I ? Leatherman

I have an addiction. I can't stop buying Leatherman tools.

Somewhere, I have an original Leatherman PST, which came with a leather case with an brass snap button.

Then, every few years, when they came out with a new better tool, I had to have it. I now have about 6 of them stashed away in different places. One in my car, one at work in my drawer, another in my laptop bag.

My newest addition was a clearance priced ($20!!!) set from Home Depot: a Wingman and Style combo set. The Wingman has a liner-lock knife, spring action pliers, and a very nice feeling handle, but does skimp on scissors (no return spring). The Style does have spring return scissors, and fits very nicely in a pants pocket or on a keychain.

There are some great things about Leatherman, the company. They stubbornly keep making their tools in the U.S.A, in their Oregon plant. If you break one, they'll fix it or replace it no questions asked. I once got a new tool, for free, even though the reason for the breakage was that I had used the pliers to cut a piece of wire which was too hard, and damaged the pliers joint. Meanwhile, companies like Gerber have moved their production to China. Leatherman also makes a series of military specific tools, for uses such as weapon maintenance.

My only significant beef with Leatherman is that the owner of the company is known for supporting left-wing politicians, and some of the attendant causes such as gun control and environmentalism. However, I'm willing to overlook his politics based on having a good product, good service, and American manufacturing.

*Note: this is not a sponsored post, I really do like Leatherman. No consideration was given for this posting.