Everyday uses for a multitool

[sandbender]

Everyday uses for a multitool:


1. Rescuing family from broken elevator.


Not as exciting as it sounds, my family found themselves trapped in an elevator, only a foot or so from the ground, but with no power and no way of getting out.


I'd noticed on an earlier occasion that there was a little hole at the top corner of each door with what looked suspiciously like a fitting for a lift engineer to open doors underneath...

...as it turns out that is exactly what its for and the needle nose pliers of a Leatherman wave allowed me to rotate it and release my family.


The lift engineer turned up about forty five minutes later.


What other odd uses have folks found for their multitools?

 

[Toddy]

Neat

Not a multitool, but a swisstool card thingie. Used it to fix the broken windscreen wipers on a bus taking 50 students back to Glasgow from York Uni in a torrential downpour.
Prof Philo looked aghast as he handed it back to me from the driver. "What do you have that for ?", he asked.
"Repairing buses apparantly", I replied.



M

 

[sandbender]

"..."Repairing buses apparantly"..."

Brilliant.

 

[OldJimbo]

My old Leatherman PST has fixed washroom stall doors, vehicles and I've used it in more than 1000 computer rebuilds. When I got it as a present I was horrified that I'd have to carry it around, now I wouldn't be without it and haven't been for decades..
I also carry a single AA flashlight on my belt and I'm surprised at just how many times it comes into use.

 

[Robson Valley]

One Christmas, I gave each of my kids a Leatherman "Squirt" and a single AA flashlight. Tied together with a serious split ring.

Recall that here at 53 - 54, North Christmas is a cold and snowy winter with terribly short days.
D1 comes in a couple of nights after Christmas and says: "Thanks, Dad."
Me: "Huh? For what?"
D1: " There's a part on Jenny's car engine which keeps slipping off. I was able to fix it in the dark with the Squirt and the flashlight."

 

[hog]

Multi uses during my working day as an electrician , out at sea working on a Nav light and need pliers or a star drive (bit kit in pouch) saves an inconvenient trip back to land or a climb down to the boat.

 

[mrcharly]

End of an overnight bike ride, finishing in a pub. Been a bit desperate for the loo for the last hour or so, so as soon as we got into the pub, I nipped into the loos.

A few minutes in to my visit, I realised that the loo roll holder, one of those locked metal things, didn't have reacheable loo roll. there was some in it, but you couldn't pull it out. ***, I think. None in my bag either.
But there is a multitool.

Took the whole thing off the wall, took it apart, then refitted it properly.

 

[samharber]

While cycling in Herefordshire, came across a horse and rider on a green lane. Horse and rider step to the side to let us past. Horse gets rear hoof stuck on old wire fence that had fallen down and was hidden in the grass. Horse falls down with rider. Horse gets back up with rider. Horse falls down again with rider. Horse gets back up again with rider. Horse falls down yet again with rider. Rider manages to stop the horse from getting back up again. Rider probably has a couple of broken ribs by this point. I grab multitool from pouch on bike. Manage to cut the wire either side of where its trapped between the hoof and the shoe. Horse makes several spirited attempts to cave my skull in with its free leg. I'm very glad I have a bike helmet on. Horse is freed and runs off. (Former) Rider walks off slowly after horse without a word to us.

Always carried a multitool with the bike since.

 

[John Fenna]

On the farm - cutting barbed wire off the fence posts I had to move to another field (they had been stacked with lots of the old fencing still stapled on....)
- tightening bolts on a trailer
- opening feed sacks
- cutting yarn in the Craft room
At Church - tightening screw bolts on the tables
- cutting back the wax on candles where the wick had sunk too low
- planing back the wood of a jamming door

I tend to get the Leatherman into play at least once a day

 

[forrestdweller]

i carry my supertool [= the original one] together with a victorinox screwdriver/ bit set , a piece of hacksaw blade and concrete nails:

in 2008 i used the leatherman on stewart island to fix all the bowsaws at the DOChuts [=basically they all had zero set] as DOC is incapable of maintenance....
bending/straightening wires
cutting ropes, belts etc.
filing my fingernails

on several places i worked there were no screwdrivers or allen keys available except the one in my pouch...

last year january i helped relocating a section of water pipeline in a mountainvillage in japan [permanant population five people]-hacksaw blade came in handy to cut plastic pipe into sections and to cut through fencing wire as nobody brought boltcutters; since then nobody objected to me carrying a toolbelt with 2fixed blades and my leatherman

concrete nails to undo tight knots and to punch holes etc.

 

[bob_the_baker]

I once freed a supermarket cashier who had got her bracelet caught in the conveyor belt

 

[Tiley]

I have really enjoyed reading these various adventures with a multitool. I have no desire to hijack the thread but which multitool would you recommend? I hear good things about the Victorinox ones but then there are the Leatherman ones, Gerber versions and so on. It's all very confusing! Which is the best? By that, I mean best made, most versatile, comfortable to use and so on; I suppose an element of 'value' also creeps into the appraisal too.

