October 2007

THE TOOL THAT GOES WHERE COOKING UTENSILS MELT . . .

I am a Boy Scout, and as such, I understand the purpose of a good tool. I purchased a Leatherman Fuse in the Boundary Waters Canoeing Base in Canada, simply because I needed a reliable case for my generic brand multitool, but learned the first night that I owned it, that the blade was sharp enough to drop from six inches, into a wooden floor, and get the knife blade to support the entire tool, a feat which my other multitool failed the instant it hit the floor and the blade collapsed back into the tool. Since then, however, it has done many other things even the famed Victorinox Swiss Army Knife could not do.



The scissors could, and still can, cut thin sheet metal up to 1 mm thick. The scissors could cut 1/4 inch thick leather with ease, which is a job for specially designed shears. The wire shears could clip as much as a 1/4 inch diameter wire. My three year old blade is still sharp. The case has outlasted any of my old generic multitools, and to date still has not begun to show many signs of wear. I have used the Leatherman to tie rebar in Thailand, build my desk for my office, perform surgery on CD player headphones (yes, it was an emergency; I was about to have to go two weeks without entertainment), and take apart and put back together my computer.



My Leatherman has endured years of rugged abuse from work during a sandstorm, to being dropped in dirt, water, mud, and grass, and worst of all. . . verbal teardowns from Gerber owners, who needless to say, have had to sharpen their blades numerous times, oil the parts, and clean the knife to avoid rust. My Leatherman is my friend, it is more loyal than a golden retriever, more durable than anything else, and more dependable than any other tool on the market.

Mike N.

Arvada, CO