The Dependable Soldier: One Leatherman’s 30-Year Journey

I can remember buying it like it was yesterday. It was 1991 and I was just a kid in my early 20s. The story of my life was yet to be written and I carried the full weight of all of the worries and anxieties about what I would make of myself. I was working a warehouse job during the day, heaving boxes onto a conveyor belt all day long, making only a few dollars an hour. After work I took evening classes at a local college in Columbus, Ohio.

The, nearly, $40 price tag for this Leatherman was a stretch for me back then. I remember how proud I was to own it. Almost immediately it proved itself as useful as a tool could be. The multitool was like a dependable and resilient soldier always showing up for duty and giving more than was asked of it. The only limit to its usefulness seemed to be my imagination. The Leatherman moved with me to Minnesota in 1995 and I used it for everything. Once I installed a light, wiring and all, in the hallway of the first home I owned using nothing but that Leatherman.

As I started making more money I bought a replacement for it in the early 2000s. The new Leatherman was fancier, considerably more expensive, and had more tools on it. I thought more would be better—it wasn't. I gifted the original one to my Dad and you would have thought I had given him a million dollars. He loved it because it replaced almost all of the tools he needed for every day tasks and it fit on his belt or in his pocket.

The Leatherman traveled to Florida with my parents in 2003 and my Dad used it almost every day in his handyman business he began in Rockledge the following year.

Somewhere along the line he snapped the tip off of the main blade. If I remember correctly he said he snapped it trying to pry off the lid of a paint can. Time marched on.

After my father passed in the fall of 2020 from Covid we were going through some of his things and I found the old Leatherman in a drawer in his hutch. There weren’t many of his things that I wanted but I knew immediately I wanted this. The tool had battle scars and each one told a story. The leather case was smeared with paint and had dried out terribly. The whole thing was in a derelict state. The multitool itself had developed a patina of surface rust from the years of Florida humidity and the blades were frozen. It wasn’t like him not to take care of his things but I think by this time Alzheimer’s was beginning to get the better of him.

I cleaned the Leatherman up as best I could—used leather conditioner on the case, oiled the blades, and removed the rust. Almost immediately I started using it again, each time I did it reminded me of my Dad. It felt like I had a piece of him with me.

One day about a month ago I was using Leatherman and I remembered that, back then, these were warranted for life. I opened the laptop and checked the website and discovered they were still honoring the lifetime warranty for these older multitools. I opened a ticket, uploaded a picture of the damage, and chose the option of “Repairing or returning only” which they offer for tools that carry sentimental value. I loved that they offered this option because, otherwise, I would have gotten a partial refund or a brand new multitool.

The Leatherman company responded immediately and sent me the shipping information. I mailed it shortly before we left for Sedona and then yesterday a small box appeared on our doorstep. I could hardly believe my eyes when I opened the box. Not only was the blade repaired but the entire tool had been restored to like new condition. All it cost me was the price of shipping to Portland Oregon.

In a world where it seems like integrity and pride in craftsmanship is so hard to find, it gives me just a little more optimism in the future of humanity to know that a company with such integrity still exists. This old Leatherman will now live on to be passed down to future generations of Waltons. As I hold it in my hands so many memories come flooding back but it's also a great reminder that there's still a use for the old and the analog in our digital world. This Leatherman will continue to be reporting for duty like a dependable and resilient soldier for many decades to come.

All for now. Thanks so much for reading.