 

[sandbender]

I have had a few but have settled on a Leatherman Wave, it isn't perfect, I'd be happier with just the one blade and something of more use than a second, perhaps an awl instead.

 

[JohnC]

At work, (chemotherapy unit) I have used my Leatherman Wave for repairing glasses (staff and patient), freeing up a seized dripstand, putting up a shelf, and sharpening pencils.. Its also been borrowed, with a set of bits, by the pharmacy team for some purpose that was never explained.
I cant carry it with me as there's no belt on my uniform and the pockets are too flimsy, but it is always surprising the reaction you get when its produced and does the job.

 

[hughlle1]

Probably the most important every day use... bottle opener

 

[dwardo]

I always have my juice on me.. Cannot remember the last time it hasn't been on my belt.

So recently it has been used to Repair a wheel-chair, pick a lock, sharpen a pencil, dismantle a server, open endless packaging, repair my lads toys, repair a shed door, stuck window, fixed a leaking fuel line, it goes on and on.

The last one of note was half way up the ladder at 10pm weekend before last disabling a faulty house alarm. Clipped the red wire and beautiful quiet!

 

[Quixoticgeek]

I've used my leatherman wave to remove splinters, thorns & bee stings from a good half dozen or so people, as well as used it to fix peoples computers and the like. Seeing as plod have been increasingly less tolerant of geeks carrying locking knives, so I've switched to carrying a Leatherman Juice cs4 instead.

J

 

[OldJimbo]

I have really enjoyed reading these various adventures with a multitool. I have no desire to hijack the thread but which multitool would you recommend?

The smallest one which includes needle nose pliers and screwdrivers is probably a good way to start, since the idea is to have it on the person at all times. As I said earlier, when I was given a Leatherman PST, I was first in horror of having to carry that chunk of steel around on my belt as I'd done quite well with a pocket knife up to then. It was when I found how many times it came into use that I really started to appreciate it. The last time I looked for a backup PST, they weren't making it any more. That particular tool has the right selection of tools in it which have worked for all that I've needed in a small size. A multi-tool isn't of much use if it isn't with you.

Back in the days before multi-tools, it's surprising what people carried. Pocket knives were commonly carried and a quick check behind the lapels of my old tweed work jackets revealed all sorts of needles, safety pins, thread.... I even found a penlight in the inside pocket, and one of those neat pocket safety straight razors that Wilkinson used to make ( for shaving before late evening meetings), fingernail clippers, tweezers, on and on... Tools of reasonable quality were carried in most vehicles and found in most homes. Now it's hard to find a sharp knife if you need one let alone the other stuff at work - at least that was the situation before my happy retirement. It could be that I'm getting older and crankier but it does seem to me that any sort of preparedness is the last thing on people's minds these days. Not quite in the small tools category but I've used both tow straps and jumper cables, in the last two months, to get people going - in Alberta where every tenth vehicle is a work truck that should have those.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

I have really enjoyed reading these various adventures with a multitool. I have no desire to hijack the thread but which multitool would you recommend? I hear good things about the Victorinox ones but then there are the Leatherman ones, Gerber versions and so on. It's all very confusing! Which is the best? By that, I mean best made, most versatile, comfortable to use and so on; I suppose an element of 'value' also creeps into the appraisal too.

The unhelpful answer is the one you have with you...

Like VHS vs betamax, apple vs PC, iphone vs android, there are two camps, both of which will say theirs is best. Victorianox or Leatherman. Neither is wrong in their view. Personally I've got three Leatherman tools, An original Wave, a new Wave, and an Original Juice CS4. I never got on with a Victorianox knife. Your milage may of course vary. My suggestion would be to go to a shop that sells both, and see which you find works better with your hand, which you find easier to open the tools, which you like best.

Right now I am trying to resist the temptation to buy a Leatherman Surge...

J

PS I managed to get an Original Juice CS4, which is not commonly available any more. The new version has a slightly different shape blade that is also slightly shorter. Which is the better design of the two is debatable. Personally I prefer the old version, some prefer the new version.

PPS One of the things that I really like about the Leatherman tools is the Bit adapters. The original Leatherman tool adapter is a really nice bit of kit (which they no longer make...), which allows you to attach any 1/4" hex bit to the Leatherman, this greatly expands the utility of the device, I have added a ¼" hex to ¼" socket adapter to the set, so I can add any socket that has ¼" square fitting. This fits both the new and original Wave tools. For the Juice I have the bit adapter that attaches to the philips screw driver and allows me to use all the ¼" hex bits etc... as with the other tool. The new Wave tool has takes interchangable leatherman bits by default, which saves the need to carry an extra item, just a "card" with all the bits on it. The bit extender can also be fitted to this tool, this extends the reach of the bits, and again takes standard ¼" hex and socket bits...

PPPS oops...

 

[stone monkey]

years ago i bought a leatherman pst 2 and always like to have it with me. When i was a breakdown/recovery mechanic it was invaluable. Now i do a lot of hillwalking and bushcraft activities and it is still invaluable. Still think about upgrading it though !!
Quixoticgeek, is it you on the walking forum as well ? I am Wombat on there