Leatherman Just Made a Multi-Tool With a Super-Steel Knife

Since Tim Leatherman created the Pocket Survival Tool in 1983, his namesake company has continued to rif on and improve upon that original design frequently, but the archetypal plier-centric multi-tool form has remained (with a few exceptions recently introduced by the brand’s Garage innovation team, including a the fixed blade Harvest Knife and cork-screw focused EUROPE75). The newest iteration is the Leatherman ARC, released today 5 October 2023, too, but the company’s latest all-purpose multi-tool contains a slate of significant features that set it apart from any multi-tool to have come before it.

For the past few weeks I’ve been able to use the new ARC multi-tool for myself at home in Vermont, and have a few thoughts to share.

The most notable among them will be obvious only to a small set of passionate knife nerds: a blade made of CPM MagnaCut steel. MagnaCut is a specialized steel that’s notable because it maximizes and balances all three of a steel alloy’s key traits for a knife blade—edge retention, toughness, and corrosion resistance—where most types max out one or two at the expense of the third. That means that the ARC’s modified drop-point knife blade will hold a sharp edge, will stand up to chipping and cracking, and will handle moisture well without rusting.

Source: https://www.fieldmag.com/articles/leatherman-arc-multi-tool-review