September 2009
Which Tool, Which Time
A long, long, time ago I became a Leatherman fan back when I was about 15 or 16 (I’m 36 now). I received my first Leatherman - it was the Micra. I believe I still have the box put up somewhere. It saved me so many times from messed up cars to minor surgery, I couldn’t begin to tell you the stories. It wouldn’t matter you’ve already heard them from everyone else anyway.
When I got out of school I started carrying 2 Leatherman tools (Yes, it used to “accidentally” go to school with me. My teacher used it a lot also). I’ve lost several over the years, and it’s always a heartfelt loss when that happens, almost like losing a part of the family. I almost always have 2 of them with me. Since I work in communications I have always been able to fix just about everything with the 2 at my side. (Ongoing joke at work about me, a Leatherman, and a roll of duct tape, but hey it still works).
I help a Boy Scout troop where they’re indispensable, and I’m a Girl Scout Leader also. It’s the Girl Scouts where my best story of a Leatherman in use comes from. In August, the Girl Scout troop gave me the Leatherman h503 lock back for my birthday. Later in October, helping direct winter encampment, I had to fill in and help the Lifeguard. 2 inexperienced girls got a paddle boat caught up on a marker buoy in the middle of the lake and started panicking. The more they tried, the more their boat sunk and the more it got caught up. Long story short, the first time I used the Leatherman h503 was underwater, and all I can say is Leatherman really knows how to make tools that really work. In the cold dark water there wasn't anything else on earth that could have done better. Thanks Leatherman!
Patrick B.
Newnan, GA
OK, you voyeur, you. Enough of reading other people's stories. It's time you told your own tale of gripping heroism or even just neat DIY'ism. We know there's a Shakespeare in you somewhere. Don't make us use the Steens to find it.