Leatherman Wave+ review: nearly six years of everyday carry

I bought my stainless Leatherman Wave+ second-hand in 2020 for about £80, with my own money. Leatherman did not supply it, know about this review or have any input. It has been my everyday multitool for nearly six years, through thousands of days of hiking, biking, camping, sailing and ordinary fixes at home. I have carried it in roughly eight countries, from snowboarding trips in the Alps to the Laurentides and sailing the Mediterranean. After all that, the Wave+ is still the Leatherman I like carrying most.

The verdict

The reason I keep choosing the Wave+ is its perfect balance of size, weight and functionality. I forget I have it until I need it, and then it almost always has the right tool. A larger multitool like the Surge seems great until you have to pocket-carry it for a full day. The Wave+ packs enough useful hardware to deal with a huge range of small problems while staying compact enough that I will bring it along in the first place.

It is my first choice among the Leathermans I have used. The ARC has a better blade and a lovely magnetic FREE action, but costs substantially more. The Surge gives me more leverage when a job becomes heavy, but it comes at a size and weight I do not want to carry every day. The Signal has outdoor-specific features but gives up too much of the Wave+'s everyday tool set. My scissors are annoying, yet the rest of this tool has earned its place many times over.

Nearly six years in a pocket, bag and toolbox

I bought the Wave+ used in 2020 and began carrying it almost immediately. It has lived mostly in a pocket during hiking, camping, biking and sailing. Sometimes I put it in a bag, particularly when I am in a city and do not expect to need it. That is part of the appeal: it does not demand a belt pouch or a special plan. I can take it on a day out and forget about it until a strap, fastener, knot or bit of packaging needs attention.

I've used this knife for more jobs than I can recall: opening parcels, preparing food, cutting rope, tending fishing gear, sharpening a spear, trimming material for camp jobs, whittling, cutting carpet and insulation, adjusting snowboard bindings and even some vehicle maintenance. It handles those kinds of miscellaneous everyday jobs really, really well.

The size that makes me bring it

Leatherman lists the Wave+ at 8.5 oz and four inches closed. It is a real chunk of steel, but it carries more cleanly than the larger Surge. Mine slips into a pocket or the corner of a bag without turning every walk into a decision about whether I need a multitool that day. I have taken it snowboarding, hiking and sailing largely because carrying it is so little trouble.

The stainless handles are rounded enough for routine squeezing and driving, and the main outside tools are easy to reach without opening the pliers first. Mine felt good when I bought it second-hand, and years of use have made the action especially smooth. I can swing the handles open naturally now, find what I need and put it away with almost no thought. That familiar action is a major part of why the Wave+ stays with me when other tools are left in a drawer.

Weight still matters. Someone building an ultralight walking kit may prefer a small knife, a separate driver or no multitool at all. I am happy to carry a few extra ounces because the pliers, blades and drivers see so much use. For me the Surge's additional size is an obvious daily penalty, while the Wave+'s weight is rarely on my mind.

Pliers that find jobs everywhere

I use the needle-nose pliers all the time. They grip and bend small parts during repair work, but they are just as useful for jobs that never sound like plier work. I have pulled splinters with the narrow tips and used them to work at tight knots when sailing. The fine nose lets me get into places my fingers cannot reach. On a boat, that often saves a trip down below to find a specialised tool like a marlinspike.

The plier head feels precise enough for small adjustments and solid enough for the work I ask of an everyday tool.

The Wave+ also has replaceable wire cutters. They add practical life to the plier head if the edges are ever damaged, though mine have not needed replacement. I have not damaged the jaws or made the handles loose in nearly six years, which is saying something considering how much use and abuse these have seen.

Two blades I keep reaching for

The plain and serrated blades open from the outside and lock in place. That arrangement is one of the Wave+'s best choices. I do not have to unfold the pliers to cut line, open a package or make a quick camp repair. The blades are big enough to feel useful, rather than included merely to fill a specification list, and having both edge types gives me a choice when the material changes.

I have used them for rope, food prep, cardboard, carpet, fishing tasks and small bits of wood. The plain blade is the one I tend to want for neat general cutting; the serrated edge is handy when fibrous material needs a more aggressive bite. I sharpen the blades once or twice a year. They have held an edge well between those sessions, and neither blade has suffered damage despite work that sometimes came close to abuse.

Leatherman uses 420HC for these blades. The ARC's MagnaCut blade is a clear step up in material and edge performance, and it is one reason I enjoy the ARC. In actual daily use, though, the Wave+'s two accessible blades have never left me wishing I had spent much more money before I could finish a job. The steel is straightforward to sharpen, and the second blade is more valuable to me than a premium label alone.

The flat bits earn their place

The drivers are probably the tools I use most after the pliers and blades. I own both Leatherman bit kits and usually carry them in a bag, which gives me far more options than the bit stored in the Wave+ itself. I have reached for them while fitting snowboard bindings, adjusting gear, working on the boat and dealing with the ordinary screws that appear in household and car jobs.

