The birth of the Leatherman multitool

[sandbender]

An entertaining read over at Gizmodo describes the invention of the first Leatherman multitool and the many knock backs Tim Leatherman had before he found someone to put some money into his idea.


How A $300 Fiat Inspired The First Leatherman Multitool


Some pics of the original cardboard and wood prototypes too.

 

[John Fenna]

I remember meeting Tim many years ago (when the original Wave first came out) at one of the trade shows (COLA in Harrogate for those who remember that far back...) and he gave me my Wave personally I had been reviewing Leatherman tools since the first model came to Britain and loved them (they are superior to most of he competition and I regret selling my first PST) and Tim told me the story of the origin of the PST and thanked me for my "support".
I still treasure that tool.
I still carry at least one Leatherman on me at all times and have others dotted around my house and vehicles.
Great tools - great story behind them!

 

[Macaroon]

Nice post, I had one of the original pst tools until it went walkies, replaced it with a pst II straight off and still have, and use almost daily, that one. Very rare I leave the house without mine, a great thing

 

[palace]

in the 80's we took my oldest daughter then about 6 or 7 to a railway heritage site to see the trains; they had a second hand stall in an old carriage, I saw in the pile of goodies a Leatherman PST unused, in it's box with the leather pouch, I had to borrow the £10 they wanted off my wife, reading this thread I realise I never paid her back! thankfully I still have both ie. Leatherman & wife.

I should add my Leatherman is stamped Portland Oregon

 

[troutman]

Fantastic tools and fantastic customer service from Leatherman USA. I have a Surge (older style with the small screwdriver which I actually find more useful!) and use it regularly. Having looked at Gerber it is obvious that the Leatherman is a much more robust multi tool and as such I wouldn't consider anything else now. Saying that the first one I purchased failed altogether and would not close properly- it was quickly replaced and the other one seems fine!

 

[zornt]

I have an origional PST that I carried for years. I now EDC a Crunch and a Micra. Love these tools.
If they had a toothpick they would be perfect.
For that though I have a Swiss Champ XLT. LOL

 

[forrestdweller]

my (original) supertool accompanies me since over 15 years (together with a victorinox screwdriver set, a piece of hacksaw blade (=wirecutter) and 3concrete nails)- i stopped counting how many times it "saved the day"....

 

[sandbender]

I picked up an original PST sometime in the early nineties, in those days I worked in a hi-fi shop and having something at my waist to bare speaker cables or fit plugs was quite handy, I still used a Swiss Army Knife when out in the hills and woods though.

My next job was as a roadie/AV technician and having a Leatherman and Maglite at your waist was almost part of an unofficial uniform, I changed the PST for a Supertool at some point and later lost that on a job towards the end of my roadie days, the PST was sold on here shortly after I joined (foolish move) and was replaced by a Wave, which remains my multitool of choice and is out with me daily.

A much underrated accessory for the Wave (and Supertool) is the bit adaptor...

...no longer available I think but you can still pick them up on ebay. The ability to use it at 45 or 90 degrees has been a lifesaver on more than a few occasions and when doing so you can exert a huge amount of torque onto rusted in bolts and such.

 

[Jaeger]

I was issued with 2 PSTs in the early 90's and used to carry one on my belt both at work and in my own time.
They were a great piece of kit and I kept them for about 10 years preferring them to the SOG which colleagues swore by.
I lost one when trying on a pair of trousers in a changing room in Filey (anyone find it?) when it slipped off the belt and I didn't notice until it was too late!
I sold the second (practically still brand new) for a pittance at a car boot years ago replacing it with a Gerber Tread (great for the integral LED light).
Wish I'd know of the collector value of the PST at the time.....

 

[Bhod]

I have two "multitools" that I've used for years. The first one I ever owned is a Schrade ST1, a brilliant piece of kit and some of the best pliers on a multitool I've ever used. The other a Leaherman Supertool (stamped Pat Pend Portland Or) a great alround multitool that forever came in handy when I had "Series" Land Rovers as daily drivers .

 

[Goatboy]

Have/have had a heap of Leathermans over the years.
Started off with the PST and couldn't stop. PST II's, Supertool I&II, Crunch, Flair, Wave.
The Flair has a corkscrew on it & a spreading blade as well as the cutting on. After the Waves I stopped buying them as I didn't like the Juice and all it's buddies.
The Tool Adapter is as Sandbender says a great bit of kit. That coupled with a Supertool and my favourite the Crunch and you can fix most things.
It's usually the Crunch I keep in my possibles pouch. To this day I still find the fact that it's a folding set of mole grips very cool, and they work well too.
The Schrader that were mentioned above are probably next best to Leatherman in my mind, really well made. Was given the Victorinox Swisstool to trial bit really didn't like it. Clumsy and uncomfortable in the hand.

Sent via smoke-signal from a woodland in Scotland.

 

[Baelfore]

Interesting read, thanks for sharing!

Atb
Ste

 

[sandbender]

"...a great alround multitool that forever came in handy when I had "Series" Land Rovers as daily drivers ..."

I would imagine the leatherman 'umbrella' attachment probably came in handy when you were driving the Series Land Rovers in the rain.

"...my favourite the Crunch and you can fix most things.
It's usually the Crunch I keep in my possibles pouch...."

The Crunch is a much underrated tool, its the only one that can get a spark plug or something of similar size unscrewed. It only has the one blade which I quite like, having two on the wave seems wasteful, I'd prefer an awl or something else instead.

There is also an adapter that converts the Leatherman slim 'bits' to conventional hex bits which I quite fancy, it also provides a longer shaft which from time to time I've needed when the Wave wouldn't reach into a recess or similar.

 

[dewi]

I've just realised that I own a Leatherman, and thanks to said pocket tool I was once detained in the Liverpool Passport office.

Just checked and its almost 10 years to the day when I was detained! An interesting day

 

[Dave]

I got my first in 1999 in Banff, Canada. I use a swiss champ now. And carry the apprpriate spanner, or vise grip, in the repair kit, when using a vehicle.