Since college, I've always carried a knife. When my tactical folder gave up the ghost, I felt it was time to go for a multi-tool. The Skeletool met the requirement for a lightweight, everyday carry tool with a tactical folder-style blade. I picked one up at my local hardware store. I took it home, took it out of the package, and played with it a bit. I opened and closed the scales a few times to get a feel for it and checked out the fit and finish. Though it's rather jagged and odd-shaped, I found it comfortable in the hand. I Tried out the hard wire cutter on a coat hangar. I went ahead cutting that hangar with the legendary Leatherman warranty in mind, but it bit right through with surprising ease. Suitably impressed, I stuffed it in my pocket and went to work. I was using my new tool within minutes of arriving at the hangar. Tearing apart oil filters, installing cotter pins, manipulating and cutting safety wire, this tool does it better than basically anything in the shop. In the mechanic's field, you use the proper tool for the job. You don't use your Leatherman bit driver, you go and get a "real" screwdriver from the tool box. But for many jobs, this thing *is* the proper tool for the job; the pliers/wire cutters in particular. And who wants to make a round trip to the tool chest to tighten one screw? The Skeletool really puts the "everyday" in "everyday carry." I don't go anywhere without it. It has become my regular sidearm, always clipped to my belt. The name "Skeletool" to me evokes the thought of a skeleton crew. This is the bare bones, stripped down, chopper shop street fighter version with just the bare essentials. I look through the catalog at some of the more heavily equipped tools thinking to myself "if I can do all this with the skeleton crew, what's it like having the full complement?" There may be a Wave in my future, and possibly a Style CS for formal wear. But the Skeletool is here to stay.

 

~Adam B.

~Southern Pines, NC