January 2008

"A Leatherman is Never, Just One Man's Leatherman"

Dear Leatherman,
Firstly, I want to thank you for making the best multi-tool there is.

Now to the point, I am a missionary kid raised in West Africa, from the sands and heat of the Sahara desert, to the humidity of the coastal jungles. My original Wave has cut, chewed, sawed, chiseled, hammered, pried, etc. through everything in all weather conditions. From changing tires in the rain, and sawing through broken school locks (don't worry, I was allowed too). It’s done it all. In my small boarding school of about 300 in Dakar, Senegal I was known for my Leatherman, but especially in my dorm. For example, we used the pliers and flathead screwdriver as chisels to chisel through a concrete wall to get at a rats nest. I’ve used it to gut fish, clean birds, and make snares, flip bacon and cut the firewood for the bacon. Is has repaired everything that can be broken in that dorm, from ceiling fans and ovens to computers and toilets, and roommates science projects.

The most important job that my Wave has ever undertaken is the complete disassembly and reassembly of a hand pumping water filter on my schools youth group outreaches to the bush. When we first started pumping water through the filter it was working fine, but after about thirty minutes of African bush well water it needed to be cleaned. Well, we couldn’t find any tools strong enough to take it apart to get to the filter for cleaning. I heard they needed a tough pair of pliers, after breaking several pairs, so I went over and lent them my Wave. In fifteen seconds we had the pump disassembled for cleaning. If we had not had a Leatherman on hand, we would have had to find a very expensive way to get enough filtered water for 50 people to last out in the bush for three days in ninety degree weather! And in the bush that is literally almost impossible! I was responsible for the taking apart and cleaning of this filter (from the devil) for three years, two times a year, for three days, and disassembling and reassembling it on an average of five-six times a day. Without the Wave, um, well we try not to think of that.

On behalf of me, my dorm, and the high school youth group outreach teams, thank you, for the quality that you put into every tool. A Leatherman is never, just one mans Leatherman.


Taylor D.

Waxahachie, TX