People complain that Leatherman's flat bits are proprietary. I understand the complaint if you already have a box of standard bits, but the thin format is exactly why I like this system. A wide choice of tips takes up very little room in my bag. Third-party options also exist if I want to spend less on replacements. The driver is not as comfortable as a proper screwdriver for a long run of fasteners, but it is far more useful than a token built-in Phillips head for the scattered screws that surprise me away from the workbench.

The small driver has its own place for fine fasteners. The files are useful when a rough edge needs tidying, and the saw is aggressive when I pull it out, although I rarely need it. I like that the Wave+ does not depend on gimmicks to justify its tool count. Pretty much everything on the tool is useful... except for my damn faulty scissors.

The scissors are the one persistent disappointment

People often praise Leatherman scissors. Mine are just bad, no other word for it. The spring has always felt sticky, and the blades do not reliably return to the open position. I have to manipulate them open and closed by hand. Six years of use and maintenance have not improved that action. If I need scissors often, I would rather have the pair on a Victorinox Swiss Army knife.

I could probably ask about warranty service. Leatherman's warranty is famously good. Honestly, I never cared enough to send the tool away and be without it for several weeks. But the bad scissor experience is the reason the rating stops at 4.7 instead of pushing closer to five.

For small snips they can still cut when I work the handles myself. They have been used for the odd bit of thread, line or garden material. But they are probably the one small reservation I have about recommending the tool. I know for a lot of multitool users scissors are a top-three tool in terms of usage.

Six years of wear, sharpening and oil

My Wave+ still looks and feels strikingly fresh for a tool bought used six years ago. The blades have no chips or other damage, the locks still do their job and the pliers have not become sloppy. The action has grown smoother with use rather than loose. I have taken it through salty sailing days and hot, dusty boat work without finding corrosion on the tool.

I do maintain it rather than neglect it. The blades get a proper sharpen once or twice a year, and I use Ballistol on the pivots and exposed steel. It stays useful for a long time without leaving the action sticky, and I happen to like its smell. The oiling has helped me keep the tool in good condition around marine work. It has not cured the scissor spring, which tells me that fault is separate from the general feel of the mechanism.

There are surface marks from use, of course. What impresses me is that the tool has stayed functionally sound through such a mixed life: mountain trips, wet sailing jobs, automotive fixes, woodworking and ordinary daily cutting. I have not had to replace a blade or a cutter. I bought it second-hand expecting a reliable practical tool, and it has kept that promise far longer than the price I paid would suggest.

Wave+ vs ARC, Surge and Signal

Among the three Leathermans I have owned for extended use, the Wave+ is first, the ARC second and the Surge third. The ARC's magnetic FREE mechanism feels even better in the hand, and its MagnaCut blade is an upgrade I notice. If money were no object I would buy the ARC for those refinements. At roughly twice the Wave+'s current US list price, though, it is a hard value argument for my everyday jobs. The Wave+ gets me perhaps 85-90% of what I like about the ARC for about half the outlay.

The Surge is the tool I pick when I know I may be rough with it. Its larger pliers and leverage suited hard boat work, and I am less concerned about its bulk when it is going straight to a job site or into a tool bag. I do not enjoy carrying it casually. The Wave+ is the one I take on the hike, ride or sailing day when a heavy job might not happen but dozens of small ones might.

The Signal makes more sense if you particularly want its carabiner, hammer and outdoor extras. For my mix of work it loses too much: the Wave+'s separate blades, files, scissors and flexible bit setup are more valuable than a small fire starter or sharpener. The Signal feels like a specialised outdoor choice. The Wave+ feels ready for whatever the day turns into.

Value after six years

Yes. My £80 second-hand purchase has given me extraordinary value, but I would still recommend the Wave+ at a normal new price. Leatherman currently lists it at $129.95 in the US, against $249.95 for the ARC. That gap makes the decision straightforward for someone who wants a dependable working multitool more than the finest blade steel or the newest mechanism.

I would recommend it to campers, sailors, cyclists, DIYers and anyone who likes being able to sort out a small problem without going back for a toolbox. It is a particularly good fit if you want pliers and a real choice of blades and drivers in something you will carry willingly. Ultralight hikers can save weight by packing only the tools their route calls for. For almost everyone else who wants one capable multitool, the Wave+ is where I would start.

Leatherman Wave+ details

Scoring breakdown

About the tester

Adam Whistler

Outdoor Expert, Adventure Guide & Long-Distance Sailor.

Adam is a seasoned outdoor guide with more than 300 weeks of adventure sports guiding experience across six countries. He has sailed 10,000+ miles aboard a cruising catamaran he rebuilt from the hull up. His reviews focus on reliability, repairability and how equipment performs when space, weight and dependable function matter.

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Editorial disclosure: Adam bought this stainless Wave+ second-hand in 2020 for about £80 with his own money. Leatherman did not provide the tool, fund the review or have editorial input.