Honestly, you're gonna get a lot of replies saying leatherman or gerber...IMHO, as someone who sold them for quite awhile, stay away from them unless you like the brand name.  

I have an SOG that I've carried for a long time. It has quite a few dings and scratches, but works great. I like it.

http://www.amazon.com/Leatherman-LEA831105-Super-Multitool-Finish/dp/B002MFKNZS/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1333321101&sr=1-3

SOG Powerlock. Personal Favorite

I carry a leatherman wave for work, it's great, but it and  a small flashlight are both on belt.  Useful pocket pliers will be tough.

Leatherman Core.

Yep, just converted a friend to one of these. He loved his leathermans for years, not anymore.

Multitasker

My wife has an SOG Powertool EOD.  I have a Leatherman Charge.     Both are great.  You can customize the SOG.

My wife has an SOG Powertool EOD.  I have a Leatherman Charge.     Both are great.  You can customize the SOG.

I've got an older SOG, but never really liked the locking mechanism. Way too easy to unlock the knife when you're using it. That said, the steel seems a lot higher quality than the stuff my Gerbers are made out of.

 

This.

SOG

They are amazing tools.

+1








 

Victorinox AKA Swiss Army. Had mine since around 04.

I have been issued four multi tools:

Leatherman Skeletool CX: the screwdriver bits being replaceable is cool if you break one, but you gotta buy em from leatherman.  the pliers are really light weight, no cutting heavy wire with them.  blade steel is excellent.  If you accidentally put it in the case upside down it will get stuck, if the pocket clip is still on it.  pretty useful and light.  Two handed to open pliers.  you can lose the spare Philips/straight bits pretty easy.

Gerber Flik with blunt end pliers:  pretty good blade steel, not the best.  I like the lock mechanism for the blades and tools.  One handed opening of pliers!  pretty heavy duty pliers and replaceable carbide teeth for the wire cutters.  non replaceable Philips/straight bit. it  is a bit heavier than most. I like having several different sizes of straight screwdrivers.  I like the separate serrated and slick blades.  They put a lanyard thing on it where a tool could be.  

Winchester POS:  came with a set of sockets that fit onto a driver in them.  That is the only redeeming quality of it.  shit steel, shit steel, shit steel.

Leatherman wave:  Good steel on the blades, pliers are pretty light duty but I put pliers through hell.  Lock mechanism for the blades will eventually fail and make it so that the blades will rotate out further than they should and won't lock in place.

I now carry the Gerber Flik

Guess I should expand on why I like my SOG Powerlock 2.0

1) They have an actual wire stripper tool available and a "good" wire crimper built in (not great but in a pinch it works, bad placement on the tool)
2)C-4 Spike makes a great tool for shotgunning beers
3) the 1/4" socket driver tool is actually handy
4)most additional tools cost ~$13

I do a lot of custom electronics (car stereo's, GPS, mobile email systems, etc) installs at work so having a quick set of wire strippers/crimpers handy is very useful.

Only gripes I have about the tool one of my piano locks is loose (the one for the bottle opener, go figure) and the wire crimpers are built on the inside of the handles not into the jaws which would be much more useful in tight spaces.

Sog Powerlock 2.0

I've had mine for about 4 years now

Forgot to add, I called them to ask where to buy replacement eyeglass screwdriver and Phillips bits, they told me and then sent me two each free

A small toolset in the car and office desk is far more useful and probably cheaper than any multitool.

The original SOG Paratool Been using it for 16 years, multiple deployements, still going strong.