The spring-loaded pliers almost make not want to go back to the Surge. It really does make using the pliers significantly easier, especially when performing a task that involves a fine touch with the needle-nose pliers. I found that having spring-loaded pliers is a feature I didn’t know I needed until I had it. Because it’s a mid-range zookeeper multitool, I really wasn’t expecting to gain a feature in the Sidekick that I didn’t have on the more expensive multitool.

This is a feature absent on both the Leatherman Rev and the full-featured Surge. The other feature that really shined through during my testing was the Sidekick’s spring-loaded pliers.

You have to open the Sidekick all the way to unfold the serrated blade, but I enjoyed having it. While it’s not accessible from the outside like on the Leatherman Surge, it was nice to have on there regardless. I’ve found that a serrated blade makes all the difference when you’re cutting rope or zipties of a decent thickness. In addition to the previously mentioned outside-opening knife and saw blades, I also really appreciated the inclusion of a serrated knife blade. (198.4 g) and 3.8 inches (9.7 cm) long when all closed up. While not as deep in features as the 21-in-1 Leatherman Surge, our experience with the Sidekick made us feel like it was more tailored to being a useful zookeeper multitool than the budget Leatherman Rev. What We LikedĪs we said before, the Leatherman Sidekick lands squarely in the middle of our previous reviews – both in terms of price and functionality. The saw is perfect for quickly cleaning up stray twigs on perching logs you’re installing for your animals. The Sidekick goes one step further than the Rev by also sporting an outside-accessible saw blade. Thankfully the Sidekick continues this trend, which makes it such a breeze to quickly access your most-used component. If you’ve read our past multi-tool reviews, you know that we consider it an essential feature to have the main blade open from the outside of the tool. This means the blade isn’t going to accidentally close in on your hand when you’re applying cutting pressure. It’s held in the open position by a frame lock. Identical to the Leatherman Rev is the Sidekick’s 2.6 inch (6.6 cm) 420 HC (high-carbon) knife blade. Packing 14 tools into one fairly slim package, you have access to a straight-edge knife, a saw, a serrated blade, three different screwdrivers, pliers, wire cutters, files, and more. Yet despite that major savings in cost, the Sidekick still brings its A-game when it comes down what it can get done.

You can snag a Leatherman Sidekick for $50, which makes it less than half the price of our undying favorite Leatherman Surge. Let’s dive into the mid-range zookeeper multitool – the Leatherman Sidekick. Here we have yet another option for your consideration – one that falls right in the middle between the Surge and Rev in terms of both functionality and price. In previous reviews, we’ve taken a look at the high-end and full-featured Leatherman Surge as well as the budget-friendly Leatherman Rev. Is there anything worse than having to stop working in order to go find the tool needed to fix the problem you just encountered? Zookeepers know that in order to avoid this, a good multi-tool is essential.

Leatherman sidekick review