Finally arrives today, so I'm posting the first impressions I have, haven’t used the tool yet.

First thing I noticed was that the TTI was a lot smaller and lighter than my surge that I previously owned. That is one of the reasons why I wanted to sell the surge and buy one of the smaller tools because I would find the surge uncomfortable when in plier mode since the handles were so wide, didn't make them difficult to grasp as such, but the smaller length and width of the TTI handles are more comfortable.

Leatherman’s Blast model was a pleasant surprise when I received it. After having the Kick for a while, then moving up to the Fuse I appreciated the locking mechanism but I was so disappointed by the new scissor design that I think it jaded me. It took the Blast to really get my attention again in this series.

This is another one of those things that I looked at for years and could never really see the point of. In fact, I couldn’t even figure out how the darned thing worked from most of the pictures I saw, so I never really paid it that close attention. Until now.

It seems lately that most manufacturers are trying to make the biggest tool because that equates to the heaviest duty and the best bang for the buck. Well, the Core is the replacement to Leatherman’s Super Tool and Super Tool 200 , and the predecessor to Leathermans other big boy, the Surge .

Leatherman’s Crunch is a unique model that really has no peers in the multitool industry. Certainly there are a few locking plier tools out there such as the Schrade ST6 and the discontinued Kershaw locking plier tool, but each of those tools is clunky due to the permanently fixed head. The Crunch’s greatest strength is the folding head that allows it to fold into the size of a regular full sized multitool like the PST series , Wave or SwissTool Spirit .