Guns and Gear Review # 19: Leatherman Wingman

Hey folks, it's your old pal 12-Gauge Chimp here with another installment of Guns and Gear Reviews.

Today, we'll be looking at the Leatherman Wingman multi-tool.

I usually carry a Leatherman Wave on my belt as part of my EDC set up, but I purchased the Wingman on a whim a month or so back and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite tools. I realized that I didn't need the Wave and its many different tools since I rarely used any of them aside from the knife blades, the pliers and the scissors. So I started carrying the Wingman around (it didn't come with a belt pouch so I had to use the one I had for my Leatherman Blast) and it quickly became my favorite tool.

Now, by this point, some of you are probably asking "Chimp, what are the tools on the Wingman and how much does one cost?". Well, I paid about 25 dollars US for mine at a Walmart Super Center in New Mexico (I do a lot of business in New Mexico) and the tools are as follows.

On the Leatherman Wingman, you've got...
1: spring loaded pliers (nice touch, Leatherman.)
2: a dual edged (serrated and plain edge) knife blade
3: bottle opener (or can opener, your choice)
4: a box cutter (I had no idea this was a box cutter until I watched a review of the Wingman online)
5: a combination ruler/ nail file
6: a small Philips head screwdriver
7: a small flat head screwdriver
8: wire cutters

I don't know if Leatherman counts the pocket clip as a function or not, so I'm leaving that out of the list of tools. Speaking of which, I hate the pocket clip on the Wingman. Mostly because it doesn't grip worth a damn. It may be because I wear jeans and the sides of the Wingman are super smooth, but still I hate the pocket clip because I feel like the tool is going to fall out when I walk. I had that happen with a cheap pocket knife once. Still have no idea where that knife ended up, by the way.

Anyway, I've been using the Wingman pretty steadily for the past month and there are almost no complaints from me. It's a lot lighter than the Wave I carried for the longest time (had to buy another one after my brother accidentally broke the scissors on my first one. I'll be sending that one in to Leatherman to take advantage of their warranty soon.) and I actually use most of the tools on it. Sure it's nice to have a bunch of tools at my disposal, but I'm not using most of them on a daily basis, which seems like a waste to me. The Wingman seems to me like a good minimalist multi-tool for folks who don't want or really need all the tools on the Wave or any of the other larger Leatherman tools.

Would I recommend the Leatherman Wingman  ? The answer is YES. I'm not going to give it my seal of approval just yet, but I have a feeling it's a sure thing that I will in the future.

Well, that's pretty much it for this installment of Guns and Gear Reviews with 12-Gauge Chimp. Keep checking the site for more reviews in the coming months and keep an eye out for an announcement about a 12-Gauge Chimp YouTube channel. I'm still in the process of making that a reality and getting set up to bring you all video reviews on new items I buy and the occasional 'Random Thoughts' video I may do when the mood strikes me.

As always, this is 12-Gauge Chimp signing off.