Must-have equipment celebrates birthday

Tag : Hand Tool Screwdriver
They started as cardboard and wood prototypes assembled in aPortland, Ore., garage.

Now they're made of stainless steel and hang from belts, sit inpockets and ride in backpacks to the most remote corners of theworld.

The Leatherman multitool, must-have equipment for many anoutdoorsman, turned 25 last month.

Inspiration: Tim Leatherman, an Oregon engineer, is touring Europein 1975 and suffers through a series of car mishaps.

His Boy Scout knife fails to help him much with car repairs. Uponhis return, he sets out to create a better multipurpose tool (howabout some pliers and screwdriver bits?).

He tinkers in the basement and garage, eventually receiving apatent in 1980 for the Mr. Crunch tool.

After more development, Leatherman incorporates, and the multitoolis ready for sale in July 1983.

Who needs it?: Leatherman pitches the product around the Northwest,targeting people such as telephone repairmen and emergencypersonnel.

He's also an angler, and eventually two catalog companies bite -Cabela's and Early Winters.

But to get those first tools into the catalogs, Leatherman actuallymust take scissors and a few other things off to make itcost-effective. He does, just in time for the Personal SurvivalTool to make the 1983 holiday catalogs.

Milestones: The modest goal for 1984 is to produce and sell 4,000multitools. More than 30,000 are sold that year.

From there, things happen rapidly. Innovations go in (scissors,better handles), exposure takes off (appearances on TV's "MacGyver"and later "The X-Files"), production expands and sales hit 1million in a single year in 1993.

The most important change comes in 1998 when the Wave model allowsthe knife blades to be accessed without opening the pliers.

"Basically, it allows you to use it with just one hand," said JuliWarner, the public relations manager at Leatherman Tools Inc. "TheWave is easily the most popular seller. It's a big hit withmilitary personnel and emergency personnel like EMs and firemen."

Tools in action: The Leatherman has unhooked countless fish (andsome thumbs). And emergency personnel have used the tool to cutcountless crash victims loose from their seat belts. For years, thecompany received letters describing Leatherman deeds. Today, thecompany dedicates a portion of its Web site to customers' "Tooltales."

A few stories from their files that showcase uses that are just atad more extreme than Tim Leatherman might have imagined:

A Georgia man wrote that he cracked his tooth after dentists' hourson a Friday while away on a trip. When he could no longer take thepain, he had his son pull the tooth with the Leatherman.

A South African woman, on a trip into the bush, made an incisionwith the tool's knife to open her husband's windpipe, then used aBic pen shaft to help him breathe after he had an allergic reactionto a wasp sting.

A bush pilot in Papua New Guinea wrote that he was transporting apregnant woman, when, sure enough, she went into labor duringflight. After turning around and landing, the pilot discovers shehas given birth.

A Leatherman cut the umbilical cord.

Warner related one of her favorite stories:

A soldier stationed in the Middle East wrote that he wore hismultitool on his belt, around back, just below his flak jacket. TheLeatherman took a direct hit from a bullet, leaving the soldierwith only a bruise.





See this story as it was printed in Erie Times-News' electronicedition. Click here for a FREE trial .
This content provided by GoErie.com/Erie Times-News is copyrightedmaterial and all rights are reserved. You may not reproduce this ordistribute it electronically, in print or otherwise without writtenpermission.