Overview:

I have been carrying the Leatherman Arc since receiving it as a Christmas present at the end of 2023. Now, 10 months later, it still has a permanent spot in my right front pocket daily. In fact, aside from 5 days I was on a cruise in July, it has been in that pocket every other day since I have owned it.

The ARC isn’t my first foray into the Leatherman or multi-tool world. Somewhere around my house and workshop are a Charge TTI, original Micra, Squirt, Surge, original Wave, and a couple of the Free knives, all from Leatherman. The fact I predicated that statement with “Somewhere around my house” should tell you a great deal how successful previous attempts to introduce a multitool into my EDC have been. Until the ARC. I’m not going to go into great detail on the individual tools and the specifics of the Arc itself, Leatherman does a fine job of that on their website. I want to cover how this fits into my daily life and what I specifically find handy with its configuration.

The Blade:

Obviously the blade is pretty important, and on the ARC this might be the most interesting. The addition of MagnaCut blade steel to this tool was bold move by Leatherman due to additional cost, but it was a serious draw for me. This steel is superb. With a little bit of care and a quick touch up on a diamond and ceramic pocket stone here and there I have kept this edge shaving sharp even though I abuse the heck out of it. Cardboard is infamously tough on knife edges, but the wear I’ve seen on the MagnaCut is minimal. In the 10 months I have carried the Arc, I have spent probably less than ten minutes total with the blade on a stone. Relatively frequent strokes across the diamond followed by a few light honing strokes on the ceramic and I can pop hairs off my wrist. Seriously, it’s maybe a total of ten strokes every week or two and I am good to go. I have pocket and fixed blade knives with all kinds of exotic blade steels, I love my various CPM blade steels in my Spydercos, but they dont compare to MagnaCut.

The Other Tools:

The rest of the tools all add up to a package that is very handy. Aside from the saw, I still fail to recognize why multi tool manufacturers continue to push saws on us. I am no stranger to being in the woods and nature, but if I am planning on being out there, Ill have a saw or mini-ax that will cover 1000x more usefulness than that little saw. And if I find myself in the woods and didn’t get to plan accordingly, I’ll be focusing on getting out, still not needing a tiny saw. That tool slot for my purposes would be much better filled by a small precision blade, scraping tool, scalpel blade holder, or full edge serrated 420C steel blade. The rest of the tools have their use and work well for what they are. Adding in the ratcheting driver extension for the flat bit driver is a nice upgrade, I have one, it stays in my EDC bag and I grab it semi-frequently when I find myself working in a panel in an impromptu setting.

Form Factor and Function:

The magnet tech brought over from the Free series is fantastic. Being a lefty I appreciate the ambidextrous tool releases and belt clip being able to be swapped. The ease with which the tool open is a bit of a double edged sword for me, its easy one handed operation is great when you need it, but it also becomes a fidget toy for me real fast. It can be swung open and closed a la butterfly knife, which I do. A lot. To the detriment of my coworkers sanity it seems some days. Functionally, though, this is still a win for Leatherman, I would hope they will continue this technology into the rest of their lineup.

My EDC Use Case:

This tool fits into my life well. Due to the industrial nature of my career choice I routinely find myself needing to open an electrical or electronics panel to troubleshoot or make small adjustments etc. If I’m not gutting and re-wiring, I’ll usually just grab the Arc out of my pocket and do what needs to be done. With a little bit of a learning curve it’s not too hard to figure out using the bottom section of the cutters to strip wire, or the underside of the hinge to crimp a barrel connector. Obviously the screwdrivers turn screws. Pinching off hoses, holding nuts in place to thread bolts into, strip insulation, cut zip ties, open packaging, bore or enlarge holes, pry, all things this tool does at least acceptably at. Make no mistake, every dedicated tool that is emulated on a Leatherman is a compromise for portability. The old adage is true “Jack of All Trades, Master of None”