Leatherman

1968: The role played by the 1968 Fiat Tim Leatherman and his wife purchased for $300 to travel around Europe is a wonderful part of our company lore. Here are some additional mileposts in the Leatherman Journey.

1975: Inspired by leaky pipes and a cranky car on a budget trip through Europe, Tim conceives ideas of the pocket survival Tool. "I made this first cardboard model in a hotel room in Tehran. Iran was one of 20 countries we visited in nine months." - Tim Leatherman

1977: The basic form of the PST begins to take shape in Tim's basement shop. "My training was an engineer, not a machinist. My brother-in-law helped me learn the machinist skills." - Tim Leatherman

1978: Various options for features and locking mechanisms are considered. "I had told my wife this project would take a couple of months. Its seems to have taken longer." - Tim Leatherman

1979: Tim's vision for a tool combining full-size pliers with a pocket knife comes to fruition. "This is essentially what I had in my mind from the outset. It occurred to me that others might want such a tool." - Tim Leatherman

1980: Tim's invention, using the name Mr. Crunch, is granted patent 4,238,682. "unfortunately, nobody wanted to buy my invention.The knife companies thought it was a tool; the tool companies thought it was a knife." - Tim Leatherman

1983: Finally, two mail-order business place modest orders; Tim and college friend Steve Berliner found Leatherman Tool Group. "One of the catalogs put our tool on the back cover in time for Christmas; they had to reorder several times." - Tim Leatherman

1986: Sales grow at a rapid pace. The Company's second product is introduced. "The Mini-Tool is the most compact way to provide full-size, full strength pliers." - Tim Leatherman

1994: Now employing more than 200 people, the company unveils a beefier version of its original concept. The company sells more than a million tools for the second year in a row. "By now we actually had some competition. We stayed ahead of the newcomers by producing a larger product with more features and all locking blades." - Tim Leatherman

1996: Leatherman gets small. The ultra-tiny Micra becomes and remains-the category's top seller. A 1997 Backpacker Magazine Editors' Choice. "We're about to complete our factory's 10-year building plan, but we moved to this site less than five years ago." - Tim Leatherman

1998: A bold new design sets a new standard for what a multi-purpose tool can be. "Wave introduced more comfortable handles and external access to key features. It's still our most popular full-sized product." - Tim Leatherman

2001: Dramatic new thinking results in a series of hip, stylish tolls; The Juice line. Anodized aluminum scales off vibrant colours. More than 400 employees now manufacture Juice and a dozen other Leatherman products. "Sure, I care about the colour, but what I really care about is that they work." - Tim Leatherman

2004: Brand new innovative products from the leader in multi purpose tools. The new products feature some of the best innovations and materials available in the world today. Available soon

Leatherman Tools Categories: Hand Tools, Blades, Industrial Tweezers, Knives, Multitools & Pliers.