claim of being rustproof and corrosion resistant | not tested |
| 6Stanley$21 | 12-in-1 multi-tool, stainless steel construction, compact and portable, limited lifetime warranty, made in China | 221 g | 230 | 350, a 34 percent loss | 70 lb | cammed out at 51 in-lb, bit experienced quite a bit of damage | 55 in-lb, the best result yet at that point in the test order, with some damage | no blade lock; folded at only 2 lb of pressure | no corrosion-test result is narrated for this brand anywhere in the transcript; the corrosion section otherwise covers all 13 other brands in roughly price order but skips from RoverTac directly to the next product, a genuine transcript gap rather than a caption garble that could be resolved | not tested |
| 7Gerber Suspension$30 | slimmer design and focused tool pack aimed at everyday-carry users, blade locks into position with a handle-mounted release, made in China | 191 g | 270 | 495, a 45 percent loss, the worst edge-retention result of all 14 brands | 61 lb, moved into second place behind Mossy Oak at the time, no visible damage | avoided cam-out but the bit suddenly snapped at 61 in-lb, bit ruined | 74 in-lb, performed nearly as well as Mossy Oak, small bend | let go at 26 lb, mechanism still works but shows wear and tear | "definitely did better than the Ozark Trail"; the transcript literally attributes this line to 'the Gerber Gear', but it is resolved here to Gerber Suspension: the corrosion section otherwise tracks price order (Ozark Trail, Hart, Mossy Oak, RoverTac, then a Gerber, then DeWalt, Ganzo, Havalon, Leatherman Skeletool, SOG, Victorinox, then a second, differently-described Gerber mention, then Leatherman Charge Plus), and Gerber Suspension's $30 price slot falls exactly where this first Gerber mention sits, while the second Gerber mention (poor corrosion result) falls in Gerber Gear's correct $121 price-order position next to Leatherman Charge Plus | not tested |
| 8DeWalt MT16$32 | comfortable handles, easy-access tools, lifetime warranty, made in China | 210 g | 225 (moved into third place behind Hart at the time) | 255, only a 12 percent loss | 78 lb, no visible damage | cammed out at 55 in-lb, no visible damage | cammed out at 34 in-lb (tied with Hart), some damage | refused to let go until 82 lb, the best (strongest) blade lock result of all 14 brands, though the mechanism was damaged and the release no longer works afterward | some metal is painted; the unpainted areas did a little better than some of the other brands | not tested |
| 9Ganzo$50 | knife hardness HRC58, replaceable knives and pliers, screwdriver requires some assembly, blade release lever, made in China | 275 g | 335, the dullest new-blade result of all 14 brands | 340, only dropped slightly since it started out the dullest of all brands | 129 lb, really struggled, worst (highest force needed) of all 14 brands, no visible damage | outlasted the screw, which broke at 70 in-lb, some damage to the flutes | 90 in-lb, the best (strongest) result of all 14 brands, small amount of damage to the bit | performed very well at 77 lb, second best of all 14 brands, some wear and tear | most of the metal is painted, which really helped it avoid corrosion | not tested |
| 10Havalon$64 | includes knife, holster, extra blades, and a blade-remover tool, comes with six replacement blades, belt clip, made in Taiwan | 186 g | 135, the sharpest new-blade result of all 14 brands | 650, the dullest used-blade result of all 14 brands (a very large drop from the sharpest starting point) | 44 lb, the best (lowest force needed) of all 14 brands, cutting knives still in great shape | the rivets holding the multi-tool together suddenly broke during testing, but the screwdriver bit itself was undamaged; testing continued until the screw broke at 79 in-lb | since the multi-tool was already broken from the Phillips test, two sets of locking pliers were used to hold it together for this test; scored 75 in-lb with no visible damage to the bit | not tested, since the multi-tool was already damaged from the earlier rivet failure | unpainted areas performed about the same as Gerber Suspension | not tested |
| 11Leatherman Skeletool CX$80 | ultra-light full-size multi-tool, knife blade made with premium 154CM steel, 25 year warranty, made in USA | 146 g, lightest of all 14 brands | 190 | 205, only a 5 percent loss, best edge-retention result of all 14 brands | 91 lb, cutters still look as good as new | outlasted the screw, which broke at 60 in-lb, no visible damage | did not come with a full-size flat bit; the bit broke at only 14 in-lb, worst (weakest) flathead result of all 14 brands | gave up at 22 lb, mechanism experienced quite a bit of damage | a little more rust than Havalon | not tested |
