Gordon 20-in-1 Multi-Tool Review: A Budget Alternative to the Leatherman Wave

Introduction

The Gordon 20-in-1 multi-tool from Harbor Freight sits in an interesting spot. Harbor Freight’s Gordon line leans toward knives and survival-style tools, and this model makes no secret of its inspiration: it is very similar to the Leatherman Wave, one of the most popular multi-tools ever made, with a handful of changes of its own.

The appeal is obvious once you look at pricing. The Gordon retails for $40, while a Leatherman Wave on sale might run around $100, and Leatherman’s lineup keeps climbing, with premium models well over $200. That gap raises a fair question: what exactly are you paying for with the bigger brands, and how much of it matters?

This review walks through how the Gordon is built, how its tool set compares, and where it falls short of the original.

What the Gordon Gets Right

Out of the box, the Gordon carries the standard complement of major outer tools: a knife blade, a diamond file with a fine saw-tooth section, a serrated blade with a gut hook, and a saw blade. The serrated blade with a gut hook is a detail the Wave does not include, though it does appear on the higher-end Leatherman Charge TTi. The saw is very similar in profile to Leatherman’s, with a couple of extra teeth at the bottom end and a noticeably more aggressive cutting feel, closer to a hacksaw than a wood saw.

Two extras stand out. First, the Gordon includes a pocket clip, something Leatherman is often stingy about including and which can cost extra on its tools. Second, there is a small glass breaker, apparently a carbide piece, near the base of the tool. It does not seem to get in the way during normal use, and it is a nice addition for a tool pitched at the emergency-preparedness crowd.

Build Quality and Steel

The Gordon uses 5Cr15MoV steel, a popular choice in Chinese-made knives that is very similar to 420HC, the steel Leatherman commonly uses. Heat treated properly, it should hold an edge and stay about as strong as the comparable Leatherman blades. The cutting blade profile is nearly identical to the Wave’s, with slightly more polished finishing on the Gordon’s spine.

Fit and finish are genuinely good. The plier tips are well made, and the overall construction feels like a serious hard-use tool rather than a shelf ornament. It is worth noting that the Gordon’s outer handle closure uses a small magnet where the Wave relies on a friction fit, and the friction fit feels more solid. The Gordon also sits a bit looser overall than the Leatherman. If you want to use Leatherman’s bit set in the Gordon, it will work, but it is not optimal, since Leatherman’s bits are slightly longer and do not seat as well. Gordon’s own bits fit better in their tool.

Blades, Files, and the Saw

The saw deserves its own mention. Flex is a common weakness on budget multi-tool saws, but the Gordon’s saw shows no problem whatsoever with flex under use, holding its own against a Leatherman Charge TTi. The teeth are a touch more aggressive, which some users will prefer and others will find a little rougher in the cut.

The inner tools use liner locks, and the blade tips are fine and usable, though as with most tools in this class, the tips are the part most likely to suffer if you abuse them. Leatherman itself learned this lesson over the generations, beefing up its blades after the thinner first-generation Wave tips proved vulnerable to snapping.

How It Compares to the Leatherman Wave

The comparison is unavoidable, because the Gordon is essentially a reinterpretation of the Wave. There are subtle differences throughout: the screw heads, the base plate, the shape of the branding area, the depth of the locking cutouts. Much of the design looks like it could be nearly interchangeable with Leatherman’s parts.

One meaningful difference is on the Wave Plus: Leatherman made the wire-cutting teeth interchangeable, so a damaged cutter can be unscrewed and replaced instead of warrantying the whole tool. The Gordon does not offer that, so abusing the cutters means the damage is permanent. On the other hand, the Gordon includes the pocket clip and glass breaker out of the box, both of which can cost extra elsewhere, and it comes with a leather sheath very similar to Leatherman’s own.

Things to Consider Before Buying

The honest caveat is origin. This is a Chinese-made tool, not an American-made or partially American-made one, and it is clearly a design that closely follows Leatherman’s work rather than innovating on it. If country of origin matters to you, that alone should guide the decision.

The counterweight is the Harbor Freight warranty that carries over to this tool, the $40 price, and the simple fact that there is not a lot to mess up here. The engineering head start is obvious, so the outcome comes down to steel and small parts, and on both counts the Gordon appears to have nailed it.

Who Should Buy It

The key question for any multi-tool purchase is whether you need something you can use hard or something for emergencies. The Gordon handles both. It carries an emergency-level price, but it presents as a solid hard-use tool.

It is also far better than the genuinely cheap knockoff multi-tools that circulate at a fraction of the price, the kind that stiffen up and seize over time. If you do not own a quality multi-tool yet, this is an easy, low-risk way to get one.

Buying Advice

Buy the Gordon if you want Wave-style functionality at a budget price, value the included pocket clip, sheath, and glass breaker, and are comfortable with a Chinese-made tool backed by Harbor Freight’s warranty. Step up to a Leatherman Wave or Wave Plus if interchangeable cutter teeth, the original design lineage, and brand pedigree matter more to you than the price difference. At $40, the Gordon is easy to recommend to anyone who does not already own a serious multi-tool.

Conclusion

The Gordon 20-in-1 is a well-made, thoughtful copy of the Leatherman Wave formula, with a few useful additions of its own and a price that undercuts the original by a wide margin. It is not the original, and the looser fit and non-replaceable cutter teeth are real trade-offs, but as a budget hard-use multi-tool it scores.