I've just this year (2008) realized how far back my history with Leatherman goes. The media announcements about Leatherman's 25th anniversary started me wondering how long I'd been carrying one. It took some digging in old work schedules and invoices, but I found it.
I was doing some freelance work in Iowa in mid 1985. To get free overnight lodging, I stopped at my sister's place in Iowa City. Her future husband was there and showed me a new tool he'd just discovered. When he pulled out and unfolded his Leatherman Pocket Survival Tool, a big bell rang in my head. That's what I'd been wanting for years without knowing it. I was a tool geek as far back as my highschool days and was familiar with the Swiss Army Knife. I'd worked and traveled in Europe in the 70's and saw almost every backpacker and youth hosteler carrying one. I played with several and admired the quality and variety (and cuteness - I mean, a toothpic already!) but I never really wanted one. Even in those days when I was a poor working stiff just out of college in my first job, I could have afforded to own one, but never saw one that grabbed my interest. I was and am a serious tool geek and they just didn't strike me as a real working tool. More of a gaget.
Then I saw the Leatherman. PLIERS! In a folding tool that'll ride on your belt. A file, 4 screwdrivers, a knife and other stuff. That's the tool for me. I was blown away. My sister immediately called my wife and a Leatherman showed up under the tree that Christmas. I wore it every day (and still do), to work, to church, canoeing, doing yard work, everywhere. I used it every day. And I still do. I pull out my Leatherman at least 2 or 3 times a day. Sometimes 10 or more.
With the 25th anniversary this year, I realized that I got my first Leatherman only two years after it hit the market. The original Leatherman Pocket Survuval Tool first appeared in the Cabela's and Early Winters' catalogs just in time for Christmas of 1983. In 1984 they sold about 30,000 of them. Ten years later, they were selling over a million a year. The success and growth of the company has been phenominal. It's a classic "build a better mouse trap and they'll beat a path to your door" story.
I broke that first PST in the early 1990's. To be honest, I was abusing it, using the large screwdriver as a pry bar. I rarely force a tool, but I was stuck and had to make a machine fit into its casing. I should have had a 12" drift with me. Leatherman replaced it without question. The 25 year guarantee is for real. I still have the replacement, though I've worn it out. The pliers joint is loose, I've worn the file almost smooth on hardened screws, the awl has a notch worn in it and I re-ground the knife tip after I broke it off. I USE my Leatherman, it isn't a fasion statement. Now all this doesn't mean it's a cheap tool. It's the opposite. It's a very rugged tool that stands up to years of hard, daily use. My Leatherman gets daily use and anything, no matter how well built, will eventually wear out.
Since then, I've bought other Leathermans for myself and family. At this time, my extended family has 4 PSTs, a PSTII, 2 Supers, a Wave, 3 Micras and a Crunch. I've lost count of the friends who have bought one after seeing me using mine. I wear my PST every day. I keep a PST in my PFD (life jacket) pocket when I go kayaking. There's a Super & a Crunch in the tool kit in my kayak as well.
Sadly, Leatherman no longer makes the PST, but its successors, the Fuse and Blast, are still great combinations of size, weight and tool selection. There's a good reason the PST was such a huge success. Tim Leatherman got it right, dead-on right, the first time. Everything since then has been refinement, specialization and embellishment. The basic design has not been beaten by anyone, even Leatherman himself.