| 12SOG PowerAccess$90 | SOG stands for Studies and Observation Group; patented gear-driven leverage mechanism claims twice the cutting/gripping power of conventional pliers, center-axis magnetic hex bit driver, tools lock securely in place, designed in Seattle, made in Taiwan | 305 g | 210 | 255, an 18 percent loss (tied with DeWalt) | 51 lb, moved into second place behind Havalon at the time, no visible damage | outlasted the screw, which broke at 59 in-lb, no visible damage | cammed out at 46 in-lb, blade pretty badly bent | performed very well at 57 lb, third best of all 14 brands, mechanism did not survive | pretty significant rust, described as one of the worse results | not tested |
| 13Victorinox Swiss Army Knife$105 | made in Switzerland, comes with a sheath | 210 g | 270 (tied with Gerber Suspension's initial score) | 305, an 11 percent loss | 58 lb, no visible damage | outlasted the screw, which broke at 58 in-lb, no visible damage | 60 in-lb, a very small bend, described as still in much better condition than most other brands | performed nearly as well as SOG at 55 lb (tied with Leatherman Charge Plus for 4th best), mechanism no longer works afterward | quite a bit less rust than average, one of the better corrosion results | not tested |
| 14Gerber Gear$121 | replaceable plier knives, blade release lever, retractable pliers, made in USA | 281 g | 250 | 270, only a 7 percent loss | made a popping sound and one of the cutting knives on the pliers broke at 43 lb, the lowest force of all 14 brands but a failure rather than a clean win; the cutters are replaceable but the kit did not include a spare set | outlasted the screw, which broke at 70 in-lb, but all four flutes on the screwdriver ended up bent | 79 in-lb, moved into third place behind Mossy Oak at the time | let go at 31 lb, mechanism damaged | painted and unpainted areas both experienced quite a bit of rust; resolved to this product (rather than the earlier, differently-described 'Gerber Gear' mention attributed to Gerber Suspension above) because this mention falls in the correct $121 price-order position, immediately before Leatherman Charge Plus | not tested |
How it was tested
- initial knife sharpness (Best Certified Sharpness Tester score; lower score means sharper)
- sharpness retention after 10 passes of the blade against aluminum (score and percent loss)
- wire cutter test (lb of squeezing force to cut through a six-penny nail)
- Phillips screwdriver torque test (in-lb via a torque adapter and drill press until the screw breaks or the driver cams out)
- flathead screwdriver torque test (in-lb, same rig)
- knife blade lock strength test (lb of pressure to fold the blade)
- corrosion resistance (hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, and salt rusting agent, checked after about 12 hours)
- subjective ergonomics/comfort and tool-access ease assessment
- weight comparison (g)
“If you're not worried about the price tag, and it's all about the quality, I really like the comfort, ergonomics, and performance of the Leatherman Charge Plus. It's a very nice multi-tool, but it's also very expensive.”
Data notes and caveats
All 14 brands from the description (Ozark Trail, Hart, RoverTac, Stanley, Mossy Oak, Gerber Suspension, DeWalt, Ganzo, Havalon, Leatherman Skeletool, SOG PowerAccess, Victorinox, Gerber Gear, Leatherman Charge Plus) are fully accounted for in the transcript with no phantom or missing brands, an unusually clean match. The closing verdict gives a three-tier recommendation (best budget under $10, best mid-tier value, best overall quality regardless of price) rather than a single flat winner; mapped here to budgetPick (Ozark Trail), runnerUp (Mossy Oak), and winner (Leatherman Charge Plus) since the schema has no dedicated third-tier field, each backed by its own direct quote. Several data-quality issues were found and resolved or flagged rather than silently fixed: the closing wire-cutter recap gives Ozark Trail as 29 lb, which contradicts the detailed individual test statement of 59 lb (kept as 59, the more reliable primary-source mention, with the 29 flagged as a likely garbled recap number); Hart's flathead result is described as '3 in-lb less than the Mossy Oak' but arithmetically matches only the Ozark Trail's own result (resolved to Ozark Trail per testing order); the corrosion-resistance section names 'Gerber Gear' twice with opposite verdicts, resolved by price-order position to mean Gerber Suspension (positive result) at the first mention and the genuine Gerber Gear (poor result) at the second, correctly-positioned mention; Stanley has no corrosion-test result anywhere in the transcript, a genuine gap rather than a resolvable garble; and DeWalt's product-intro spec ('the blade does not lock into position') directly contradicts its own blade-lock test result (best of all 14 brands at 82 lb), kept as an unresolved internal contradiction rather than a guess. Chapter list titles one large chapter 'Heart Brand' even though it actually spans the introduction of many brands beyond Hart and the transcript itself consistently spells the brand 'Hart'; this is a chapter-title quirk, not a transcript brand-name error.