When my pregnant fiancee and I became a victim of identity theft, checks began to bounce, the rent didn't get paid, and we found ourselves temporarily homeless! Without even the money to afford a hotel room, we ended up downtown near all the services for the homeless in our community. This having happened in the dead of winter, we found all the shelters crammed to capacity, and had to camp on some heavily wooded undeveloped land near the railroad tracks. Fortunately for us, I had some pretty good camping gear including my trusty Leatherman Blast. My fiancee had purchased the Blast for my birthday several months before because she couldn't afford the Wave I had asked for, but I had already fallen in love with it using it at work and around the house... but the true test was about to commence! My Leatherman opened hundreds of cans of food and sawed through dozens of saplings and small branches from wich I made windbreaks and furniture. The pliers did everything from taking our hot mess gear from the campfire to pulling thick needles through tough canvas in order to repair our tents and frame packs. When our weather radio was accidentally smashed, I used the screwdrivers and wire stripper to repair it. We had to live out there for four months, and the only thing that didn't end up needing repair was my Leatherman! I even had to fend off some other homeless guys, who were drunk and looking for trouble, with the knife blade. (The longest in the industry!) We truly would not have survived without it. Sadly, I inadvertantly dropped my poor Blast in the campfire, and couldn't retrieve it before it was badly scorched.(Fire ruins knife steel.) My fiancee and I gathered our rescourses and promptly replaced it with a Wave model. We paid dearly for it: it cost every penny we had at the time, but it was WELL worth it. My Wave has proven to be even tougher and more reliable than my Blast was! Eventually I landed a temporary job moving some scafolding and equipment for this guy... He had picked up a few of us homeless fellows from in front of the Salvation Army. My Leatherman, and all the uses I put it through during the next few days at work, helped me stand out as being far more rescourceful than the rest, and at the end of the job, he offered me full-time employment! I'm happy to report that My fiancee and I are no longer homeless, and that my Leatherman tool is busier than ever! Thank you SO much for manufacturing a quality American product that I can believe in. Swiss Army: eat your heart out!

 

~ Paul S.

~ Broken Arrow, OK